deterrence

• what is deterrence?

  deterrence is when someone is put off doing a certain behavior. this is often done through fear of punishment
• what are the two types of deterrence?

  individual and general
• what is individual deterrence?

  this is used to deter an individual from reoffending. punishments may convince the offender that it is not worth committing the act again. For example, juvenile detention centers and boot camps in the USA are said to work because they were tough on offenders and made them fear the punishment if they reoffended.
• what is general deterrence?

  this is used to deter society from breaking laws. punishment teaches people that offenders will face the consequences of their behavior. in the past, an example of general deterrence was public executions as this prevented others from committing the offence that the hanged person committed. it is now more the media that highlight the consequences of offending
• how does deterrence link to right realism?


  right realists favor practical solutions to crime because they can be severely damaging to society. they believe that the crime control model should be put in place and that the police should adopt a zero tolerance policing approach
• what is zero tolerance policing?

  zero tolerance policing is a policing strategy that involves relentless maintenance and aggressive law enforcement against even minor crimes and incivilities.
• what are some strengths of zero tolerance policing?

  one strength is that it prevents neighborhood crimes from taking root and spreading. Clarke also believed that punishments should aim to increase the perceived risk of committing crimes and reduce the rewards.
• does individual deterrence work?

  recidivism rates suggest that prisoners are not deterred through fear of punishment with 42% of adults reoffending within the first year of release
• how does social learning theory link to deterrence?

  social learning theory would criticise the use of prison sentences as a deterrent. this is because they believe that behavior is learned through observation of others. this means that if people are observing other criminals then they are more likely to reoffend
• general deterrence example - London Riots 2011

  2 men ages 21 and 22 were jailed for using Facebook to incite havoc. it was later discovered that no havoc was caused by this post. this therefore could have deterred people quite dramatically as they would be fearful of posting on social media. Marxists would criticise the use of zero tolerance policing in the London riots because it may be seen as them punishing the lower class and therefore benefitting the upper class