Punishment

What is the purpose of punishment according to Newburn?

• Rehabilitation: Aims to discourage reoffending.

• Deterrence: Seeks to prevent potential offenders from committing crimes in the future.

• Restorative Justice: Focuses on criminals making amends to their victims for the harm caused.

• Protection of Society: Involves incapacitating offenders by removing them from society to prevent further harm.

• Boundary Maintenance: Reinforces social norms and values, reminding people of what is acceptable behaviour.

• Retribution: Punishes criminals because they deserve it for their crimes, adhering to the principle of "just deserts."

What is the functionalist view of punishment?

• Society requires a shared system of values to maintain moral cohesion. Laws represent this collective consciousness.

• Durkheim suggests retribution provides an outlet for societal anger and reaffirms collective consciousness.

What is the marxist view of punishment?

• Laws reflect the ideology of the ruling class.

• Punishment is part of the repressive state apparatus (Althusser), maintaining social order and keeping people in their place.

What is the Weberism view of punishment?

• The state holds the sole power to punish, unlike historical contexts where churches or landowners held such power.

• Legal Rational Authority dictates that punishment is based on impersonal rules and regulations, managed by a vast bureaucracy with checks and balances.

Who is the theorist for forms of punishment?

Focault

What is sovereign power?

Public and physical punishments were displays of monarchical power rather than effective deterrents.

What is disciplinary power?

Shift from sovereign power to disciplinary power, where state power manifests through surveillance and monitoring.

What does Garland say about punishment?

• In the 1950s, the state practised ‘penal welfarism,’ aiming to rehabilitate offenders for reintegration into society.

• Contemporary society has shifted to a ‘punitive state’ enforcing a ‘culture of control.’

How does the state control crime and punish offenders?

• Actuarialism

• ‘Mass incarceration’ and Transcarceration

• Politicians use crime control and a tough stance on crime to gain an electoral advantage.

What does Rusch and Kircheimer say about punishment?

• A Marxist perspective views punishment as social control and class domination.

• Punishment evolves with changing economic needs.

• The transition from physical punishment to transportation and cheap prison labour reflects the economic needs of the dominant class.

• Brutality increased when the population was plentiful, while it declined as labour forces dwindled.

What is the purpose of prison?

To serve as the ultimate deterrent, controlling crime and punishing offenders.

Why is prison an effective punishment?

• Keeps society safe from dangerous criminals.

• Resocialisation into social norms and values.

• Education to prevent recidivism.

• Negative prison experiences may deter reoffending.

Why isn’t prison an effective punishment?

• Can be a "school of crime."

• Leads to labelling, potentially causing reoffending.

• High recidivism rates indicate ineffectiveness.