Psychology 2032A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Halfway House, Precedent, Conditional Sentence

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2032A/B
• Professor: Laura Melnyk

Document Summary

Sentencing process: the judicial determination of a legal sanction upon a person convicted of an offence. The sentencing decisions are highly visible because sentencing decisions are made in the open and presented before the court. Sometimes problems arise relating to sentencing disparity and sentencing effectiveness. The goal of sentencing is to change the behavior of convicted offenders and the behavior of potential offenders who reside in the community. Offenders are sentenced to reduce the probability that they (speci c deterrence), and the rest of the community (general deterrence), will violate the law. Judges often consider more than one goal when handing down a sentence: offender may be sentenced to prison to reduce the probability that he/she will commit another crime and to separate offender form society. These goals can at times be incompatible with one another: handing down a long prison sentence will separate an offender from society. There are many sentencing principles meant to guide a judge"s sentencing decisions.