Is prison an effective form of punishment?

Walker — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:52:44 +0000

Is imprisonment really the most effective way to stop offenders from reoffending?
In 2007, over 81,000 people populated the United Kingdom’s prisons. These people had been sentenced according to the guidelines set out in section 142 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. The legislation proposed that the main purposes of sentencing are to rehabilitate offenders, punish offenders, reduce crime, protect the public and make amends to the people who have been affected by the crime. But has prison been effective in meeting these purposes?
Rehabilitation
Major longitudinal research revealed that 46% of prisoners in the sample had no qualifications when they entered prison, 50% were homeless the year before prison and nearly half had been unemployed. On top of this, 36% were heavy drinkers, most had taken illegal drugs and many had mental health problems. But how is prison tackling these problems to prevent them from reoffending when they are released from prison? The Ministry of Justice claims that it wants to ‘address the factors which have contributed to their offending’ and are offering education and prison jobs. They also have private employers offering practical work to offenders while in prison, which may make offenders more employable on the outside. Each prison also has an offender manager who ensures that there are programmes that deal with issues like substance abuse. Erwin James, an offender serving a life sentence, told The Guardian: ‘I have never been in a jail which did not have an education department, library, gymnasium, chapel, psychologists, probation officers and counsellors.’ He added: ‘17 years ago, I never dreamed how my life would be transformed. I could barely string two sentences together; now I sit here with an embarrassment of qualifications.’ It is fine trying to address these problems by offering education and a chance to make money inside prison, but could this not be encouraging people to come back to prison? The ITV documentary series Holloway questioned one girl who stated that she loved prison because she felt secure; she knew where she was sleeping at night, that she was getting food and that she was getting money – which is more than she expected outside prison. She soon found herself back inside prison after she was released for the first time. This suggests that some prisoners view prison as a safe haven. Erwin James told The Guardian that ‘only somebody who has been to prison would believe that jails are “soft places”’. If prisoners believe that they are getting an easier life inside prison, how can they be expected to change their ways? The Ministry of Justice takes a different viewpoint, stating that prison ‘removes the liberty of offenders, forcing them to comply with a structured, disciplined and tough regime’. But it matters little what the Ministry of Justice thinks, when prisoners see prison as a ‘soft’ place. While prisons try to increase offenders’ employability by offering work and education inside the prison, in reality, is there a chance of offenders receiving employment on the outside? This author initially posited that employers would not jump at the chance of having an ex-prisoner working for their firm. However, a charity called Nacro revealed that ‘a quarter of the working population has some kind of criminal record’. Perhaps offenders do, in fact, have a chance in the working world.
Reducing crime
While it appears that prison can rehabilitate some offenders, it is usually those serving longer sentences for more serious crimes. MP David Hanson believes that ‘putting offenders through tough community sentences can be more effective in reducing reoffending than a short spell in prison’. But despite knowing that short sentences do not work, most prisoners spend less than a year in prison. The general argument may be that incapacitation automatically means that these offenders can no longer commit crime, but it is possible that these offenders are committing crimes on the inside. While offenders cannot commit specific crimes such as child abuse, it is possible to batter an inmate. A crime committed behind bars does not equate to a reduction of crime, but at least it can be said that prison is protecting the general public. Prison does have a deterrent function because when people see their peers being imprisoned for crimes (particularly in exemplary and highprofile cases), they might stop and think about the consequences of their own actions (this is known as general deterrence). Specific deterrence, however – where offenders themselves are deterred from committing crime in the future – is dependent on whether prison has helped them to change. Statistics show that prison is preventing reoffending because only 39% of offenders had reoffended in 2007. But there is still room for improvement.
Protection
The prison service can offer victims the comfort of knowing that the offender is behind bars. The Ministry of Justice say that ‘prison is the right place for the most dangerous, serious and the most persistent offenders’. But this does not account for petty theft and other less serious crimes, where the punishment has been prison. There seems little logic in ‘protecting’ people from crimes that are not dangerous, especially as short-term prison sentences do not work, as evidenced earlier. Prison can be successful, but only for crimes that are of a serious nature. However, Erwin James has suggested that some prisoners may be full of resentment in the end. Prison will only work as a rehabilitative method for those who want to transform. It seems to offer first-time offenders a second chance upon leaving prison; with qualifications, plenty of work experience and support, as well as time to think their crimes over. But those convicted of less serious crimes should be given an alternative punishment, such as community service, as this appears to be more effective in changing behaviour. Perhaps prison should be combined with other punishments upon release, such as a curfew or community service. Ultimately, then, the effectiveness of the prison system will depend upon the length of incarceration and the opportunities afforded to the prisoners while in prison.
Sarah Ward is the second year of a Law LLB

The Argument » punishment

Is prison an effective form of punishment?