the effects of imprisonment

Question 1

why do we send people to prison?

Answer 1

punishment; deterrent; public protection; rehabilitation

Question 2

who is imprisoned in the uk?

Answer 2

houses a range of offenders- some who have committed very serious crimes- but majority of offenders are guilty of much less serious offences

Question 3

what percent of uk prisoners are serving sentences under four years?

Answer 3

40%

Question 4

imprisonment as punishment

Answer 4

locked up in cells; limited contact with friends and family; few personal possessions; sharing a cell; restricted movements; strict schedule and rules

Question 5

does prison work?

Answer 5

it stops criminals commuting further offences whilst they are incarcerated, and takes away personal freedom to give ‘justice’ to society and victim

Question 6

issues with prison

Answer 6

restrictive and unpleasant experience for inmate- including unintended features like over-crowding, boredom and threat of violence from other inmates

Question 7

consequences of prison

Answer 7

can have negative effect on prisoners- suicide rate is 4x that of the general population, particular in the early part of their sentence.
young offenders on remand are particularly at risk

Question 8

is prison a deterrent?

Answer 8

there is an argument that it deters an individual through behaviourist principles- being released negatively reinforces the idea that crime does not pay.

Question 9

what are recidivism rates in the uk?

Answer 9

high- more than one in four criminals reoffends within a year. suggests it is not great as an individual deterrent.

Question 10

when is prison a deterrent?

Answer 10

may work in the social level- vicarious negative reinforcement if seeing someone else sent to prison. but numbers are steadily increasing.

Question 11

why do people reoffend?

Answer 11

most do not want to reoffend- but many return to situations where offending becomes likely

Question 12

situations where offending becomes likely

Answer 12

many have lost homes, job or family. others return to situations with old friends with whom they used to get into trouble. others have mental health issues- others drug problems, possibly developed in prison.

Question 13

what are prisoners 13x more likely to have been in?

Answer 13

care as a child

Question 14

what are prisoners 10x more likely to have?

Answer 14

regularly truanted from school

Question 15

what are prisoners often?

Answer 15

poorly educated, lacking basic literacy and numeracy- many below those expected of an 11-year-old

Question 16

what do these statistics show?

Answer 16

how prisoners may struggle to fit into society and obey the law

Question 17

what have psychologists been very involved in?

Answer 17

the design and delivery of programmes to reduce recidivism

Question 18

why are jobs important to reduce reoffending?

Answer 18

keeping offenders away from old acquaintances, providing income and allowing them to pay for accommodation.

Question 19

why else are jobs important?

Answer 19

they increase self esteem and give a sense of control

Question 20

what did gillis and nafekh study?

Answer 20

23,500 canadian offenders- some of whom had been on employment programmes prior to release

Question 21

what percent of offenders remained free during their conditional release period?

Answer 21

70% vs 55% who were not on the programmes

Question 22

what happened to those who did return to prison?

Answer 22

those on the programme went back after an average of 37 months vs 11 months for the non-programme group

Question 23

what was haney’s sample?

Answer 23

24 male volunteers who responded to a newspaper advert, paid $15 a day, and the most stable participants were selected

Question 24

what was haney’s study?

Answer 24

mock prison created in the basement of stanford university. IV- 11 guards and 10 prisoners. DV- behaviour recorded through recordings, interviews and questionnaries

Question 25

how was participant behaviour affected in haney’s study?

Answer 25

strongly affected by the role they had been given, as they internalised the environment and their roles. situation became reality rather than an experiment.

Question 26

what were 90% of the conversations in haney’s study about?

Answer 26

their situation in the prison, not the outside world

Question 27

pathology of prisoners and guards

Answer 27

took it upon themselves to engage in hostile interactions. hostile guards created an aggressive culture and basic rights became reframed as privileges. led to pathological prisoner syndrome.

Question 28

how did the prisoners experience loss of identity?

Answer 28

uniqueness reduced through uniform and ID numbers

Question 29

how did the prisoners experience arbitrary control?

Answer 29

guards exercised power in random and capricious ways- led to destabilising and helplessness. smiling at a joke may be punished depending on the guard’s mood.

Question 30

how did the prisoners experience dependency and emasculation?

Answer 30

arbitrary control created a network of dependency for the most basic needs. style of uniform provoked insults. publicly asked permission for toilet- handcuffed and blindfolded.

Question 31

how was the behaviour of participants best explained?

Answer 31

by situational, not dispositional factors. these findings should be used to inform guard training programmes.

Question 32

strategies to reduce reoffending

Answer 32

restorative justice

Question 33

what is restorative justice?

Answer 33

tries to recognise the needs of the victim of the crime- to give them peace of mind and regain a sense of control.

Question 34

what is the victim often more interested in finding out?

Answer 34

why they were targeted, rather than receiving an apology

Question 35

what does restorative justice operate alongside?

Answer 35

the criminal justice system

Question 36

why does restorative justice bring the victim and offender together?

Answer 36

so the victim is able to explain the impact of the crime to the offender

Question 37

what is the offender expected to agree to?

Answer 37

actions suggested during the process by the victim

Question 38

how is restorative justice supervised?

Answer 38

by trained officials and both groups can bring support

Question 39

how does restorative justice help?

Answer 39

reduces victim PTSD symptoms and reoffending

Question 40

what did sherman and strang find about restorative justice?

Answer 40

it works in property and violent crime