Essay(s) written by Jacqueline Rodgers - January 2006

(a) Describe the different aims of sentencing.

a) There are many different aims of sentencing. These are; retribution, denunciation, incapacitation (or protection of the public), deterrence, rehabilitation and reparation. The various aims, of sentencing, are set out for judges and magistrates to decide upon a sentence and to also decide what they will achieve by passing that sentence on the offender. The aims of sentencing change according to what government is in power.

The different aims of sentencing.

Retribution.

The definition of retribution is; 1. The act of retributing; repayment. 2. That which is given in repayment or compensation; return suitable to the merits or deserts of, as an action; commonly, condign punishment for evil or wrong.  3. Specifically, reward and punishment, as distributed at the general judgment. Retribution is based on the idea that every crime demands payment in the form of punishment. The sentence of retribution is mostly attractive to the victims of a crime and politicians. There are common ‘catchphrases’ used to explain the theory of retribution, these are; ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth and a life for a life’, this phrase is related to the Bible studied by Christians, the Quran studied by Muslims and the Torah studied by Jews. ‘Punishment to fit the crime’, and, ‘just deserts’ are also used to describe the theory of retribution as a sentence imposed upon an offender. Retribution is based on the fact that punishment has to be in proportion to the crime and no more than that. Retribution is about punishment being given in equal proportions. The aim of retribution is very much concerned with punishment, it does not look to reduce crime or to change the offenders future behaviour. Therefore the main aim is to ensure that the punishment inflicted on the offender is proportionate to the offence committed. This theory of sentencing involves an element of revenge on behalf of the state. Punishment of retribution is provided through imprisonment and in some cases a tariff fine may be given. The Crime and Disorder act 1998 set about issuing many more guidelines involving the sentences. The problem of setting a tariff fine is that it removes discretion and they may not deter the rich as, for example the tariff of a fine may be £200, to a rich person this is nothing and they will be more than able to pay the fine but to someone with less money and on benefits, they will find it much harder to pay the fine. A fine may deter the poor but it may not necessarily deter the rich. Also, issuing a tariff fine could in effect cause a prison sentence for the poor person as they may not be able to pay the fine. Therefore it is argued that those with stable homes and jobs are less likely to get a custodial sentence than those without.

Denunciation.

Denunciation is seen as a moral out cry against society of different types of crime. The aim of denunciation is putting a force on the government to get tough on crime, such as terrorism, drink driving, gun crime and paedophilia. Society has insisted they are taken seriously and the offender should be punished for the crime they have committed. Denunciation is a clear message that society will not tolerate behaviour that is seen as undesirable. An example of the aim of denunciation is giving an offender a recommended minimum of 5 years imprisonment for rape.

Denunciation shows society that justice is being done. The ideas of retribution and denunciation were produced by the Criminal Justice Act 1991. The act was based on the Government White Paper on Crime and Punishment (1990). The aim of this sentence is not included in the purposes of sentencing set out in the Criminal Justice Act 2003. This demonstrates how different purposes may be considered more at one time than the other.

Incapacitation.

Incapacitation means protecting society by preventing the offender from re-offending. There are many different types of incapacitation they are; prison sentences, chemical castration, tagging, death penalty for murder and curfew orders. The concept behind this and the next three principles of sentencing is that the punishment must serve a useful purpose. Useful meant in this context can mean that is serves a purpose for society as a whole, or that it will help the offender in some way.

Tagging is used because prisons are full and the government want to give offenders of minor crimes a chance to get back into the community before they have served their sentence. Tagging is seen as cheaper than going to prison as it only costs £675 per offender per month whereas sending an offender to prison costs about £18,000 a year.

The death penalty is still not used in the UK as a sentence but some however disagree with this and think that capital punishment should be brought back into the UK. The topic has arisen since the rape of the three month old baby, where the public feel very strongly that the couple who committed the horrific offence are monsters and, they need to be killed via capital punishment. This will obviously then stop the offender from re-offending. This aim is thought of as protecting society from the offenders criminal activities; this is achieved through removing dangerous offenders from society through the use of long prison sentences. Also the use of minimum sentences for persistent offenders is aimed at protecting the public from their repeated criminal acts. Public protection has been criticised as being an extremely expensive way of dealing with crime prevention. It can also be argued it is in fact counter productive because prison is often the place where offenders pick up new ideas and techniques.

Deterrence.

The definition of deterrence or reductivism is; 1. A negativemotivationalinfluence. 2. A communication that makes you afraid to try something, 3. The act or process of discouragingactions or preventingoccurrences by instillingfear or doubt or anxiety. Two types of offences courts try to deter are; mobile phone theft and drug/alcohol related offences (for example burglary). This aim of sentencing is a strong contrast against the retribution aim of sentencing. Deterrence has mostly been focused on violent offences. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 has introduced minimum sentences to deter people from re-offending. The act has stated that if you commit two or more offences then you will automatically be sentenced to life imprisonment. A method used to try a deter people offending in city centres is the use of Close Circuit Television (CCTV). By using CCTV the government hope to deter rising crimes such as; violence, criminal damage and shop lifting. Unfortunately, CCTV does not work as well expected as the crime just moves to other places that do not have CCTV and most CCTVs are of poor quality. The aim of this sentence is to deter an offender and/or other people from committing a crime by fear of future punishment. There are two different types of deterrence, these are; individual deterrence and general deterrence. The general idea behind individual deterrence is to deter an individual offender from committing similar crimes, to the ones they have committed, in the future by giving an individual more punishment than needed so they wont do it again. The methods of trying to deter an offender from re-offending include; a prison sentence, a suspended sentence or a heavy fine. However, it has been proved that prison does not necessarily deter offenders as; about 55% of adult prisoners re-offend within two years of release. This may be because when they are released they have no money and they are unable to get a job due to their criminal record, therefore, they may re-offend to be sent back into prison because that seems the easiest option. The theory of the aim of deterrence is that that an offender will stop and consider what the consequences of his/her actions will be. But, in fact, most crimes are committed on the spur of the moment and usually under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Therefore, these offenders are unlikely to stop and consider the possible consequences of their actions on other people.

The aim behind general deterrence is using the crime committed by someone and making an example of them to send a message to society. General deterrence also relies on publicity so that potential offenders are aware of the level of punishment they can expect if they commit the same/or similar crime. Therefore, using deterrent sentences will be even less effective in cases of drug smuggling by foreign nationals, yet this is one of the crimes in which the courts seem tempted to resort to the hope that a severe sentence passed on one (or more) offender, will somehow deter other potential offenders. General deterrence is in direct contrast with the principle of retribution as; it involves sentencing an offender to a longer term than is deserved for the specific offence. It is probably the least effective and least fair principle of sentencing. 

Rehabilitation.

The main aim of this sentence penalty is to reform the offender and rehabilitate him or her into society. Through this penalty the offender learns to see the harm that they are causing or through education, training and other forms of help so that he or she will not offend in the future (it aims to reduce crime in this way).  As using drugs abusively is the main cause for people offending , there are also community sentences such as; drug testing and treatment orders and drug abstentation orders which are aimed at trying to rehabilitate drug abusers.

When a court considers a rehabilitation sentence it is created to suit the individual as it is an individualised sentence that is aimed at the needs of the offender. This sentence clashes with the idea of retribution and tariff sentences therefore, this leads to the idea/criticism of inconsistent sentencing as offenders who have committed exactly the same type offence may be given different sentences because of the emphasis on the individual. Another criticism is that rehabilitation tends to discriminate against the under privileged, as poor offenders are less likely to be seen as possible candidates for reform because life is harder for them. Many offending behaviour programmes have been set up in prisons; the programmes involving courses such as anger management, alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence and victim awareness. The programmes consist of a 35 session course run by the prisons probation officers and psychologists; they focus on six key areas which are; impulsive control, flexible thinking/learning from experience, means end testing, perspective taking, problem solving and social skills also attendance becomes voluntary after 20 sessions to give the offenders a sense of responsibility.

Reparation.

The aim of this sentence is to compensate the victim of the crime which is usually done by ordering the offender to pay a sum of money to the victim or in the matter of burglary, to make them return the stolen property back to its rightful owner. In the courts today, they are required to consider ordering compensation to the victim of a crime or any other penalty they may think appropriate. Under s130 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (sentencing) Act 2000 the courts do have to give a reason why they do not want to make a compensation order. There have also been projects set up to bring the offender and the victim together so, the victim can ask the offender why them?

To make reparation to society as a whole there is mainly a use of an unpaid work requirement where offenders are required to do so many hours of work on a community project under the supervision of the probation service.

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b) Illustrate the ways in which different sentences may be used to support different aims of sentencing.

There are many different types of sentences passed which may often be used to support the different aims of sentencing imposed on offenders. There are four main types of sentences available these include custodial sentences, community sentences, fines and discharges.

Custodial sentences.

Custodial sentences are prison sentences but they come in various forms. Firstly a sentence of imprisonment is available for offenders aged 21 years old and above. The length of the prison sentence depends on; how serious the crime is, the maximum sentence available for a particular crime and the defendant’s previous criminal record. Prisoners do not serve the whole of the sentence passed by the court, on good behaviour they can be released after serving half of their given sentence. This form of sentence would support the aims of retribution and incapacitation as prison sentences are often given in order to protect the public and a prison sentence is seen as the harshest form of punishment because prison is not a very nice place to be and many people lose their relationships with friends and family, they may lose their job if they are sentenced to imprisonment for a long time and, when they are released they will probably find it very hard to get a job, money and a place to live.

Mandatory life sentences.

This is the only sentence a judge can impose for murder. The judge is allowed to state a minimum number of years that the offender must serve before being eligible for release on licence. This minimum is now governed by s269 and Sched 21 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. This act gives the judge the starting points for the minimum period to be ordered upon the offender. The starting points range from a full life sentence down to 12 years.

This type of sentence may be used to support the aim of retribution, incapacitation and general deterrence. It may help to support retribution as this aim of sentencing is based on the fact that every crime demands payment in the form of punishment and prison should do this as they are likely to learn from their mistakes as prison is a horrid place to be and, they will have a lot of time

to think about the crime they have committed. It may support incapacitation as this aim of sentencing is based on protecting the society by preventing the offender from re-offending and prison will certainly do this. It may support general deterrence because the aim of deterrence is to deter the offender and/or other people from committing the crime again and if prison is as horrid as they say then the offender will be so scared of going back that they will not do the crime because they do not want to do the time.

Discretionary life sentence.

This sentence is given for serious offences such as manslaughter, rape and robbery, the maximum sentence is life imprisonment but the judge does not have to impose this sentence. The judge has discretion in sentencing and can give a lesser sentence where he or she thinks is appropriate. This can be a fine or a discharge.

This type of sentence may support the aim of retribution, denunciation, general deterrence and individual deterrence as although it is at the judges’ discretion whether to impose a life sentence a prison sentence is often given in order to protect the public and a prison sentence is seen as the harshest form of punishment.

Home detention Curfew.

The Home Detention Curfew order was set up by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 as a result of this act prisoners are allowed early release from prison on condition that a curfew condition is included. A prisoner does not automatically get released from prison on curfew; each prisoner is assessed to see if he or she is suitable. If the prisoner is not suitable for a curfew order then they must carry out half of their sentence, at least, before being released on licence. The reason for the Home Detention Curfew is to get the prisoner back into the community and encourage them to structure their lives to pre-vent them from re-offending. Also, by them being let out early it decreases the prison population which is already at its largest.

This type of sentencing is in support of rehabilitation as they have the same/similar aims of helping the prisoner get back into the community and re-building their lives so they will hopefully not re-offend.

Extended sentences.

The only way the courts were able to have the power to pass an extended sentence for a sexual or violent offence was by s85 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (sentencing) Act 2000. This means that the offender is given a custodial

sentence plus a further period during which the offender is at liberty on licence. The extension period can not exceed 10 years for a sexual offence or five years for a violent offence.

This type of sentencing may help to support the aim of incapacitation and retribution as crimes such as; sexual offences and violent offences need a payment of punishment as they are serious offences. It supports the aim of incapacitation because by imprisoning the offender it will protect the society and it may prevent them from re-offending.

Suspended prison sentences.

An adult may be given a suspended prison sentence of up to two years (only a six month maximum in the Magistrates’ Court.) this sentence does not take effect immediately which can be seen as a disadvantage, but it will only be given to the offenders of a minor case like a driving offence however, the court will fix a time during which the sentence is suspended. During this period of up to two years if the offender does not commit any other offence then they will not serve a prison sentence. However, if they do commit any other offence during the period of suspension then their prison sentence is ‘activated’ and they will serve a prison sentence for the offence they committed before and any new offence they have committed.

This type of sentence would support the aims of both deterrence and denunciation as the offender would realise what they have done and as they know, they could be sent straight to prison if they commit another offence so therefore are unlikely to re-offend. Denunciation in the fact that the offenders will realise his/her crime has been recognised and that it wont be tolerated by society so if they thought they could get away with it then they and society will realise that this type of behaviour is not accepted by society.

Sentences for young offenders.

It has argued that young offenders need help not punishment and that sentencing orders is the best way to do this as it keeps the offender in the community. ‘Universities of crime’ are also known as custodial units for young offenders. There are at the moment different types of custodial sentences which can be given but it depends on; the type of offence, the age of the offender and whether they have offended before.

Young Offenders’ Institutions.

Offenders which are aged 18 to 20 years are sent to a Young Offenders institution as a custodial sentence. The minimum sentence is 21 days and the maximum depends on the seriousness of the crime. If whilst serving their sentence an offender become 21 years old then they are simply transferred to an adult prison.

There is also an option of detention and training orders which was set up by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 this sentence must be for a minimum period of 4 months and a maximum a 24 months. It can be no longer than the time given. This order can be passed on offenders from the age of 12 years to the age of 21 but, for those below the of 15 the order can only be made if they are persistent offenders.

For very serious crimes the courts have the power to order that the offender be detained for longer periods. For 10-13 year old children this power is only used where the crime committed carries a maximum sentence of at least 14 years’ imprisonment for adults, or is an offence of indecent assault on a woman under s14 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956. The length of detention cannot be more than they maximum sentence available for an adult.

Detention at Her Majesty’s Pleasure is available for offenders’ ages 10 to 17 year olds who have been convicted of murder. This is an indeterminate sentence which allows the offender to be released when suitable. The judge can recommend a minimum number of years that should be served before release are considered and then the Lord Chief Justice will set a tariff.

Most of these types of sentences for young offenders are supportive of the aim of rehabilitation as they are mostly in favour of helping the offender to get their life back on track. Apart from detention at Her Majesty’s Pleasure and the Young Offenders institution as, they are a different form of rehabilitation as they are more forceful towards stopping the young offender from re-offending as they are a more serious type of sentence as they may be needed as they are only used in cases of serious offences such as sexual offences and murder.

Community sentences.

There are various forms of sentences in this category which includes a community rehabilitation order. This is where the offender is put under supervision of a supervision officer for a period of about 6 months to 3 years depending on how serious the crime they committed is. During this time the offender has to keep in regular contact with the supervision officer and must lead a productive and honest life in order to prevent them from being sent to prison. This type of sentence would support the aim of rehabilitation however this form of sentence has been criticised for not preventing re-offending as about 60% are reconvicted within 2 years. So, therefore it has not worked very well in preventing offenders form re-offending.

Fines.

This is the most common way of ending cases in the Magistrates’ Court but only when the maximum fine is £5,000 for an individual offender. However, a

magistrate can impose a £20,000 fine on businesses who have committed offences, such as health and safety at work. In the Crown Court it is different as only a small percentage of offenders are dealt with by a fine.

Unpaid fines make the punishment ineffective and it leads to defendants being imprisoned for non-payment. However, the Courts Act 2003 introduced the concept of discharge of fines by imposing an unpaid work requirement.

This type of sentence is in support of retribution and could be denunciation. It is in support because it shows that even for minor offences it shows the community that they are unwilling to tolerate behaviour such as; not paying fines. It could also be in support of retribution because every crime demands payment in the form of punishment and that is true if a crime is committed then a sentence (however small) should be given to make the offender learn from their mistakes.

Conclusion.

In conclusion there are many other sentences that would also support the different aims of sentencing examples of these include disqualification from driving, compensation orders and restitution orders, deprivation and forfeiture orders, deferred sentences, action plan orders, supervision orders, attendance centre orders and parenting orders etc. Some of the sentences can be used to achieve more than one aim. Therefore it can be clearly seen that there are many different ways in which sentences can support the different aims of sentencing. However, it will depend on the government in power and there policies. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 emphasised denunciation and rehabilitation, which are thought to be the best types of sentencing.