Paper 3 - Criminal 6 - Prison Flashcards
1
Q
what are the 2 types of punishment
A
- non custodial - fine, community sentence or probation
- custodial - prison or a secure hospital
2
Q
Explain Dooley’s background study on effects of imprisonment
A
- Aimed to investigate all unnatural deaths that occured in prisons in England and Wales between 1972 and 1987.
- used government records
- Of 443 unnatural deaths, 300 were suicides. The remaining 143 were recorded with a variety of verdicts mainly misadventure, including 52 from self inflicted injury.
- Most deaths occured at night by prisoners who were not yet sentenced.
- Dooley attributed the suicides and unnatural deaths to overcrowding and prisoners’ stress.
This indicates that prisons may make matters worse for offenders and it is important to find a balance between punishment and reform.
3
Q
describe the data from Ministery of Justice on are prisons effective
A
- where offenders are extremely violent and dangerous to society it can be agued that locking them up is effective becaise it prevents them from committing further crimes.
- However, nearly 40% of prison sentences are less than 4 years and so prison is only a temporary measure.
- 25% of prisoners go on to reoffenf after punishment in which case prison is not effective (Ministery of justice 2017)
- What prison can do is to provide offenders with an opportunity to learn new skills or change behaviour.
4
Q
What is the aim of Hanley’s study on a simulated prison
A
- Create a mock prison which was a functional representation of a real prison.
- This would allow role playing pps to go into the deep structure of the characters they represented.
5
Q
What was the method of Hanley’s study
A
- Lab experiment
- Independent measures design
- IV= role of prisoner or gaurd
- DV= behaviour of prisoners and gaurds
- Dependent variables were observed using audio and video tapes.
- Self report through questionnaires, personality tests, guard reports and post experimental interviews
6
Q
what was the sample of Hanley’s study
A
- Volunteers were found through a newspaper in the Palo Alto times and the Stanford Daily
- The 75 respondents were given a series of psychological tests and interviews and the 24 mean judged the most stable were selected.
- All were college students and middle class.
- Final sample was 10 prisoners and 11 guards.
7
Q
Describe the procedure of Hanley’s study
A
- Prisoners were unexpectedly taken from their homes by Palo Alto police.
- At the mock prison they were stripped naked.
- The prison consisted of 3 small cells each with cots for each prisoner
- The doors had steel bars
- In the next wing of the building there was rooms for the guards.
- The prisoners remained in the prison but the guards worked 3 man 8 hour shifts, going on with there normal life at other times.
- All pps signed a contract and were gartunteed a minimal diet, clothing, housing, medical care, little privacy and payment.
- Their basic civil rights were suspended with the exception of physical abuse.
- The guards belived the primary interest was to study the behaviour of prisoners.
- The guards only referred to the prisoners by number
- Prisoners were served 3 bland means a day, allowed 3 supervised toilet trips, and given 2 visiting periods and movies per week.
8
Q
What were the results of Hanley’s study
A
- Guards expressed aggression using verbal abuse.
- When the experiment ended the guards seemed distressed, one said he was upset about the suffering of the prisoners. However, none of them failed to turn up on time, and some picked up extra hours without extra pay.
- 5 prisoners were released early because of depression, rage, crying anf anxiety. One of them developed a psychosomatic rash. These symptoms developed as early as the second day.
- Some guards made prisoners clean toilets with their bare hands - far beyond their rules.
- The experiment was ended after 6 days, 8 days early. This was because of the effect on the pps.
9
Q
What were the conclusions of Hanley’s study
A
- Being confined in a prison environment had a large negative effect on the guards and prisoners.
- Guards developed a pathology of power, they gradually begin misusing their freedom and power as it was exhilerating to them.
- Prisoners developed pathological prisoner syndrome. They leanred to respond to the guards behaviour. Inital disbelif was followed by a rebellion, then flattened emotions, becoming passive and ill.
- Ordinary individuals can play roled they are given to extremes and there are individual differences in the way people cope with new experiences.
- The study demonstrated that prison is a stressful place due to the mental reactions. Prison may make matters worse for offenders.
- Hanley suggests that their research provides a reason for better guard training and operation of institutions so that reform plays an imporant role rather than just punishment.
10
Q
evaluate the validity of this topic
A
- Haney has low ecological validity because the simulation was not completely realistic.
2.Dooley has high internal validity as used official government records - Haney has low population validity as only stable men
11
Q
evaluate reliability of this topic
A
- Haney has low inter rater reliability as it was based on observation
- Dooley used official government records which is reliable due to strict guidelines
- Haney has low external reliability as only men from Palo alto or stanford, midddle class.
12
Q
evaluate the sampling bias of this topic
A
- Haney used males
- Haney used american students
- Dooley used all unnatural deaths so male and female
13
Q
evaluate the ethnocentrism of this topic
A
- Using prison as a punishment is a western response to criminal behaviour. Custodial vs non custodial punishment, e.g. Stanford prison experiment, e
- Dooley only usedn england and wales.
- Haney used only american middle class men
14
Q
evaluate the freewill/determinism debate
A
- Determinism for Haney’s study the guards behaviour was due to the power they were given over prisoners however some chose not to be too harsh.
- Dooley suggests that deaths were determined by overcrowding and prison stress
- freewill - Minstry of justice shows that 25% reoffend
15
Q
evaluate the individual/ situational debate in this topic
A
- situational - Haney pps behaviour was caused by the role they were put in. however some guards more aggressive than others
- Dooley - situation of the overcrowded prison caused their death
- Ministry of justice - 25% were re offenders which shows indivdual choice
