2.3- assess how forms of punishment meet the aims of punishment

Question 1

Aims of sentencing

Answer 1

The Criminal Justice Act 2003 outlines the punishment of offenders, crime reduction through deterrence, rehabilitation of offenders, protection of the public and reparation to victims.

Question 2

Imprisonment

Answer 2

Prison sentences are handed down by courts for the most serious offences, when the court believes that the public must be protected.

Question 3

Life sentence

Answer 3

The most serious punishment a UK court can hand down, judge sets a minimum time that offender must spend in prison before they can be considered for release by the parole board. The board will assess whether their release is safe and suitable, if so they are released on licence.

Question 4

Mandatory life sentences

Answer 4

Must be given to offenders who are guilty of murder, discretionary life sentences can also be given for other serious offences such as rape, in some serious cases a judge may sentence an offender to a whole life term: they will never be released.

Question 5

Indeterminate sentences

Answer 5

Set a minimum time an offender must serve in prison, offenders have no automatic right to be released after minimum term has been served, Parole board must decide if suitable.

Question 6

Indeterminate sentences - figures

Answer 6

In 2018, there were around 10,000 prisoners serving indeterminate sentences, indeterminate sentences account for around 14% of the prison population, by far the highest in Europe. Some are ‘imprisonment for public protection’ prisoners, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 allowed offenders to continue to be detained indefinitely after they had served their minimum sentence, if they were regarded as potentially too dangerous to be released. IPP sentences were ruled unlawful in 2012 and the sentence was abolished.

Question 7

Determinate sentences

Answer 7

A sentence with a fixed length, most prisoners in the UK serve determinate sentences (about 65-70,000 in 2012). Not all of the sentence is served in prison: if sentence is under 12 months they are normally released halfway through, if it is 12 months or more they spend the first half in prison ad second in the community on licence and offenders sentenced to less than 2 years are released on post-sentence supervision for 12 months with regular meetings and specified requirements.

Question 8

Suspended sentences

Answer 8

The offender is given a prison sentence but does not directly go to prison. May receive a suspended sentence if they would otherwise be given a prison sentence of less than 12 months. Sentences can be suspended for up to 2 years and court may impose things like drug addiction treatment. The offender must meet requirements if not they can be sent to prison to serve original sentence.

Question 9

Imprisonment - retribution

Answer 9

Difficult to say whether imprisonment gives offenders ‘just deserts’, how do we know what length of sentence fits a particular crime? Society disagrees on this matter.

Question 10

Imprisonment - deterrence

Answer 10

High re-offending rates suggest that prison is not an effective deterrent: nearly half of adult prisoners are re-convicted within a year of being released from jail. It only works if would-be offenders are capable of thinking and acting rationally: many offences are committed under the influence of drugs and drugs, also issues like mental health.

Question 11

Imprisonment - public protection

Answer 11

It does do this by taking offenders out of the circulation. It may produce public protection through ‘whole life’ sentences, prisoners serving indeterminate sentences can be kept in jail for as long as they are deemed to be a danger to the public. There has been a trend towards longer sentences, so public remain protected: this includes mandatory minimum sentence’s. Most prisoners are released on license and under supervision. However prison can be a ‘school for crime’: prisoners acquire skills, attitudes, attitudes and contacts.

Question 12

Imprisonment - reparation

Answer 12

Under the Prisoners Earnings Act 2011, prisoners who are permitted to work outside of prison to prepare for their eventual release can be made to pay a proportion of their earnings towards the cost of victim support services, however in practice few prisoners have the opportunity to earn money this way. Imprisonment does little to meet the aim of reparation.

Question 13

Imprisonment - rehabilitation

Answer 13

Prisons have a poor record of reducing re offending: 48% of prisoners re-offend within a year of their release, for those who served a sentence of less than 12 months this figure rises to 64%. 6,789 prisoners were recalled to prison for breaching their licence conditions in 2019.

Question 14

Imprisonment - rehabilitation

Answer 14

Prisons have a poor record of reducing re offending: 48% of prisoners re-offend within a year of their release, for those who served a sentence of less than 12 months this figure rises to 64%. 6,789 prisoners were recalled to prison for breaching their licence conditions in 2019. Their failure is due to short sentences, education and training and addressing offending behaviour.

Question 15

Community sentences

Answer 15

Imposed for offences which are too serious for a discharge or a fine, not so serious that a prison sentence is necessary: its requirements may be supervision by a probation officer, between 40 and 30 hours unpaid work, a curfew or exclusion order, residency requirement etc.

Question 16

Community sentences - retribution

Answer 16

All community orders have an element of punishment or retribution, unpaid work have to wear high visibility vests with ‘community payback’, this is public ‘naming and shaming’: a form of retribution.

Question 17

Community sentences - reparation

Answer 17

Can include unpaid work to repair the damage they have caused to victims property, equally reparation may be to the whole community through unpaid work.

Question 18

Community sentences - public protection

Answer 18

Community sentences don’t lock up offenders therefore do not achieve this aim, although breaches would lead to imprisonment and would achieve this.

Question 19

Community sentences - rehabilitation

Answer 19

Community sentences may aim to rehabilitate by addressing the underlying needs such as homelessness, drug misuse, mental health problems etc. They can require offenders to undergo treatment for their addiction problems or undertake an activity such as training to improve their job prospects.

Question 20

Community sentences - rehabilitation figures

Answer 20

In one Ministry of Justice study, 34% re-offended within 12 months of starting their community sentence, this compared with 64% for those serving prison sentences of less than 12 months. The prison reform trust found community sentences are particularly effective for people with many previous offences, for those with over 50 previous convictions re offending is 1/3 higher for those with a short prison sentence rather than a community sentence.

Question 21

Fines

Answer 21

Financial penalties for offending, given for less serious offences, used by magistrates courts but eve with more serious offences, about 15% receive a fine. It will depend on the offence itself, the circumstances of the crime, the offenders ability to pay and which court is hearing the case.

Question 22

Fines - retribution

Answer 22

Hitting someone in the pocket can be a good way to make them suffer for the harm they’ve done.

Question 22

Fines - retribution

Answer 22

Hitting someone in the pocket can be a good way to make them suffer for the harm they’ve done.

Question 23

Fines - deterrence

Answer 23

A fine may make an offender reluctant to re-offend for fear of further punishment as the use of fines is a common way of disposing of first offenders, fines may be used as a signal that worse will follow.

Question 24

Fines - failure to pay

Answer 24

This shows that fines may not meet their aims because courts can deduct fines from an offenders benefits or send in bailiffs to seize their property in the event of non-payment. For example by 2019, the backlog of unpaid fines and court surcharges had reached £623M.

Question 25

Conditional discharge

Answer 25

Means offender will not be punished unless they commit another offence within a set period of time determined by the court. If they do so, the court can sentence them for both the original offence and the new one: a criminal record.

Question 26

An absolute (or unconditional) discharge

Answer 26

Means no penalty is imposed, the court may grant this where the defendant is technically guilty but here punishment would be inappropriate, usually because the defendant is morally blameless. Not classed as a conviction.

Question 27

Discharge - its aims

Answer 27

Basic aim is deterrence, the lowest level of punishment and in effect a warning to individuals future conduct. There is a low re-offending rate following a discharge, especially if it was for a first offence. Discharges appear mostly to meet their punishment aim.