'Crime is both deterred and prevented by the use of imprisonment.' Discuss

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Sharon Ebanks        T274910X        TMA04

OPTION TWO

‘Crime is both deterred and prevented by the use of imprisonment.’  Discuss.

Imprisonment is a process of incarceration whereby the confinements of deviant members of society are segregated into confined spaces where the offender is punished according to the criminal justice system.  I will in this essay discuss the process of the prison being used as a product of crime control against the notion of reforming and rehabilitating offenders.  I will also evaluate the claim that crime is both deterred and prevented by the use of imprisonment.

Imprisonment has been around for centuries, it was seen as a way of removing unwanted offenders from society.  Historically England led the way in developing the prison system; correction houses would hold the town beggars and vagrants.  In the 18th century prisons were used for 3 main reasons, the firstly being as a custodial establishment for those that were awaiting sentencing, the second in a coercive manner, for defaulters of fines and debt, and finally as a punitive measure, the state’s intention is to inflict a punishment to the offender, although prison is now seen as the last resort, it is still the main form of punishment.

Incapacitation advocates the protection of society by removing criminals from the rest of society therefore preventing the chances of them committing further crimes, but this does not necessarily deter them from further offending upon their release.  

The Penalty system involves institutions and agencies such as prisons and probation services, but it also incorporates other social factors such as economical stability, political, intellectual and cultural conditions.

Penal transformation in modes of punishment and social control meant that prisoners had to undergo a process of penance in order to pay back for their crimes, they were classified into groups according to their crimes and put to work and they had to work their hardest.  They were to virtually finance themselves by working in the prisons on products and services advantageous to the rest of society.  This theory can be associated with the ‘orthodox Marxist’ tradition where systems of punishment are used to manipulate and maintain a cheap and reliable labour system. The prison system was undergoing significant changes that would reform the offender, therefore prevent them from further offending.

The theory of the Whig tradition emerged in the 18th century and with it came changes in the prison system. Changes occurred because of the advances in knowledge, with the change came reform motivated by humanitarianism.  Prisoners were to be punished according to the crime they had committed, through incapitation of freedom, they were to be rehabilitated and reformed to be able to resist the temptation to re-offend and to live good honest lives upon release.

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Revisionists held more radical views in that they saw correctional institutions as repressive forms of social control, born from class conflict and to protect the vested interests of the wealthy and the governing class.  Questions were asked as to the purpose of the prison system was it to be used just as a place of criminal containment?  A place where a form of discipline could be used in order to reform the criminal?   Or was it to deter potential criminals?

Disillusioned liberalists had good intentions they wanted humanitarian prisons, treating the criminal as a human being that has the ...

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