Custodial sentencing Flashcards
What is custodial sentencing?
A judicial sentence is determined by a court where the offender is punished by serving time in prison or in a closed institution.
What are the 4 aims of custodial sentencing?
Deterrence, incapacitation, retribution, rehabilitation
What is deterrence?
Deterrence is when the unpleasant prison environment is used to put off people from engaging in criminal behaviour. Individual deterrence prevents the individuals from repeating the crime as they have experienced the consequences. General deterrence sends a message to society that crime will not be tolerated. This is based on the idea of conditioning through punishment and learning through vicarious reinforcement.
What is incapacitation?
Incapacitation means that the criminal is taken out of society to protect the public. This need is likely to depend on the crime and the person behind it.
What is retribution?
Retribution is when society is getting revenge for the crime by making the offender suffer. The level of suffering should be based on the severity of the crime. This is based on the idea of an eye for an eye.
What is rehabilitation?
Prison can be used to reform people and upon release they should be better adjusted. Prison should allow opportunities to develop skills, access treatment for drug and give the offender a chance to reflect on their crime.
What are the psychological effects of custodial sentencing?
Stress and depression-There are higher levels of suicide rates and self-harm
Institutionalisation-Inmates become so accustomed to prison life they are unable to function on the outside.
Prisonisation-Prisoners adapt inmate code and display behaviour that may be considered unacceptable in the outside world.
What is the problem of recidivism?
Studies in 2013 suggest that 57% of UK offenders reoffend within a year of release. In contrast, Norway has low reoffending rates and they place more emphasis on rehabilitation.
What are the strengths of research into custodial sentencing?
There is evidence to support the psychological effects as suicide rates in prisons is 15% higher than in the general population. Also, 25% of women and 15% of men had symptoms indicative of psychosis.
Prisons offer chances for education and training. which increases the chance of finding unemployment.
What are the limitations of custodial sentencing?
All prisoners have different experiences in different prisons with different lengths of sentences. Also, many may have pre-existing mental health issues, making it hard to generalise findings on psychological effects.
Prisons can be seen as universities of crime as criminals learn from more experienced inmates. This may make reoffending more likely.
Davies and Raymond believe that prison does little to deter others from crimes and so community service and restorative justice have been proposed as better methods.
