ac2.3: assess how forms of punishment meet the aims of punishment - community

Question 1

what is a community sentence?

Answer 1

• combine punishments with activities done in the community
• it can be given after someone is released from prison or as punishment of its own

Question 2

what could be given as part of a community sentence?

Answer 2

• drug and alcohol treatment
• unpaid work
• volunteering
• ankle tag/curfew

Question 3

cs meets retribution

Answer 3

• (summary = lower level) a community sentence fulfils punishment in proportion to a summary offence, a prison sentence would be too harsh for this
• curfews as a form of cs restricts movement, the offender is suffering as their freedom is limited
• those doing unpaid work wear high visibility vests with ‘community payback’ on the back, this names and shames then

Question 4

cs doesn’t meet retribution

Answer 4

• 1/3 of those on a cs reoffend within a year, not revenge
• cs is focused on the causes of crime, this is the opposite of retribution
• is it harsh enough? it doesn’t seem like revenge in the same way as a prison sentence

Question 5

cs meets rehabilitation

Answer 5

• 34% of people on a cs reoffend within a year compared to 63% of people serving a short prison sentence
• a cs is about understanding and fixing the causes of crime, it allows people to get support for issues with drugs and alcohol, mental health and unemployment. this is what rehabilitation wants

Question 6

cs doesn’t meet rehabilitation

Answer 6

• 1/3 of people on a cs reoffend within a year
• 50% of people on drug treatments reoffend
• in 2013, more than 75% of those going to prison had already served at least 1 community sentence
• 56% reoffending rate in total

Question 7

cs meets deterrence

Answer 7

• they have a lower reoffending rate than prison, there’s some kind of deterrence
• its not something that someone would choose to do, they may be deterred because they don’t want to do it again
• women released from prison are more likely to reoffend and reoffend sooner than those serving a cs
• for people with more than 50 previous offences, the odds of reconnection increase to 36% when a short sentence is used rather than cs, shows that cs are better at deterring people

Question 8

cs doesn’t meet deterrence

Answer 8

• the reoffending rate is 56% for cs, it isn’t deterring crime
• in 2013, more than 75% of those going to prison had already served at least 1 community sentence, suggesting they’re not an effective deterrent

Question 9

cs meets public protection

Answer 9

• offenders are supervised while they do their unpaid work
• offenders may be given a tag, a curfew or a restraining order, this protects us. we know that they’re where they’re supposed to be and that they’re monitored

Question 10

cs doesn’t meet public protection

Answer 10

• the public can’t be fully protected as they aren’t locked inside prison
• a breach of their cs could lead to a prison sentence, this would protect us but requires someone to first commit more crime
• the reoffending rate is 56%, this isn’t protecting the public

Question 11

cs meets reparation

Answer 11

• a cs can include doing unpaid work to repair the damage they have caused to a victims property
  -reparation may be to the whole community through unpaid work on community payback

Question 12

cs doesn’t meet reparation

Answer 12

• it could be argued that this isn’t actually payback, especially if it isn’t directly related to the victim

Question 13

cs meets denunciation

Answer 13

• being made to carry out unpaid work could be argued as enforcing boundary maintenance. it is a visible thing that society can show their disapproval of

Question 14

cs doesn’t meet denunciation

Answer 14

• some would argue that these sentences are not severe enough to reinforce this