custodial sentencing Flashcards
What is custodial sentencing?
Spending time in prison
What are the reasons for custodial sentencing?
Deterrence
Incapacitation
Retribution
Rehabilitation
What is deterrence?
Puts individual off committing crime
General deterrence - broad message to public
Individual deterrence - prevents individual from repeating crime
Conditioning through punishment
What is incapacitation?
Protecting the public
Depends on severity
What is retribution?
Revenge, makes offender suffer
Prison best for this option
Alternatives are too soft
What is rehabilitation?
Reform
Offenders leave feeling better adjusted
Develop skills
Treatment and reflection
What are the effects of custodial sentencing?
Stress and depression
Institutionalisation
Prisonisation
What are stress and depression?
Suicide and self harm higher in prison
Stress increases risk of disturbance following release
What is institutionalisation?
Accustomed to routines of prison so can’t function outside
What is prisonisation?
Socialised into adopting inmate code
Behaviour that is unacceptable outside is encouraged inside
What are the rates of recidivism?
57% reoffend within a year of release in UK
14 prisons offer rates of 70%
How do recidivism rates differ culturally?
High in UK and US
Lowest in Europe is Norway
More emphasis on rehabilitation
Soft option?
Evaluation - evidence supports psychological effects
Bartol - imprisonment is brutal and demeaning
25% of women showed signs of psychosis
Evaluation - individual differences
Different prisons have different regimes Wide variations in reactions Length of sentence affects it Many had pre existing conditions Hard to judge prisons
Evaluation - opportunities for training and treatment
Rehabilitation schemes increase possibility of reemployment
Social skills training - insight into behaviour reducing recidivism
Worthwhile experience
