Forensic Psychology - Custodial Sentencing

Question 1

What are the 4 aims of custodial sentencing?

Answer 1

Deterrence
Incapacitation
Retribution
Rehabilitation

Question 2

What are the 2 different types of deterrence?

Answer 2

Individual
General

Question 3

What is deterrence?

Answer 3

Deterrence is where a threat of an unpleasant experience serves to prevent the behaviours in the future

Question 4

What are individual deterrences?

Answer 4

Individual deterrences - preventing the offender from committing the same crime in the future

Question 5

Hat are general deterrences?

Answer 5

General deterrence - to deter the rest of the population from committing the same time. Crime is not tolerated

Question 6

Explain incapacitation

Answer 6

While a person is incapacitated they are not free to commit crimes
Some offenders are seen as dangerous so incapacitation will prevent future victims
The level of incapacitation will be dependent on the severity of the crime

Question 7

Explain retribution

Answer 7

Focuses on the feelings of the victim, their family or society generally
Society is enacting revenge for the crime by punishing the offender
A crime has been committed and should receive a suitable punishment

Question 8

Explain rehabilitation

Answer 8

Prison should reform prisoners so that upon release they will not reoffend
Counselling and offender programmes are sometimes offered in prisons so the offenders has the opportunity to learn skills
They are then in a position to lead a crime free life upon release

Question 9

State the prison stats

Answer 9

In 2013 the MoJ said that 57% of UK offenders will reoffend within a year of release
2023 - 83,000 men in prison 3,000 women in prison

Question 10

What is a fancy way to say reoffending?

Answer 10

Recidivism rate

Question 11

What is prisonisation?

Answer 11

this refers to the way that prisoners are socialised into adopting an inmate code where antisocial behaviour may be encouraged or rewarded

Question 12

What is the main negative effect of custodial sentencing?

Answer 12

Suicide rates

Question 13

Explain the study about depression and suicide risk in prisons

Answer 13

Dooley (1990) depression and suicide risk in prisons

Case notes of 295 of the 300 suicides hat happened in prison between 1972 and 1987 were studied
Risk groups: prisoners serving life sentences and those convicted of violent or sexual offences

They found an association between suicide and guilt
They also found a history of psychiatric problems in about as third of cases

Question 14

What reasons did Crighton and Towl suggest for suicides in prison?

Answer 14

Over crowding
Low staff to offender ratio
Lack of access to medical services and exercises
Increased risk of physical assault
Settling in a new environment (suicide risk is higher in the first 30 days)

Question 15

What are the positive effects of custodial sentencing?

Answer 15

Inmates may feel remorse
Inmates may get new opportunities in life as they may have access to a law degree etc
Inmates may have access to medical treatments such as anger management therapy

Question 16

What reasons are common for prisoners to self harm?

Answer 16

They feel frustrated about being incarcerated
They want to regain control

Question 17

What is institutionalisation?

Answer 17

This is when inmates become accustomed to life inside prison and cannot operate normally on the outside.

Question 18

Give an example of institutionalisation?
Explain a bit further?

Answer 18

SPE (even the guards became institutionalised)

Question 19

Why may poorer areas have a higher crime rate?

Answer 19

People may need to steal for survival
People may like the 3 meals a day and the accommodation

Question 20

What are the positive evaluations of custodial sentencing?
Why are many of these positives?

Answer 20

Suicidal effects of prisons
Suicide and self harm
Institutionalisation
Prisonisation
Recidivism rates - mental health
Opportunities for rehabilitation and training

They can be used to show problems which can then be improved

Question 21

What are the negative evaluations for custodial sentencing?

Answer 21

Universities for rehabilitation
Methodology problems
Individual differences
Recidivism rates - drugs and rehabilitation
Opportunities for training and rehabilitation
Alternatives

Question 22

Explain the positive evaluation of custodial sentencing: Suicidal effects of prisons

Answer 22

Bartol (1995)- “prison can be brutal, demeaning and generally devastating”
■ Suicide rates of prisoners are around 15x higher than those within the general population(in the last 20 years).
■ Young , single men in the first 24 hours of confinement are most at risk.
■ Prison Reform Trust (2014) found that 25% of women and 15% of men reported symptoms indicative of psychosis

Question 23

Explain the positive evaluations of custodial sentencing: Suicide and Self Harm

Answer 23

Snow (2006)
■ Examined characteristics of prisoners who self-harm compared to those who are suicidal. Both showed psychological effects of being in prison.
■ She found that the offenders who self-harm are qualitatively different to those who take their lives or attempt suicide, in that the self-harmers display high levels of anger and stress whereas the ones who are suicidal withdraw and show signs of depression.
■ Both are clearly showing signs of the psychological effects of incarceration and a decline in mental health.

Question 24

Explain the positive evaluation of custodial sentencing: Institutionalisation

Answer 24

Hollin (1992)
Hollin stated in his research that there was evidence to suggest that prisons became ‘home’ to some prisoners. The fact that they received three meals a day together with a bed and companionship was preferable to them, than what they had to deal with outside of prison.

Question 25

Explain the positive evaluations of custodial sentencing: Prisonisation

Answer 25

Cheeseman (2003)
■ Many aggressive incidents occurred in prison due to the need to relieve stress.
■ Suggests aggressive incidents could be a result of the surroundings.

Question 26

Explain the positive evaluations of custodial sentencing: Recidivism rates - mental health

Answer 26

Coid (2007)
■ The mental health of prisoners has a direct impact on recidivism rates.
■ Those who received treatment for mental health problems in prison were 60% less likely to reoffend than untreated prison inmates.
■ They were also 80% less likely to commit violent acts.

Question 27

Explain the mixed evaluation of custodial sentencing: Opportunities for rehabilitation and training

Answer 27

■ Access to education and training whilst in prisons allows offenders to better themselves and lead a crime free life.
■ Employment after release is a a factor for rehabilitation (Gillis et al., 1998).
■ Anger management and social skills training – reduce the likelihood of repeat offending

■ However: many prisons may lack the resources, to provide these programmes and evidence is not conclusive

Question 28

Explain the negative evaluation of custodial sentencing: Universities for crime rehabilitation

Answer 28

■ Alongside learning legitimate skills in prison, young offenders may learn from more experienced criminals.
■ Undermines attempts to rehabilitate younger inmates, making reoffending more likely.

Question 29

Explain the negative evaluation of custodial sentencing: Methodology

Answer 29

■ Difficult to know whether this is a result of prison or whether this was already part of the individual.
■ E.g. aggressiveness could be the reason people are in prison
■ Correlation rather than causation.
■ Individual differences between offenders based on length of time in prison, type of prison and type of offence.

Question 30

Explain the negative evaluation of custodial sentencing: Individual Differences

Answer 30

will behave in the same way
■ Length of sentence, reasons for incarceration and previous experience
■ Different prisons = different regimes

Question 31

Explain the negative evaluation of custodial sentencing: Drugs and Rehabilitation

Answer 31

Malott and Fromander (2010)
■ conducted a survey with 102 Australian male offenders asking them about their release and potential to reoffend.
■ Offenders felt unsupported upon release – a greater level of accessible resources, treatment and/or support services would help them not reoffend.
Cartier (2006)
Researched drug abuse and recidivism rates. Found a clear relationship between substance abuse and reoffending.

Question 32

Explain the negative evaluation of custodial sentencing: Alternatives

Answer 32

Davies and Raymond (2000)
■ government ministers exaggerate the benefits of prison in a bid to appear tough on crime.
■ In reality, it does little to benefit or deter others.
■ Community service and restorative justice – lower rates of reoffending
■ Open prisons – HMP Ford – have lost 90 prisoners due to absconding

Question 33

What is behaviour modification?

Answer 33

Behaviour modification copies principles in behaviouralism, specifically OC where positive and negative reinforcement is used

Question 34

What is the token economy?

Answer 34

A system (usually used in prisons) where you get a token which can be exchanged for some kind of reward for desired behaviours
The idea is that the prisoners get a reward and as a result so that the behaviour is then associated with that reward (secondary reinforcer)
You could also loose tokens for undesirable behaviour as a negative reinforcement

Question 35

What is important with the token economy?

Answer 35

It is important to make it clear why a prisoner is getting a reward or punishment:
• clearly defined behaviour (translucent) with a variety of rewards (inclusive) with clear reasons given (understood) and consistency

Question 36

What could be given as a reward to good behaviour in the token economy?

Answer 36

Conjugal visits

Question 37

What is is a conjugal visit?

Answer 37

A conjugal visit is a scheduled visit in which an inmate of a prison have several hours or days to be in private with a significant other (and may engage in sexual activity)

Question 38

Are conjugal visits legal in the UK?

Answer 38

No

Question 39

Who did research into conjugal visits?
When?

Answer 39

D’Alessio 2012

Question 40

What did D’Alessio find?

Answer 40

D’Alessio 2012 found that conjugal visits may be useful in reducing sexual and physical violence in prisons

This is a general benefit

Question 41

Explain Rices study

Answer 41

■ Rice (1990) examined the outcomes from 92 prisoners on a token economy programme in a maximum-security psychiatric hospital and found two things:
– 1 that if it was effective for an individual, then it continued to be so while in the institution
– 2 the success shown within the institution had no influence on the offender’s outcomes once released.
■ This seems to suggest that it works for certain individuals only, and only for a short term.
■ It also means the programme had no rehabilitative benefits.

Question 42

Explain the Reppucci and Saunders (1974) study

Answer 42

■ Reppucci and Saunders found that although the behaviour management programmes should be easy to run, in real life they are not.
■ This was due to institutional pressures, limited resources, and inconsistency with staff.

Question 43

What did Hobbs and Holt find?

Answer 43

■ Found that the introduction of a behaviour modification programme in three young offenders institutions reduced the amount of undesirable behaviour when compared with an institution that had no such programme (significant difference).

Question 44

What are the positive evaluations of conjugal visits?

Answer 44

Easy and hard to implement
Increased effectiveness

Question 45

What are the negative evaluations of conjugal visits?

Answer 45

Easy and hard to implement
Generalisability
Ethical issues
Effectiveness over time

Question 46

Explain the mixed evaluation of conjugal visits: Easy and Hard to Implement

Answer 46

■ No need for Specialists/expertise
■ Cost-effective and easy to follow method
Bassett and Blanchard (1977)
Benefits of the token economy system were lost when staff applied the rules inconsistently due to lack of training or high staff turnover. (Easy to get wrong)

Question 47

Explain the positive evaluation of the Token Economy: Increased Effectiveness

Answer 47

■ Field found that in a youth offender setting, prisoners responded more positively when rewards were more immediate, tailored to their needs and more frequent.

Question 48

Explain the negative evaluation of Token Economy: Generalisability

Answer 48

Token economies, according to Blackburn, “have little rehabilitative value” – any positive changes may quickly be lost when offenders are released.
Progress is unlikely to be assured upon release since law-abiding behaviour is not rewarded/reinforced on the outside.
Rewards the offender receives from breaking the law (such as group status) may be more powerful than abiding by the token economy.

Question 49

Explain the negative evaluation of Conjugal Visits: Ethical Issues

Answer 49

■ Terms and conditions are regarded as manipulative and dehumanising.
Moya and Achtenburg (1974)
Offenders are not given the option over whether they participate in the token economy. Withdrawal of privileges such as exercise or phone calls to loved ones may also be ethically questionable.

Question 50

Explain the negative evaluation of Conjugal Visits: Effectiveness over time

Answer 50

■ Compared a control group and token economy group. The token economy group showed more desirable behaviour than the control groups.
■ After 2 years, the token economy group were less likely to have reoffended.
■ However, after 3 years, rates of recidivism went back to reflecting national statistics.