Unfortunately, the advantages of carceral punishment are overshadowed by the disadvantages. The penal system is highly parlous for a number of reasons; the uncertainty of the purpose of prison in a modern society means that it succeeds in achieving virtually nothing. There are numerous problems with the current system which can be summarised to the following: they are overcrowded, they are expensive, and they do not reform criminals. The prison population in the UK has been rising steadily since 1993 from 42,000 to today’s unprecedented levels. This has several damaging consequences. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons found that nearly half of all male prisoners in 2009 were more than 50 miles from their home; this has a detrimental impact
…show more content…
Many of those that enter the penal system with some form of personal problem often leave without addressing their issues which subsequently leaves them vulnerable to reoffending. The current reoffending rate after prison rests at 60% (and 74-75% for young offenders) which concludes that prison is an expensive failure that has no impact on crime levels or the fear of crime as depicted by the ever-growing prison population. The prison population has been found to be composed of ‘largely the poor and disadvantaged, those with mental health needs and drug or alcohol addictions’. It is suggested that if prison was able to provide more rehabilitative measures then this would decrease the potential for reoffending and would be working to improve society as a whole. In addition to reoffending, unexplained deaths whilst in custody are a concerning issue for the prison system. In 2010 ‘24 people died in prisons whose deaths were categorised as unclassified, which means they died from homicide, accidental death, or sudden unexplained death.’ Throughout recent years there have been numerous riots within prisons. In 1990 a riot broke out at Strangeways which took 25 days for the prison authorities to gain control and the damage caused totalled £30 million. An inquiry was conducted by Lord Woolf titled ‘Prison Disturbances’ which made 204 specific proposals, although the 12 key recommendations included the following: an enhanced role for prison officers, …show more content…
Non-custodial sentences such as a fines, probation orders or community service orders provide a meaningful punishment which when coupled with a proper programme of rehabilitation (if needed) would provide a better option of punishment. Fines are the most common form of punishment that require the offender to pay a fixed sum of money and failure may result in a prison sentence; a community service order requires the offender to unpaid work in the community (must be between 40-240 hours and to be completed within one year); a probation order requires the offender to be supervised by a probation officer for a period between six months and three years and can have additional requirements attached to them. This essay will focus on the use of community orders to demonstrate the effectiveness of non-custodial sentences. Community orders were established by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 which provided twelve requirements available to be used by the order including unpaid work, a curfew backed by a tag and supervision. It should be noted that this alternative to prison is deployed by the courts but not used to the extent that is should be. The number of offenders beginning court-ordered supervision increased by 11 per cent between 2005 and 2006 conveying a willingness of the courts to employ it. There remains a lack of confidence in the success of community orders on the behalf of those passing the
Many of those that enter the penal system with some form of personal problem often leave without addressing their issues which subsequently leaves them vulnerable to reoffending. The current reoffending rate after prison rests at 60% (and 74-75% for young offenders) which concludes that prison is an expensive failure that has no impact on crime levels or the fear of crime as depicted by the ever-growing prison population. The prison population has been found to be composed of ‘largely the poor and disadvantaged, those with mental health needs and drug or alcohol addictions’. It is suggested that if prison was able to provide more rehabilitative measures then this would decrease the potential for reoffending and would be working to improve society as a whole. In addition to reoffending, unexplained deaths whilst in custody are a concerning issue for the prison system. In 2010 ‘24 people died in prisons whose deaths were categorised as unclassified, which means they died from homicide, accidental death, or sudden unexplained death.’ Throughout recent years there have been numerous riots within prisons. In 1990 a riot broke out at Strangeways which took 25 days for the prison authorities to gain control and the damage caused totalled £30 million. An inquiry was conducted by Lord Woolf titled ‘Prison Disturbances’ which made 204 specific proposals, although the 12 key recommendations included the following: an enhanced role for prison officers, …show more content…
Non-custodial sentences such as a fines, probation orders or community service orders provide a meaningful punishment which when coupled with a proper programme of rehabilitation (if needed) would provide a better option of punishment. Fines are the most common form of punishment that require the offender to pay a fixed sum of money and failure may result in a prison sentence; a community service order requires the offender to unpaid work in the community (must be between 40-240 hours and to be completed within one year); a probation order requires the offender to be supervised by a probation officer for a period between six months and three years and can have additional requirements attached to them. This essay will focus on the use of community orders to demonstrate the effectiveness of non-custodial sentences. Community orders were established by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 which provided twelve requirements available to be used by the order including unpaid work, a curfew backed by a tag and supervision. It should be noted that this alternative to prison is deployed by the courts but not used to the extent that is should be. The number of offenders beginning court-ordered supervision increased by 11 per cent between 2005 and 2006 conveying a willingness of the courts to employ it. There remains a lack of confidence in the success of community orders on the behalf of those passing the