UNIT 4AC2.3

FORMS OF PUNISHMENT

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AC2.3 Assess how forms of punishment meet the aims of punishment

Forms of punishment imprisonment community financial discharge

Synoptic links:

Students should be able to draw on their learning developed in Units 1, 2 and 3 to make objective evidence-based conclusions.

This AC will explore whether the punishments involving Imprisonment; Community; Financial and Discharge are fit for purpose; that is, does the punishment fit the crime?

A relatively ‘modern’ crime in the UK is that of people being assaulted by having acid poured over them:

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Katie Piper was 24, when in 2008, a man she had been dating arranged for someone to throw sulphuric acid at her when she ended the relationship. Katie is one of the most familiar ‘victims’ of acid attacks in the UK and has been campaigning for changes to the law since her attack.

She has been speaking on this issue for the past ten years, but as acid attack crime figures have soared since her attack, the Government has been forced to revise its guidelines on the issue.

1st March, 2018:

The Sentencing Council announced changes to its guidelines for judges and magistrates by explicitly listing acid as a potentially dangerous weapon for the first time. The guidelines refer to sentencing for anyone convicted of being caught with acid or other corrosive substances in public, where they could face up to six months in jail under the new guidelines for England and Wales. The guidelines do not cover situations where the weapon is used to harm somebody - those instances would be covered by guidance on assault, attempted murder or murder.

Since 2010 there have been more than 2000 acid attacks in London alone. The impact on victims is dramatic; and at sentencing, they will have the opportunity to tell the Court how

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being assaulted with acid has affected them, which the Judge can consider when passing a sentence.

Read the article and watch the short video here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43225911

Take notes from the article and the video to help you decide whether the punishment for carrying acid fits the crime, and what sentence would you give if you were a Judge dealing with a victim of an acid attack?

Katie Piper has been campaigning for changes to the law for ten years.

Synoptic Link: Q: Which Unit discusses campaigns and how we would design and run it?

Mini Revision Quiz:

An aim of Imprisonment is the loss of ‘liberty’, which acts as a method of _______________ Social Control. The threat/fear of imprisonment can also act as a _____________________ to committing crime to either individuals who have never committed an offence, or to avoid going back to prison. R_____________ is the word given to re-offending. The threat of punishment is also designed to reduce _______________. Other aims of punishment are to ______________ the offender, as well as to _______________ the public. In serving any sentence, there is also an element of r_______________; which is viewed as some form of compensation to the victim/community.

Community Sentences:Read the Article, and highlight why community sentences can be successful AND unsuccessful to this method of community sentence:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9330200/Half-of-offenders-with-electronic-tags-breach-curfews-inspectors-claim.html

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Name the three R’s of punishment which are present in any sentence:

Community Sentences can take many forms, from being ordered to undertake Community Payback (formerly Community Service), to enforced participation on Community Rehabilitation Programmes such as a Drug Treatment Referral Order or Anger Management.

A community sentence combines punishment with activities carried out in the community. It can include one or more of 13 requirements on an offender. This could be carrying out up to 300 hours of unpaid work, which might include things like removing graffiti or clearing overgrown areas, such as graveyards.

It could also mean the offender is required to have alcohol or drug treatment – this aims to tackle the reasons why they have committed crimes. Offenders might also be required to keep to a curfew, which aims to keep them out of trouble.

Overall, the requirements aim to punish offenders (retribution), to change offenders’ behaviour (rehabilitate) so they don’t commit crime in the future, and to make amends to the victim of the crime or the local community (reparation).

It has been suggested that this form of punishment is preferred because it costs less than sending offenders to prison, where others have said that prison does not work, and that it should be used for very serious offences only. Read the following article from 2010, and take notes on it, before finding a more up-to-date news article that supports the use of Community Service as a form of punishment:

Article here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-10725163

Wayne Rooney was given 300 hours of Community Payback for a drink driving offence in 2017.

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The public ‘shaming’ of being tried and convicted in the public view is considered an ‘aim’ of punishment; which one? _______________________

Aims of Punishment (Continued) - Deterrence

As well as the sentence and its punishment aspect often being made public through the media, this ‘naming and shaming’ of the offender has a long history (Braithwaite, 1974), and it serves as a deterrence to any future offenders, but also to the person convicted, with the aim to deter them from future offending.

Research Activity:

However, for some people, it could be argued that their public ‘naming and shaming’ has not affected their careers; whatever the offence.

You Decide: Which ‘aims’ of punishment were achieved in the sentences of these well-known offenders?

In Unit 3, we explored the cake of Vicki Pryce who was convicted along with her ex-husband Chris Huhne, former Lib Dem MP for

Hastings for taking the blame for her ex-husband’s speeding and who was willing to receive points on her licence. You can read the article here about the case: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/chris-huhne-vicky-pryce-jailed-8-months-444752

You decide: How have their convictions affected their careers? Chris Huhne has his own website at: http://www.chrishuhne.org.uk/ and describes himself as an expert on climate change, and is available for public speaking, whilst his former wife, Vicki Pryce, has written a book about her experience of prison, called ‘Prisonomics’, discussing that women who are sent to jail are done so, largely, because they have done ‘something’ for a man in their lives; father, brother, husbands (article here):

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/14/vicky-pryce-no-regrets-jailed

Read both articles, and decide if any of the aims of punishment (remind yourself of those) have worked in this, and the cases to follow:

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Hugh Grant (Actor)

What was his offence/punishment?

What effect has this had on his career?

Lindsay Lohan (Actor)

What was her offence/punishment?

How has this affected her career?

Eric Cantona (Footballer)

Eric Cantona assaulted a fan during a football match in 1995. Watch video and make notes on his actions:

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Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwZuXuH-NwA

Read article AND make notes: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/27/newsid_2506000/2506237.stm

How was he punished?

How did this punishment affect his career?

Which aims were met by the punishment given to Mr Cantona? Consider if it was effective in preventing re-offending? – Search for news stories on Eric Cantona since and write your answer here:

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The Aims of Punishment that were met in punishing Mr Cantona:

Of these FORMS of punishment, what AIM of punishment relates to Offender Behaviour Programmes?

Reparation – Thinking of the Victims:ACTIVITY: Simmons, the Victim’s Story: Read this and compare to Eric Cantona:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2004/oct/31/newsstory.sport2

Your task here is to decide whether the aims of punishment, such as ‘reparation’ apply to Mr Simmons:

COMMUNITY SENTENCES

A community sentence combines punishment with activities carried out in the community. It can include one or more of 13 requirements on an offender. This could be carrying out up to 300 hours of unpaid work, which might include things like removing graffiti or clearing

overgrown areas.

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Simmons was the man assaulted by Eric Cantona. Compare and Contrast the outcomes of both men as an outcome of examining the same incident. What happened to Eric Cantona because of his assault on Mr Simmons, and what happened to Mr Simmons, as the victim of this assault.

It could also mean the offender is required to have alcohol or drug treatment – this aims to tackle the reasons why they have committed crimes. Offenders might also be required to keep to a curfew, which aims to keep them out of trouble.

Overall, the requirements aim to punish offenders, to change offenders’ behaviour so they don’t commit crime in the future, and to make amends to the victim of the crime or the local community.

The full list of requirements are:

Unpaid work for up to 300 hours

Rehabilitation activity requirement (RAR) undertaking activities as instructed

Undertaking a programme to help change offending behaviour

Prohibition from doing particular activities

Adherence to a curfew where s/he is required to be in a particular place/times

An exclusion requirement from particular areas

A residence requirement so that the offender is obliged to live at a particular address

A foreign travel prohibition requirement

Mental health treatment with the offender’s consent

A drug rehabilitation requirement with the offender’s consent

An alcohol treatment requirement with the offender’s consent

An alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirement with the offender’s consent

Where offenders are under 25, they may be required to go to a centre at specific times over the course of their sentence.

In 2016, 102,938 offenders were sentenced to a community sentence, representing 8 per cent of offenders sentenced.

ACTIVITY : Research re-offending rates of offenders on rehabilitation programmes in England and Wales.

Q: What do re-offending rates of this form of punishment suggest how effective the aim of rehabilitation may be?

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Q: Which forms of Punishment best achieve the 5 Aims of Punishment?

FINANCIAL

Fines are the most common criminal sentence. They are usually given for less serious crimes that don't merit a community or prison sentence.

Fines are given to punish an offender financially. They limit the amount of money offenders have to spend. Fines are given for offences like:

driving and road traffic offences, like speeding minor offences of theft or criminal damage not having a TV licence

How much someone is fined depends on:

how serious a crime is, and, the offender's ability to pay

If the offence causes harm to a victim, the offender can also be required to make a compensation payment. They will also have to pay towards the cost of the court hearing.

If someone says they cannot pay a fine straight away, they can ask the court if they can pay in instalments. The court may or may not agree to this.

If someone does not pay a fine, the court can get payment in other ways.

These include:

further court hearings clamping and possibly selling an offender's car taking money directly from an offender's wages or benefits bailiffs coming to an offender's home to seize possessions

In extreme cases where a person continues to not pay their fine, they may be sent to prison:

Imprisonment for the non-payment of a fine for not having a TV licence:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/24/tv-licence-evaders-could-get-slap-wrist-new-sentencing-guidelines/

ACTIVITY: Read and decide which, IF ANY ‘aim’ of punishment is achieved by this action?

OTHER FINANCIAL PENALTIES:

As well as being given a fine either in full, or part of a sentence, the defendant is also responsible to pay a contribution towards The Victim’s Charge.

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Visit the Sentencing Council for guidelines on how much is paid by the defendant upon conviction:

https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/about-sentencing/types-of-sentence/other-orders-made-on-sentencing/what-is-the-victim-surcharge /

The Criminal Justice and Courts Act (2015) imposes a ‘Court Tax’ on adult offenders:

Read the following article, make notes, and decide which aims of punishment this financial penalty for criminal offences, is achieved:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32078676

DISCHARGE:

Absolute and Conditional Charges are available to the Defendant. This suggests a ‘second chance’, however, whichever discharge is given, ‘penalties’ can still be applied to the defendant. R v Varma (2012) was a case that went to the Supreme Court where the correct application of the law is decided.

Synoptic Q: Unit ____ discussed the Supreme Court?

Read the article and decide with ‘Aim’ of punishment is achieved through using this ‘Form’ of punishment:

Article: https://ukcrime.wordpress.com/tag/conditional-discharge/

Consider that:

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Notes about the Case:

Which ‘Aim’ is used here for reducing (re)offending?

The range of punishments available in UK Courts are to meet ‘Aims of Punishment’. Your task is to consider whether these aims are met by these four categories of punishment.

In this AC you should revise your knowledge of Units 1, 2 and 3 to make objective evidence-based conclusions as to whether these punishments meet the aims of:

R_______________________ D________________________

P________________________ R_______________________

R_______________________

You should be able to link your knowledge of the S________ Construction of Crime and Deviance from Unit 1, right through to Unit 4 where we discuss the roles and aims of punishment.

Q: Which ‘Aims’ of Punishment are met from all four forms of Punishment discussed in this AC?

Q: Which theory from Unit 2 ‘names and shames’ these people as ‘offenders’?

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Karl Marx discussed the relationship between the Bourgeoisie and Power in Unit _________

Q: How would he explain how relevant his theory may be, in relation to the examples given here?

Q

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SYNOPTIC LINKS: