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 prison/a young offenders institution/secure hospital

• The type and severity of custodial sentence will depend on a number of factors, e.g.,

  • 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 the effectiveness of custodial sentencing as a solution to the problem of crime: some people believe that prison is a barbaric way of dealing with systemic societal shortcomings, whereas others have a ‘lock them up and throw away the key’ attitude

• The aims of custodial sentencing are as follows:

  • Deterrence: crime is bad for society; therefore, any attempts to deter people from committing crime are good for everyone, particularly if it prevents reoffending

  • Incapacitation: criminals may be dangerous (and at the very least antisocial), so keeping them off the streets is done to protect innocent members of society and to ‘contain’ the danger in a secure environment

  • 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: criminals have damaged society and may have wrought great suffering on victims and their families; thus, they must be punished (and be seen to be punished) in an ‘eye for an eye’-type reaction (i.e., custodial sentencing as a form of revenge for the crimes of the offender)

The psychological effects of custodial sentencing

• Prison is not designed to have a calming and therapeutic effect on prisoners: it is generally an impersonal, regimented and stark environment in which the individual may find their sense of self, their dignity and their mental health suffering hugely (Bartol, 1995)

• Self-harm (particularly amongst female offenders) and suicide rates are much higher in the prison population than the general population (Hawton et al, 2013)

• Stress, depression and anxiety are present in large numbers of prisoners, particularly those who had been victims of domestic violence in childhood (Unver et al, 2013)

• The regimen of daily prison life provides a structure and routine that some prisoners come to depend on and which can result in them not being able to cope with the unpredictable, unstructured nature of life outside prison (this is known as institutionalisation)

• The world of the prison is its own world with specific unwritten rules and norms which may be very much at odds with the conventions of the outside world and which may change the behaviour and attitudes of the prisoner (this is known as prisonisation)

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

  • 25% of adult offenders go on to reoffend

  • Young offenders show a reoffending rate of 30.3%

  • 55.1% of adults released from prison who had been serving sentences of less than 12 months go on to reoffend

  • Adult reoffending rates increased by around 2% in 2021

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

• Research supports the negative psychological effects of imprisonment, with high suicide rates and signs of psychosis among inmates indicating that the harsh prison environment can worsen mental health, especially in psychologically vulnerable individuals (Bartol, 1995)

• Prison can offer valuable rehabilitation through education, training, and programmes like anger management and social skills training, which may reduce reoffending

Weaknesses

• 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 

• Hollin (1992) found that some prisoners would rather be in prison for the regular meals and routine than in their own home, which suggests that prison does not work as a deterrent and that some prisoners lack resources and a strong social support network outside of 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