Topic 4 - Punishment In Society Flashcards
(26 cards)
Retribution, Core knowledge
-Retribution = Revenge – Punishment is deserved for the offender.
-Justice & Closure – Victims feel justice is served when offenders are punished.
-Public Moral Message – Punishment reinforces social boundaries and deters crime.
Retribution, Exapnded knowledge
- Proportionality is the idea that the punishment should fit the crime – “an eye for an eye”
- demonstrate proportionality in the British criminal justice system through the use of mandatory and discretionary-based sentences.
Retribution, Link to theory
-Right Realism - Right realists support harsh punishments for crime, such as zero tolerance and penal populism in order to keep crime levels low.
Retribution, Examples
-prison, solitary confinement, capital punishment
Deterrence, Core knowledge
General
-General deterrence refers to the general aim of convincing the public not to commit crimes. Linking to retribution
Individual
-individual deterrence refers to the specific punishments you give to someone to stop them from re-offending.
Deterrence, Expanded knowledge
Severity & Certainty
-Deterrence only really works if the people who are considering committing a crime are fearful of at least one of two things:
-How severe the punishment will be
-How certain they are they will be caught
Deterrence, Link to theory
Right Realism - Believe in rational choice theory. Deterrence very effective if a person makes a rational decision that the punishment of a crime (cost) outweighs the benefits of it
Social Learning Theory - Bandura spoke of vicarious reinforcement. Skinner spoke of operant conditioning. If we see others be punished harshly for committing crimes, people should learn not to commit them
Deterrence, Examples
-Prison
-Fines
-A criminal record itself
Rehabilitation, Core knowledge
- Rehabilitation is the idea that we make sure that criminals are reformed by their punishment
- It focuses on the future, not the past (like retribution).
- it believes in individual free-will and people’s capacity for change
Rehabilitation, Expanded knowledge
- has to be a degree of compassion and empathy from those who administer the punishments.
-understanding of the structural reasons for crime. To believe that someone is capable of change, you have to understand the reasons why someone may commit a crime in the first place
-reintegrated into society
Rehabilitation, Link to theory
- Left Realism - through learning about the structural causes of crime we can more easily relate to offenders and learn how to rehabilitate them
- Skinner’s Operant Conditioning - through giving people positive outcomes they can learn to live life in a more law abiding manner
Rehabilitation, Examples
- Rehabilitation programmes in prison
- Community sentences
- Restorative justice
- Education and training programmes
- Anger management courses
- Drug treatment and testing orders
Public Protection, Core knowledge
- literally restrict a criminal’s capacity to commit crimes.
- Incapacitation allows us to effectively move
criminals away from the general population - Quite literally, public protection is the idea that punishment needs to protect the public - public must be safe from harm and any impact of crime
Public Protection, Expanded knowledge
- favour the restriction of the freedoms, liberties and agency of criminals
- This may well include the removal or restriction of some of their rights.
criminals have given up their opportunities for some rights by committing crime
Public Protection, Link to theory
- Right Realism:
They are proponents of practical and rational approaches to crime prevention.
-They believe that if we simply take the opportunity for an individual to commit a crime, they won’t commit crimes
Public Protection, Examples
-Prison - IPP
-Community sentences
-Electronic tags
-House arrest
- Curfews
Reparation, Core knowledge
-Reparation = punishment should be based around the making amends
-Reparation = punishment should be based around the making amends
-compensation is figurative rather than literal
- reparation as an aim of punishment believes that there may be some way the offender can repair the damage they have caused, creating some form of resolution or closure for the victim
Reparation, Expanded knowledge
- reintegrated into society
-the opportunity to mitigate the damage and harm they have caused, but this can only be done, if we believe this person can still contribute to society in some meaningful way
Restorative justice programmes: - places an offender into a scheme which brings them into contact with their victim
-allows an offender to learn about the harm their actions caused (rehab and reparation)
Reparation, Link to theory
-Left Realism - Believe crime is caused by inequality in society so we should address this. To reduce crime and create (long-term) a more caring and equal society
-Labelling (Interactionism) - labelling theory thinks it is a bad idea to label the offender as criminal forever
- Reparation allows offenders to reintegrate in to society.
Reparation, Examples
-Community sentences
-Fines (Financial Compensation)
-Restorative justice
Retribution, Limitations
-Minimum mandatory sentences can sometimes not take into consideration the context of the offence
-Disintegrative shaming – makes it hard for someone to be reintegrated into the community
-Some may argue offenders deserve forgiveness, mercy or a chance to make amends and not just be given a punishment
Deterrence, Limitations
-Assumes offenders act rationally and carefully weigh up the risks. But some act irrationally, driven by their emotions without thought for the likely punishment
-How can it be decided how severe a punishment needs to be for it to deter enough would-be offenders
-People do re-offend, even when they know the severity and certainty
Rehabilitation, Limitations
-Can lead to early releases of offenders who commit very serious crimes – we had them incapacitated but we let them continue to offend (too compassionate)
-Expensive – takes a lot of resources to do this
-Low success rate, many offenders go on to reoffend even after undergoing programmes
-Too much focus on the individual’s failings and not other causes of crime
Public Protection, Limitations
-Cost - It costs on average £40,000 to keep someone in prison for a year
-It assumes that the past dictates your future – no capacity for change, does not consider any rehabilitation aspects
It does not address the causes of crime – it is purely instrumental - blame the individual rational choice
