Paper 3 - Forensic Psychology - Custodial Sentencing Flashcards

Question

Explain the positive evaluations of custodial sentencing: Prisonisation

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

■ 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

Answer 4

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

Answer 5

■ 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.

Answer 6

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

Answer 7

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.

Answer 8

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

Answer 9

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

Answer 10

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

Answer 11

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

Answer 12

Conjugal visits

Answer 13

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)

Answer 14

D'Alessio 2012

Answer 15

D'Alessio 2012 found that conjugal visits may be useful in reducing sexual and physical violence in prisons This is a general benefit

Answer 16

■ 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.

Answer 17

■ 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.

Answer 18

■ 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).

Answer 19

Easy and hard to implement Increased effectiveness

Answer 20

Easy and hard to implement Generalisability Ethical issues Effectiveness over time

Answer 21

■ 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)

Answer 22

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

Answer 23

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.

Answer 24

■ 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.

Answer 25

■ 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.