punishment

• prison is the main form of punishment in UK - incarnation in which offenders are removed from society loosing freedom and acts as a deterent
• WHY DOES SOCIETY PUNISH PEOPLE?

  1. reduction of crime
  2. retribution
• 4 MAIN FUNCTIONS OF PUNISHMENT

  1. incapacitation - use punishment to stop criminal reoffend eg. long sentence, cut hands off
  2. deterrence - act as a warning to prevent public and reoffence
  3. retribution - 'pay back' for society
  4. rehabilitate - change offender behaviour to prevent reoffending eg. education and training
• SOC EXP OF THE ROLE OF PUNISHMENT - functionalism deterrence

  punishment acts as a warning to offender and public to prevent reoffending and committing. example of boundary maintance to remind public of shared values and what happens if you break law eg. 2024 anti immigration riots
• SOC EXP OF THE ROLE OF PUNISHMENT - functionalism deterrence AO3

  high levels of reoffending suggest punishment doesnt act as a deterrence and prisions are where they learn new criminal acts from other innmates
• SOC EXP OF THE ROLE OF PUNISHMENT - functionalism retribution

  offenders deserve to be punished as they have not only broke the law but broke shared values of society - punishment gives community justice and let them move forward to restore social order

  eg. southport killer jailed for a minimum 2 years after killing 3 children
• SOC EXP OF THE ROLE OF PUNISHMENT - functionalism deterrence AO3

  extent to which punishment offers retribution is questionable - public may feel many forms of current punishment is too lenient so no sense of justice
• SOC EXP OF THE ROLE OF PUNISHMENT - right realism increase cost of crime for offenders

  main aim of punishment is to make cost outweigh benefits eg. serve whole sentence instead of half and then being released early for good behaviour
• SOC EXP OF THE ROLE OF PUNISHMENT - right realism increase cost of crime for offenders AO3

  problem of increasing cost is it leads to high numbers in prison - mass incarceration doesnt work and costs taxpayer money so alternative punishment considered eg. community service
• SOC EXP OF THE ROLE OF PUNISHMENT - left realism rehabilitation

  main purpose of punishment should be rehabilitation - change behaviour to prevent reoffending - high number are wc deprived so offer education and skills training to encourage legitimate jobs after prison or counselling to change way of thinking
• SOC EXP OF THE ROLE OF PUNISHMENT - left realism rehabilitation AO3

  education provided in many prisons is inadequate due to significant funding cuts there is also a lack of counselling and mental healthcare in prison so unable to change behaviour or attitude
• SOC EXP OF THE ROLE OF PUNISHMENT - marxism ideological function

  serves a ideological function - punishments used by rc to maintain power and control over wc - full of wc and punishments all over the media due to tough policing by rc so public shifted attention from real criminals of rc corporate crimes and hide crimes to maintain capitalism
• SOC EXP OF THE ROLE OF PUNISHMENT - marxism ideological function AO3

  labelling theory agrees as police target typical delinquent who are more likely wc to be arrested and sentencing is heavily covered in media to shape public opinion
• DO PRISIONS WORK IN UK? YES

  incarceration keeps public safe

  form of deterrence - boundary maintance

  right realist - incarceration remove underclass from streets to change them

  rehabilitate offenders
• DO PRISIONS WORK IN UK? NO

  fail to rehabilitate

  high reoffending rates