KHA312 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Authoritarianism, O. J. Simpson, Procedural Justice
Psychology and Law week 11: Psychology of justice
Theories of and approaches to punishment:
- Incapacitation:
oLimiting the opportunity to re-offend
oCollective incapacitation:
Longer sentences fro all offenders
Tough on crime
oSelective incapacitation
Incarcerate individuals predicted to re-offend
Most effective for high-risk offenders
Eg. Violence and sex crimes
Relies on assessment techniques:
Actuarial/mathematical:
o Static and dynamic factors
Clinical/human:
oFocus on the dynamic factors
oClinical expertise, responsiveness to treatment
while incarcerated
Static factors: gender, age, SES, early life experiences
Dynamic factors:
oBehaviours, treatment, current circumstances
oResponsiveness to treatment
oWe can change these factors
Exception: three strikes sentencing laws
Mandatory sentencing for repeat offences
Limits judges’ discretion
Room for human error and subjective human judgment
oCriticisms:
Incredibly expensive
1 person costs 100,000 a year to incarcerate
Inefficient
Have to double prison population to produce a 10%
reduction in crime
Assessment techniques are inflexible
Focus on static factors
Inaccurate
oParole breakers
If relying solely on static factors, there are no
distinguishing factors
Dynamic factors are better for understanding
oInuitively should be a good predictor
oCooperation with inmate, engagement in rehab
programs, work ethic in prison
oThese are good but still don’t provide enough
Doesn’t achieve what we want it to do
oDoesn’t reduce crime rates
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
- Deterrence:
oPunishment should act as a deterrent by discouraging future offenders
oSpecific deterrence:
Punishment to deter future offending by a particular person
oGeneral deterrence
Social learning theory
Threat of punishment deters other potential offenders
oDeath penalty:
58 countries: 32/50 US states
Arguments for:
Effective specific deterrent
oCannot offend again
Reduces homicide/saves lives
Arguments against:
Dodgy statistics
Most US states had 0 executions, few had more than 1
oRounding 0 to 0.99 vs. 0.01
oBased on Texas sample
Models violence and legitimizes killing as an acceptable
reaction to transgressions
Certainty of guilt
oGiven what we know about error rates and false
incarcerations
oDeterrence in general:
Criticisms:
Doesn’t seem to work
oMeta-analysis: slight increase in re-offending
oPenalties too low:
With the exception of death penalty
Too low to act as a disincentive
oCorporate crime an example of this
Offenders perceives contract with society
Doesn’t only depend on the severity of the penalty, but
also the perceive likelihood of getting caught
oCriminals underestimate their likelihood of
getting caught
oSo this doesn’t work, because they don’t think
they will get caught
- Rehabilitation:
oPrepare offender for re-integration
Mixed evidence:
High profile meta analysis: nothing works
oRecidivism rates: 20% for Norway vs. 75% is
USA
CBT effective in this area
oNot through dehumanization
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Psychology and law week 11: psychology of justice. Incapacitation: limiting the opportunity to re-offend, collective incapacitation: Clinical/human: focus on the dynamic factors, clinical expertise, responsiveness to treatment while incarcerated. Static factors: gender, age, ses, early life experiences. Dynamic factors: behaviours, treatment, current circumstances, responsiveness to treatment, we can change these factors. Room for human error and subjective human judgment: criticisms: 1 person costs 100,000 a year to incarcerate. Have to double prison population to produce a 10% reduction in crime. If relying solely on static factors, there are no distinguishing factors. Dynamic factors are better for understanding: inuitively should be a good predictor, cooperation with inmate, engagement in rehab programs, work ethic in prison, these are good but still don"t provide enough. Doesn"t achieve what we want it to do: doesn"t reduce crime rates. Deterrence: punishment should act as a deterrent by discouraging future offenders, specific deterrence: Punishment to deter future offending by a particular person: general deterrence.
