Dealing with offending behaviour: custodial sentencing

Question 1

What is Custodial sentencing

Answer 1

Involves a convicted offender spending time in prison or another closed institution such as young offender’s institute or
psychiatric hospital.

Question 2

What are the four reasons for custodial sentencing?

Answer 2

Deterrence

Incapacitation

Retribution

Rehabilitation

Question 3

What is deterrence

Answer 3

The unpleasant prison experience is designed to put off the individual
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 crime in light of their experience. This is based on the behaviourist
idea of conditioning through punishment.

Question 4

What is Incapacitation

Answer 4

The offender is taken out
of society to prevent them
from 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.

Question 5

What is Retribution?

Answer 5

Society is enacting revenge for crime by making the offender suffer, and the level of suffering should be proportionate to the seriousness of the
crime.

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, alternatives are often criticised as soft options.

Question 6

What is Rehabilitation

Answer 6

In contrast to retribution, many commentators 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 for drug addiction, as well as give the
offender the chance to reflect on their crime.

Question 7

What are the Psychological effects of custodial sentencing?

Answer 7

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
psychological disturbance 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 8

Research evidence for the effect of custodial sentencing?

Answer 8

Curt Bartol (1995) has suggested that for many offenders, imprisonment
can be ‘brutal, demeaning and generally devastating.’

In the last twenty years, suicide rates among offenders have tended to be
around fifteen times higher than those in the general population. Most at
risk are young, single men during the first 24 hours of confinement.

Recent research by the Prison Reform Trust (2014) found that 25% of
women and 15% of men in prison reported symptoms indicative of
psychosis. It would seem that the oppressive prison regime may trigger
psychological disorders in those that are vulnerable.

These findings question whether custodial sentencing is effective in
rehabilitating the individual or whether it makes those that are vulnerable
more prone to psychological disorders.

Question 9

What is recidivism? And what are the recidivism rates?

Answer 9

Recidivism refers to reoffending. Rates vary according to the type of offence committed.

UK and US recidivism rates are amongst the highest in the world. 57% of
UK offenders reoffend within a year. 14 prisons in UK report rates of
70% within 2 years.

Rates are lower in Norway where there is an emphasis on rehabilitation, but some criticise Norway as being too ‘soft’

Question 10

A limitation of dealing with
offender behaviour, alternatives.

Answer 10

A limitation of dealing with
offender behaviour, is there
are alternatives to custodial
sentencing.

The research suggests that
prison does little to
rehabilitate offenders or
deters others. Alternatives
(e.g. community service)
allow employment and family
contact to be maintained.

The difficulty for politicians,
however, is that even jus
proposing these alternatives
is seen as being ‘soft’ on
crime.

Question 11

A strength of custodial sentencing, rehab

Answer 11

A strength of custodial sentencing is that it may be the opportunity for rehabilitation.

Many prisoners do access education, training and anger management schemes which suggests prison could be worthwhile. But evidence of long term benefits is inconclusive.

The potential benefits of rehabilitation are a strength, but the lack of evidence undermines this argument.

Question 12

Limitation of custodial sentencing, tricks of the trade

Answer 12

A further limitation is that prisons can become ‘universities of crime’.

Differential association theory suggests that time spent with hardened criminals my give younger inmates the chance to learn ‘tricks of the trade’ from experienced offenders.

This may undermine attempts to rehabilitate prisoners, making reoffending more likely.