Ch. 8 - Sentencing Philosophies Flashcards
What are the sentencing philosophies?
Deterrence, selective incapacitation, rehabilitation, retribution, restorative justice.
What is the major point and focus of deterrence?
It’s about sending a message and focuses on instilling fear of getting caught.
According to those who support deterrence, it should be…
Swift, certain, and severe.
What is the key to determining the severity of the deterrent punishment?
The cost of the punishment must outweigh the benefits of the crime.
What is the difference between general and specific punishment?
General punishment deters everyone else by making an examples of others. Specific punishment is done to deter the individual offender from offending again.
What does the deterrence philosophy assume?
Rational thought and a capacity for reflection, which is not necessarily warranted.
Is the assumption from the deterrence philosophy accurate?
Not always, crimes may be done in the heat of the moment or out of sheer desperation.
Criminals tend to be optimists/pessimists/realists?
Optimists. They never think they’ll be caught, convicted, sentenced, etc.
Does deterrence have any effect on crime rates?
There is little effect on first-time offenders or repeat offenders.
What is selective incapacitation about?
Controlling people.
What is the rationale behind selective incapacitation?
Protects society and prevents offenders from doing further harm.
What is generally done today for selective incapacitation?
Incarceration in prison.
What was done in the past to selectively incapacitate people?
They would ship them off to different countries and parts of the world.
What are some of the earliest forms of selective incapacitation?
Mutilation and amputation (e.g., cutting of thieves’ hands).
What is a new form of selective incapacitation?
Electronic monitoring.
If deterrence is about punishment, then selective incapacitation is about what?
Restraint.
What is a hotly debated form of selective incapacitation today?
Chemical castration for sex offenders.
What is rehabilitation all about?
Changing people.
Why is the term “rehabilitation” a bit of a misnomer?
Because with criminal justice, it’s more about habilitation than rehabilitation.
What does rehabilitation often involve?
Training and education and/or treatment and therapy.
How did the rehabilitation model come about?
As crime and deviance became more medicalized.
What most impacts the effectiveness of rehabilitation?
The availability and quality of programs.
What is the negative feedback loop of rehabilitation?
Whenever rehab doesn’t work, then people assume it doesn’t work and don’t fund it so it actually can work.
What is retribution all about?
Getting even.
How does retribution differ from other philosophies of punishment?
Other philosophies focus on preventing future offences, retribution focuses exclusively on the past offences.
If the goal of retribution is not deterrence, what is it?
Satisfaction.
What is restorative justice all about?
Healing and repairing harms.
What errors in our current system does restorative justice attempt to fix?
The current system tends to marginalize victims, seeing crimes as an offence against the state.
Where does the impetus of restorative justice come from?
Empirical evidence showing that criminal justice sanctions have little impact on recidivism.
What are victim impact statements?
An opportunity for victims have to address the court directly about how they have been impacted.
What three factors should sentences reflect?
The seriousness of the offence, the responsibility of the offender (moral culpability), and aggravating/mitigating factors.
What are the principles of sentencing?
Consistency, should not be unduly harsh, imprisonment should not be used unnecessarily.
What has judicial discretion resulted in?
Sentencing disparity.
What has been implemented to decrease sentencing disparity?
The implementation of mandatory minimum sentences.
