custodial sentencing

Question 1

definition

Answer 1

is when an offender is found guilty in court+spends time in prison as punihsment (or young offender institution)
4 main reasons for doing it: deterrence, incapacitation, retribution, rehabilitation

Question 2

deterrence

Answer 2

behaviourist principle : if you commit any more crimes you will be back in prison. Rate of recidivism (reoffending) can be used as a measure whether the aim has been met

Question 3

retribution

Answer 3

serves to reassure victims and their families that offender has been punished and they are indeed paying back something – loss of freedom. This is most likely more successful than prevention as imprisonment don’t seem to prevent reoffending.
-based on the biblical notion ‘eye for an eye’

Question 4

incapacitation

Answer 4

– imprisoning offender to protect society at large, especially for violent and sex offenders

Question 5

rehabilitation

Answer 5

meant to be an opportunity to rehabilitate offenders. Various rehabilitation prison programmes are supplied in combination with counselling. This is done with hope when the prisoner comes out of prison will lead life free of crime.

Question 6

The psychological effects of custodial sentencing

becoming instituionalised

Answer 6

-zimbardo 1971 Stanford prison experiment illustrated the individuals becoming influenced by the setting
-Institutionalisation by life conditions of the ‘life outside’ of prison (poverty, hunger, lack of available home etc.) Recidivism for necessities
-Prison as positive reinforcement for offending behaviour
-emotional dependence on prison community+depend on routine becomes vital part of psychological make up due to chaotic life outside of prison
-they report a need for support w relationships,employement+reintergration into family life once released from prison as vital to their future of reoffending

Question 7

depression

Answer 7

-loneliness+boredom
-more likely to occur at beginning of sentence while they adjust: zamble+porpino 1988-longitudinal study of prisoners, finding while anxiety+depression is ^ at start of sentence it does decrease over time
-depression said to affect 13-19% of prison population occurding to ncchc 2002

Question 8

psychological effects of cs-negative effects on mental health

zimbardo 1971

Answer 8

-Zimbardo (1971) negative effect of incarceration on inmates.
-MH of prisoners was affected to point 1 had to leave the study. but generalisation- it wasnt a real prison

Question 9

negative effects on mental health

crighton 2006
high suicide rates

Answer 9

-suicide rates of inmates higher compared to average non-offender in the UK.
Factors :
-overcrowding, low staff-to offender ratio, lack of medical service and physical exercise, increased risk of physical assault.
-First 30 days in prison is the most risky
-Increasing level of self-harm - another sign of negative mental influence -frustration or attempt to control.

Question 10

research negatuve effcts on mh

snow 2006
self harm

Answer 10

Self harmers more stressed and angry while the ones who were more suicidal were more depressed. Both group mental health affected by life in prison.

Question 11

research negative effects on mental health

cheesman 2003

Answer 11

Agressive behaviour as form of stress management in prison. Aggression as a result of circumstances in a stressful environment.

Question 12

research instituionalisation

hollin 1992

Answer 12

prison became ‘home’ to some prisoners. Outside of prison their life was so difficult compared to regular meals, community and place to live.

Question 13

psychological effects of cs

Non-adherence to behaviourist principle

Answer 13

-theres time gap between offending+punishment
-this lack of time contiguity necessary to fulfil principle of ‘the greatest amount of punishment or reinforcement should be at the time of the action’ without delay
-the strength of association is not strong enough
-If the inmates mental health is unstable this can cause reoffending. Situation in prison can influence this (tough rules, lack of contact with family etc.) Addiction and violence all have reoffending potential

Question 14

recidivism

Answer 14

-(reoffending) rates are on the rise + causing concern
-149 000 (26%) reoffended within a year , others might without being caught
438000 proven re offences were committed within a year , with average of 2.9 offences per offender . Possible reasons: becoming institutionalised, mental health/addiction, non-adherence to behaviourist principles.
-

Question 15

recidivism research

Answer 15

-Cartier et al. (2006) link between drug abuse and recidivism rates. Clear link between the two but not supporting violent crimes. If not treated mental issues relating to drugs cause reoffending.
-Mallot & Fromader (2010) 102 male Australin prisoners asked about how they felt about release from prison and possibility of reoffending. They expressed fears relating to support outside of prison, resources, treatments all related to their recidivism. This supports the idea of institutionalisation.

Question 16

ao3

training + treatment

Answer 16

-one objective of imprisonment is rehabilitation offenders may become better during time in prison+imporved character means they may be able to lead a crime free lufe whne back in society
-many get education n training in there, ^ possibility they will find employement upon release
-vera institute of justice (shirley 2019) claims that offenders who take part in college education programmes r 435 less likely to reoffend following release+prisons who offer these programmes report fewer incidents of violence

Question 17

ao3 CS lim

high recidivism

Answer 17

-its meant to prevent it but thats not acc what happens staitsically
-hollin 1992 argues a large proportion of offenders seem to reoffend+this supports peterson et al 1981: estimates 8-10% of criminals r responsible for around 50% of all crimes
-this is important bc it suggests the aims of cs r not being met which puts greater strain on society

Question 18

ao3

doesnt deter

Answer 18

-eg davis+raymond 2000 argue prison sentences r only issued to satisfy society in order to make it look like something is being done by criminal justice system, therefore the root causes of crime r not addressed
-this is important as suggests that cs lacks any effectiveness as a deterrent+therefore other methods should be used

Question 19

ao3psych effects

difficult to show causality to mental health n prison

Answer 19

-eg its estimated 70% of prison pop have mental health condition of some description, although ofc its difficult to tell if they have suffered from it previsouly or if its developed in prison=data is somewhat flawed
-this is important as it would help researchers to ascertain how serious the psychological effects of imprisonment r
=confound variables

Question 20

ao3

difficuklt research, no replicability

Answer 20

-research into prisoners is seldom carried out n so is difficult to replicate n thus rarely done
-eg blackburn 1993 pointed out that v few studies have been carried out into the emotional well being of prisoners which is perhaps down to social prejuidice towards criminals
-this is important bc w/out such data its difficult ot know whether immates should be offered psychological help+support which in turn might help the extent oif their rehabilitation

Question 21

ao3 recidivism

little research carried out in post release enviroment

Answer 21

eg mosty research in this area is focused on prison n prisoners showing little concern for what happens afterwards which is problematic as this is perhaps where prisoners require greatest amount of support
-eg mallot + fromander 2010 found prisoners tend to report lack of post release car n support= greater recidivism
-this is important bc its difficult to address recidivism until a prisoner has been released form prison