effects of imprisonment

Question 1

what is restorative justice?

Answer 1

encourages offender to reflect on what they have done

Question 2

what did prison used to be? (16th-17th century)

Answer 2

used to be a place where people would wait for trial and punishment

everyone was imprisoned together

very poor conditions

Question 3

what was prison like in the 18th century? what did John Howard do?

Answer 3

prisoners were put to work for colonies

Howard insisted on reforms:
1) paid staff
2) outside inspections
3) proper diet
4) men and women should be separate
5) other necessities

Question 4

what was the prison system like in the 19th century?

Answer 4

imprisonment had been replaced by capital punishment for most serious cases

more prisons were built

abolition of hard labour - prisons should be productive, not harmful

Question 5

what was prison like in the 20th century

Answer 5

young people should be separate

first open prison should be built

Question 6

what are the UN standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners?

Answer 6

no discrimination

necessary to respect religious beliefs and moral precepts of group which prisoner belongs to

food

exercise

medical care

connection with the outside world

Question 7

what is the prison service mission statement?

Answer 7

her majesty’s prison service serves the public by keeping those in custody committed by the courts

Question 8

what happens in prison?

Answer 8

induction and assessment

rehab, education programmes, work

resettlement

Question 9

what is the effect of overcrowding

Answer 9

anecdotal evidence suggests that overcrowding causes an increase in reoffending

can produce psychological and physiological stress

Question 10

suicide in prison

Answer 10

new entrants have heightened risk

average suicide rate in UK is about 2 per week

Question 11

prison vs community

Answer 11

• deaths dues to illness and homicide significantly lower in prison
• deaths due to suicide significantly higher in prison

Question 12

Towl 1996 - strategies to help with prisoner suicide

Answer 12

• reduce numbers of remand prisoners and those with mental illness
• try to avoid negative consequences for prisoners who report suicidal thoughts
• enable staff to identify and assist prisoners withs suicidal feelings

Question 13

Buckstel and Kilman (1980) - review of 90 experimental studies

Answer 13

Found:

• methodological flaws
• crowding, phase of sentence and peer groups impact on personal functioning
• deterioration results from poor adaption to surroundings
• benign, passive and dependent personalities often adjust well
• intdeterminant sentencing leads to adjustment problems

Question 14

indeterminant sentencing

Answer 14

• time served can be extended

Question 15

what are the 8 central environmental concerns of prison inmates?

Answer 15

1) privacy
2) safety
3) structure
4) support
5) emotional feedback
6) social stimulation
7) activity
8) freedom

Question 16

what did Wooldredge (1999) find?

Answer 16

found that inmates who were depressed, anxious, stressed had greater concerns with:

safety, support, social stimulation, activity

Question 17

why is recidivism so high?

Answer 17

lack of financial resources

political climate

effective treatments have only been developed recently

Question 18

what were Redondo et al’s (2002) findings?

Answer 18

meta analysis of studies of the effectiveness of prison and community treatment programmes:

• differential in reoffending was 22% between the treated and untreated offenders
• best outcomes for educational programmes and CBT
• programmes in the community more effective than in prisons
• sex offending programmes had greater effects than programmes for other crimes

Question 19

argument that “nothing works”

Answer 19

treatments carried out by prison guards = unsuccessful

treatment by psychologists = successful

Question 20

what did Smith, Goggin and Gendreau (2002) find?

Answer 20

• recidivism was not lower when prison terms were given or when longer terms were served
• lack of impact on recidivism applies to juveniles, women and other minority groups just as much as men
• little evidence to suggest that longer sentences may be associated with increased recidivism

Question 21

what is a therapeutic prison

Answer 21

institutional environment which encourages their development as members of an effective community