Aims Of Custodial Sentencing

Question 1

What is custodial sentencing

Answer 1

Criminal not found guilty in court and spends time in prison

Question 2

Purpose of custodial sentencing

Answer 2

deterrence
- helps prevents offender reoffending by punishing them with a prison sentence

retribution
- hurt someone else = should pay for their behaviour

Confinement
- threat to society, prison sentence helps to prevent offender from committing another crime

Rehabilitation
- helps reintegrate the offender into society

Question 3

Evaluation of aim of custodial sentencing

Answer 3

Research
- 8-10% of criminals are responsible for 50z of crime = high reoffending rates suggest that rehabilitation programmes and deterrence are not effective ways of dealing with offending behaviour

Individual differences in effectiveness
- rates of recidivism’s vary with age and gender
- younger people more likley to reoffend
- committing theft and Burglary are a twice as likely to reoffend
- sentencing should be targeted

Retribution and confine my provide effect method of support the needs of the victims and to keep society safe

Question 4

Becoming institutionalised

Answer 4

• used to daily routines of prising life prefer prison life to living in the outside world
• more likely in criminal from deprived area
• more likely to reoffend to get back in prison
• prison environment acts a positive reinforcement

Question 5

Negative effects of mental health

Answer 5

• negative effect as prisons overcrowded limited access to physical exercise
• loneliness and Bordom more likely to experience depression
• sucicide rate and levels of self harm increasing
• increase in ptsd found amounst prisoners

Question 6

Evaluation of psychology effects of custodial sentencing

Answer 6

Research
Snow - examined characteristics of prisoners who self harm and those who are suicidal found self sharers display high levels of anger and suicidal prisoners show symptoms of depression shows custodial sentencing having a negative fever on mental health

Prison sentence has No effect
- in preventing reoffending behaviours if there was punishment involved
- argued that a decline in mental health can be seen an essential part of punishment process

Hard to determine whether mental health decline due to deprivation or already present before they entered the prison

Non custodial effect more effective that prison sentence and can reduce psychological effects that prison sentences might have on offenders eg community sentences