Punishment

Question 1

PURPOSES OF PUNISHMENT (Newburn)

Answer 1

Rehabilitation
→ Reform the offender to prevent reoffending.

Deterrence
→ Prevent others from committing crime.

Restorative Justice
→ Offenders make amends to victims.

Protection / Incapacitation
→ Remove offenders from society to prevent harm.

Boundary Maintenance
→ Reinforce social norms by showing unacceptable behaviour.

Retribution
→ Offenders deserve to be punished (Just Deserts).

Question 2

Sovereign Power (Pre-modern):

Answer 2

Monarchs used public, physical punishment as a display of power (e.g., executions).

Question 3

Disciplinary Power (Modern - Foucault):

Answer 3

Shift towards surveillance, monitoring, and control through institutions like prisons.

Question 4

FOUCAULT (Postmodernism)

Answer 4

From sovereign to disciplinary power

Punishment now works through surveillance, control, and normalisation.

Panopticon = metaphor for modern society → constant observation = self-discipline.

Question 5

RUSCHE & KIRCHHEIMER (Marxism)

Answer 5

Punishment reflects economic needs of the ruling class:

Harsh punishments when labour is plentiful.

Softer punishments when labour is scarce.

Shift from execution → prison labour = cheap workforce

Question 6

PERSPECTIVES ON PUNISHMENT

Answer 6

Functionalism (Durkheim)
→ Punishment reinforces collective conscience, expresses moral outrage.

Marxism (Althusser)
→ Punishment is part of the repressive state apparatus; maintains class control.

Weberianism
→ The state monopolises punishment under legal-rational authority (rules/bureaucracy replace personal revenge or church power).

Question 7

PRISONS
Purpose:

Answer 7

Deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation.

Question 8

PRISONS Pros:

Answer 8

Keeps dangerous criminals away.

Education and rehab available.

Resocialisation into norms and values.

Question 9

Cons: PRISONS

Answer 9

School of crime.

High recidivism rates.

Labelling → reoffending.

Question 10

GARLAND – THE PUNITIVE STATE

Answer 10

1950s: Penal Welfarism
→ Focus on rehabilitation & reintegration.

Now: Culture of Control
→ Shift towards punishment & risk management.

Question 11

Garland’s 3 Key Concepts:

Answer 11

Actuarialism – risk-based profiling.

Mass Incarceration – large prison populations.

Transcarceration – movement through multiple control agencies.