Discuss retribution and rehabilitation as aims of sentencing. [9]
Retribution is an individual/ society getting revenge for the wrongdoings the offender has committed. It
prioritises the punishment of an offender rather than changing or preventing patterns that could lead to future
offending. "Punishment shouldn't be a means to an end, but an end itself", Kant. Punishment similarly needs
to be seen as punishment and should be proportional to the offence. Ordinal proportionality makes sure that
more serious offenders are faced with harsher punishments, whereas cardinal proportionality sets absolute
measures for certain crimes. Hate crime is an example of an offence which will result in a higher sentence as
it is an aggravating factor. As a result, it also carries an 'uplift'. Under Section 20 of the Criminal Justice Act
2003 (CJA) an offence motivated by hate crime can result in 7 years imprisonment. Retributive theorists
argue that punishment is a morally appropriate response to crime and therefore a justified response.
Durkheim, explores how the moral outrage felt by society (when a crime is committed) forms boundary
maintenance, and reminds society and individuals the parameters of right and wrong. However, retribution is
often considered a backward-looking theory and no two criminals are exactly alike and will respond
differently. Similarly, social conventions and cultural traditions will influence punishment standards and
disagreements about what punishments are proportional.
Rehabilitation follows the idea that punishment can be used to reform and change offenders. Its main aim is
to give offenders a chance of living a crime-free life by focusing on the past rather than the future. They hope
to reform an offender's behaviour which will hopefully then influence their future behaviours. They do this by
offering education and training, counselling, anger management courses and try to help improve an
offender's relationship with their family unit. By doing this it gives the offender better opportunities in life, and
less possible causes of criminality. Theories in relation to this include things such as operant conditioning as
a way of influencing behaviour such as token economy which is used to reward good behaviour. Cognitive
behavioural therapy is also used as another method to change behaviour in a positive way. However, some
criticisms of this include an inability to recreate many of the institutionalised processes in real life such as
token economy which does not occur naturally in real life. As well as this, right realists consider this option
'too soft', with limited success and many offenders still go on to reoffend despite their rehabilitation.
Retribution is an individual/ society getting revenge for the wrongdoings the offender has committed. It
prioritises the punishment of an offender rather than changing or preventing patterns that could lead to future
offending. "Punishment shouldn't be a means to an end, but an end itself", Kant. Punishment similarly needs
to be seen as punishment and should be proportional to the offence. Ordinal proportionality makes sure that
more serious offenders are faced with harsher punishments, whereas cardinal proportionality sets absolute
measures for certain crimes. Hate crime is an example of an offence which will result in a higher sentence as
it is an aggravating factor. As a result, it also carries an 'uplift'. Under Section 20 of the Criminal Justice Act
2003 (CJA) an offence motivated by hate crime can result in 7 years imprisonment. Retributive theorists
argue that punishment is a morally appropriate response to crime and therefore a justified response.
Durkheim, explores how the moral outrage felt by society (when a crime is committed) forms boundary
maintenance, and reminds society and individuals the parameters of right and wrong. However, retribution is
often considered a backward-looking theory and no two criminals are exactly alike and will respond
differently. Similarly, social conventions and cultural traditions will influence punishment standards and
disagreements about what punishments are proportional.
Rehabilitation follows the idea that punishment can be used to reform and change offenders. Its main aim is
to give offenders a chance of living a crime-free life by focusing on the past rather than the future. They hope
to reform an offender's behaviour which will hopefully then influence their future behaviours. They do this by
offering education and training, counselling, anger management courses and try to help improve an
offender's relationship with their family unit. By doing this it gives the offender better opportunities in life, and
less possible causes of criminality. Theories in relation to this include things such as operant conditioning as
a way of influencing behaviour such as token economy which is used to reward good behaviour. Cognitive
behavioural therapy is also used as another method to change behaviour in a positive way. However, some
criticisms of this include an inability to recreate many of the institutionalised processes in real life such as
token economy which does not occur naturally in real life. As well as this, right realists consider this option
'too soft', with limited success and many offenders still go on to reoffend despite their rehabilitation.
