Custodial Sentencing (AQA A Level Psychology): Revision Note

The aims of custodial sentencing

• Custodial sentencing refers to the sentence given by a judge, which results in an individual being sent to either

  • prison

  • a young offenders' institution

  • a secure hospital

• Custodial sentencing involves a convicted offender spending time in prison or another closed institution, as a way of imposing a penalty that reflects the seriousness of the offence

• The type and severity of custodial sentence will depend on several factors

  • the nature of the crime committed

  • the degree of remorse shown by the offender

  • the laws/legislation of the specific country (or the state) in which the crime was committed

• There is much debate as to the effectiveness of custodial sentencing as a solution to the problem of crime

• The aims of custodial sentencing are as follows:

  • Deterrence: the unpleasant prison experience is designed to put off the individual or society at large from engaging in offending behaviour, working on two levels

    • General deterrence sends a broad message to members of a given society that crime will not be tolerated

    • Individual deterrence should prevent the individual from repeating the same crime

      • This is based on the behaviourist idea of conditioning through punishment

  • Incapacitation: the offender is taken out of society to prevent them reoffending, as a means of protecting the public, with the need for incapacitation likely to depend on the severity of the offence and the nature of the offender

    • For instance, individuals in society will require more protection from a serial murderer or rapist than from an elderly person who refuses to pay their council tax

  • Rehabilitation: criminals may need help in readjusting to life outside after prison so programmes such as social skills training, CBT, employment and educational opportunities are designed to help them turn away from crime

  • Retribution: society is enacting revenge for the crime by making the offender suffer, with the level of suffering proportionate to the seriousness of the crime, based on the biblical notion of an 'eye for an eye'

    • Many people see prison as the best possible option in this sense, and alternatives to prison are often criticised as soft options

The psychological effects of custodial sentencing

• Bartol (1995) suggested that for many offenders, imprisonment can be brutal, demeaning and generally devastating

• Suicide rates among offenders have tended to be around fifteen times higher than in the general population, with most at risk among young single men during the first 24 hours of confinement

• A survey by the Prison Reform Trust (2014) found that 25% of women and 15% of men in prison reported symptoms indicative of psychosis, suggesting that the oppressive prison regime may trigger psychological disorders in those who are vulnerable

• Institutionalisation: having adapted to the norms and routines of prison life, inmates may become so accustomed to these that they are no longer able to function on the outside

• Prisonisation: refers to the way in which prisoners are socialised into adopting an 'inmate code', where behaviour considered unacceptable in the outside world may be encouraged and rewarded inside the walls of the institution

• Reoffending rates may demonstrate one of the major flaws in custodial sentencing, as the following statistics reveal (Ministry of Justice, 2021 (opens in a new tab)):

  • 25% of adult offenders go on to reoffend within a year of release

  • The rate rises to 30.3% for young offenders

  • 55.1% of adults released from from sentences of less than 12 months reoffend, suggesting short sentences are particularly ineffective

Research which investigates custodial sentencing

• Apel & Diller (2017) – a review of research into custodial sentencing, which concludes that if prison is viewed as a large-scale intervention, it lacks empirical evidence as to its effectiveness

• Marsh et al. (2009) – a meta-analysis which tested the hypothesis that prisons are an effective means of reducing reoffending and concluded that residential drug treatment programmes, educational/vocational training, community supervision, victim reparation, and community programmes with aftercare are all much more likely to prevent reoffending than simple incarceration

• Dooley (2000) – suicide in prisons is highest among prisoners who are on remand

Evaluation of custodial sentencing

Strengths

• Evidence supports the psychological effects of imprisonment, as high suicide rates and the Prison Reform Trust's findings on psychosis suggest that custodial sentencing is not effective in rehabilitating the individual, particularly those who are psychologically vulnerable

• The rehabilitation model argues that offenders may become better people during their time in prison, and their improved character means they are able to lead a crime-free life when back in society, with many prisons accessing education and training whilst in prison and increasing the possibility they will find employment upon release

  • However, many prisons may lack the resources to provide these programmes, and even when they can, evidence to support their long-term benefits is not conclusive

Limitations

• Martinson (1974) made the (somewhat controversial) claim that, in terms of custodial sentencing, ‘nothing works’

  • He reviewed 231 studies of prison rehabilitative programmes and concluded that offender treatment was largely ineffective 

• Individual differences mean it cannot be assumed that all offenders will react in the same way to time in prison, as different prisons have different regimes, and the length of sentence, the reason for incarceration and previous experience of prison may all be important mitigating factors

  • Many of those convicted may also have pre-existing psychological and emotional difficulties, which may explain their offending behaviour in the first place, so it is difficult to make general conclusions that apply to every prisoner and every prison

Issues & Debates

• Custodial sentencing assumes criminal behaviour can be controlled through external (nurture-based) consequences

  • However, high reoffending rates suggest internal (possibly nature-based) traits like impulsivity or lack of empathy may also drive behaviour, raising questions about the limits of prison as a solution

• High rates of self-harm, suicide, and psychological deterioration in prisoners raise ethical concerns about the human cost of imprisonment

  • These effects are especially significant for vulnerable groups, such as women and those with mental health issues, making this a socially sensitive area of policy and practice