FP- Custodial Sentencing Flashcards
What is custodial sentencing?
Custodial sentencing involves a convicted offender spending time in prison or another closed institution, such as a young offenders institute or psychiatric hospital.
What are the aims of custodial sentencing?
1) Deterrence
2) Incapacitation
3) Retribution
4) Rehabilitation
What is deterrence?
When an unpleasant prison experience is designed to put an individual off engaging in offending behaviour?
What are the two levels of deterrence?
1) General deterrence
2) Individual deterrence
What is the aim of general deterrence?
General deterrence aims to send a broad message to the members of a society that crime will not be tolerated.
What is the aim of individual deterrence?
Individual deterrence aims to prevent the individual from repeating the same crime
What is the aim of incapacitation?
- Incapacitation is when the offender is taken out of society to prevent them from reoffending as a means of protecting the public.
- The need for incapacitation dependsupon the severity of the offence and the nature of the offender.
What is the aim of retribution?
Retribution is when society is enacting revenge for the crime by making the offender suffer, and the level of suffering should be proportionate to the crime.
What is the aim of rehabilitation?
- Upon release, prisoners should be better adjusted and ready to take their place in society.
- Prison should provide opportunities to develop skills, receive training or to access treatment programs for addiction, as well as receive counselling and have an opportunity to reflect on theircrime.
According to research, which psychological effects are associated with serving time in prison?
1) Psychological disorders
2) Institutionalisation: Spending time in prison leads to a lack of autonomy,conformity to the role of prisoner and a dependency on prison culture
3) Brutalisation: Prison acts as a school for crime and reinforces criminal lifestyle and criminal norms. This leads to high recidivism, 70% of young offenders re-offend within two years.
4) Labelling: –Prisoners often lose touch with previous social contacts and find it difficult to gain employment because they are labelled as a criminal.
Which psychological disorders are seen in prison? (Study by Prison Reform Trust)
- Prisons have higher incidences of mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, self-harm, suicide, and low self-esteem.
- A study by the Prison Reform Trust (2014) found that 25% of women and 15% of men in prison reported symptoms of psychosis. The oppressive prison regime can trigger psychological disorders.
Evaluate custodial sentencing. (ADVANTAGES)
1) Custodial sentencing can be useful.
- It shows that justice has been done and limits the danger to the public.
- Many prisoners access education and training whilst in prison, increasing the chance they will find employment upon release. - Also, treatment programmes, such as anger management therapy and social skills training may help offenders modify their behaviour and so avoid reoffending.
Evaluate custodial sentencing. (DISADVANTAGES)
1) Suicide rates are 15% higher in the prison population than they are in the general population.
- However, it is difficult to demonstrate that psychological disorders are caused by imprisonment.
- Prisoners with psychiatric conditions may very well have had problems before they were institutionalised in the first place.
2) The courts need to be selective about who they send to prison, 8–10% of criminals commit 50% of all crimes (Peterson 1981). - Custodial sentencing is best reserved for repeat offenders.
3) Crime prevention is more effective than custodial sentencing because it avoids labelling a person as a criminal and also avoidsthe negative consequences of prison.
- Alternative sentences, such as community service, are more effective for low-risk offenders because they can keep their social contacts and their job.
