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Analyse and evaluate the aims of sentencing
The aims and types of sentencing
The aims and types of sentencing
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Banishment, an alternative for custody, is used in traditional Aboriginal communities. It can be a beneficial form of punishment but also has its shortcomings. Banishing criminals can be a way for them to become better individuals and can protect the people around them. But, it can have a negative emotional and physical impact on them. I feel that banishment isn’t the best form of punishment and should be used only in certain cases. Banishing offenders can be a favourable or unpleasant experience.
First off, using banishment as an alternative for custody has many advantages. It can serve as a means of rehabilitation for offenders. When Cole Matthews from Touching Spirit Bear returned to the island the second time, Edwin had shown him how he could let go of his anger. He could do this by going to the pond and rolling his ancestor rock down the hill. Being banished can provide protection of society because the person is isolated. Whereas in prison, the offender could have opportunities to harm cellmates. Given that the criminal is alone for a long amount of time, he gets to reflect on his actions. Being alone can teach him self-discipline and how his bad decisions have affected others. Thus, banishment can have a positive influence on offenders.
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Being alone in the wilderness can present many dangers. Such as: wildlife and severe weather conditions. Cole’s life was put at risk when he was attacked by a spirit bear. Banishment should not always be used as a punishment because it can cause psychological and emotional damage. No interactions with family or friends could cause depression and loneliness. Criminals are also being deprived of comfort. Being away from civilization, they would need to learn survival skills like how to build a fire and a shelter. Banishment can have a negative impact on
I am reading Touching Spirit Bear, by Ben Mikaelsen. I have enjoyed reading the book so far. The book is about a boy named Cole whose parents have not treated him very well, so he makes poor decisions. One of the decisions he made was beating up a boy at school to the point where he was bleeding and helpless. This decision that he made caused him to either be tried as an adult at court, or to be part of the circle of justice program, which would require him to be by himslef on an island and he would have to fend for himself and this would hopefully get him to be in touch with his inner peace. When cole got to the island he was not positive about it at all. It stated “Cole felt his anger
In Western cultures imprisonment is the universal method of punishing criminals (Chapman 571). According to criminologists locking up criminals may not even be an effective form of punishment. First, the prison sentences do not serve as an example to deter future criminals, which is indicated, in the increased rates of criminal behavior over the years. Secondly, prisons may protect the average citizen from crimes but the violence is then diverted to prison workers and other inmates. Finally, inmates are locked together which impedes their rehabilitation and exposes them too more criminal
Isolation may help a juvenile come into conclusion about why they are justified to being in prison. From personal experience I have observed how someone that I know has been conducted to jail for a short period of time they automatically regret their actions and decisions. A real life story about a juvenile’s isolation made him recognized the crime he committed is Greg Ousley. Scott Anderson, author of the New York Times article “Greg Ousley Is Sorry for Killing His Parents. Is that Enough?”declares that Greg feels guilty after being in jail for so many years and many revelations have been exposed to him. Even though a murder might have finally rehabilitated, our systems should still protect our state and community by keeping them behind bars because you never know when another episode or attack can be
While solitary confinement is one of the most effective ways of keeping todays prisoners from conflict and communication it is also the most detrimental to their health. According to an article by NPR.org the reason for most solitary confinement units in America “is to control the prison gangs (NPR, 2011).” Sometimes putting a gang member in solitary confinement reduces the effect that confinement is supposed to have when the confined inmate starts losing their mind. The prisoners kept in solitary confinement show more psychotic symptoms than that of a normal prisoner, including a higher suicide rate. Once a prisoner’s mental capacity to understand why he or she is in prison and why they are being punished is gone, there is no reason to keep said prisoner in solitary confinement. Once your ability to understand punishment is gone the consequences of your actions lose value and become irrelevant.
Since the early 1800s, the United States has relied on a method of punishment barely known to any other country, solitary confinement (Cole). Despite this method once being thought of as the breakthrough in the prison system, history has proved differently. Solitary confinement was once used in a short period of time to fix a prisoners behavior, but is now used as a long term method that shows to prove absolutely nothing. Spending 22-24 hours a day in a small room containing practically nothing has proved to fix nothing in a person except further insanity. One cannot rid himself of insanity in a room that causes them to go insane. Solitary confinement is a flawed and unnecessary method of punishment that should be prohibited in the prison system.
All in all, intermediate sanctions has been shown to be an effective alternative to prison. The benefits of reducing overcrowding, saving on cost, and giving the offender what they need sure enough makes it worth looking at. Along with that, the options that it provides as far as sentencing gives prosecutor and judges the ability to choose their outcome for most cases. These programs all prove to be all well and good with the exception of some programs like bootcamps but still effective nonetheless.
For years now, incarceration has been known to be the center of the nation’s Criminal Justice Center. It’s no secret that over time, the criminal justice center began experiencing problems with facilities being overcrowded, worldwide, which ended up with them having to make alternative decisions to incarceration that prevent violence and strengthen communities. These new options went in to plan to be help better develop sentencing criminal offenders.
This essay has identified sanctions imposed on offenders including imprisonment and community corrections. Described how punishment is justified with the just desert and deterrence theory. Discussing the rate of individuals being imprison comparted to community, provided rates for assault which shows crime being maintained and community member feel safe enough to allow for this to
Intermediate sanctions are a new punishment option developed to fill the gap between traditional probation and traditional jail or prison sentences and to better match the severity of punishment to the seriousness of the crime. Intermediate sanctions served in the community now account for 15 percent of adjudicated juvenile cases (Puzzanchera, Adams, and Sickmund, 2011). All intermediate sanctions are enforced by the United States Criminal Justice System. The main purposes of intermediate sanctions: (1) better match the severity of punishment to the seriousness of the crime, (2) reduce institutional crowding, (3) control correctional costs. Primarily, this is a needed method of punishment to make offenders accountable for the extent of crime and if so let offenders live in their communities to fulfil punishment if not too extensive.
By doing things, we learn who we are and we learn our worth as a person. The two things solitary confinement does are make people solitary and idle” (Sifferlin, Alexandra). Isolation and confinement remove prisoners’ ability to perform significant tasks and act as a part of society.
Solitary confinement does not help challenging prisoners in the long run. Solitary confinement actually has the potential to cause inmates to lose their ability to control and manage their anger. If an inmate continues to be violent, the result is a longer time in solitary confinement. Solitary confinement is inhumane and should be called torture. Putting and keeping an individual in solitary confinement puts them at a very serious risk of developing a mental illness, which may not be recoverable. Solitary confinement causes many effects that range in severity; it is not something that inmates should be subjected to
As the current prison structures and sentencing process continues to neglect the issues that current offenders have no change will accrue to prevent recidivism. The issue with the current structure of the prison sentencing process is it does not deal with the “why” the individual is an social deviant but only looks at the punishment process to remove the deviant from society. This method does not allow an offender to return back to society without continuing where they left off. As an offender is punished they are sentenced (removal from society) they continue in an isolated environment (prison) after their punishment time is completed and are released back to society they are now an outsider to the rapidly changing social environment. These individuals are returned to society without any coping skills, job training, or transitional training which will prevent them from continuing down th...
Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. To this day governments struggle to figure out the best way to deal with their criminals in ways that help both society and those that commit the crimes. Imprisonment has historically been the popular solution. However, there are many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Prison affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Prison as a punishment has its pros and cons; although it may be necessary for some, it can be harmful for those who would be better suited for alternative means of punishment.
The use of prison as a form of punishment began to become popular in the early 19th century. This was because transportation to colonies had started to decrease; transportation was the removing of an individual, in this case an offender, from its country to another country; usually for a period of seven to ten years and in some cases for ever. During this time prison was now being used as a means for punishment, this was in response to the declining of transportation to colonies. Thus, instead of transporting offenders to other colonies they were now being locked away behind high walls of the prison. Coyle (2005). To say whether using prison as a form of punishment has aid in the quest of tackling the crime problem one must first consider the purposes of the prison.
Life is filled with lessons, and often times there are little reminders to keep those lessons in our minds for later use. Sometimes lessons learned in life are learned the hard way, like in Cole’s instance. One of the lessons Cole learned is in order to heal he must first right his wrongs; stop blaming those around him for his problems, and to forgive. To Cole, these were just cliché sayings repeated on and on by others around him who didn’t trust. He always brushed these words aside thinking he could do everything on his own and life only revolved around him. After being mauled by the Spirit Bear and having to survive on his own, he began to open his eyes for the first time. He began to grasp it was not anyone’s fault but his own he was stuck in his position. Cole finally started to recognize if he held on to his grudge against his father he would never be able to let go of his horrible past and start living again. Most importantly, Cole learned he could never live with himself if he did not help Peter Driscal. I think this life lesson Cole learned will forever be symbolized by the Spirit Bear. Without the bear, Cole would have never learned integrity and being trusted is real power, not the fake power of freighting people into doing what he says.