2.2 Discuss the aims of punishment

Question 1

Describe Retribution as an aim of punishment

Answer 1

Criminals should get their ‘just deserts’ - they deserve to be punished, society is morally allowed its revenge as the offender breached society’s moral code

Question 2

Describe Proportionality with regards to retribution

Answer 2

Punishment should fit the crime - ‘an eye for an eye’, used by some to argue the death penalty for murder
* It leads to a fixed scale of mandatory penalties, e.g. so many years for armed robberies

Question 3

List the purpose of retribution, other than deterring crime, and give an example

Answer 3

Appeals to the moral outrage in society
* The maximum sentence for GBH is 5 years, but increases to 7 if proven to be racially motivated

Question 4

Link Retribution to theories of criminality

Answer 4

Rational choice theory - Offenders are rational actors and consciously choose to commit their crimes, and are fully responsible, therefore should suffer society’s outrage

Question 5

List Criticisms of Retribution
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Answer 5

1 Offenders deserve forgiveness, not just punishment
2 Fixed penalties mean punishment has to be inflicted even when no good will come from it
3 There cannot be a complete consensus on proportionate penalties

Question 6

Describe rehabilitation as an aim of punishment

Answer 6

Punishment can be used to change offenders so they can go on to live a crime-free life
Focuses on changing offender’s future behaviour rather than punishing past offences

Question 7

List Rehabilitation policies
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Answer 7

1 Education and training programmes - for prisoners to avoid unemployment upon their release
2 Anger management courses - e.g. Aggression replacement training for violent prisoners
3 Drug treatment and testing orders - to treat alcohol/drug dependence

Question 8

Link Rehabilitation to theories of criminality
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Answer 8

1 Individualistic theories - deem it significant
2 Cognitive theories - favour cognitive behaviour therapy to correct thinking errors that lead to criminal behaviour
3 Eysenck’s personality theory - favours the use of aversion therapy to deter offending behaviour

Question 9

List 2 criticisms rehabilitation

Answer 9

1 Right realists - rehabilitation has little success, many offenders re-offend despite going through programmes
2 Marxists - Rehabilitation shifts the blame of offending onto the offender rather than focusing on how capitalism lead them to commit the crime

Question 10

Describe deterrence as an aim of punishment and its two types

Answer 10

Deterrence is putting criminals off offending as they fear the consequences

Individual deterrence - Use punishment to deter criminals from re-offending as they will not deem crime worth the consequences if caught e.g. Margaret Thatcher’s tough juvenile system

General Deterrence - Aims to deter society from committing crime by making an example, e.g. public execution, or nowadays, through posting an offender’s consequence through media

Question 11

Explain Severity versus certainty and give an example (deterrence)

Answer 11

However severe a punishment may be for a particular offence, if there is little chance an offender will be caught and convicted, it will not deter that many offenders

e.g. although a third domestic burglary results in minimum 3 years in prison for the offender, only 5% of burglaries result in convictions

Question 12

Link deterrence to 2 theories of criminality

Answer 12

Right realist Rational choice theory - offenders are rational actors who weigh up the costs and benefits before offending, so will be deterred by severe punishments

Social learning theory - If would be offenders see one of their peers being punished for offending, they will be less likely to imitate this behaviour

Question 13

Criticisms of deterrence
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Answer 13

1 Little evidence that tough juvenile detention centres or boot camps in the US reduce youth offending
2 Half of all prisoners re-offend within a year
3 How do we decide how severe a punishment needs to be for it to deter enough possible offenders

Question 14

Describe Public Protection as an aim of punishment

Answer 14

Punishments structured to protect the public by by incapacitating offenders

Question 15

List incapacitation methods used by the police historically or now

Answer 15

1 Execution
2 Cutting hands off of thieves
3 Chemically castrating sex offenders
4 Banishment
5 Foreign travel bans to prevent football hooligans attending matches abroad
6 curfews and electronic tagging to restrict offenders’ movements
7 Imprisonment - removed offenders from circulation

Question 16

Incapacitation influenced the Crime sentences act of 1997 which introduced which 3 mandatory minimum jail sentences for repeat offenders?

Answer 16

1 Automatic life sentence for a second severe sexual or violent offence
2 7 year minimum for a third Class A drug trafficking offence
3 3 year minimum for a third domestic burglary conviction

Question 17

Link Public protection to 2 theories of criminality

Answer 17

1 Lombroso argued criminals are biologically different and cannot be rehabilitated, favouring sending offenders into exile or islands away from the public

2 Right realists see incapacitation as a way of protecting the public from crime, as a small number of offenders are responsible for the majority of crimes and long prison sentences for them would significantly reduce crime

Question 18

Criticisms of Public protection through incapacitation

Answer 18

1 Incapacitation leads to to longer sentences which results in ‘warehousing’ - an ever rising prison population which is also costly
2 Incapacitation does nothing to deal with the causes of crime or to change offenders into law-abiding citizens
3 Unjust as their sentence is also based on crimes the law assumes they will commit in the future

Question 19

Describe reparation as an aim of punishment

Answer 19

The offender makes amends for a wrong they have done to a victim, society as a whole or both

Question 20

List 2 methods offenders can make amends (reparation)

Answer 20

1 Financial compensation - Paying the victim for the cost by repairing damage to property, orders imposed by courts enforce this
2 Community orders - payback the community through e.g. removing graffiti from public buildings

Question 21

Explain restorative justice (reparation)

Answer 21

Making amends can often involve the offender recognising their wrong-doings, and through a restorative justice scheme, meet with the victim, who explains the impact the crime had
A chance for offenders to appreciate the impact of their actions, express remorse and seek forgiveness and be re-integrated into society

Question 22

Link reparation to 2 theories of criminality

Answer 22

1 Labelling theory - By enabling offenders to show genuine remorse, it permits their reintegration and prevents them from being pushed into secondary deviance
2 - Functionalists - E.g. Durkheim argued restitutive justice, to put things back to how they were before the crime, is essential for society to run smoothly

Question 23

Criticisms of Reparation
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Answer 23

Not efficient for all types of crime, e.g. How can reparation be made for a victim of rape as the victim may never want to see their rapist

Some regard reparation as too soft on offenders