Unit 4- AC2.2 Flashcards
Discuss the aims of punishments
What are the five aims of punishments?
- Rehabilitation
- Deterrence
- Retribution
- Public protection
- Reparation
Describe retribution
Gives criminals a ‘just desert’ as society is morally entitled to take their revenge. Allows society to express moral outrage.
Proportionality is important which leads to a fixed scale of mandatory penalties.
What theories link to retribution?
- Right realism (rational choice theory believes people consciously choose to commit crime and so should be held fully responsible).
- Durkheim’s functionalist theory (Crime maintains boundaries between good and bad, allowing society to express moral outrage).
What are three criticisms of retribution?
- Offenders deserve mercy or a chance to make amendments
- Due to fixed tariff, punishment has to be inflicted even when no good will come from it.
- People disagree which crimes are more serious than others and so have different ideas of what is proportional.
Describe rehabilitation.
Idea punishments should change the offender so they live a crime-free life. Uses various treatment programmes to change future behaviour.
Name policies under rehabilitation.
- Education and training programmes
- Drug treatment and testing orders
- Anger management
What three theories link to rehabilitation?
- Cogitative ( Faulty thinking leads to crime so CBT changes the way someone thinks)
- Left realism ( Inequality in society leads to crime so education programmes overcome this)
- Biochemical (Drugs and alcohol leads to crime so treatment should reduce it.)
What are 4 criticisms of rehabilitaton?
- Limited success as many re-offend (24.3%)
- Shifts responsibility for offending from the offenders failings.
- Limited budget and resources so programmes are not carried out effectively.
- Rehabilitation policies require offenders to want to change their lives.
Describe deterrence.
Prevents individuals committing crime using the fear of being caught and punished.
What are the two types of deterrence?
- Individual (stops offenders from re-offending using punishment)
- General ( Deters the whole of society as public can watch an offender being punished so they understand the consequences)
What is the example of individual deterrence?
Margaret Thatcher, 1980, created a new system in Juvenile called the ‘short, sharp shock’ to deter young offenders.
Describe severity verses certainty for deterrence.
Severe punishments are unlikely to deter offenders but if they are certain they will be caught and punished, it will be a more effective deterrent.
What two theories link to deterrence?
- Right realism (Rational choice theory. Individuals consider costs and benefits so if the cost was increased, less would be likely to commit)
- Social learning ( If an offender sees a model being punished, they are less likely to imitate. Links to general deterrence).
What are four criticisms of deterrence?
- No evidence the ‘short,sharp,shock’ works as half of the prisoners re offended in a year.
- Assumes society is aware of the punishments
- Assumes offenders act rationally
- Those who break laws they believe is ‘unjust’ will not be deterred
Describe public protection
Punishing offenders to protect the public
Involves incapacitation
What are some examples of policies under public protection?
- Execution
- Chemical castration
- Foreign travel bans
- Curfew and electronic tagging
- Imprisonment
How is the criminal justice act, 2003, linked to public protection?
Introduced imprisonment for public protection allowing courts to give indeterminate sentences
Link public protection to theories
- Biological. Lombroso believed criminals are biologically determined to commit crimes so cannot be rehabilitated and must be locked away.
- Right realism. Zero tolerance policing would reduce crime rate as crime is a growing problem
What are three criticisms of public protection?
- Leads to long sentences which is costly and considered ‘warehousing’.
- Doesn’t deal with the cause of crime as it is only a risk management.
- Unjust as it assumes they will commit a crime in the future so is unethical.
Describe reparation
Involves offenders making amends and repairing material and social damage.
What scheme is involved under reparation?
Restorative justice schemes (brings victim and offender together to explain impacts and give opportunities to express remorse and give closure.
What are theories linked to reparation?
- Labelling theory. By enabling them to show remorse, it permits reintegration and prevents labelling.
- Functionalist. Durkheim argues ‘restorative justice’ is essential for the smooth functioning of modern society.
What are two criticisms of reparation?
- May not work for all types of offences like sexual crime and murder.
- Some regard reparation as ‘too soft’ as it lets offenders off lightly.
