Disparities in sentencing

Question 1

What are 5 aims of sentencing?

Answer 1

1) Punishment
2) Deterrence
3) Rehabilitation
4) Protect the public
5) Reparation

Question 2

What percentages of crown and magistrates courts gave a maximum sentence in 2006?

Answer 2

2.5 % in crown court cases

2% in magistrate court cases

Question 3

What is cafeteria sentencing?

Answer 3

Argues shouldn’t use same punishments, should consider the individual and crime (however, leads to inconsistency and discrimination)

Question 4

What did Hood (1992) do/find?

Answer 4

Studied data from 5 crown court centres in West mids. Found:
40% Asian Defendants
48% White Defendants
57% Black Defendants
received a custodial sentence

Question 5

What are the percentages of women being fined compared to men?

Answer 5

Women = 79.7 %
Men = 65.3 %

Question 6

What percentage of men over 21 are being imprisoned for charges compared to women?

Answer 6

9.9% of men compared to 2.7% of women

Question 7

What are some constraints (required to take into account)?

Answer 7

• Legislative criteria
• Tariff
• Precedent
• Sentencing guidelines
• Guideline judgments

Question 8

What are some evaluation points?

Answer 8

Some may be disadvantages due to geography
Ethnicity is hard to apply
Gender does impact in some forms of offending. esp. in children
It isn’t as clear cut as “more lighter/tougher” for women