Dealing with Offending Behaviour- Custodial Sentencing.

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  • Dealing with Offending Behaviour- Custodial Sentencing.
    • Involves a convicted offender spending time in prison or institution. Reasons:
      • 1) Deterrence. An unpleasant experience is designed to discourage individual from engaging in criminal behaviour. Works on 2 levels: - general deterrence sends a broad message to society. - individual deterrence, stop reoffending.
      • 2) Incapacitation The offender is taken out of society to prevent reoffending to protect the public.
      • 3) Retribution this is the notion that offenders should pay for their actions, prison means consequences- loss of freedom.
      • 4) Rehabilitation To reduce reoffending, prisons should provide opportunities to develop skills or training or access to treatment programmes. Offenders should leave prison better adjusted and ready to be part of society.
    • Evaluation.
      • Agrumen for effectiveness: Rehabilitation Many prisoners access education and training whilst in prison, increasing the possibility they will find employment after released. Also treatment programmes e.g. anger management help reduce reoffending. In Norway the rate of reoffending in 16%.
      • Argument against  effectiveness Rehabilitation Prison can serve as a place in which inmates learn how to commit crime, as spend time with other criminals. In the UK 57% reoffend within a year.
      • Argument against effectiveness: Deterrence and rehabilitation.The reoffending rates show that custodial sentencing is not very effective.
      • Argument for effectiveness: Retribution and Incapacitation It does provide method of punishment and ensures offender can't commit crimes when in prison.
    • Psychological effects:
      • Stress and Depression. Suicide rates are higher in prison than general population. Crighton & Towl found the risk of suicide is greater in first 30 days, suggests adjusting to prison is psychologically distressing to some.
      • Institution-alism. Inmates may have become so used to the norm and routines of prison that they no longer are able to function outside, leads to a lack of autonomy, conformity.
      • Prisonisation. This refers to the way prisoners are socialised into adopting inmate code- behaviours that may be considered unacceptable in outside world are encouraged and rewarded in prison.
      • Evaluation
        • Supporting: The Prison Reform Trust found 25% of women and 15% of men in prison reported psychosis, prison may be a trigger to vulnerable ones.
        • Individual Differences.It cannot be assumed that all offenders react in same way, as they have different regimes, experiences, length of sentence.
        • Issues with validity. Difficult to know id it is psychological or emotional difficulties inmates experience. An offender could have committed the offence due to their psychological issues.
        • Alternatives: Low-risk offenders could be given community service instead avoiding psychological effects.

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