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Dealing with Offending Behaviour - Coggle Diagram
Dealing with Offending Behaviour
Custodial Sentencing
The Aims
Deterrence
(to prevent the offender re-offending and demonstrate to society the consequences of similar actions)
Retribution
(to show society and the victim's family that the offender has been forced to pay for their actions)
Rehabilitation
(using education and treatment programmes to change offender behaviour)
Incapacitation
(to protect other people)
Involves a convicted offender spending time in prison or a closed institution such as a young offenders institute or psychiatric hospital.
Psychological effects of Custodial Sentencing
Institutionalisation
Having adapted to the norms and values of prison life, some prisoners find it impossible to cope in the real world upon their release. Some even commit crimes with the intention of going back to prison.
This idea is supported by
Azjen's
cognitive model - this study believes that if we change a prisoners internal beliefs about the value of their life on the outside, they are more likely to have a positive internal belief to stay out of prison and therefore behave in a way that keeps them out of prison.
Prisonisation
Similar to institutionalisation, some behaviours that are unacceptable in the outside world are encouraged and rewarded inside the walls of a prison.
Prisoners learn to accept the prisoner code in order to survive, for example the unofficial hierarchy of prisoners.
Stress and Depression
Dooley (1990)
found that out of 442 deaths, 300 were due to suicide. Significantly more of the prisoners who had committed suicide were on remand (have not been convicted of a criminal offence and are awaiting trial following a not guilty plea).
Dooley
also found a relationship between crowding and the psychological effects of imprisonment. Increasing the number of inmates, significantly increases negative psychological effects such as stress, anxiety, and depression.
Recidivism
(also known as re-offending), statistics have shown that the UK and US have the highest recidivism rates in the world.
Research has shown that
60-70%
of offenders will re-offend.
In contrast, recidivism rates are lowest in Norway. Prisons in Norway focus heavily on rehabilitation and skills development. However, this has been criticised because it is believed to be a soft option that is not a true punishment. This may make victims feel as though they have not got the justice they deserve.
Behaviour Modification
Behaviour modification programmes aim to reinforce obedient or desirable behaviour in offenders, based on the behaviourist principle that all behaviour is learned. Undesirable behaviour should therefore be punished to reduce the likelihood of such behaviour being repeated.
Token Economy
Good behaviour is rewarded with tokens that can be traded for desirable privileges and bad behaviour is discouraged through removing such tokens.
This technique uses operant conditioning by providing a reward for desirable behaviours - positive reinforcement.
Hobbs & Holt (1976)
introduced token economy with a group of young offenders across 3 behavioural units (and a fourth unit acted as a control). They observed a significant difference in positive behaviour compared to the non-token economy group.
Evaluation of Token Economy
Practical applications - token economies are easy to implement and do not require specialist training :check: however all staff must implement them consistently which can be difficult :red_cross: