Effect of imprisonment Flashcards
Whats
non-custodial punishments
custodial sentences
fines, community service or probation
prisons, secure psychiatric hospitals, residential centres for young offenders
What did Dooley find
Investigated unnatural deaths that occurred in prisons in England and Wales between 1972 and 1987
Found overcrowding and prisoner’s stress levels can lead to suicide and unnatural deaths
Dooley
- Sampling bias
- Ethnocentrism
- Reliablility
SAMPLING BIAS
- only looked at unnatural deaths in prisoners imprisoned in England and Wales
- differences in crowding, rehabilitation between countries
ETHNOCENTRISM
- views on imprisonment, rehabilitation, overcrowding differ country to country
RELIABILITY
-content analysis was standardised
- used data from gov records and checklist of offenders history
Effectiveness of prisons
Not always effective at reducing recidivism
- commits same crime after being punished for it
When offenders released, they have poor job prospects which makes them turn to crime again
Doesn’t work as 29% prisoners reoffend
Because prisons fail to rehabilitate prisoners by helping them learn new skills/ changing their behaviour
Forms of rehabilitation
Anger management - therapy used to help prisoners understand how to manage anger
Social skills training - help them have relationships
Background - Gills
- aim
- sample
AIM - too see relationship between employment and recidivism
SAMPLE - 23,000 CANADIAN offenders released on parole between JAN 1 1996 - JAN 1 2005
- 95% sample were men
Background - Gills
- findings
Both employed men and women were less likely to reoffend and remained on parole till sentence was complete
Employment decreases recidivism/reoffending
Background - Gills
- Sampling bias
-ethnocentrism
SAMPLING BIAS
- large sample of 20,000 offenders
- however androcentric sample (95% men)
ETHNOCENTRIC
- Canadian offenders so recidivism rates may be different in other countries
- non-western countries have different views on imprisonment
- Middle East have harder punishments so likely to affect recidivism rates
Background - Gills
- Reliability
- Validity
RELIABILITY
- collected quantitative data on reoffending
- data analysed using computer software
VALIDITY
- matched two groups of offenders on participant variables eg, age, length of sentence
- low experimenter bias as content analysis using computer software
KEY RESEARCH - HANEY
- Aim
- Sample
AIM - to see if his participants would conform to their roles as guards or prisoners
SAMPLE - 22 healthy male, US college students were selected from a pool of 75 respondents. They were paid $15 a day to take part. Anyone with mental health issues weren’t used.
KEY RESEARCH - HANEY
- Procedure
A mock prison was created in the basement of the psychology building at Stanford University
Participants were randomly allocated role of ‘guard’ or ‘prisoner’. Prisoners remained in mock prisons for 24 hrs a day, while guards worked three-man 8 hr shifts
The guards were allowed to make up the rules but no physical aggression was allowed. The prisoners were referred by their number + supervised all the time
In order to promote feelings of anonymity, participants in each group were issued with identical uniforms eg. loose smocks
The guards wore khaki shirts and trousers, tinted glasses and carried batons
KEY RESEARCH - HANEY
- Results
The participants quickly lost their true identity and took on their assigned roles
Participants given role of ‘prisoner’ demonstrated range of negative emotions eg. crying, some release early due to acute anxiety or depression
Pariticpants given role of ‘guards’ used their power and authority to control the prisoners eg. punishment
The experiment was supposed to last 2 weeks but stopped after 6 days
Explanation
Zimbardo and pathological prisoner syndrome
explains social deterioration of prisoners as pathological prisoner syndrome
at start, prisoners rebelled against conditions, but guards undermined every attempt at rebellion, any solidarity between prisoners collapsed. - mentally ill
Processes contributing to syndrome
- loss of personal identity
- arbitrary control exercised by guards
- dependency and emasculation
Loss of personal identity
- stripped of individuality, name, dress, appearance, behaviour style and history
- living with strangers who don’t know your true identity weakened self-identity
Arbitrary control exercised by guards
- on post-experimental questionnaire, prisoners said they disliked the way the they were subject to arbitrary + changeable rules of guards
- smiling at joke could be punished in the same way failing to smile might be
- unpredictable environment meant prisoners behaviour showed signs of learnt helplessness
Dependency and emasculation
dependent on guards for functions eg. going to toilet, reading, ciggarette
emasculinity - smocks worn without underwear
- prisoners suggested in debriefing they had been assigned to be prisoners as they were smaller than guards
> no difference in average height
sugggested it was related to prisoners lack of power
Conclusions of Haney
The situation caused the prisoners and guards to change their behaviour
Prisoners can become deinvidualated
KEY RESEARCH - HANEY
- Sampling bias
- Ethnocentrism
SAMPLING BIAS
- 22 male college students at Stanford UNI, Self-selected
- androcentric
- middle class
- more obliged to take on roles
ETHNOCENTRISM
- one culture, USA
- could’ve been more aggressive than other cultures
- all white - no ethnic diversity
KEY RESEARCH - HANEY
- RELIABILITY
-VALDIDITY
RELIABILITY
- controlled observation in lab conditions
- standardised procedure
- all prisoners/guards given same instructions ‘to exert control over the prisoners.
= all wore same uniform/smocks
- HOWEVER NO INTER-RATER RELIABILITY
VALIDITY
- randomly given role of ‘prisoners’ or ‘guards’
- if chosen role, personality could’ve effected how they behaved
- demand characteristics
- guards later claimed they were simply acting
- behaviour may not be influenced by same factors in real life
- threat of violence/discrimination which occurs in real prison was not there
-evidence for way they reacted was real
- 90% prisoners private conversation were on the prison conditions, 10% were about life outside prison
Strategies for Reoffending
> Restorative justice
JETS programme
Explain restorative justice
brings those who harmed by crime and those responsible for harm into communication.
victim has chance to ask questions and how crime impacted them while discouraging re-offending’s
HOW
- practitioner invites victim and offender to meeting
- encourages offender to talk about crime + why they agreed to RJ. Often apologises
- victim asked to explain how crime impacted them
- victim reassured steps have been taken to stop crime happening again eg. attending rehabilitation programme
WHY
- can be adapted to needs of individual situation
can work on no. of different crimes/offenders
stop reoffending
+ offender reflect on crime + less likely to be affected
+ hears victim point of view they realise crime isn’t victimless and may develop empathy for victim
+ linked with having lowest recidivism rates in world
Explain CBT - JETS (Juvenile Estate Thinking Skills)
- irrational beliefs linked to crime eg. errors in logic
(thinking you haven’t harmed anyone when rob house) - changes unrealistic thoughts, aimed at young offenders aged 14-17
HOW
- ABC model
Activation - asked about situation that led them to commit
Beliefs - young offender asked to identify negative beliefs linked to activation
Consequences - asked to consider the -ve consequences + feelings that happened as a result of -ve beleifs
- therapies sets homework to encourage more realistic thinking
PART 1 - individually offender completes exercises in workbook > asked what they would think in different scenarios to identify errors in logic
PART 2 - group session with 6 young offenders
- focus on what happens on release from custody + how they get support in community ( build self-confidence+ social skills)
WHY
- 71% JETS group reconvicted compared to 90% control group in 2015
- can reduce recidivism rates
- young offenders JETS programme were less likely to be convicted
