LO2 - A.C 2.3

Question 1

What are life sentences ?

Answer 1

• Most serious punishment in the UK the court can give
• Judge sets a minimum time an offender must spend in prison before they are eligible for release by the parole board
• Parole board will decide whether to release or not
• If successful will be released on license where they have follow a set of rules
• remains on license for the rest f their life
• 2018, 10,000 were serving a life sentence account for 14% of prison population

Question 2

What are mandatory life sentences ?

Answer 2

• This is compulsory and must be given to those guilty of murder
• Discretionary life sentences can also be given for serious offences such as rape
• In very serious cases, a judge may sentence and offender to a whole life term - offender will never be released

Question 3

What are intermediate sentences ?

Answer 3

• Set minimum time offenders must serve in prisons
• Offenders have no automatic right to released after the minimum term has been served
• Parole board decided whether to release the offender
• If agreed will be released on licence

Question 4

What are Determinate sentences ?

Answer 4

One with a fixed length
Most prisoners in the UK serve determinate sentences (60-65000 in 2018)
- In most cases, not all of the Sentencing will be served in prison. E.g if 12 moth sentence offender normally released half way through and serve remaining on license
- Offenders sentenced to less than two years are released on post-sentence supervisory for 12 month, with regular meetings with a probation officer and specified requirements

Question 5

What are suspended sentences ?

Answer 5

• The offender is given a prison sentence but does not go directly to prison- up to 2 years
• The court can also impose requirements such as entering drug rehabilitation programmes
• The offender will be sent to prison to serve their original se thence if they commit crime during this suspended period
• In 2018 16% of people convicted of serious offences received a suspended sentence

Question 6

Does Retribution meet its aims ? (Imprisonment)

Answer 6

Yes
- Prison punishes people for their crimes by taking away their freedom-often imposing unpleasant living conditions of them
No
- It’s difficult to say whether prison gives offenders their just dessert- society Disagrees on the correct length of sentence for different crimes

Question 7

Does Deterrence meet its aims ? (Imprisonment)

Answer 7

Yes
- The risk of going to prison should deter would-be offenders from committing crimes and als actual offenders from committing further crimes
No
- Reoffending rates suggest that prison is not an effective deterrent-nearly half of all offenders reoffend within a year of release from jail
- Deterrence only works if the would be offenders are capable of thinking and acting rationally - drug and alcohol addiction, poor education and mental health issues are associated with offending

Question 8

Does Public Protection meet its aims ? (Imprisonment)

Answer 8

Yes
- Prisons should be effective in protecting the public as it takes the offender out of circulation and incapacitates criminals
- Certain offences mean longer prison sentences so keep offenders off the streets for a longer period of time
- Intermediate sentences-prevents dangerous crimes from being released until they are no longer a danger to the public, mos offenders will be released on license and with supervision orders

No
- Prisoners could still hear themselves other inmates or prison officers
- Prisons can act a university of crime
- Most prisoners are usually released, costs lots to keep prisoners

Question 9

Does Reparation meet its aims ? (Imprisonment)

Answer 9

Yes
- One aim of punishment is for the offender to repair the damage caused by the offence, both to the victim and to the wider society e.g The prisoners earning act 2011 states prisoners work outside of prison to prepare for their eventual release can be made to pay a proportion of their earnings to support services to take responsibility

No
- Few prisoners have the opportunity to gain work in this way so imprisonment does little to meet the aims of reparation

Question 10

Does Rehabilitation meet its aims ? (Imprisonment)

Answer 10

Yes
- Longer sentences enable prisoners to accesses rehabilitation programmes
- Education is offered to inmates without literacy, numeracy or IT skills

No
- Short sentences
- LAck of education and training facilities, lack of funding
- issues of additional mental health problems not being tackled

Question 11

What is community sentencing ?

Answer 11

These are given for offences that are too serious for a discharge but not serious enough to require imprisonment.
A Community Order given by the court will have one or more of these requirements;
- Supervision by a probation officer
- Between 40-300 hrs of unpaid work eg Community Payback
- A curfew or exclusion order
- A residency requirement eg to live at a supervised , probation-approved bail hostel
- A group programme, eg anger-management, drink-drivers etc.
- Treatment for drug and alcohol addiction (including testing) or for mental health issues

Question 12

Does retribution meet its aims ? (Community Sentencing)

Answer 12

Yes
- Curfews and unpaid work and tagging all place restrictions on the offenders’ time and movement
- Limiting their freedom
- People may have to wear an electronic tag or High Viz jacket displaying the “Community Payback” logo
- Seen by the public so the offender is named and shamed in public

Question 13

Does Public Protection meet its aims ? (Community Sentencing)

Answer 13

Yes
- If an offender breaches this community sentence they can be sent to prison, further protecting the public
- Curfews and tagging are also means of of identifying the whereabouts of offenders which also protects the public in some communities

No
- Strictly speaking the the community sentence does not achieve its aim of incapacitation to remove the offender from society

Question 14

Does reparation meet its aims ? (Community sentencing)

Answer 14

• Community sentence involves completing unpaid work to repair damage they or others may have caused to their community
• They give something back to their victim or community by removing graffiti cleaning wasteland or improving community facilities

Question 15

Does Rehabilitation meet its aims (Community Sentencing)

Answer 15

Yes
- AIms to tackle complex needs of offending e.g. Homelessness, drug misuse, unemployment and lack of education, to aid their rehabilitation
- Offedners may have to underg treatment for drug addiction or complete job training to gain employment
- Community sentences are more effective than short prison sentence is preventing reoffending

No
- between 2007-2017 the number of community Orders fell from 14%-8%