Chapter 16: Corrections Practice Flashcards

This set covers vocabulary and key concepts from Chapter 16 regarding corrections, including sentencing types, goals of incarceration, deterrence theories, and rehabilitation methods.

Indeterminate Sentencing

A sentencing model where an individual receives a range of incarceration time (e.g., $1-5$ years) set by a judge, with the actual release date determined by a parole board based on behavior and rehabilitation.

Determinate Sentencing

A fixed or predetermined prison term with a specified date of release, intended to reduce judicial and parole board discretion.

Mandatory Minimums

Statutory requirements for a minimum prison sentence for specific crimes, such as the federal requirement for a minimum of $5$ years for distributing $500$ grams of cocaine under $21\,U.S.C.\,\S\,841(b)(1)(B)$.

Jails

Local, short-term facilities where approximately $70\%$ of the population is pretrial.

Prisons

State or federal long-term facilities designated for individuals serving sentences greater than $1$ year.

Retribution

A goal of incarceration based on the idea that if someone does something bad, they deserve to be punished, often referred to as getting one's "just deserts."

Incapacitation

A strategy for preventing crime by keeping offenders under state control and away from the general public.

Specific Deterrence

A goal of punishment aimed at stopping a specific individual from committing future crimes.

General Deterrence

A goal of punishment aimed at discouraging the general public from committing crimes by making an example of an offender.

Recidivism (Inflated Calculation)

A method of calculating the recidivism rate based on the number of returnees; for example, if $100$ people get out and half recidivate twice, this method incorrectly calculates the rate as $100\%$ rather than $50\%$" or treating each case as a single instance.

Perceived Certainty

The individual's belief regarding the likelihood of being caught, which research indicates has a larger deterrent effect than the severity of the punishment.

Criminogenic

A term describing something (such as the experience of incarceration vs. community sanctions) that is likely to produce or cause criminal behavior.

Gambler’s Fallacy (in Deterrence)

The mistaken belief that if a punishment has recently occurred, it is less likely to happen again in the near future, which can lead to paradoxical effects like higher drunk driving intentions.

Rehabilitation

The goal of reforming and reintegrating offenders into society through programs like job training, education, or therapy to prevent future crime.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

A therapeutic approach focusing on challenging maladaptive thoughts, reinforcing good behaviors, and teaching coping techniques, which has shown recidivism reductions of $20\%$ to $30\%$" in meta-analyses.

Cognitive Restructuring

A specific CBT technique involving activities and exercises aimed at recognizing and modifying distortions and errors in criminogenic thinking.

Jacob Wetterling Act

A $1994$ federal law that established requirements for sex offender registration.

Megan’s Law

A $1996$ law regarding the registration and public notification of sex offenders.

Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act

A $2006$ federal law that further regulated sex offender registration and notification.

Criticism for intermediate sentencing

A person with the same crime can get a different sentence or spend different amounts of time incarcerated

Common differences in sentencing

Black and Hispanic individuals, males, and younger
Individuals, tend to have longer sentences
 For the same drug and property crimes, females are less
likely to be incarcerated
 For the same violent crimes, females tend to get shorter sentences
 The 2023 U.S. Sentencing Commission report found racial and
sex sentencing patterns persist after controlling for offense
type and criminal history

Does deterrence through the law or the correctional system work?

Having some punishment appears to be useful
 No strong evidence for a general deterrent effect for the sentence
length (if we increase sentence length, crime will probably
not be reduced; Durlauf & Nagin, 2011)
 Perceived cost is often a better predictor than actual cost

paradoxical effects

If something happens more frequently during a given period, it will happen less frequently in the future (or vice versa)