Custodial sentencing

Question 1

What is custodial sentencing?

Answer 1

When an offender is found guilty in court they are sent to prison

Question 2

What are the purposes of custodial sentencing?

Answer 2

Retribution (punishment)
Deterrence
Rehabilitation
Incapacitation (confinement)

Question 3

What is retribution?

Answer 3

The offender will receive a punishment that will reflect the seriousness of crime and the level of moral fault (loss of liberties

→ Also about society exacting their revenge/getting their own back

Question 4

What is deterrence?

Answer 4

To discourage other people from committing a crime

Question 5

What are the 2 types of deterrence?

Answer 5

Individual deterrence and general deterrence

Question 6

What is individual deterrence?

Answer 6

To stop the criminal committing the same crime in the future

Question 7

What is general deterrence?

Answer 7

Aims to deter the rest of the population from committing the same crime

Question 8

What is rehabilitation?

Answer 8

To cure the offender from their deviance (e.g. drug treatments etc), counselling and therapy sessions are needed for this

Question 9

What is incapacitation?

Answer 9

Serious offenders, such as those who commit murder or rape, should be put in prison for the protection of the rest of society

Question 10

What do recidivism rates indicate about prisons?

Answer 10

Prisons do not deter - approximately 70% of young male offenders re-offend within 2 years

Question 11

Do prisons work?

Answer 11

• In 2007 there were 92 suicides.
• 80-90% of inmates have some mental health problem.
• It is the ‘home’ of the unskilled and the excluded

Question 12

What are the psychological effects of custodial sentencing?

Answer 12

• Mental health issues: involves problems such as anxiety, depression etc.
• The stress of the prison experience increases the risk of developing psychological disorders following release.

Question 13

What is the evidence for psychological effects of custodial sentencing?

Answer 13

The Prison Reform Trust (2014) found that 25% of women and 15% of men in prison reported signs of psychosis, supporting that custodial sentencing causes stress and depression and suggesting that it may not be suitable for psychologically vulnerable individuals

Question 14

What is prisonisation?

Answer 14

Where prisoners are socialised into adopting the ‘inmate code’. This behaviour may be considered unacceptable in the outside world, whereas it may be encouraged and rewarded inside the walls of the institution