A2 FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY - DEALING WITH OFFENDERS; CUSTODIAL SENTENCING

Question 1

Define custodial sentencing and recidivism

Answer 1

CS: a period of time spent in prison or young offenders’ institution.
Recidivism: roffending rates; how many ppl return to prison after a custodial sentence

Question 2

Give the 4 aims of custodial sentencing and explain whether they are met or not

Answer 2

1) Incapacitation: removing offenders from public to protect the public from harm. This doesn’t work as ppl can still offend from w/in prison
2) Deterrence: putting ppl off committing crimes in the future (for both the public and offenders). This doesn’t work as recidivism rates are high so ppl aren’t put off (also some ppl’s lives are better in prison than outside of it, so not that much of a deterrent)
3) Retribution: society’s revenge. This doesn’t work as most ppl feel that offenders’ sentences are too short, and some prisons are in v good conditions (which the taxpayer funds)
4) Rehailitation: educating prisoners and changing their criminal beh; some ppl get multiple degrees inside prison. This doesn’t work, however, because no-one will employ ex-offenders once they’re released from prison, so they turn to crime again to make money.

Question 3

Describe the three main psychological effects of custodial sentencing

Answer 3

1) Stress and depression: suicide rates are 10 times higher in prisons than the general pop, and 25% of women and 15% of men report psychosis, compared to just 1% of the general pop
2) Institutionalisation: long sentences prevent integration back into normal life after release (reoffending rates here are 47%). But Norway, who use a controversial approach of treating prisoners like normal ppl, have a 20% reoffending rate (the lowest in the world)
3) Prisonisation: prisoners are socialised into an inamte code, and beh that would normally be unacceptable in normal life may be rewarded and encouraged inside prison by fellow inmates. “School of crime”; prisoners learn how to commit crime for other inmates to avoid abuse from those further up the heirarchy.

Question 4

Evaluate CS

Answer 4

(-) Prisons may act as schools of crime; by spending lots of time with other criminals, offenders can learn how to commit bigger crimes, and get away with them.
(+) Prisons aim to rehabilitate offenders by offering eduation and anger management etc
(-) However this is dependent on funding, which varies massively bet institutions, so opportunities are pot luck
(-) 25% of women and 15% of men report psychosis; prisons may not be rehabilitating ppl at all, they may just be making them more psychologically vulnerable
(+) However there is no cause and effect between prison and mental illness; it could be that they already had the mental illness and that’s what caused them to offend