responses to crime theories

Question 1

DETERRANCE
P - One theory of punishment is deterrance

E - the
threat of punishment will deter people
from committing crime and reduce the
probability and/or level of offending in
society.

– prison, community

e?

Answer 1

The effectiveness of this idea may depend on several factors, including:

severity -
certainty -
celerity - - the speed at which a consequence is suffered.

theorists such as Thomas Hobbes, In Hobbes’s view, deterrence is simply the reason why one human being or group of human beings in a social contract punishes another, to save and keep the social contract viable and healthy.

examples can be pros of prison

R - downsides of prison - doesnt work as deterrant high reoffending rates

Question 2

REHABILITATION
P - Another theory of punishment is rehabilitation

E - ‘taking away the desire to offend,
is the aim of reformist or
rehabilitative punishment. The
objective of reform or rehabilitation
is to reintegrate the offender
into society after a period of
punishment, and to design the
content of the punishment so as to
achieve this’

education, mental health, skills for work, family learning

e?

Answer 2

e - for example Release on Temporary license - ROTL enables serving prisoners who are within two years of release to leave prison to work in the community.
Research shows time spent working in the community before release significantly reduces a prisoner’s likelihood of reoffending – cutting the £15 billion cost to the taxpayer each year

• also community sentences are kind of rehabilitative rebuttal can jiust be the same as that one that people believe sentneces arent harsh enough, countries such as Saudia Arabia and China also place greater cultural importance on deterrance and denunication rather than rehabiliation, this is also due to religious values

Question 3

INCAPACITATION
P - Another theory of punishment is incapacitation v

e -offenders should be
prevented from committing
further crimes either by their
(temporary or permanent) removal
from society or by some other
method that restricts their physical
ability to reoffend in some other
way.

capital punishment, prison

e?

Answer 3

• Durkheim’s - punishment ‘serves to
  heal the wounds done to the
  collective sentiments’
  (Without punishment the collective sentiments would lose their force to control behaviour and the crime rate would reach the point where it becomes dysfunctional.)

for example many countries both in the developed and developing world still use capital punishment for example countries such as the USA, who has 2,414 people on death row, and Somalia

However, Iran who use the death penalty as punishment for crimes such as murder or drug related offences, have relatively high crime rates with the country’s crime levels ranked 33rd in the world, 14% higher than the United Kingdom

( Cons of collective incapacitation include: It increases the number of people in prison, which, in turn, increases prison overcrowding and the amount of taxpayer dollars that go toward supporting large prison populations.ncapacitation theories have been criticized for punishing offenders more harshly than would be justified by their culpability and blameworthiness for the offense of conviction )

Question 4

RETRIBUTIVISM

P - Another theory of punishment is retributivism

e - Retribution -
punishment should make the
criminal pay for what they
have done wrong. Reparation -
punishment should compensate
the victim(s) of a crime.
Vindication - the punishment
makes sure that the law is
respected.

fine, compensation order, restorative justice

Answer 4

e - Immanuel Kant is one theorist who believed in retributivism saying “The right to punish is the right a ruler has against a subject to inflict pain upon him because of his having committed a crime”

Fines - For the full three - year period as of April 2019, 83.9% of the value of Sherrif Court fines has either been paid or is on track to be paid through instalments

other countries too - Over 60 per cent of offenders sentenced in Australian criminal courts each year receive a monetary sanction as their principal penalty

(However, fines do not repair damage done by the original crime and do not offer the person who has offended an opportunity to be rehabilitated, also affects people differently through wealth) 23% reoffend

(One of the main criticisms of retribution was that its backward-looking nature makes retributive action redundant, and its desire for the suffering of the offender makes it cruel.)

Question 5

DENUNICATION

P - Another theory of crime is denunciation

e - The sentencing purpose of
denunciation seeks to ensure that the
court communicates that the
offending behaviour is unacceptable.
This must be communicated not only
to the offender but to the broader
community. To that end, the courts
are given the power to impose
sentences to express public
indignation and condemnation of the
conduct.

– community sentencing, custodial

e?

Answer 5

e - mental health impact of prisoners and/or struggle to get work - stigma

examples of community service and/or prisons and low reoffending rates

However more recent strategies are aiming to work against denunciation and instead tackle the reasons why people are driven to commit these crimes, primarily poverty, eg SVRU etc.