Deterrence

• The idea that the purpose of punishment is to put people off committing offences because the consequences are unpleasant
• what is the aim of deterrence?

  to reduce offending in the first place
• Give an example of a form of deterrence in the UK

  Prison
• individual deterrence: administered to the particular individual to put them off reoffending
• give an example of individual deterrence

  use of suspended sentences
• what is a suspended sentence

  the punishment for the first crime only applies if the person reoffends
• give an example of where individual deterrence has been used

  1980’s - the thatcher used a short sharp shock approach as a policy in juvenile detention
• general deterrence: people in the community witness someone being punished and this deters them from committing crime to avoid punishment themselves
• give an example of when general deterrence has been used in the past


  in the UK, executions would be public to deter witnesses from committing crime
• severity vs certainty: however serious a crime may be, if there’s small chance of getting caught, they are more likely to commit the crime. if the certainty of getting caught is larger, they are less likely to commit crime
• how does right realism support deterrence?

  rational choice theory - we choose to commit the offence. people way up the costs and benefits before deciding to break the law
• how does Skinner’s theory relate to deterrence?

  punishment - operant conditioning: something unpleasant occurs when undesired behaviour is displayed. deters them from displaying this behaviour
• how does Bandura’s social learning theory support deterrence 


  we observe people being punished so we learn that the behaviour is unacceptable and don’t repeat it
• strengths of deterrence:

  • may help reduce crime overall
  • can reduce the risk of people turning to crime
  • can save taxpayers money in the long run

  weaknesses of deterrence:

  • it may not work because the risk of being caught is too small
  • evidence suggests prison sentences don’t work as a deterrence - 46% of adults are re convicted within a year according to the Bromley’s briefing prison fact file 2017
  • it could just serve as a “crime university”
  • if the causes of crime aren’t tackled, it may carry on
• what did the Bromley Briefing’s prison fact file (2017) find about offenders?


  46% reoffend in their first year out of prison