punishment Flashcards
(7 cards)
reduction
deterrence - punishing individuals discourages them from further offending. making an example of them may act as a deterrent. deterrence policies include short, sharp shock regime in young offenders’ institutions in the 1980s implemented by Thatcher’s government
rehabilitation
incapacitation - cutting off of hands, chemical castration
retribution
paying back - a justification for punishing crimes that have already been committed rather than preventing further crimes
expressing rather than instrumental view of punishment
Durkheim
the function of punishment is to uphold social solidarity and reinforce shared values
two types of justice:
- retributive justice - there is little specialisation and solidarity between individuals is based on similarity producing strong collective consciousness.
- restitutive justice - In modern society, there is an extensive specialisation and solidarity is based on interdependence. Its motive is instrumental
Marxism
interested in how punishment is related to nature of class society
the function of punishment is to maintain existing social order
repressive state apparatus reflects economic base of society
rusche and kirchheaimer argue that each type of economy has its own corresponding penal system
melosi and pavarini - see imprisonment as reflecting capitalist relations of production
imprisonment today
in liberal democracies that do not have death penalty, imprisonment is the most severe punishment.
about 2/3 prisoners commit another crime upon realease.
populist punitiveness - politicians have sought electoral popularity by calling for tougher sentences. The prison population of england and wales almost doubled to 85,000
the era of mass incarceration
transcarceration
the idea that individuals become locked into a cycle of control shifting between different carcarel agencies. some sociologists see transcarcaration as the blurring between criminal justice and welfare agencies.
