dealing with offending behaviour:Custodial sentencing

Question 1

Aims of custodial sentencing

Answer 1

Custodial sentencing involves a convicted offender spending time in prison or another closed institution such as a young offender’s institute or psychiatric hospital. There are four main reasons for doing this:

1. Deterrence The unpleasant prison experience is designed to put off the individual (or society at large) from engaging in offending behaviour. Deterrence works on two levels: general deterrence aims to send a broad message to members of a given society that crime will not be tolerated. Individual deterrence should prevent the individual from repeating the same offences in light of their experience. In other words, this view is based on the behaviourist idea of conditioning through vicarious punishment.
2. Incapacitation The offender is taken out of society to prevent them reoffending as a means of protecting the public. The need for incapacitation is likely to depend upon the severity of the offence and the nature of the offender. For instance, individuals in society will require more protection from a serial murderer or rapist than an
   elderly person who refuses to pay their council tax.
3. Retribution Society is enacting revenge for the offence by making the offender suffer, and the level of suffering should be proportionate to the seriousness of the offence. This is based on the biblical notion of an eye for an eye, that the offender should in some way pay for their actions. Many people see prison as the best possible option in this sense and alternatives to prison are often criticised as soft options.
4. Rehabilitation In contrast to the above, many people would see the main objective of prison as not being purely to punish, but to reform. Upon release, offenders should leave prison better adjusted and ready to take their place back in society. Prison should provide opportunities to develop skills and training or to access treatment programmes (e.g. for drug addiction or anger), as well as give the offender the chance to reflect on their offence.

Question 2

psychological effects of custodial sentencing

Answer 2

There are several psychological effects associated with serving time in prison:
• Stress and depression Suicide rates are considerably higher in prison than in the general population, as are incidents of self-mutilation and self-harm. The stress of the prison experience also increases the risk of developing psychological disorders following release.
• Institutionalisation Having adapted to the norms and routines of prison life, inmates may become so accustomed to these that they are no longer able to function on the outside.
• Prisonisation Refers to the way in which prisoners are socialised into adopting an
‘inmate code. Behaviour that may be considered unacceptable in the outside world may be encouraged and rewarded inside the walls of the institution.

Question 3

problem of recidivism

Answer 3

Recidivism refers to reoffending. Recidivism rates in ex-prisoners tell us to what extent prison acts as an effective deterrent.
It is difficult to obtain clear figures for recidivism rates for various reasons, for example it depends whether you are looking at reoffending within a year of release or a longer period. Typically in the UK the Ministry of Justice reports proven figures within one year of release (‘proven’ means the person has been caught). In recent years the UK figure has been about 45% (e.g. Yukhnenko et al. 2019, based on Ministry of Justice figures).
Reoffending rates vary with time period after release, age of offender, crime committed and country. The US, Australia and Denmark regularly record rates in excess of 60%. In Norway rates may be as low as 20% (Yukhnenko et al.). This last figure is significant because in Norway there is less emphasis on incarceration and greater emphasis on rehabilitation and skills development than elsewhere.

Question 4

L-psychological effects

Answer 4

limitation of custodial sentencing is the negative psychological effect on prisoners.
Curt Bartol (1995) has suggested that, for many offenders, imprisonment can be
“brutal, demeaning and generally devastating. According to the Ministry of Justice a record 119 people killed themselves in prisons in England and Wales in 2016 - an increase of 29 (32%) on the previous year (The Guardian 2017). This equates to an average suicide of one every three days - almost nine times higher than in the general population. Most at risk are young single men during the first 24 hours of confinement.
A study conducted by the Prison Reform Trust (2014) found that 25% of women and 15% of men in prison reported symptoms of psychosis (eg. schizophrenia).
This supports the view that oppressive prison regimes may be detrimental to psychological health which could impact on rehabilitation.

Counterpoint The figures in the Prison Reform Trust study above do not include the number of inmates who were experiencing psychotic symptoms before they were incarcerated. Many of those convicted may have pre-existing psychological and emotional difficulties at the time they were convicted (and this may explain their offending behaviour in the first place). The importation model (page 306) argues that prisoners may import some of their psychological problems so we do not know if this is a problem with the prison regime, or something else - such as the trauma of being locked away regardless of what the prison is like.
This suggests there may be confounding variables that influence the link
between prison and its psychological effects.

Question 5

S-training and treatment

Answer 5

One strength of custodial sentencing is it provides opportunity for training and treatment.
One objective of imprisonment is rehabilitation - offenders may become better people during their time in prison, and their improved character means they may be able to lead a crime-free life when back in society. Many offenders access education and training whilst in prison increasing the possibility they will find employment upon release. The Vera Institute of Justice (Shirley 2019) claims that offenders who take part in college education programmes are 43% less likely to reoffend following release, and that prisons who offer these programmes report fewer incidents of violence.
This suggests prison may be a worthwhile experience assuming offenders are able to access these programmes.

Question 6

L-school for crime

Answer 6

Another limitation of custodial sentencing is offenders may learn to become better offenders.
Alongside the legitimate skills that offenders may acquire during their time in prison, they may also undergo a more dubious ‘education’ as part of their sentence.
Incarceration with long-term offenders may give younger inmates in particular the opportunity to learn the tricks of the trade from more experienced prisoners.
Offenders may also acquire criminal contacts whilst in prison that they may follow up when they are released
This form of ‘education’ may undermine attempts to rehabilitate prisoners and consequently may make reoffending more likely.