custodial sentencing

• aim of custodial sentencing

  involves a convicted offender spending time in prison or another closed institution such as young offenders institute or psychiatric hospital
• deterrence

  the unpleasant prison experience is designed to put off an individual from engaging in offending behaviour. general deterrence aims to send a broad message 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. the idea of conditioning through punishment
• incapacitation

  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.
• retribution

  society is enacting revenge for the 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 'eye for eye', that the offender should in some way pay for their actions. many people see prison as the best option and alternatives for prison are often criticised as too soft options
• rehabilitation

  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 giving the offender the chance to reflect on their crime.
• psychological effects of custodial sentencing

  stress and depression = suicidal rates are considerably high in prison than the general population. the stress of prison also increases the risk of psychological disturbance following release
• psychological effects of custodial sentencing

  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
• psychological effects of custodial sentencing

  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 institutions
• recidivism

  refers to reoffending. statistics produced by the ministry of justice in 2013 suggest 57% of UK offenders will reoffend within a year of release. In 2007, 14 prisons in England and Wales recorded reoffending rates of over 70%. Although statistics vary depending on the type of offence, the UK and the US has some of the highest rates of recidivism in the world
• A03 - evidence supports psychological effects

  • Bartol suggested that for many offenders imprisonment can be brutal
  • in the last 20 years, suicide rates among offenders have tended to be around 15 times higher than those in general population
  • most at risk are young men during the first 24 hours of confinement
  • a recent study found that 25% of women and 15% of men in prison reported symptoms indicative of psychosis
  • this suggests custodial sentencing is not effective in rehabilitating the individual particularly who are psychologically vulnerable
• A03 - individual differences

  • it cannot be assumed that all offenders will be psychologically challenged
  • different prison have different regimes, so they are widely different in variation of experience
  • the length of a sentence, the reason for imprisonment and previous experience of prison may all be important factors
  • many convicted may have had previous psychological and emotional difficulties at the time of conviction which may explain their behaviour
  • it is difficult to make a general conclusion that applies to every prisoner in every prison
• A03 - opportunities for treatment and training

  • many prisoners access education and training whilst in prison increasing the possibility they will find employment upon release
  • treatment programmes such as anger management and social skills training may give offenders insight into their behaviour, reducing the likeliness of recidivism
  • this suggests prison may be a worthwhile experience assuming offenders are able to access these programmes
  • however, some prisons may lack resources to provide these programmes