2.2 Aims Of Punishment Flashcards
What act encompasses the aims of punishment?
-Criminal Justice Act 2003
What are the 5 aims of punishment according to the Criminal Justice Act 2003? Give a brief definition of each
- Retribution = expressing society’s outrage at crime
- Rehabilitation = making offender’s change their behaviour
- Deterrence = discouraging future offending
- Public protection/incapacitation = keep society safe from offenders
- Reparation = making good the harm caused by crime
What are 9 key points to include about retribution
- Offender deserves punishment
- Punishing is showing public revulsion, moral outrage
- Revenge “eye for eye”
- Backwards-looking. Look to past to determine present. Doesn’t seek to alter behaviour
- Justice for V and dft
- Offender getting ’just desserts’
- Sentencing council supports. Punishment must fit crime
- Coroners and Justice act states court must follow guidelines unless against justice
- Mandatory minimum life sentences show retribution and increased sentence for hate motive.
Which theories is retribution based on?
-Right realism
-Functionalism
Explain how right realism links with retribution
-Rational choice theory, offenders weigh up benefits against costs of crime, choose to commit crimes and are fully responsible. Punishment fits with being tough on crime. Offenders must suffer outrage of society for what they’’ve chosen
-Retribution fitting for RR as being punished to suitable level without considering reason behind crime
-Offenders social bonds are weak. Poor economic background, offender unable to control urges. Need to punish to prevent
How does functionalism link with retribution?
-Retribution expresses moral outrage so provides function of boundary maintenance
-Punishing offender reminds everyone of right and wrong so brings society closer
What are 5 weakness for retribution?
- Makes justice into transaction. Does disservice to victims and offenders
- Makes more difficult to consider mitigating factors. Especially with mandatory min sentences. Sometimes lower sentence in public and offender best interest
- Prioritises punishment over treatment. Resources for mental health decreased, criminalising mental health issues, dont get support or treatment just punished
- Dehumanises offenders. Criminals seen as others, lose right to vote
- Already know other ways. Restorative justice, repair harm done
What is rehabilitation as an aim of punishment?
-Punishment should reform or change offenders so they don’t offend and live a crime free life
-Doesn’t focus on punishing past offences but use treatments and programmes to change offenders future behaviour, address the issues that led to offence
-Forward looking
-Reformation. Offender result of free will and rational choice which can be changed
-Community sentences - probation orders include attendance to addiction programmes, education or training courses.
What policies does rehabilitation lead to?
-education and training programmes, employment on release, anger management for violent offenders, drug treatment, testing orders alcohol dependence.
-rehab policies - labour intensive for offender and people providing support, AMP need to be motivated.
Which theories are rehabilitation based on?
Individualistic
-Eyesenck: aversion therapy. Suggests that those with high psychoticism are less empathetic, high extroversion more aggressive
-Skinners operant conditioning: token economies
-cognitive: CBT to teach how to manage anger and correct thinking
Sociological
-Left realism: rehab to overcome unemployment poverty, poor education
Is rehabilitation effective?
- 46% of adults are reconvicted within one year of release.
-If less than 12 months increases to 59%
Explain individual deterrence as an aim of punishment?
-Put someone off doing something. Fear being caught and punished may deter
-Individual: imposed on offenders to deter or prevent them committing in future. Convince them not worth repeating, don’t want to go back to prison. Short sharp shock in 1980s, juvenile
-examples include suspended sentence conditional discharge
-Indiv deterrence deters individual offenders from reoffending
Explain general deterrence as an aim of punishment?
-Affects would be offender
-fear of punishment prevents others committing similar crimes
-eg long prison sentence may prevent others from committing an offence as they don’t want that punishment
-make example of offender, London riots, public flogging, mandatory minimum life sentence for murder
What theories is deterrence based on?
-Right realism: RCT suggests decision to commit a crime. Cost benefit. SCP like target hardening, make more difficult to commit crime like gated lanes
-Social learning theory: general deterrence, seeing someone else being punished should deter the would be offender. Vicarious punishment
Is deterrence effective? (Reoffending rate)
-46% adults re convicted within a year of release
-For those with a sentence of less than 12 months this increases to 59%
-Short prison sentences do not work as they do not get rehabilitated during this
-Long don’t work as criminals value the future less than non-criminals
-sentences arbitrary and only work up to a point as a deterrence
-lesser educated criminals less put off
-Short sharp shock under thatcher’s gov - ppl abused, poor mental health and committed suicide/used drugs
