punishment

Question 1

4 types of punishment

Answer 1

deterrence - make an example out of somebody
rehabilitation - reform offenders
incapacitation - imprisonment - chemical castration
retribution - pay back for victims

Question 2

DURKHEIM: functionalist views on punishment / expressive punishment

Answer 2

• punishment is necessary as it upholds social solidarity and reinforces societies values - strengthens the collective conscience
• punishment is expressive - express societies outrage at the offence
• traditional societies have retributive justice - punishment is harsh and cruel: expressive
• modern societies have restitutive justice - restore things to how they used to be i.e. compensation - its purpose is to restore societies equilibrium

Question 3

ALTHUSSER: marxist views on punishment

Answer 3

• every society has its own form of punishment which corresponds to its economic base - capitalism
• ALTHUSSER: it is part of the repressive state apparatus
• before capitalism peasents were kept under control with hanging and deportation etc
• capitalism - imprisonment is the dominant form of punishment
• puts a price on offenders time
• WC ‘do time to pay for their crimes’

Question 4

the changing role of prison

Answer 4

• pre-industrial europe: would hold people before execution or deportation
• enlightenment onwards: used as a form of punishment
• £55,000 per person

Question 5

imprisonment today

Answer 5

• in most liberal democracies, prison is the most serious form of punishment
• no effective methods of rehabilitation
• new labour used prisons not just for serious offenders, but for petty persistent offenders
• prison population increased by 70% since 1997

Question 6

problems in prison

Answer 6

• overcrowding
• poor sanitation
• clothing shortage
• lock down for up to 23 hours a day
• shortage of prison officers

Question 7

GARLAND - era of mass incarceration in the USA

Answer 7

• concerns over the amount of people in prisons
• 1970s: 200,000
• 2009: 700,000
• 1.5million under supervision orders
• punishments are now high up on the political agenda - tough on crime policies
• war on drugs

Question 8

transcarceration

Answer 8

• cycle of control moving between different carceral agencies throughout their lives
• brought up in care - young offenders, then adult prison
• blurring lines between CJS and welfare agencies
• social services/welfare agencies have been given a crime control role

Question 9

alternatives to prisons

Answer 9

• rise in community-based control
• curfews
• tagging
• probation
• cautions
• some argue that this is similar to FOUCALT’s theory of constant surveillance
• ASBOS have fast tracked young people into custody