Custodial sentencing

• Custodial sentencing - When offender is punished by being sentenced to spend time in an institution, usually a prison but could also be a young offenders institution etc
• 4 aims of custodial sentencing:

  Rehabilitation, retribution, incapacitation and deterrence
• Rehabilitation - Aims to reform and not punish the offender. Has the view that prison should leave offenders better adjusted for society by providing them with treatments, education, skill training and allowing the offender to reflect on their crime
• Retribution - Society enacts revenge for the crime by making the offender suffer which is proportionate to the severity of the crime. Relates to the notion of "an eye for an eye"
• Incapacitation - The offender is taken out of society to stop them from reoffending and to protect the public. The need for this depends on the nature and severity of the offence
• Deterrence - The unpleasant prison experience is designed to put society off of engaging in offender behaviour. Associated with conditioning through punishment. Two types: individual where the individual will be put off offending from the experience and general where a punishment gives a message to society that crime is not tolerated
• Effects of custodial sentencing: Prisons may have a range of negative effects on inmate behaviour and after release: stress and depression, institutionalisation, prisonisation
• Stress and depression: Stress and depression are a common reaction at the start of a custodial sentence as the prisoners try to adjust. May also reappear at the end of a sentence when prisoners may be concerned about how they will adjust to life outside. Some symptoms include sleeplessness, restlessness and anxiety
• Institutionalisation - People who spend a lot of time in prison will get accustomed to the prison life and find it difficult to adjust when released. In prison you have a strict schedule and therefore it may be difficult to cope when decisions are to be made by yourself
• Prisonisation - Within prison there will be a set of norms for behaviour amongst prisoners which may not be considered acceptable outside of prison. Therefore the person may not only be institutionalised, but they would have also learnt a number of inappropriate ways of behaving that will not be well received outside of prison
• Problem of recidivism - UK has the highest reoffending rates in the world, in 2007 reoffending rates were over 70%. This shows that rehabilitation and deterrence are aims that are not met.
• +Evidence of psychological effects

  Research evidence to suggest that imprisonment can have serious psychological effects including mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. This is seen as prison suicides in the UK are 15x higher than the general population. Prison reform trust found 25% of women and 15% of men in prison showed psychotic symptoms. Suggests custodial may not be effective in rehabilitation the individual, especially those who are vulnerable
• -Role of individual differences

  There are individual differences that must be considered as imprisonment will have different effects on different people so it cannot be assumed that all offenders will act in the same way. Mitigating factors such as particular prison, length of sentence and previous experience of the individual must be considered as to whether they will experience psychological effects
• -Problem of recidivism/school of crime

  Recidivism research does not support the idea that prison is anymore effective than other sanctions. It has been argued that imprisonment may increase the likelihood of offending as opposed to decreasing it. Some argue prisons act as a "school of crime" in which the prison environment may reinforce a criminal lifestyle and criminal norms so upon release offenders can reoffend. Questions whether custodial sentencing acts as an effective deterrent if recidivism is high