AC 2.3 Forms of punishment meet aims of punishment

• Forms of punishment - Different types of sentences: imprisonment; community order; fine; discharges
• Meet the aims of punishment - Deliver or achieve the aims: retribution; deterrence
• Aims of punishment

  • Retribution
  • Deterrence
  • Public protection
  • Reparation
  • Rehabilitation
• Types of sentences

  • Imprisonment (a custodial sentence)
  • Fines (a monetary sanction)
  • Community rehabilitation (community sanction)
  • Discharges (conditional and unconditional orders of the court)
• Custodial sentences are reserved for the most serious offences and are imposed when the offence is committed is so serious a fine or community sentence can't be used for it
• Types of custodial sentences:

  • Suspended sentences
  • Determinate sentences
  • Extended sentences
  • Life sentences
• Imprisonment is the most severe sentence available to the courts
• Imprisonment - Retribution - Aims

  • Idea that offending deserves to be punished and that the punishment should fit the crime
  • Prison punishes people for their crimes by taking away their freedom (and often also imposes unpleasant living conditions of them)
• Imprisonment - Retribution - Weaknesses

  • However, it is difficult to say whether imprisonment gives offenders their just desserts
  • EG How do we decide exactly what length of sentence fits different crimes
  • Society disagrees about whether sentences are too long or too short, and about which offences or offenders deserve prison
• Imprisonment - Deterrence - Does it achieve its aims

  • High re - offending rates suggest that prison is not an effective deterrent for many EG more that 50 offences offs of reconviction 36%
  • Nearly half of adult prisoners are reconvicted within a year of being released EG 42% of adults have reconvicted within a year of being released
  • Deterrence only works if offenders are capable of rational thought and action
• Imprisonment - Deterrence - Does it achieve its aims

  • Offences are often committed under the influence of drugs or alcohol EG 76% of people used Class A drugs compared to 43% didn't use A class drugs
  • Many offenders have poor education or mental health problems
  • In these circumstances, risk of prison may not be carefully considered
• Imprisonment - Rehabilitation - Does it achieve its aims

  • 48% of prisoners re - offend within a year of their release
• Imprisonment - Rehabilitation - Does it achieve its aims

  Short sentences are one reason for this failure:

  • Nearly half of all sentences are for six months or less
  • Means there is not enough time to get to grips with long - term problems that cause offending, such as mental health issues or addiction
• Imprisonment - Retribution - Does it achieve its aims

  • Education and training, even for prisoners with longer sentences, are often limited
  • EG a quarter of prisoners have a job to go to on release
  • Partly because many lack the education or skills needed : over half of prisoners have the literacy skills of the average 11 year old
• Imprisonment - Public protection - Does it achieve it aims

  Imprisonment may provide public protection in several ways:

  • 'whole life' sentences keep offenders permanently off the streets
  • Prisoners serving indeterminate sentences can be kept in jail for as long as they are deemed a danger to the public
  • Most prisoners are released on license and under supervision. If they become a danger to the public; during their license period, they can be recalled to prison
• Imprisonment - Public protection - Does it achieve its aims

  • Prison can be a 'school' for crime, where prisoners acquire skills, attitudes and contacts that lead them to offend after their release and potentially to commit more serious crimes
  • Most prisoners are eventually released, so while buys the public temporary protection, it may result in greater harm later
• Imprisonment - Public protection - Does it achieve its aims

  • Keeping people in prison is very costly. Critics argue that these funds, could be used to pay for other ways of protecting the public
• Imprisonment - Reparation - Does it achieve its aims

  • One aim of punishment is for the offender to repair the damage caused by the offence, both to the victim and to wider society
  • Prisoners Earnings Act 2011, prisoners who are permitted to work outside of prison to prepare for their eventual release can be made to pay a proportion of their earnings towards the cost of the victim support services
  • forcing prisoners to take responsibility for the harm they have caused
• Community rehabilitation/Sentences

  • Community order (introduced by Criminal Justice Act 2003)
  • Made by both Magistrates and Judges and can contain specific requirements EG:
  • A number of hours unpaid work
  • Drug rehabilitation
  • Anger management courses
  • Alcohol treatment
  • Attendance centre Requirement (under 25s)
• Community orders - Retribution - Does it achieve its aims

  • All community sentences must include an element of punishment or retribution. EG curfews and exclusion orders restrict offenders' movement to certain times and places
  • Form of retribution, making the offender suffer limits on their freedom
• Community orders - Retribution - Does it achieve their aims

  • But are courts using community orders to achieve their aims
• Community orders - Deterrence - Does it achieve its aims

  • Data indicates that community sentences are more effective that short prison sentences reducing re - offending
  • Therefore potentially they are working as a form of deterrence
  • Re - offending rate is better. Re - offending rate for those on short prison sentences of less than 12 months is 63% and the re - offending rate for those serving community sentences is 56%
• Community orders - Rehabilitation - Does it achieve its aims

  • Offenders often have multiple, complex needs such as homelessness, drug misuse, mental health problems, unemployment and educational needs
  • Community sentences aims to rehabilitate offenders by addressing those needs
  • Offenders can undergo treatment for addiction problems or undertake training to improve job prospects
• Community orders - Rehabilitation - Does it achieve its aims

  • Studies show community sentences are more effective at rehabilitating offenders and preventing recidivism that short prison sentences
• Community order - Rehabilitation - Does it achieve their aims

  • One study, 34% re - offended within 12 months of starting a community sentence, compared with 64% for those serving prison sentences of less than 12 months
  • Community sentences are particularly effective for those with many previous offences
• Community orders - Rehabilitation - Does it achieve its aims

  • Those with over 50 previous convictions, re - offending is over one third higher for those given a short prison sentence rather than a community sentence
  • Despite their effectiveness, the use of community sentences are declined
  • Between 2007 and 2020, the proportion of offenders receiving community orders fell from 14% to 7%
• Community order - Reparation - Does it achieve its aims

  Reparation can include doing unpaid work to repair the damage they have caused to a victim's property

  Reparation may be to the whole community through unpaid work such as: removing graffiti, clearing wasteland or decorating a public building such as a community centre
• Community orders - Public protection - Does it achieve its aims

  • All sentences must include public protection as one of their aims
  • Breaches of a community sentence can lead to the offender being sent to prison
• Fines

  • Easy to adjust
  • Have an impact on the offender
  • Can be considered as retributive and also as a deterrent
  • May not carry enough weight EG road traffic offences also have penalty points/disqualifications
• Fines - Size of a fine depends on the following factors:

  • the offence itself. Law lays down a maximum fine for a given offence the circumstances of the crime. The sentencing guidelines give a range of options depending on whether it was a first offence, how much harm was done
  • the offender's ability to pay. A poorer defendant will probably receive a smaller fuse, and/or be allowed to pay in instalments which court is hearing the case for example : magistrates can only impose fines up to £5,000 (or £10,000 for two or more offences
• Fines - Retribution - Does it achieve its aims

  • Hitting someone in the pocket can be a good way to make them suffer for the harm they have done
• Fines - Deterrence - Does it achieve their aims

  • A fine may make an offender reluctant to re - offend for fear of further punishment
  • As the use of fines is a common way of disposing of first offenders, fines may be used as a signal that worse will follow if they re - offend
• Fines - Failure to pay

  • Offenders who fail to pay their fines without good reason may face prison
  • Courts can deduct fines from an offender's benefits or send in bailiffs to seize their property in the event of non - payment
  • However, many fines do not get paid
• Other types of sentences - Discharges

  • Absolute discharge
  • Conditional discharge
  • Formal caution
  • Conditional caution
• Absolute discharge - Court takes no further action, but offence is put on D's record
• Conditional discharge - No sentence but, D must not re - offend (within a period specified by the court) and offence is on record

  If D does re - offend he can be re - sentenced for this offence
• Formal caution - a warning from the police which is held on record for 5 years and if offender stays out of trouble no other punishment is given
• Conditional caution - Has specified conditions attached
• Discharge - Do they achieve their aims

  • The basic aim of discharges is deterrence
  • They are the lowest level of punishment and are in effect a warning as to the individual's future conduct
  • Low rate of re - offending following a discharge, especially if it was for a first offence probably because for many first offenders
  • Experience of simply going to court is enough or them to mend their ways, in this respect, discharges appear to largely meet their punishment aim