custodial sentencing

• de-individuation

  a psychological state in which individuals have lowered levels of self-evaluation (e.g. when in a crowd or under the influence of alcohol) and decreased concerns about evaluation by others
• recidivism

  this is when a person re-offends after receiving some form of punishment for previous offences
• incapacitation

  removing the offender from society in order to protect society
• retribution

  the offender is made to suffer for their crime (society’s revenge)
• custodial sentencing

  a judicial sentence determined by a court, where the offender is punished by serving time in prison or in some other closed therapeutic and/or educational institution, such as a psychiatric hospital
• to protect the public

  putting criminals in prison is necessary in the case of violent offenders or psychopaths who might not be capable of controlling their behaviour
• to punish the offender and prevent recidivism

  a punishment might decrease the chances of the behaviour being repeated. This is believed to be the reason most do not commit crime (they are worried about the punishment)
• to deter others

  prison sentences should deter others. If sentencing was too lenient, people might be more willing to take the risk of breaking the law
• to atone from wrongdoing

  the victim and their friends/family wish to feel a sense of justice being done. The offender needs to be seen to pay on some way for the crime they committed
• to rehabilitate offender

  education and therapy is believed by many to prevent criminal behaviour. Having a person in prison may offer the best solution; therapy without distractions and sometimes with incentives to participate
• psychological effects of custodial sentencing

  • de-individuation- Zimbardo illustrated how we lose identity when uniform are given. This has been known to lead to increased aggression and treating individuals in an inhumane way
  • institutionalisation- leads to lack of autonomy, conformity to roles and a dependency culture
  • depression/self-harm and sometimes suicide- feeling of hopelessness, anxious about the future, lacking any control
  • overcrowding and lack of privacy- we don’t have enough prison space for the increasing numbers in prisons (it is commonplace for more than one inmate to be in a room) This has a consequence on the psychological state of prisoners; increased aggression, stress and increased physical illness
  • effects on the family- the financial and psychological effects on surrounding family are considerable (parents in prison feel guilt and suffer separation anxiety, Glover, 2009)
• effectiveness

  • not effective in rehabilitating the individual, particularly those who are psychologically vulnerable
  • in the last 20 years, suicide rates among offenders have tended to be around fifteen times higher than those in the general population
  • most at risk are young single men during the first 24 hours of confinement
  • Prison Reform Trust (2014)- 25% of women and 15% of men in prison reported symptoms indicative of psychosis. It would seem that the oppressive prison regime may trigger psychological disorders in those that are vulnerable
• benefits of sentencing

  • incapacitation is a safe way to remove dangerous people from society, but this is not proven to reduce recidivism so a limited benefit
  • retribution- through restorative justice, whereby the offender has to make amends towards the victim. This may change attitudes
  • rehabilitation- if the offender consents to taking past in any rehab programme, this may offer some further desire to change
• prisons can offer a training ground for crime

  • brutalisation- prison acts as school for crime, reinforces a criminal lifestyle and criminal norms, leads to high recidivism rates (approx. 70% of young offenders re-offend within 2 years)
  • increased association with pro-criminal attitudes (Sutherland’s differential association theory)
  • Latessa and Lowenkemp (2006)- if you place low-risk offenders with high-risk offenders, the low-risk offender is more likely to reoffend
  • Pritikin (2009)- imprisonment leads to lower self-esteem, reduced empathy and anger towards the system
• individual differences

  • Waler et al (1981)- found that the length of sentence made no difference to habitual offenders who were just as likely to reoffend no matter what their sentence was
  • Home office (2005)- younger people are more likely to reoffend, those committing theft/burglary are twice as likely to commit the same offence again, than  those committing sexual offences or drug offences