Psychology 2032A/B Chapter 8-15:
16 Jan 2019
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Department
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Professor
Prisons, Sentencing, and Parole
Structure of the Canadian Court System:
- Courts in Canada are divided into provincial, federal, and military
o Provincial courts = Have jurisdiction over most criminal & civil cases
o Federal courts = Focus exclusively on matters specified in federal legislation (ex. Canada Post)
- Major roles of courts: presenting evidence, determining guilt/innocence, & rendering sentencing decisions
- Courts are also organized into a hierarchy: courts higher have more legal authority than lower courts
- The Supreme Court of Canada is the final court of appeal
o Consists of 8 judges + the chief justice, all appointed by the federal government
o Provides guidance to the federal government
Aboriginal Overrepresentation = Disproportionate number of Aboriginals involved in the criminal justice system
- Aboriginals = 3% of Canada’s population & 18% of Canada’s federal & provincial/territorial inmate population
- There are several possible explanations…
o ↑ crime rate
o Insufficient fund for fines
o Commit more serious crimes & result in incarceration
o Poor access to legal counsel
o Criminal justice system practices that penalize Aboriginal people (ex. fine defaults)
o Overt or systemic racism (will Aboriginals get harsher sentences than Caucasians?)
- Bill C-41 passed to ensure other sanctions other than imprisonment should be considered for Aboriginals
- Aboriginal Courts: Also exist within the court structure
o Developed w/ expertise to specialize in cases w/ Aboriginal offenders
▪ Established so special considerations are given to background factors of Aboriginal offenders
▪ SES, loss of identity/culture, and attendance at residential schools
o Goals = ↓ aboriginal overrepresentation & provide more appropriate sentences & consider background factors
of Aboriginal offenders
o May lead to restorative justice: dealing w/ a crime by repairing the harm it caused
▪ Goals = prevent further crimes, offender is made responsible & “repays”, becomes a better citizen
o OVERALL, Aboriginal courts are having low impact on overrepresentation
Goals of the Prison System:
- Canadians believe that the main purpose of the criminal justice system is to protect and serve society
- Implicit in this perception is the assumption that the system is in place to protect the innocent
- Mentioned less frequently, but still important, is the belief that the system should act as a deterrent to criminals and that it
should function to punish offenders
- A focus group study found that some believe the system exists to ensure the rights of individuals and prevent chaos by
keeping peace and setting societal standards
o Everyone is held accountable, follows the law, and society functions in a healthy manner
Sentencing in Canada:
- Sentencing = The judicial determination of a legal sanction upon a person convicted of an offence
o Decisions are made in the open and presented before court, t/f very controversial
The Purposes of Sentencing:
- Specific deterrence (discourages individual from re-offending)
- General deterrence (prevent others from committing that crime by using examples of specific deterrence)
- Denounce unlawful conduct
- Separate offenders from society
- Assist in rehabilitating offenders
- Provide reparations for harm done
- Promote a sense of responsibility in offenders
The Principles of Sentencing:
- The fundamental principle of sentencing states that a sentence must be proportionate to the gravity of the offence and the
degree of responsibility of the offender
Additional Principles:
- Judges must also…
o Consider aggravating & mitigating factors (is the criminal a 2nd time offender?)
o Use similar sentences for similar offenders committing similar crimes under similar circumstances
Rehabilitation, reparation, and responsibility
o Use alternatives to incarceration if possible
Sentencing Options in Canada:
- Absolute discharge
o Release of offender, w/o conditions
- Conditional discharge
o Release of offender, w/ conditions
- Restitution
o Offender makes monetary payment to victim/community
- Fines and community service
o Offender makes monetary payment to court/volunteering time
- Conditional sentence
o Sentence served in community
- Imprisonment
o Less than 2 yrs. in provincial
o More than 2 yrs. in federal penitentiaries
Factors Affecting Sentencing:
- Seriousness of the offence
- Offender’s degree of responsibility
- Aggravating and mitigating factors
- Harshness of the sentence
VIDEO: “Eye for an eye” – Ohio judge with “creative” sentencing
- Gave a fine of walking 30 miles & sitting on the school bus to observe dangers
- Gives a choice of jail time or suggested sentence
o Most cases are little and unimportant
Dangerous Offenders:
- A dangerous offender application can be made for any offender convicted of a serious personal injury offence who
constitutes a danger to others
o Requires a determination of dangerousness
o Can result in a term of indefinite imprisonment
o Commit risk assessment to see if they pose danger to others/commit the crime again
Sentencing Disparity:
- Sentencing disparity = Variations in sentences handed down by different judges (or the same judge on different occasions)
for similar offenders committing similar offences
- Seen as a MAJOR problem in our justice system
Unwarranted Sentencing Disparity:
- Unwarranted sentencing disparity = Variations in sentencing severity that result from reliance on extra-legal (legally
irrelevant) factors
- These factors can be categorized as:
o Systematic factors = How lenient judges believe sentences should be based on their personalities, values,
philosophies, experiences etc. (inconsistency among judges about sentencing decisions)
o Unsystematic factors = The mood of the judge on any particular day (inconsistency within a judge
Studying Sentencing Disparity:
- Simulation studies
o Details of case are consistent, so variation is d/t legally irrelevant factors
o Degree of disparity varied from case-case
o Differential weighting of legal objectives was the most important predictor of sentence severity, followed by
importance on case facts, then the demographic characteristics, and sentencing contexts
o Race plays a role (in armed robberies, Aboriginal man got a worse sentence than a Caucasian male, more prison time
too)
- Official sentencing statistics
- Using either method it is clear that sentencing disparity exists in Canada
Reducing Sentencing Disparity:
- One way of reducing sentencing disparity is to use sentencing guidelines
o Guidelines intended to reduce the degree of discretion that judges have when sentencing
- Highly likely a less severe sentence is provided
than imprisonment
- 40% of all sanctions = probation
- Guidelines require judges to make certain decisions unless they have reasons for ignoring the guidelines
- Canada is reluctant to adopt formal guidelines similar to other countries
Are the Goals of Sentencing Achieved?
- Ongoing debate about deterrence and rehabilitation
- Research doesn’t support the effectiveness of get-tough strategies to ↓ crime
- Certain rehabilitative efforts appear to ↓ re-offending
Recidivism Rates:
- Recidivism = A return to correctional supervision on a new conviction within 2 yrs:
o Probation, parole or conditional sentence, or
o A provincial jail sentence of six months or more.
- Many are homeless b/c they can’t get employment/housing
- They go back to committing crime b/c it’s what they know & can help them survive
- Canada’s recidivism rates:
o Males - 35%
▪ May struggle with finding work again
▪ May commit more serious crimes/viewed as less socially acceptable
o Females - 20%
▪ Might have a better chance of returning to family
▪ May have an attachment to biological children
The Effect of Punishment:
- Little evidence that punishment-based sanctions lead to substantial ↓ in recidivism rates
- One review examined recidivism rates for community-based sanctions and prison sentences
o Community-based sanctions = ↑ recidivism rates (with the exception of fines and restitution)
o Incarceration = ↑ recidivism rates (with longer incarceration resulting in ↑ rates)
- BOTH lead to ↑ recidivism rates
What Works in Offender Tx?
- Canadian researchers have led the way in establishing principles of effective correctional intervention
- Correctional interventions that incorporate these principles have been shown to ↓ recidivism rates
Principles of Effective Correctional Interventions:
- Need principle
o Effective intervention targets criminogenic needs (antisocial attitudes, impulsivity, substance abuse)
- Risk principle
o Effective intervention targets high-risk offenders (intervention may encourage low-risk criminals to re-offend)
- Responsivity principle
o Effective intervention matches general learning styles & characteristics of offenders (structured, C-B interventions)
- Study… offenders in appropriate programs had a ↓ recidivism rate & vice-versa
Criminogenic Needs = Characteristics, traits, or issues of an individual that relate to their likelihood to re-offend, 2 categories:
- Static = Needs or characteristics that cannot be changed through any type of therapy or intervention
o Ex. Age at the time of first arrest, being raised in a single-parent home, criminal hx
- Dynamic = Needs or characteristics that can be changed with intervention
o Ex. Lack of respect for authority, lack of education or job skills, anti-social behavior
Responsivity Principle: 2 parts
- General Responsivity = Use of cognitive social learning methods to influence behaviour
o Cognitive social learning strategies are the most effective regardless of the type of offender (ex. female offender,
Aboriginal offender, sex offender)
o Core correctional practices such as prosocial modeling, the appropriate use of reinforcement and disapproval, and
problem solving spell out the specific skills represented in a cognitive social learning approach
- Specific Responsivity = "fine tuning" of the cognitive behavioural intervention. It takes into account strengths, learning style,
personality, motivation, and bio-social (gender, race) characteristics of the individual.
VIDEO: Different Approaches to Prisons
- USA: More strict, punishing, unwritten social rules of authority, assert dominance, lots of violence
- Norwegian: More relaxed rehabilitating, takes away freedom/family, doesn’t punish
VIDEO: Canadian Jails
