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UNIT 4 aims of punishment - Coggle Diagram
UNIT 4 aims of punishment
retribution
Aiming to punish an offender to the level that deserved.
Based on the idea that the offender deserves punishment.
Contains an element of revenge, in that society and the victim are being avenged for the wrong done - e.g the death penalty.
The old saying ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth an a life for a life’.
Does no seek to alter future behaviour, merely to inflict punishment in proportion to the offence.
Provides an appropriate punishment to provide justice for both the defendant and the victim.
Supported by the Sentencing Council, which provides guidelines for the courts on a range of appropriate punishments that are available.
Retribution is a backwards-looking theory of punishment. It looks to the past to determine what to do in the present. Examples of punishment that clearly contain retribution include mandatory life sentence for murder and increased punishment for crimes with hate motive.
Whole Life Tariff - spend entire life in prison - in 2023 there are more than 70 prisoners serving whole life tariffs in England and Wales - including serial killer Rosemary West and more recently Lucy Letby.
A right realist approach would consider retribution as a fitting method of punishment. This is because it ensures the defendant is being punished to an appropriate level without consideration of the reasoning behind the crime or prevention of future offending.
rehabilitation
Aiming to alter the offender's mind set so that future reoffending can be prevented
The aim of rehabilitation is to reform offenders so they are less likely to commit offences in the future - aiming to change the offenders behaviour.
Unlike retribution it is a forward-looking aim with a hope that offenders’ behaviour will be altered and they will not reoffend. Also known as reformation, this aim presumes that criminal behaviour is a result of free will and rational choice.
Focused on the longer term - more individualised sentences eg drug rehab orders, anger management courses.
Can occur within prison or in the community.
Aims to tackle the reasons why people have commited crime.
Particularly important for young offenders - reform behaviour early!
The aim of rehabilitation can be seen in community sentences. Probation orders, for instance, could involve unpaid work or completion of a education or training course, and treatments for addictions such as alcohol or drugs. The abuse of drugs causes many crimes and there have been punishments introduced to help rehabilitate the offenders.
Community sentences - 40 - 300 hours of unpaid work eg cleaning graffiti off walls, picking up litter - run by probation officers. Drug Treatment and Testing Order, which provides supervision in work on drug use.
theory links
Individualistic theories: would support rehabilitation as a aim of punishment. For instance, behaviour modifications treatments such as anger management courses focus on techniques to extinguish undesirable behaviours and promote desirable ones (Freud).
Labelling Theory: helps offender shed the label they are given - ‘self refuting prophecy’.
Left Realism: helps integrate into society and help offenders not feel marginalized.
Deterrence
Aims to dissuade the offender, or anyone in society, from committing crime by fear of punishment.
punishments that meet this aim:
Fines
Prison sentences
Points on licence
Disqualification from driving
ASBO’s (now called CBO’s)
Suspended sentences (individual deterrent)
individual
The aim of individual deterrence is to ensure that the offender does not reoffend. A suspended sentence is clearly an example of individuals deterrence, as the term of imprisonment will only activate if further offending occurs. If there is no reoffending the offender will not go to prison. Hence, the expectation that the impact of losing liberty will prevent future offending.
The recidivism rate would suggest that many prisoners are not deterred from committing crimes by the possibility of a term of imprisonment. According to the Bromley Briefings Summer 2023
Prison has a poor record for reducing reoffending as 42% of adults are reconvicted within one year of release.
For those serving sentences of less than 12 months this increases to 63%
general
The aim of a general deterrence is to prevent potential offenders from committing a crime. However, often the impact of a sentence with a deterrent element is weakened by the fact that it relates to someone else. In addition, people are not always aware of the punishment that has been given by a court unless it is so severe that it is published in the media. This was seen in the the harsh punishments handed out during the London riots.
For example, two men, aged 21 and 22 years, were jailed for four years each after admitting using Facebook to incite disorder. However, no disorder took place as a result of their post. Also a 23-year-old man was sentenced to six months in prison for stealing £3.50 worth of water.
links to theories
individual
Reoffending statistics may suggest that the social learning theory could account for criminality. Prisons are often classed as universities of crime so it may be that some offenders are learning how to commit crime from fellow prisoners. The prevalent culture such as peer group is one of the main ways observational learning takes place.
general
Marxists are likely to view criminality and the above punishments as inevitable given the capitalist society in which we live. The sentences given are means to control the working class who are heavily policed in comparison to the upper classes.
Public Protection or Incapacitation
Incapacitation: A sentence of the court to prevent further offending. This could include a term of imprisonment.
This is the idea that punishment must serve a useful purpose for society as a whole by protecting us from dangerous criminals. A long prison sentence is an obvious example of incapacitation. However, other punishment will restrict an offender. Curfew orders restrict when people can leave their home. Sometimes these are supported by electronic tagging which provides both incapacitation for the criminal and protection for society.
The Criminal Justice Act 2003, introduced a provision for serious offences that where the court is in the opinion that there is a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm being caused by the defendant in the future, the court must send the defendant to prison for the protection of the public.
For less serious sentences, the public can be protected, for example, dangerous drivers are disqualified from driving or an exclusion order banning an offender from going to places where they are most likely to commit an offence.
punishments that meet this aim:
Curfew tag: A curfew tag checks if you’re where you’re meant to be during your curfew hours, for example your home.
Location tag: A location tag records data about your movements at all times. It checks if you’re: going to any areas you’ve been told not to go to by the court or prison going to appointments or other programmes that are part of your conditions sticking to your curfew
Banning orders: may be made by the courts to help prevent violence or disorder at, or in connection with, any regulated football matches
A right realist viewpoint may see the need to impose a sentence to protect the public, as a social constraints on behaviour are weak. Stricter social control is needed to reduce crime and punishment, which restrict liberty and will help achieve this.
Reparation
Aiming to ensure the defendant pays back to the victim or society for the wrongdoing.
This is aimed at compensating the victims of the crime usually by ordering the offender to pay a sum of money to the victim.
This concept also includes making reparation to society as a whole, for example doing unpaid work in the community through a community order.
There is also a increasing number of schemes that bring offenders and victims together, so offenders can make reparation.
This can include writing a letter of apology, repairing any damage caused or meeting face to face to discuss the issue. This is known as restorative justice.
theory link
Left Realism - may see such punishments as a way of providing practical measures to reduce crime and produce a long-term change to a more equal, caring society.
punishments that meet this aim
Compensation order
Unpaid work - community service
Reparation schemes
denunciation
Aims to show offenders that society disapproves of their behaviour and that it is unacceptable conduct.
Denunciation helps to reinforce the moral and ethical codes or boundary maintenance. These may have changed over time to what is acceptable within society. For example, smoking cigarettes was once acceptable and encouraged by the medical profession. Now it is illegal in the workplace and in a motor vehicle with a child passenger.
As denunciation aims to show offenders that society disapproves of their behaviour and that it is unacceptable conduct. Any form of punishment/sanction or negative sentence will achieve this aim. From small fines to lengthy custodial sentences, punishing offenders shows society’s disapproval of their actions.
theory links
A functionalist approach to criminality would see social control as a means of achieving social solidarity. The settings of boundaries of acceptability towards crime strengthens social cohesion or the willingness of members of society to cooperate with one another.
In addition, it labelling offenders as criminals produces further crime. Being labelled can lead to a self fulfilling prophecy which means that they start to internalise the label and act and behave in a way that reflects that label.