U2- The Penal System Flashcards
Name the 4 main purposes of prison
Punishment
Deterrence
Protection
Rehabilitation
Do prisons work? Give 5 arguments for
At any one time over 90,000 U.K. Criminals are locked up, this protects the public
The victims of the crime feel justice has been done
The possibility of a prison sentence is a deterrent
Prisons offer prisoners opportunities to receive treatment if they have drug or mental health issues
For violent crimes including murder, society must protect its citizens by imposing custodial sentences
Do prisons work? Give 4 arguments against
Many criminals go in and out of jail never being deterred or reformed but only ever being further criminalised
Overcrowding in prisons limits the number of prisoners who can take part in educational and offending behaviour programmes
Overcrowding also can crest violent and chaotic conditions and makes it hard for prison officers to control abuse of drugs and acts of violence between prisoners
Around 70% of prisoners have histories of poor mental Heath and/ or drug problems
What percentage of short term prisoners reoffend?
75%
How many prisoners have committed suicide in the UK between 2010 and 2013?
28 prisoners haven committed suicide
61 have attempted suicide
How many children each year in Scotland are directly impacted by parental imprisonment?
Around 16,500
50% of children in care go on to receive custodial sentences
How many female prisoners are there?
In 2012 5.7% of the prison population was female, an increase from 3.5% in 2000
Arguments for alternatives to prison (name 5)
It costs less- sending a criminal to prison for a year costs a minimum of £30,000 however a community payback order costs around £2400
Allows offenders to stay with their families which may prevent family breakup and children being put into care
The offender can make restitution for their crime by helping the community
Offenders avoid the stigma of imprisonment and the possibility of falling into criminal culture in prison
The re-offending rate is lower for offenders who receive a non-custodial sentence compared to those who are imprisoned
Arguments against alternatives to prison (name 4)
Lack of public and media support- many victims feel it doesn’t go far enough
Enforcement and monitoring offenders can be a problem. Many offenders fail to complete their community service
Many offenders break home- detention curfews and commit crimes. The private companies that monitor curfews overcharge for the service they provide
It is time consuming and costly to take offenders before the courts for failure to comply with crime prevention orders
Name the 3 main alternatives to prison
Electronic monitoring or tagging
Community orders
Disposal order fines
Describe electronic monitoring
It is used to enforce the home- detention curfew
In Scotland the security service is provided by G4S and the contract is worth £13 million over 5 years
Describe community orders
A court can order between 80 and 300 hours of supervised work which must be completed within 6 months of the date of sentence
They are also encouraged to tackle any addiction issues, in 2010 over 1700 UK offenders were placed on community sentence orders that involved drug treatment
Describe disposal order fines
The 2 main types of financial penalty are fines and compensation
This combines elements of:
Retribution
Deference
Reparation
