Forensic: 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.
Custodial sentencing is a form of punishment that removes an individual from society
What is the aim of deterrence in custodial sentencing?
To discourage individuals or society from engaging in offending behaviour
Deterrence works on two levels: general and individual
What is general deterrence?
Aims to send a broad message to society that crime will not be tolerated
What approach is general deterrence based on?
Social learning theory (SLT) and vicarious reinforcement
Observing someone get punished prevents imitation of the behaviour
Observing someone get punished prevents imitation of the behaviour.
What is individual deterrence?
Prevents the individual from repeating the same offences based on their experience
Focuses on the personal impact of punishment
What approach is individual deterrence based on?
Behaviourist approach, operant conditioning
Uses punishment to prevent behaviour from being repeated.
What is the aim of incapacitation in custodial sentencing?
To take the offender out of society to prevent reoffending
it Protects the public from potential harm
What factors determine the need for incapacitation?
Severity of the offence and nature of the offender
For example, more protection is needed from a serial murderer than from a tax evader.
What is retribution in custodial sentencing?
Society enacts revenge by making the offender suffer proportionate to the seriousness of the offence
What is the aim of rehabilitation in custodial sentencing?
To reform the individual rather than just punish
Offenders should leave prison better adjusted and ready to reintegrate into society
What opportunities does prison provide for rehabilitation?
Development of skills, training, treatment programmes for addiction
it allows offenders to reflect on their offences
what are the 3 psychological effects of custodial sentencing
Stress and depression
Institutionalisation
Prisonisation
outline stress and depression
Suicide rates are considerably higher in prison than in the general population, as are incidents of self-mutilation and self-harm.
The stress of the prison experience also increases the risk of developing
psychological disorders following release
outline institutionalisation
Having adapted to the norms and routines of prison life, inmates become so accustomed to these that they are no longer able to function on the outside
outline 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 inside the walls of the institution
What is recidivism?
Reoffending; a tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behaviour
recindivism rates indicate to what extent prison acts as an effective deterrent.
What is the typical recidivism rate reported by the UK Ministry of Justice within one year of release?
About 45% (Yukhnenko et al)
What factors can make it difficult to obtain clear figures for recidivism rates?
Whether looking at reoffending within a year of release or a longer period.
What is the typical recidivism rate in the US, Australia, and Denmark according to Yukhnenko et al (2019)?
Rates in excess of 60%.
What is the recidivism rate in Norway according to Yukhnenko et al, and why is it significant?
As low as 20%; significant due to less emphasis on incarceration and greater emphasis on rehabilitation.
Which factors might cause reoffending rates to vary?
- Time period after release
- Age of offender
- Crime committed
- Country
AO3: negative psychological effects
Bartol (1995) has suggested that, imprisonment can be ‘brutal, demeaning and generally devastating.’
According to the Ministry of Justice, a record 119 people killed themselves in prisons in England and Wales in 2016 – an increase of 32% on the
previous year > an average of 1 suicide every 3 days – almost 9 times higher than in the general population. Most at risk
are single young men during the first 24 hours of confinement. The Prison Reform Trust (2014) found that 25% of women and 15% of men in prison reported symptoms of psychosis(e.g. schizophrenia)
supports the view that oppressive prison regimes may be detrimental to psychological health which could impact on rehabi litation
COUNTER: figures in the Prison Reform Trust study do not include the number of inmates who were experiencing psychotic symptoms before imprisonment > many of those convicted may have pre-existing psychological and emotional difficulties at the time they were convicted (this may explain their offending behaviour in the first place)
The importation model argues that prisoners may import some of their psychological problems
we also 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 the prison is like.
This suggests there may be confounding variables that influence the link between prison and its psychological effects
AO3: opportunity for training and treatment
The main objective of prison is not to punish but to reform the individual. Upon release, offenders should leave prison better adjusted and ready to take their place back into society
The Vera Institute of Justice (Shirley, 2019) claims that offenders who take part in college education programmes are
43% less likely to reoffend following release, and that prisons who offer these programmes report fewer incidents of
violence
STRENGTH as it suggests prison may be a worthwhile experience assuming offenders are able to access the programmes
AO3: school for crime
offenders may learn to become better offenders they may undergo a more dubious ‘education’ as part of their sentence
Incarceration with long-term offenders may give younger inmates in particular the opportunity to learn the ‘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
LIMITATION as this form of ‘education’ may undermine attempts to rehabilitate prisoners and consequently may make reoffending more likely
