dealing with offending behaviour: custodial sentencing Flashcards
what does custodial sentencing involve?
a convicted offender spending time in prison or another closed institution such as a young offender’s institute or psychiatric hospital
what are the 4 aims of custodial sentencing?
- deterrence
- incapacitation
- retribution
- rehabilitation
how does deterrence work?
- the unpleasant prison experience is designed to put off the individual or society at large from engaging in offending behaviour
- this view is based on the behaviourist idea of conditioning through vicarious punishment
what 2 levels does deterrence work on?
- general deterrence: aims to send a broad message to members of a given society that crime will not be tolerated
- individual deterrence: preventing the individual from repeating the same offences due to their experience
what is incapcitation?
offender is taken out of society to prevent them reoffending to protect the public
what does the need for incapcitation depend on?
- severity of the offence
- nature of the offender
- eg. individuals in society will require more protection from a serial murderer than someone who refuses to pay council tax
what is retribution?
- society enacting devenge for the offence by making the offender suffer
- level of suffering should be proportionate to the seriousness of the offence
what is retribution based on?
- biblical notion of an ‘eye for an eye’
- offender should in some way pay for their actions
why do many people see prison as the best possible option?
- sense of retribution and offenders paying for their actions
- alternatives to prisons are often critcised as soft options
what is rehabilitation?
upon release, offenders should leave prison better adjusted and ready to take their place back in society
what should prisons provide to rehabilitate an offender?
- opportunities to develop skills and training
- access to treatment programmes (eg. for drug addiction or anger)
- give the offender the chance to reflect on their offence
what are the possible psychological effects of custodial sentencing?
- stress
- depression
- institutionalisation
- prisonisation
psychological effects of CS: stress
stress of the prison experience increases the risk of developing psychological disorders following release
psychological effects of CS: depression
suicide rates are considerably higher in prison than in the general population, as are incidents of self-mutilation and self-harm
psychological effects of CS: institutionalisation
having adapted to the norms and routines of prison life, inmates may become so accustomed to these that they are no longer able to function on the outside
psychological effects of CS: prisonisation
- refers to the way in which prisoners are socialised into adopting an ‘inmate code’
- behaviour that may be considered unacceptable in the outside world may be encouraged and rewarded in prison
who is most at risk of the negative psychological effects of custodial sentencing?
young single men during the first 24 hours of confinement
what is recidivism?
- reoffending
- the tendency of a convicted offender to repeatedly relapse into a previous condition or mode of behaviour
what do recidivism rates in ex-prisoners tell us?
to what extent prison acts as an effective deterrent
why might it be difficult to obtain clear figures for recidivism rates?
- it depends whether you are looking at reoffending within a year of release or a longer period
- rates reported are only for the offendes caught
- typically in the UK the ministry of justice reports proven figures within one year of release
what has the UK figure for recidivism been in recent years?
about 45% (yukhnenko et al.2019, based on MoJ figures)
what factors do reoffending rates vary with? (4)
- time period after release
- age of offender
- crime committed
- country
how do recidivism rates vary from country to country?
- US, australia and denmark regularly record rates in excess of 60%
- in norway, rates may be as low as 20% (yukhnenko et al.)
- this is significant because in norway there is less emphasis on incarceration and greater emphasis on rehabilitation and skills development than elsewhere
evaluation: negative psychological effect (bartol 1995)
- suggested that, for many offenders, imprisonment can be ‘brutal, demeaning and generally devastating’
- this supports the view that oppressive prison regimes may be detrimental to psychological health which could impact on rehabilitation
evaluation: negative psychological effect (the guardian 2017)
- according to the MoJ, 119 people killed themselves in prisons in england and wales in 2016
- this is an increase of 29 (32%) on the previous year
- this equates to an average suicide of one every 3 days, which is almost 9 times higher than in the general population
evaluation: negative psychological effect (prison reform trust 2014)
- conducted a study which found that 25% of women and 15% of men in prison reported symptoms of psychosis (eg. schizophrenia)
evaluation: confounding variables that influence link between prison and its psychological effects
- figures in prison reform trust do not include the number of inmates who were experiencing psychotic symptoms before they were incarcerated
- many of those convicted may have pre-exisiting psychological and emotional difficulties at the time they were convicted, which may explain their offending behaviour in the first place
- the importation model argues that prisoners may import some of their psychological problems, so we do not know if this is a problem with the prison regime or something else, such as the trauma of being locked away regardless of what prison is like
evaluation: CS provides opportinuty for training and treatment
- offenders may become better people during their time in prison, and their improved character means they may be able to lead a crime-free life when back in society
- many offenders access education and training whilst in prison increasing the possibility they will find employment upon release
- vera institute of justice (shirley 2019) claims that offenders who take park in college education programmes are 43% less likely to reoffend following release, and that prisons who offer these programmes report fewer incidents of violence
evaluation: in prison, offenders may learn to become better offenders (latessa and lowenkamp 2006)
- concluded that placing low-risk offenders (in terms of recividism) with high-risk offenders makes it more likely that low-risk offenders will reoffend
- incarceration with long-term offenders may given younger inmates in particular the opportunities to learm tricks of the trade from more experienced prisoners
- offenders may also acquire criminal contacts whilst in prison that they may follow up when they are released
- this form of ‘education’ may undermine attempts to rehabilitate prisoners and consequently may make reoffending more likely
evaluation: conflicting views on the purpose of prison (onepoll 2015)
- survey found that 47% of respondents saw the primary purpose of prison as being to punish the offender for their wrongdoing
- many saw current prison regimes as ‘too soft’ that would not deter existing or would-be offenders
- 40% of respondents also held the view that prison’s main emphasis should be on reform and rehabilitation
- overcrowdoing and lack of funding were seen as barriers to access to training and treatment in prison that could mean that offenders are effectively reintegrated back into society
