custodial sentencing Flashcards
what is custodial sentencing
A custodial sentence is one where the court requires an offender to be held in prison or some other closed community like a psychiatric hospital or a young offender’s institute.
what are the 4 aims of custodial sentencing
deterrence, incapacitation, retribution, rehabilitation
what is deterrence
- Deterrence - Prison is designed to put people off engaging in offending behaviour
Two types of deterrence:
o General deterrence - sends a broad message to members of society that crime will not be tolerated
o Individual deterrence - should prevent an individual from repeating the same crime in light of their experience
what is incapacitation
- Incapacitation - The offender is taken out of society to protect the public
o The need for incapacitation will depend on the severity of the offence and the nature of the offender
what is retribution
- Retribution - Society is enacting revenge for the crime by making the offender suffer
o The level of suffering should be proportionate to the seriousness of the crime, i.e. the offender should pay for their actions
what is rehabilitation
- Rehabilitation - An aim may also be to reform
o When leaving prison, offenders should be better adjusted
o Prison should provide opportunities to develop skills and training or access treatment programmes for drug addiction
e.g. behaviour modification and anger management programmes
what are the psychological effects of custodial sentencing
- stress and depression
- suicide rates are considerably high in prison than in the general population as are incidents of self-mutilation and self-harm. The stress of the prison experience also increases the risk of developing psychological disorders following release. This suggests there is a lack of prison mental health services, crucial facilities when convicts are feeling guilty, frightened and hopeless after committing their crime(s) and subsequently being removed from loved ones. When a parent is removed from a family home, not only does it affect the offender, but also it adds financial stress and anxiety to the household, negatively psychologically affecting the prisoner’s partner. - Institutionalisation - having adapted to the norms and routines of prison life, inmates may become so accustomed to these that they are no longer able to function on the outside. This is dangerous as the prison acts as a comfort blanket for them, giving them meals for example, potentially increasing the rates of recidivism, psychologically negatively affecting the wider population as more crimes are committed - Ministry of Justice suggests that 45% of UK offenders will reoffend within a year of release. The UK has some of the highest recidivism rates in the world.
3.
- Deindividuation - inmates lose a sense of identity, taking on the prisoner role, meaning they may act out in ways they normally wouldn’t as they don’t feel like themselves. This can lead to more aggressive, violent behaviours as they continue to act how they think prisoners ‘should’ behave
evaluation of custodial sentencing
PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS
P - One limitation of custodial sentencing is the negative psychological effect on prisoners.
E - According to the Ministry of Justice a record 119 people killed themselves in prisons in England and Wales in 2016 - an increase of 29 (32%) on the previous year. This equates to an average suicide of one every three days - almost nine times higher than in the general population. Most at risk are young single men during the first 24 hours of confinement. A study conducted by the Prison Reform Trust found that 25% of women and 15% of men in prison reported symptoms of psychosis.
E - This supports the view that oppressive prison regimes may be detrimental to psychological health which could impact on rehabilitation.
COUNTERPOINT
These figures do not include the number of inmates who were experiencing psychotic symptoms before they were incarcerated. Many of those convicted may have pre-existing psychological and emotional difficulties at the time they were convicted. The importation model argues that prisoners may import some of their psychological problems, so we do not know if this is a problem with the prison regime, or something else - such as trauma of being locked away regardless of what prison is like. This suggests there may be some confounding variables that influence the link between prison and its psychological effects.
TRAINING AND TREATMENT
P - One strength of custodial sentencing is it provides opportunity for training and treatment.
E - The objective of imprisonment is rehabilitation - offenders may become better people during their time in prison, and their improved character means they may be able to lead a crime-free life when back in society. Many offenders access education and training whilst in prison increasing the possibility, they will find employment upon release. The Vera Institute of Justice claims that offenders who take part in college education programmes are 43% less likely to reoffend following release, and that prisons who offer these programmes report fewer incidents of violence.
E - This suggests prison may be a worthwhile experience assuming offenders are able to access these programmes.
SCHOOL FOR CRIME
P - Another limitation of custodial sentencing is offenders may learn to become better offenders.
E - Alongside the legitimate skills that offenders may acquire during their time in prison, they may also undergo a more dubious ‘education’ as part of their sentence. Incarceration with long-term offenders may give younger inmates in particular the opportunity to learn the ‘tricks of the trade’ from more experienced prisoners. Offenders may also acquire criminal contacts whilst in prison that they may follow up when they are released.
E - This form of ‘education’ may undermine attempts to rehabilitate prisoners and consequently may make reoffending more likely.
