Custodial Sentencing

Question 1

What is Deterrence (Aim)

Answer 1

. Unpleasant prison experience is designed to put off individuals from engaging in offending behaviour
. Based on behaviourist idea of conditioning through punishment

Question 2

What is general deterrence

Answer 2

Aims to send broad message to society

Question 3

What is individual deterrence

Answer 3

Prevent individual from repeating same crime

Question 4

What is incapacitation

Answer 4

Offender taken out of society to protect the public

Question 5

What is retribution

Answer 5

Society is enacting revenge - level of suffering should be proportionate to seriousness of crime

Question 6

What is rehabilitation

Answer 6

. Many see main aim of prison is to reform
. Should provide opportunities to develop skills/training or access to treatment programmes

Question 7

What are the 3 psychological effects of custodial sentencing

Answer 7

. Stress and depression = suicide considerably higher

. Institutionalisation = no longer able to function outside after adapting to norms and routines of prison life

. Prisonisation = prisoners socialised into adapting an ‘inmate code’

Question 8

What are the problems of recidivism

Answer 8

. Stats suggest 57% of UK offenders reoffend within a year
. England and Wales recorded offending rates of 70%+ some of the highest in the world

Question 9

Evaluation

Answer 9

Negative effects of custodial sentencing (W)
Bartol = for many offenders, imprisonment can be brutal. Last 20yrs suicide rates of offenders 15x higher

Individual Differences (W)
Different prisons have different regimes, likely to be wide variations as well as length of sentence and previous prison experience

Opportunities for Training and Treatment (S)
Many prisoners access education and training whilst in prison, treatment programmes such as anger management schemes