Topic 3 - Punishment in Society

Question 1

Retribution

Answer 1

Headline - Retribution is the idea that we make sure that criminals get what they deserve for their crimes

Key Principles - Revenge, Justice, Proportionality and compensation

Examples of crime that use retribution - Murder, Terrorism, State crimes and war crimes

Forms of Punishment - Prison, Solitary Confinement and capital punishment

Limitations of Retribution - Proportionality is subjective, it focuses on revenge which can lead to emotional and enthusiastic wrongful convictions

Link to Theory - Right Realism: right realists support harsh punishments for crime such as zero tolerance and penal populism in order to keep the crime levels low

Question 2

Deterrence

Answer 2

Headline - Deterrence is the idea that we make sure that criminals never commit crime in the first place due to the fearfulness of the consequences

Key Principles - Rational Choice, crime prevention, setting an example

Examples of crime that use deterrence - theft and robbery, drug possession, possession of weapons

Forms of Punishment - Prison, fines and a criminal record itself

Limitations of Deterrence - it assumes rational thinking, doesn’t change peoples sense of morality

Link to Theory - Right Realism: it believes in rational choice theory and is effective when a person makes a rational decision that the punishment of the crime outweighs the benefits

Question 3

Rehabilitation

Answer 3

Headline - Rehabilitation is the idea that we make sure that criminals are reformed by their punishment

Key Principles - Free will and change, compassion and empathy, understanding of structural reasons for crime

Examples of crime that uses rehabilitation - drug offences, theft and robbery, possession of weapons, assault and fraud

Forms of Punishments - Rehabilitation programmes in prison, community sentences and restorative justice

Limitations of Rehabilitation - it is expensive and can takes a lot of resources to do this, the recidivism rates are high, it can lead to early releases of offenders who commit very serious crimes

Link to Theory - Labelling Theory: it thinks it is a bad idea to label the offender as criminal forever but rather label the act as bad this allows us to focus on how an offender can reintegrate into society.

Question 4

Public Protection

Answer 4

Headline - Public protection is the idea that we are literally restricting a criminals capacity to commit crimes

Key Principles - Protecting the public, a restriction of freedom, removal of rights and rational punishment

Examples of crimes that use public protection - murder, sexual offences, assault and any repeat offences

Forms of Punishments - Prison, Community sentences, electronic tags and house arrest.

Limitations of Public Protection - it can lead to privatisation of prison, it assumes that the past dictates your future and no capacity for change, It does not address the causes of crime and it is pure instrumental

Link to Theory - Right Realism: It favours a practical and rational approach to crime prevention. They believe that if we simply take the opportunity for an individual to commit a crime away, they won’t commit crimes

Question 5

Reparation

Answer 5

Headline - Reparation is the idea that punishment should be based around the offender giving some form of compensation to the victim or society

Key Principles - Justice, crime is harmful to individual victims and wider society, offenders can be reintegrated into society

Examples of crimes that uses reparation - assault, drug offences, property crime and murder

Forms of punishments - community sentences and restorative justice

Limitations of Reparations - overstates how much a victim wants to face the offender, it is impossible to give reparations to homicide victims

Link to Theory - Left Realism: through learning about the structural causes of crime we can easily relate to offenders and learn how to rehabilitate them.

Question 6

Imprisonment

Answer 6

Four Types of Males Prison:
Category A - High security prisons. They house prisoners who pose the most threat to the public and national security.
Category B - Local and Training prions. Local house prisoners that are taken directly from court in the local area.
Category C - These prisons are training and resettlement prisons; most prisoners are located here. They provide prisoners the opportunity to develop their own skills so they can find wok and resettle back into the community.

Question 7

Community Sentences

Answer 7

Community sentences are minor offences but not so minor that a fine or discharge will suffice

A community order will involve:
- between 40 and 300 hrs of community payback
- supervisor by a probation officer
- a curfew or tag
- an approved residency