CRIME - Non-custodial = More Effective

Question 1

Reoffending - non-custodial positive evidence

Answer 1

1 - serving a Community Payback Order (CPO) is an efficient deterrent without surrounding the offender with a culture of violence.

Evidence of this is that the reconviction rate of CPOs dropped by 4.7 percentage points in the past year (2022-23, gov.scot).

Question 2

Rebuttal, non-custodial ineffective evidence

Answer 2

offenders can breach home detention curfews or CPO’s as they are not under strict supervision.

Evidence of this is that James Wright who was put on a home detention curfew went on to murder a father of three in Paisley after breaking his electronic tag.

Question 3

Rebuttal - positive custodial evidence

Answer 3

when imprisoned, convicts are offered the help they need to turn their life around.

Evidence of this is that the Cabinet secretary for justice Angela Constance said “the new Stirling prison will provide world-leading facilities… focusing on rehabilitation and reducing reoffending”.

Question 4

Topics in this essay?

Answer 4

• reoffending
• rebuttal
• cost
• support

Question 5

Cost - non - custodial more effective

Answer 5

measures that give back to the community are significantly less expensive than placing criminals in prison.

Evidence of this is that according to publicfinance.co.uk, community service is significantly cheaper than imprisonment, with it only costing £5,000 for 6 months.

Question 6

Cost - custodial ineffective

Answer 6

putting a criminal in prison is quite expensive, when this funding could instead be redirected into benefitting society.

Evidence of this is that according to a publication of the Scottish Prison Service in 2020, the cost to keep a prisoner behind bars for one year was approximately £35,000.

Question 7

Reoffending - custodial negative evidence

Answer 7

2- many people who go to prison on short term sentences are not deterred from committing crime upon release.

Evidence of this is that offenders given a short custodial sentence of one year or less were reconvicted nearly twice as often as those who served a CPO in 2017-18 (Howard League).

Question 8

Support - non-custodial more effective

Answer 8

for offenders of violent crimes; the tag monitors conditions put in place by the court order, and so reassures the victim as they can’t be contacted by the criminal.

Evidence of this is that in England and Wales, domestic abusers leaving prison will have to wear electronic monitoring tags, in conjunction with restraining orders. (Guardian Newspaper)

Question 9

Support - custodial ineffective evidence

Answer 9

prisons are not doing enough to help prisoners particularly with their mental health, and as a result, more prisoners are resorting to self-harm and suicide.

Evidence of this is that according to The Guardian, self-harm incidents in prisons sat at over 64,000 in 2023.