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uk

Why does society punish

offenders?

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Retribution
Reform
Deterrence

Todays session

Judicial sanctions for

offending
(imprisonment & noncustodial sentencing)

You are learning to...

Use research to
evaluate judicial
sanctions
Use psychological
principles to explain
effects on behaviour
Distinguish between
psychological and
common-sense
explanations of
behaviour

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You are learning

about...

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Has our society gone soft on crime?

Source: Morgan (2002)

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Prison population in England &

Wales

Prison population in England &

Wales
There are 140 people in prison per 100,000
population in E & W.
50% higher than France, Germany & Italy
Double rate of most Scandinavian countries
Substantially lower than US (700+/100,000)

Doubled since 1991

Length of sentence has also been increasing

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The prison population has grown steadily

since 1946

Purposes of prison
Morgan (2002) lists three purposes:
Custody
Coercion
Punishment

Recidivism = return to criminal activities

following judicial punishment
Recidivism rate is a measure of the
effectiveness of punishment

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Only the punishment function interests

us.

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In 1993, the Home Secretary Michael

Howard insisted, prison works. Was
he right?

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Common sense would suggest that

prison should reduce future
offending. So why doesnt it?

Why doesnt prison work?

Probable
Prompt
Aversive

How might imprisonment fail to meet

these criteria?

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Offending is not always a rational choice

Prison does not adhere to known
principles of learning. Punishment
should be:

 Probable
Many crimes are never solved, so punishment
unlikely

Prompt
Long delay between offending and eventual
imprisonment
Not necessarily, given circumstances of many
offenders

Do offenders learn not to offend or not to

get caught?

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Aversive

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Hollin (1992) suggests that, in the

face of the failure of imprisonment to
reform offenders, we have a choice
between making prisons even more
unpleasant and rethinking the whole
idea. Which do you favour and why?

Non-custodial sentencing

Admonishment (e.g. police caution)

Fines
Probation (community rehabilitation
order)
Reparation & restitution (e.g. community
punishment order)

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How, besides imprisonment, does our

judicial system respond to offenders?

 Consider the possible advantages and

disadvantages of the sentence you are
assigned, relative to imprisonment
Think about: (1) potential to reform the
offender; (2) additional effects on the
offender/society; (3) economic
implications

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In your groups:

 Walker & Farrington (1981): lower

recidivism than probation or
suspended prison sentence
Feldman (1993) lower reconvictions
than the alternatives for first
offences

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Fines

Probation

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Oldfield (1996): prison 63%

recidivism; probation 41%
recidivism
Roshier (1995): prison 64%;
probation 41%

Reparation & restitution

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Schneider (1986): restitution

marginally more effective than
alternatives, but depends on
programme and community

 Offenders take little account of judicial

sanctions when weighing up costs and
benefits of offending (McDonald, 1989)
Offenders are not randomly assigned
to sentences; differences in recidivism
may be due to judicial risk assessment
In terms of recidivism, non-custodial
sentences are no worse than
imprisonment and can be much better

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General issues