AO3

• Evidence to support idea custodial sentencing has negative psychological effects: Bartol (1995) proposed many offender find imprisonment is brutal, demeaning and generally devastating
• Prisoners are surrounded by opportunities for learning and training, eg sex offenders may take part in compulsory CBT schemes to reduce the effects of their minimalisation so reduces recidivism
• Shouldn't be viewed as a universally effective method of dealing with all types of behaviour: prison doesn't affect every individual in the same way eg extent on effects will depend on dispositional traits of convict, length of sentence, previous experience in prison and type of prison in which they served previously
• Unsure whether prison is the cause of psychological problems as some may previously had underlying psychological mental issues, or the offence committed was in light of a psychological disorder therefore hard to establish cause and effect
• The Stanford prison study (Zimbardo, 1973) shows how easy it is for people to become institutionalised in prison.
• According to Dooley (1990), self-harm and suicide rates in prison are high, especially amongst younger inmates and those on remand. This supports the view that mental health is affected by imprisonment.
• Snow (2006) found that prisoners displaying mental health issues such as depression were at higher risk of suicide and self-harm.
• Rehabilitation in prison is not currently effective as recidivism rates are high.