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FORENSICS- dealing with offending behaviour - Coggle Diagram
FORENSICS- dealing with offending behaviour
custodial sentencing
holding convicted criminals in a secure facility.
aims:
deterrence, protecting society, society feels criminal has paid, rehabilitation
psychological affects of custodial sentencing= depression due to helplessness in a scary environment which results in high stress levels. institutionalisation is where they adapt to prison life and then cant cope in the real works and deindividuation is where prisoners feel stripped of their sense of self which can lead to high levels of aggresion
recividism=
when offender reoffends after release. could be due to institutionalisation or developing pro-criminal attitudes while in prison (differential association). other risk factirs are homelessness and drug addiction. recidivism is a large problem in a study following UK criminals over 18 years- 77% of ex-inmates went on to reoffend
evluating custodial sentencing
NEGATIVE- around 77% reoffend rate which suggests prisons may not reform or deter offenders and only incapacitate them for the time that theyre in prison. However, reoffending rates are much higher for short sentences of less than 6 months rather than more than 4 years so it could be argued that short sentences are not long enough to deter or reform.
NEGATIVE- according to 2020 stats, costs over 40k for a prisoner to be in prison for 1 year. recidivism rates are so high so you could suggest from a cost benefit analysis it might be better to try a different approach to protect society from its offenders
POSITIVE- many members of wider society think giving offenders long custodial sentences especially in difficult prison environments is an appropriate punishment for crimes. provides suitable retribution for the victims.
behaviour modofication in custody
based on the behaviourist idea that desirable behaviours can be learnt. the use of operant conditioning principles of reinforcement and punishment are applied to token economy systems.
token economy offenders are rewarded with tokens for predefined desired target behaviours. tokens act as secondary reinforcers but can be exchanged later for primary reinforcers like food. bad behaviours could result in tokens being taken away, acting as negative punishment
POSITIVE- token economy system was developed for young offenders at a residential school for delinquent males. significant increase in appropriate behaviour in the students who took part in the token economy programme with no improvement in the control group which suggests it is effective
NEGATIVE- can only be used in controlled setting like a prison.
POSITIVE- easy to set up and requires no training, just consistency
anger management
assumes aggressive emotional responses are cognitive processes and can be conrolled with a form of CBT. provides techniques offenders can use in stressful situations
cognitive preparation
= offenders learn how to asses their own thoughts for triggers of irrational aggressive emotion. examples from their lives are used and reinterpreted
skills acquisition=
ways to control anger are developed, from calming exersises to improving communication skills to avoid conflict
application practice
- therapist and offender play out role play scenarios that would have caused an aggressive response. offenders use skills developed in stage 2 to remain calm
evaluations
POSITIVE- group based anger management programme was tested. self report questionairres were completed before and after the intervention and behavioural checklists reports from prison staff. nearly half the experimental group showed improvement in both measures, with the biggest improvement in most aggressive
NEGATIVE- research using self-report can result in SDB
POSITIVE- skills developed in these programmes can be applied outside the prison, potentially helping prisoners retain employment and relationships
restoritive justice programmes
attempt to rehabilitate offender by getting them to cognitively understand the effect their crime had on the victim and sciety. could be by direct reconciliation with the victim or paying back the victim or wider society. process "restores" what the offender harmed
meeting
victim and offender take part in a meeting supervised by a trained mediator. the meeting is collaberative and the victim is given the opportunity to explain themselves but is still encouraged to take responsibility. victim can explain harm caused to them
reparation=
offender demonstrates acceptance of responsibility by repaying in some way, could be a cash payment or a form of communty serivice
evaluation
POSITIVE- ministry of justice did an evaluation of some schemes. was found there was a 14% reduction in recividism, only "% of victims felt worse but over 60% of victims felt beter. finally found that for every £1 spent on restoritive justice was £8 saved from recividism
NEGATIVE= depends on victims willingness to cooperate
general evaluation of dealing with offending behaviour