public protection

• what is public protection?

  this is the idea that if an offender is highly dangerous or a risk to the public then whilst sentencing will consider how to protect the public from them. this is used for violent crimes such as murder sexual offences and crimes against children. this idea conflicts rehabilitation because it focuses on making the offender better but this idea prioritises the public over defendant's rights.
• what is incapacitation?

  to incapacitate someone is to deprive them of their power and strength. this can include prison sentences the castration of sex offenders or the death penalty
• arguements for custodial sentences providing public protection

  if the offender is incapacitated then they can't reoffend. it can also rehabilitate the offender through drug therapies and education for example. this is favoured by right realists and the crime control model because it believes in the protection of the public rather than the offender
• arguements against custodial sentences as a form of public protection

  it is expensive to keep offenders with it costing £ 40000 to keep an offender per year. it is also only temporary with the recidivism rate being 60% after release. social learning theory and differential association theory suggest that being around people can influence your behaviour so being in prison could cause harsher criminal behaviour
• what is recidivism

  this is a tendency to reoffend. Britain has a high recidivism rate of 46% of prisoners reoffending within a year of their release. for people serving sentences less than 12 months it increases to 58%
• how does the biological approach to criminality link to public protection?

  biological theories would support custodial sentences as a way of protecting the public because it links to eugenics. this stops criminal genes from being passed down by sterilising them
• chemical castration on the NHS strengths and limitations

  it has been discovered that 40% of sex offenders reoffend upon release. convicted paedophiles are given chemical castration on the NHS. this can be a good thing because it allows for reoffending rates to go down and the drug lasts up to four weeks. however, it is unethical to make it mandatory but would be illogical to make it voluntary. it also doesn't stop the urges just stops the chance of reproduction
• second chance sex offenders strengths and limitations

  in Florida, sex offenders lose their civil rights and the public is notified of their location through signs erected outside of their house. this is good because it allows people to be aware and avoid the offenders for their own safety. However it puts the offenders in danger of attacks which goes against the idea of public protection
• the black cab rapist - john worboys

  he was jailed in 2009 for 19 sex offences against women and received 2 life sentences. three senior judges rejected permission for an appeal as they said he was an ongoing danger to women in the public