Forensics - Dealing With Offending Behaviour - Purpose & Psychological Effects of Prisons

Question 1

Custodial Sentencing

Answer 1

Judicial sentence determined court where the offender is punished by serving time in prison or some other therapeutic/educational institutional - psychiatric hospital

Question 2

Purpose of prisons

Answer 2

Deterrence
Incapacitation
Rehabilitation
Retribution

Question 3

Deterrence

Answer 3

Prisons should be an unpleasant experience for someone so they don’t want to go back

Question 4

Incapacitation

Answer 4

Taking criminals ‘off the street’ stops them from being able to commit further crimes
Help keep society safer

Question 5

Retribution

Answer 5

Society taking revenge on a criminal - making them pay for their crimes by taking their freedom away

Question 6

Rehabilitation

Answer 6

Prisons can reform criminals through training, education & therapy so they leave prison a better person

Question 7

Psychological effects of prisons

Answer 7

Depression
Institutionalisation
Stress
Prisonisation

Question 8

Depression & Stress

Answer 8

Suicide rates 15% higher than in general population
25% women, 15% men reported symptoms of psychosis
Not effective in rehabilitation, particularly those psychologically vulnerable
2008 - 10,000 known incidents of self-harm

Question 9

Institutionalisation

Answer 9

Having adapted to the norms of prison life, some find it impossible to cope with ‘real life’

Question 10

Prisonisation

Answer 10

Some behaviours that are unacceptable in the outside world are encouraged and rewarded inside prison

Question 11

Evaluation

Answer 11

Cause & effect - are we sure that these psychological effects are due to imprisonment or could imprisonment be due to these psychological effects

Advantages:
Gives prisoners an opportunity to gain qualifications
Acts as a deterrence

Disadvantages:
Ignores individual differences
Incapacitation - being in prison doesn’t stop crime from happening
Cuts to prison budget - effective treatment for rehabilitation is limited

Question 12

Why is Recidivism high

Answer 12

Prisons do not address psychological problems that caused prisoners to commit crimes in the first place
People released into same environment they were in when they committed the offence
- Many prisoners have not reached the levels of literacy and numeracy expected of an average 11 year old
- 50% do not have the skills required by 96% of all jobs
- 50% have been excluded from school

• Alternatives to prisons
• Probation
• Community service
• Therapy
• Rehab