Exploring the attitudes of university students and criminal justice professionals towards electronic monitoring in Azerbaijan: A focus group study

Abstract

Abstract As a country with a criminal justice system that has historically put too much emphasis on the use of imprisonment, Azerbaijan is undertaking important reforms, including the overhaul of the Probation Service and an introduction of electronic monitoring of offenders. This exploratory research examines university students and criminal justice professionals attitudes towards electronic monitoring as a substitute for imprisonment in Azerbaijan. The study investigated (1) the level of knowledge of the respondents about non-custodial sanctions in general, (2) to what extent respondents believe in the deterrent potential of electronic monitoring, and (3) to what extent respondents believe electronic monitoring will be effective in rehabilitating offenders. Based on the outcomes of four focus groups involving 35 research participants in total, the study found that participants were optimistic about the rehabilitation capacity of electronic monitoring, but they expressed deep concerns regarding the deterrent effect of electronic monitoring in Azerbaijan s context. The limitations of this study and suggestions for further research are discussed in the end.