Dealing with offending behaviour

Question 1

What are the aims of custodial sentencing?

Answer 1

1. Deterrence
2. Incapacitation
3. Retribution
4. Rehabilitation

Question 2

What is deterrence?

Answer 2

Prison should be an unpleasant experience. So someone who serves a prison sentence should never wish to serve another. The thought of prison should act as a deterrent to others and prevent them from committing crime

Question 3

What is incapacitation?

Answer 3

Taking a criminal out of circulation means they are unable to commit further crime, keeping society safe

Question 4

What is retribution?

Answer 4

Society is taking revenge on the criminal. They are paying for their crimes by having their freedom taken from them

Question 5

What is rehabilitation?

Answer 5

Prison can be used to reform criminal through training, education and therapy, so they leave prison a changed person

Question 6

what are the psychological effects of custodial sentencing?

Answer 6

1. Stress and Depression
2. Institutionalisation
3. Prisonisation

Question 7

What were Zimbardo’s main conclusions?

Answer 7

were that situational factors were more useful for explaining the behavior of prisoners and guards than individual ones. Zimbardo’s participants conformed to their ideas of how prisoners and guards should behave

Question 8

What sis Curt Bartol suggest?

Answer 8

that prison is ‘brutal, demeaning and generally devastating’. Suicide rates are generally 15 times higher than in society in general. Most at risk are young, single men in the first 24 hours of incarceration. Around 25% of female and 15% of male prisoners have symptoms of psychosis (severe mental illness)

Question 9

Individuall differences

Answer 9

Not all prisoners react in the same way to incarceration. Some the punishment should fit the individual, not necessarily the crime!

Question 10

What is the aim of prison?

Answer 10

to punish and rehabilitate offenders in the hope that they will not re-offend

Question 11

What is recidivism?

Answer 11

Re-offending

Question 12

What is prisons recording for reducing reoffending?

Answer 12

57% of offenders will reoffend within a year of release (2013)

Question 13

Percentage of 18yo reconvicted within a year of release?

Answer 13

Over two-thirds (67%)

Question 14

What must be done in order to reduce recidivism?

Answer 14

punishment needs to fit the individual as well as the crime and more research is needed into reducing the negative psychological effects of imprisonment. The aim should be for offenders to leave prison fully reformed and ready to take on the role of a productive and law-abiding citizen

Question 15

Alternatives to imprisonment?

Answer 15

Given that we know prison doesn’t work we need alternatives. Some alternatives include probation and restorative justice. However, the government is reluctant to invest in prisoners, due to economic restraints and public opinion. But, this is a short-sighted approach, in order to cut crime and recidivism rates investment is needed (Economic implication)

Question 16

What do therapies based on the principles of operant conditioning aim to bring?

Answer 16

specific changes in behavior. This is known as behavior modification. It involves rewarding ‘appropriate’ behavior and withholding rewards for ‘inappropriate’ behavior.

Question 17

How does the approach of behaviour modification work best?

Answer 17

with children or in institutions such as mental hospitals, schools and prisons. For example, children can be observed and supervised by parents and teachers working with therapists. As a result, their behavior can be consistently and systematically reinforced

Question 18

What do token economies illustrate?

Answer 18

application of operant conditioning principles to adults in institutional settings

Question 19

What did Hobbs and Holt (1976) introduce?

Answer 19

a token economy programme with young delinquents in three behavioral units, a fourth acted as a control. They observed a significant improvement in positive behavior as a result of the introduction of the token economy. Allyon (1979) found similar effects in an adult prison.

Question 20

What is a positive of using token economies?

Answer 20

easy to implement and do not require specialist training or expense, like other therapies such as Anger Management. But, all staff must implement them consistently if they are to work

Question 21

What are anger management programmes a form of?

Answer 21

Cognitive behavioral Therapy (CBT), they aim to change the way a prisoner thinks and therefore the way they act

Question 22

What are the three stages of anger management?

Answer 22

1) Cognitive Preparation
2) Skill Acquisition
3) Application practice

Question 23

What is the offender encouraged to reflect in cognitive preparation?

Answer 23

to reflect on their past behaviors and what makes them angry. The therapist works with them to show them that their response is irrational and helps them to redefine the situations as non-threatening. They are taught to recognise their own triggers for anger

Question 24

What is skill acquistion?

Answer 24

The offenders are taught a range of techniques and skills to enable them to avoid triggers and deal with anger-provoking situations more rationally. They might require training in assertiveness and effective communication. They are taught how to control their own emotions, rather then being ruled by them

Question 25

What is application pratice?

Answer 25

their new skills through role-play. The therapist will deliberately provoke them to see how they react. The therapist will positively reinforce successful strategies

Question 26

What did Ireland (2000) investigate?

Answer 26

whether anger management courses work

Question 27

What did Ireland use?

Answer 27

A natural experiment compared a group of 50 prisoners who had completed CALM and a group of 37 who were assessed as suitable, but had not actually taken the course

Question 28

What did the prisoners who had completed CALM rated themselves?

Answer 28

lower on the anger questionnaire and were rated lower by the prison officers, than the control group. 92% showed improvements on at least one measure of aggression and anger

Question 29

What were Ireland’s conclusions?

Answer 29

In the short-term the treatment seemed effective, but there is no re-offending data

Question 30

What is a strength with anger management?

Answer 30

more likely to lead to a permanent change in behavior than behavior modification programmes (token economies) as it focuses on changing the way an offender both thinks and behaves

Question 31

What does restorative justice usually involve?

Answer 31

a supervised mediation meeting between the victim and the offender with a trained mediator

Question 32

what is the victim give the opportunity to do?

Answer 32

The victim is given the opportunity to confront the offender and explain the impact the crime has had on their life.

Question 33

What does the offender have to do?

Answer 33

The offender has to face up to the consequences of their actions and this starts the rehabilitation process

Question 34

What does restorative justice have to be?

Answer 34

voluntary for all parties and seeks a positive outcome. It is respectful and not degrading for either offender or victim

Question 35

What are the aims of Restorative Justice?

Answer 35

• Rehabilitation of Offenders
• Atonement for Wrongdoing
• Victim’s Perspective

Question 36

What is a criticism of restorative justice?

Answer 36

tough both for victims and offenders. For offenders they have to face up to the consequences of their actions, but for victims they may be forced to relive frightening and upsetting experiences

Question 37

What has the UK Restorative Justice Council (2015) report?

Answer 37

85% satisfaction from victims who had taken part in face-to-face restorative justice meetings

Question 38

What did Sherman and Strang review?

Answer 38

20 studies, involving 142 men convicted of violence and property offences, who had taken part in restorative justice, only 11% reoffended, compared to 37% of a matched control group