Dealing with offending behaviour Flashcards
Custodial sentencing
A judicial sentence determined by a court
Offender is punished by serving time in prison
Or in any other institution
Purpose of custodial sentencing
- Deterrence
- Incapacitation
- Rehabilitation
- Retribution
- Deterrence
The idea that prisons should be an unpleasant experience so they won’t ever want to go back
- Incapacitation
Taking criminals off the street to keep society safer
Stops them from committing further crimes
- Retribution
Society taking revenge on a criminal by taking away their freedom
Makes them pay for the crimes they’ve committed
- Rehabilitation
Idea that prisons can reform prisoners through training, therapy and education
Ensures prisoners leave as better people as well as being more employable
Psychological affects of custodial sentencing
- Depression
- Stress
- Institutionalisation
- Prisonation
Stress and depression
CURT BARTOL (1995)
Suicide rates are 15% higher than the general population
More at risk- Single men under 24 in the first 24 hours of custody
25% women and 15% men reported symptoms of psychosis
Custodial sentencing isn’t effecting in rehabilitating those who are particularity psychological vulnerable
ABRAMSON (1989)
Depression is caused by both helplessness and hopelessness
In 2018 there were 10,000 known incidents of self harm
Institutionalisation
Having adapted to the norms of prison life may make it hard to adapt to life outside
Prisonisation
Behaviour is unacceptable outside of the prison are encouraged
Some behaviours are encouraged and rewarded which wouldn’t be in the real world
Effectiveness of prisons
50% don’t have the skills required for 96% of jobs
50% have been excluded from school
May not have reached the literacy and numeracy levels accepted by an 11 year old
Behaviour modification
Involves increasing and decreasing negative behaviours by manipulating the environment
Token economies
A technique used in behaviour therapy to reinforce the behaviour by giving tokens for appropriate behaviour
(can be cashed in for something desirable)
Miltenberger’s 7 components of behaviour modification
- Target behaviours are identified
- Types of tokens are decided
- Primary reinforces are decided
- Reinforcement schedule
- Exchange criterion- How many tokens/positive entries are needed for the final reward
- Time/place for exchange to take place
- Penalty/fine for engaging in undesirable behaviours
After a target behaviour is established a baseline is indetifies
Progress is monitored
Hobbs + Holt (1976)
Introduced token economy programme with groups of young delinquents across 3 behavioural units
Observed a significant difference in positive behaviour compared to a non-token economy control group