Unit 4 2.2

• Deterrence


  The idea that a purpose of a punishment is to deter people away from committing a crime
• Deterrence


  • The overall aim is to reduce reoffending
  • There are two types: individual deterrence and general deterrence
• Individual deterrence


  Aimed to deter the person themselves
• Individual deterrence


  • The short sharp shock in 1980 from the Thatcher government on juvenile detention centre
• General deterrence


  A punishment deters society from committing similar crime
• General deterrence


  • Public punishment such as execution or even the media portraying types of punishments
• Deterrence


  Focuses on severity vs certainty
• If a punishment is seen as severe, but there is less chance of being caught it is very unlikely to deter someone from committing that crime
• Deterrence


  • A mandatory minimum sentence for a third burglary is three years in prison, but only 5% of reported burglaries result in successful convictions
• Deterrence


  Links to operant conditioning due to individual being able to modify their behaviour and deter themselves from reoffending or committing a crime
• Individuals are believed to be free thinking rational beings
• Strengths of deterrence


  • It is financially beneficial for the prison service due to it costing an average of £41k a year to hold someone in prison
• Weaknesses of deterrence


  • Certainty of being caught is not always there so the reward is bigger than the punishment they may receive, leading to more crime being committed
• Public protection


  An aim of punishment that makes it physically impossible for criminals to offend again
• Prison is partly a means for public protection because offenders are removed from society
• The Crime Act 1977 introduced mandatory minimum sentences for specific offences, such as life for murder
• Indeterminate sentences


  1. No set release date

  2. Probation and other agencies review offender's suitability for reintegration every 3-5 years
• Biological theories


  Support public protection by insisting criminals can be born a certain way that cannot be changed
• Chemical castration of sex offenders


  Reduces the risks of them committing the same crime
• Strengths of public protection


  • Keeps the public safe from dangerous offenders
  • Allows the public to carry on with normality and creates a smooth harmony
• Weaknesses of public protection

  • Prison population keeps increasing with more violent and dangerous offenders
  • Prisons can act as a 'crime university' where new skills are learned and used when reintegrated
• Reparation is an aim of punishment
• Public protection also known as incapacitation
• Public protection - some countries carry out protection by death penalty or chemical castration on sex offenders whoever in the UK it js less extreme and they protect by curfews, sentencing, driving and travel bans
• The crime act 1977 introduced standard sentences for specific offences eg mandatory minimum for murder
• Interdetemrinate sentences can be given however they are now abolished - no release date is set it is decided by the parole board every 3/5 years - still over 1000 serving one
• Reparation


  Punishment that allows the person to make financial amends for their actions
• Reparation


  • Can be tailored to a particular crime such as property crime
  • Offenders are often given a compensation order to compensate the victim for any damages caused
  • For public property, an individual will be given a community order of unpaid hours of cleaning up the streets, parks, and verges
• Restorative justice


  Part of reparation where the offender will meet the victim with a facilitator, discuss the impact of the crime and reasons for it, and the offender will often give out remorse and ask forgiveness from the victim
• Reparation


  Links to left realism as it gives a mutual understanding for the aims of a more caring society e.g. from paying back
• Strengths of reparation

  • Allows the victim to have an important opportunity to give their side of the story and express the impact and harm that they suffered
  • Can allow the offender to feel remorse, learn from their actions, and modify their behaviour to not reoffend
  • Allows for reinstatement of harmony
• Weaknesses of reparation


  • Some see it as a soft approach this is because they receive punishment mostly by having to pay compensation or unpaid work from this it cannot always fix mental trauma. They have caused a victim.
• Rehabilitation


  A forward-looking aim which focuses on changing a person's behaviour for future situations
• Rehabilitation


  • It takes a view that a person is a free-thinking individual who is capable of changing their behaviour and learning, supported by left realism
  • It can be supported by offender management programmes, therapy such as aversion theory or CBT, and even community sentences
• Rehabilitation


  1. Introduced through education and training

  2. Helps the individual gain skills and financial security

  3. Prepares offenders for employment through skills and qualifications as they leave prison
• 65% of offenders who enter prison have a literacy skill age of 11-year-old compared to the 15% general population
• 60% of offenders who leave prison are unemployed
• Businesses working with prisons


  • Virgin Trains as part of the new future networks programme
  • Allows prisoners to take on apprenticeships
• The new future networks programme is set up by the ministry of justice
• Strength of rehabilitation


  • It is seen as a morally acceptable approach as it gives offenders a second chance in society to change and create a future for themselves through skills, qualifications, and employment