Chapter 3: The Purpose of Punishment and Sentencing

Trends
I.

II.

III.

How Sentencing Works

a. Conviction
i. Person is found guilty of a crime in a court of law
ii. Followed by sentencing by judge or jury
b. Sentence
i. Punishment declared by court to a convicted defendant
ii. Can include incarceration, community supervision, and/or fine
c. Presentence Investigations
i. Completed by probation department
ii. Outlines important markers of defendants life to aid the
sentencing decision
d. Parole Board
i. Often determines when a individual will be released for prison
ii. Especially in indeterminate sentencing structures
e. Determinate Sentencing
i. A sentence fixed by a legislative statute
ii. Developed due to disparities of race and economic status found
in sentencing by sentencing commissions
f. Sentencing Guidelines
i. Type of determinate sentencing structure
ii. Gives judges maximum and minimum sentence for particular
crimes
iii. Makes sentences more uniform
The Presentence Report
a. What is included in the report:
i. Legal information such as additional cases, warrants, prior
contacts with the system
ii. Risk assessment instrument information
iii. Safety factors such as medical history, weapon use, and harm
caused to victim
iv. Interviews with family, friends, employers, and other social
support structures
v. Medical and mental health needs
Risk and Needs Assessment
a. Risk Factors

IV.

V.

VI.

i. Information such as current offense type, severity of current

offense, prior offense history, prior system involvement, and
mental health history
b. Criminogenic Needs
i. Changeable characteristics correlated with offending or
reoffending such as joblessness, education background, and
drug addiction
c. Noncriminogenic Needs
i. Characteristics that might be related to reoffending such as
depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem
d. Sentencing Theories
i. The rationales for correctional policies and goals
1. Retributive Justice
2. Deterrence
3. Rehabilitation
4. Incapacitation
5. Restorative Justice and Reintegrative Shaming
Retributive Justice
a. An eye for an eye justice
b. Punishment is the price to be paid for the harm caused to society from
the completion of crime
c. Allows for basic human instincts of revenge to be satisfied
d. Example
i. Slave codes
Deterrence
a. Punishment is a means to prevent crime and lower recidivsm
b. Costs and benefits are calculated by potential criminal; if costs
outweigh the benefits the crime will not be committed
c. Types
i. Specific (individual) deterrence
ii. General (societal) deterrence
Rehabilitation
a. Corrections system could improve lives by transforming offenders
through
i. Work
ii. Education
iii. Treatment and counseling
iv. Religion

VII.

VIII.

IX.

X.

b. Used as a goal in 1950s to 1980s and being reintroduced as what

goes in must come out
Incapacitation
a. Offenders are removed from society to separate offenders from the
community
b. Society is safer because new crimes cannot occur inside the
community
c. Used best for high rate offenders as society receives the most benefit
this way
Restorative Justice
a. Approach to repairing harm caused by crime through cooperative
practices among victims, offenders, and the community
b. Crime is a harm and this harm must be repaired through restitution,
meetings, diversions programs, and moving forward as a productive
member of society
Reintegrative Shaming
a. This is a type of restorative justice
b. Developed by criminologist John Braithwaite
i. Believes the system labels individuals negatively
ii. Removing or lowering the shame of the labels aids the offender
and the community
Modern Movements in Sentencing Laws and Policies
a. Late 19th and Early 20th Century
i. Probation departments created and expanded across the nation
ii. Juvenile court and corrections systems grew
iii. Indeterminate sentencing structures were the norm
b. Mid and late 1900s
i. Determinate sentencing took hold starting mid 1970s
ii. Mandatory minimum sentencing started 1980s for guns and
drugs in connection to the war on drugs
iii. Prosecutors gain more power for sentencing through charging
decisions and plea negotiations
iv. Penalties quickly increased in 1990s to include longer prison
sentences and specific penalties for habitual offenders through
three strikes laws
v. Lowered use of parole and parole boards through truth in
sentencing statutes
c. Effects of Modern Movements
i. Overcrowding

ii.
iii.
iv.
v.

Large prison and correction budgets

Increase of juveniles in adult system
Decriminalization efforts for particular offenses
Therapeutic justice to aid individuals in the system