Which aim is about putting people off crime through fear?

deterrence. Fear of punishment discourages offending.

Which aim is about making the offender pay for the crime?

retribution. Justice is seen to be done.

What is incapacitation?

removing an offender's ability to commit more crime. Prison and driving bans are examples.

Which aim does an education course in prison serve?

rehabilitation. It tries to change the offender's future.

Many released prisoners offend again. Which aims of prison does this call into question?

deterrence and rehabilitation. If prison deterred or reformed, fewer would return.

The aims of punishment · Cambridge IGCSE Sociology revision

In plain words

Ask five people why a burglar should go to prison and you may get five answers: to protect us, to scare others, because the burglar deserves it, to stop the burglar doing it again, to make the burglar a better person. Each is an aim of punishment, and they do not always agree.

8 things to know

Protection of citizens: the public is kept safe from people who would harm them.
Deterrence: punishment puts people off crime through fear. It may deter the offender from doing it again, and it may deter others who see what happens.
Retribution: the offender is made to suffer in proportion to the crime. Society and the victim see that justice has been done.
Incapacitation: the offender is made unable to commit more crime, for example by being locked up or banned from driving.
Rehabilitation: the offender is helped to change, through education, training or treatment, so as to return to society and not offend again.
One punishment can serve several aims. A prison sentence protects, deters, punishes and incapacitates, and may include rehabilitation.
The aims can pull against each other. Harsh conditions satisfy retribution, but may make rehabilitation harder.
Functionalists see punishment as reinforcing shared values. Marxists see it as a means of controlling the working class.

Worked example

A drink-driver is banned from driving for two years, fined, and sent on a course about alcohol. Match each part of the sentence to an aim of punishment.

The driving ban is incapacitation: it removes the ability to repeat the offence. It also protects citizens.
The fine is retribution, and it is a deterrent to the driver and to others.
The course is rehabilitation: it tries to change the driver's behaviour.

Tips and tricks

Retribution looks back at the crime. Deterrence and rehabilitation look forward to the future. That contrast is useful in evaluation.
Deterrence works by fear. Rehabilitation works by change. A reformed offender does not want to offend, and a deterred one does not dare.

5 questions, about 2 minutes.

It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.

The aims of punishment: 5 questions and answers

These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.

Which aim is about putting people off crime through fear?
- rehabilitation
- retribution
- deterrence (the answer)
- incapacitation
Fear of punishment discourages offending.
Which aim is about making the offender pay for the crime?
- retribution (the answer)
- protection
- rehabilitation
- deterrence
Justice is seen to be done.
What is incapacitation?
- helping an offender to change
- warning an offender
- compensating a victim
- removing an offender's ability to commit more crime (the answer)
Prison and driving bans are examples.
Which aim does an education course in prison serve?
- retribution
- rehabilitation (the answer)
- incapacitation
- deterrence
It tries to change the offender's future.
Many released prisoners offend again. Which aims of prison does this call into question?Stretch
- incapacitation while inside
- retribution
- deterrence and rehabilitation (the answer)
- protection during the sentence
If prison deterred or reformed, fewer would return.

5 questions

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Worksheet

3 questions, 10 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.

The aims of punishment

Cambridge IGCSE Sociology 0495 · 10 marks · papermunch.org

Name ______________________________ Date ______________

What is meant by the term "rehabilitation"?[2]
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Reforming offenders, for example through education or treatment, so that they can return to society and not reoffend.
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Describe two aims of punishment.[4]
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Any two, each described: protection of citizens, keeping the public safe; deterrence, discouraging crime through fear of punishment; retribution, making the offender pay for the crime; incapacitation, removing the offender's ability to offend; rehabilitation, reforming the offender.
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Explain how the aims of retribution and rehabilitation can conflict.[4]
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Retribution aims to make offenders suffer for what they did, which suggests harsh punishment. Rehabilitation aims to change offenders for the better, which needs support, education and treatment. Harsh treatment can make offenders more bitter and less likely to reform.
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Answers: The aims of punishment

1. Reforming offenders, for example through education or treatment, so that they can return to society and not reoffend.
2. Any two, each described: protection of citizens, keeping the public safe; deterrence, discouraging crime through fear of punishment; retribution, making the offender pay for the crime; incapacitation, removing the offender's ability to offend; rehabilitation, reforming the offender.
3. Retribution aims to make offenders suffer for what they did, which suggests harsh punishment. Rehabilitation aims to change offenders for the better, which needs support, education and treatment. Harsh treatment can make offenders more bitter and less likely to reform.