Dealing with offending behaviour (the aims of custodial sentencing) Flashcards
What is custodial sentencing?
when an offender is found guilty in court, and as punishment, spends time in a prison (or young offender’s institution).
What is the main aim of custodial sentencing?
to prevent recidivism (reoffending).
What are the 4 main ways to prevent recidivism?
-Deterrence
-Retribution
-Confinement
-Rehabilitation
What is deterrence?
the unpleasant prison experience is designed to put off the individual
from re-engaging in offending behaviour.
How does deterrence work?
works on two levels (i) general
deterrence which aims to send a broad message to members of a society that crime will not be tolerated. (ii) Individual deterrence should prevent recidivism (re-offending) in light of their experience.
What is the idea behind retribution?
-that society is taking revenge for the
crime by making the offender suffer, and the level of suffering should be
proportionate to the seriousness of the crime.
-It is based on the idea that the offender should, in some way pay for their actions.
what is the idea behind confinement (incapacitation)?
that the offender is taken out of society, to prevent reoffending (recidivism) in the future, as a means of protecting the public.
-The need for confinement is likely to depend upon the severity of the offence and the nature of the offender.
What is rehabilitation?
-some believe that the main objective of prison is to reform.
-upon release, offenders should leave prison better adjusted and ready to take their place back in society.
-prison should provide opportunities to develop skills and
training, or to access treatment programmes for drug addiction, as well as give the offender the chance to reflect on their crime.
-this serves to try to reduce recidivism and protect society from future crimes being committed by the offender.
what is recidivism?
refers to reoffending (committing the same, or another, crime again)
following custodial sentencing.
What does it mean if recidivism rates are high?
this is a concern for society, as it has implications for the aims of custodial sentencing and suggests that current treatment programmes (e.g. behaviour modification and anger management) in prisons do not necessarily work, because recidivism is used as a measure of the effectiveness of custodial sentencing.
What is morgan (2002) suggest (recidivism)?
-that three quarters of young offenders, and about half of
adult offenders commit further offences within two years of release from prison.
-the explanations for recidivism are complex and are likely to be due to a combination of personal, sociological, economic, and lifestyle factors.
What are common explanations of recividism?
-Prison might make someone more likely to engage in criminal behaviour
-Being in prison can interfere with a person’s ability to obtain gainful employment
-Prison may not remedy the factors that caused a person to engage in criminal activity in the first place.
How can Prison might make someone more likely to engage in criminal behaviour explain recividism?
For example, whilst in prison, people might meet drug dealers with whom he or she can network, or might have to behave in a highly aggressive way to avoid being assaulted in prison
How can Being in prison can interfere with a person’s ability to obtain gainful employment explain recividism?
because of the person’s criminal record and because time in prison is time away from employment and the opportunity to gain skills.
How can Prison may not remedy the factors that caused a person to engage in criminal activity in the first place explain recividism?
In some cases, being in prison can make these problems worse.
-For example, a person with mental illness might not receive treatment in jail, causing their mental health issues to become worse.
-A significant proportion of the prison population has some type of mental health condition. (Bradley Report 2009 showed more than 90% of young offenders had a common mental health problem)
