The Roles of the Prison Service and Probation Service - Book Report/Review Example

 The Roles of the Prison Service and Probation Service Introduction A legal sentence is a punishment given to an individual who has been convicted of any crime or offence. A legal sentence is usually ordered either on the basis of the judgment of a single judge or on the basis of a panel of judges. A legal sentence is ordered by the criminal or civil courts while remaining within the radius of the possible punishments approved and decided by a particular country or state. Commonly, a legal sentence refers to prison sentences or jail sentences that are ordered after the conviction of a crime. But in technical terms, a legal sentence includes all types of fines, restitutions, community services, terms of probation and other types of punishments ordered to a convict. Discussion There may be six main aims of legal sentences which can also be conflicting at times. These six aims are denunciation, retribution, deterrence, reparation, incapacitation and rehabilitation. These main objectives of legal sentences are discussed as follows: Retribution involves the idea of providing a form of punishment to the convicted that would try and reduce the particular type of crime for which the person is convicted. Also, retribution as an objective of legal sentences aims at restraining the offender for repeating his offense in the future. This type of legal sentence is given based on the concept that the convicted persons to be punished for the criminal actions or offense done by him/her and which has been properly proven in the country. Retribution is based on the views of Kant as expressed in “The Metaphysical elements of Justice” in the 19th century. According to the view of Karl, judicial punishment cannot be used as a way to promote any kind of good for the convicted person and for the society in which he belongs. Instead judicial punishment should be imposed on a convicted person only when the crime of the person is proven. Also, the legal sentences as a form of punishment should be imposed because the person has committed a crime (Wright, 2010). Therefore, it can be concluded from the above statements that retribution is based on the facts like whether the crime is actually committed, whether the crime is proven in the courts with sufficient evidences of the crime and makes sure that the legal sentences and punishments given to the convicted is in direct proportion to the extent of his/her offense. Retribution is an age old type of objective of legal sentences which was also seen in the bible. Retribution is mentioned in the bible where it is written that when a murder is committed then the justified punishment for this crime would be death penalty. The main objective underlying retribution is that the punishments given to a convict should match the degree of offense committed by the convict and should also represent the disapproval of the society with regard to the committed offense. However, there is a drawback of retribution as an objective to be achieved through legal sentences. This drawback is that many external factors can interfere with the sentence of retribution (Martin, 2010). For example, if the sentence given to a convict is to pay a fine and the person cannot afford to pay the fine due to financial problems, then the legal sentences could be stretched further and the convict can end up serving any other kind of legal sentence which may include more severe legal sentences like imprisonment sentences. The selection of punishments given to a convict may also be affected by whether the convicted person comes from a higher social strata or from a stable background in which case, the convicted person is likely to receive a non-custodial legal sentence as compared to a person who does not belong to a higher social strata or who does not come from a stable background.  Denunciation includes the main objective of demonstrating the disapproval of the society for any kind of criminal activity. Legal sentences are in general aimed at conveying a message for both the convicts and the public residents in the state. This message represents that the society and law prevailing in the state disapproves of any type of unlawful behaviour and criminal actions and that proper steps would be taken by the state with the aim of doing justice and being fair to all the people of the state. Denunciation can be described as the way in which the society tries to express its disapproval of wrong doing under its jurisdiction. Also, it is based on the principle that the legal sentences and punishments given to the convict for any kind of proven criminal offense should appropriately represent the overall revulsion felt and expressed by the majority of the residents of the state under consideration. Incapacitation is commonly known as the protection of the residents or public residing in an area or a state. The main idea behind incapacitation is to provide punishment so that this punishment serves a more useful purpose. The main purpose is to serve the society as a whole or to help the offender or convict in some possible manner. Incapacitation means that the punishment should be ordered and executed in such a way that the convict would be rendered incapable of committing the crime or offense again in the future. Incapacitation is often considered to be the best option when legal sentences are to be decided for the offenders or convicts who are highly dangerous and in cases in which the probability of repeated offense is high. However, incapacitation is an expensive method of dealing with the prevention of criminal offenses. Also, it is commonly known that prisons are the places in which criminals often pick up new techniques and ideas. Therefore, imprisonment as a legal sentence aimed at incapacitation is often counter-productive in the real life scenarios (Kuziemko, 2007). The ultimate form of incapacitation is the ordering of death penalty as a legal sentence. This ensures that all the ways of repeated crime are nullified. In some jurisdictions, the hands of the convicts guilty of theft are cut off in order to make them incapacitated to commit the crime again. However, different states and jurisdiction have varied laws and rules related to the provision of sentences in order to punish various degrees of offenses. Deterrence is generally concerned with the prevention of crimes that can be committed in the future. This is based on the idea that the general awareness regarding the prospect of any kind of stringent and unpleasant legal sentence as a punishment would influence people to demonstrate a restricted behaviour in relation to committing that particular type of criminal offense. Deterrence can be divided into two main types which are general deterrence and individual deterrence (Hough, 2001). The primary objective of general deterrence is different from that of individual deterrence. The main intention of individual deterrence is to ensure that the convict or offender does not repeat his offense because of the fear of any kind of future punishment. In contrast, general deterrence is aimed at the prevention of other potential and possible offenders from committing crimes in the future. Nevertheless, there is some level of similarity between both individual deterrence and general deterrence. The most common similarity between the two types of deterrence is that the primary aims of these are to reduce the future levels of criminal offences in any state, region and country. There are certain drawbacks associated with the use of punishment and legal sentences to achieve deterrence. One of the main drawbacks is that the effectiveness of deterrence is directly dependent on the chances of detection and establishment of the criminal offences. Therefore, deterrence would not be sufficient to stop some kinds of crimes and offenses from being committed if the probability of getting caught is less. A way of making deterrence work is to make the convict to stop and think about the consequences of their offenses. However, according to most of the legal practitioners and scholars, this is highly unlikely because 90% of the criminal offenses are committed based on an impulsive behaviour in which the offenders often live within the moments of opportunities. Therefore, it is highly unrealistic to expect and believe that the criminals would think and procrastinate about their criminal activities that have been committed earlier and that may be committed in the future. Rehabilitation is based in trying to reform the criminals and convicts and rehabilitate him/her so that he/she is able to regain a respectable and acceptable position in the society. This is also another way of ensuring that the offender becomes less prone to commit any kind of offense on the future. This is achieved either by making them learn to identify the harmful impacts of their criminal activities on the society or by making them learn to live in a socially acceptable manner through appropriate training, education and other ways of assistance and help extended to them. Rehabilitation is considered to be a useful objective legal sentence because this aims to reform and build the future of the individual offenders and the society as a whole civilized unit. Rehabilitation is based on the hope that the behaviour and approach of the offender towards crimes and society will be altered by the penalties that are imposed on him/her so that they will not repeat committing the same crime or similar crimes in the future. Some scholars and legal practitioners are opposed to the idea of rehabilitation as a form of legal sentence that would achieve the restoration of the social behaviour of the criminal offenders. They are of the view that rehabilitation is not a sensible aim of legal sentences and believe that rehabilitation is a fundamentally lacking and flawed form of rehabilitation which is not likely to attain the main aim of rebuilding the human and social aspects within the personality of a convict. They are also of the belief that all the crimes are committed as a result of some kind of fault or deficiency within the offender which cannot be corrected or developed through assistance and help. They also argue that rehabilitation as types of legal sentences and legal objectives are often discriminative against the advantaged and the less advantaged people in a society. Often the people who are less advantaged are identified to be in need of reform while the crimes committed by the offender from a stable and well off background is seen as a mishap or a temporary aggressive behaviour driven by some kind of external situations. However, the supporters of rehabilitation are of the view that crime is the result of the ways and procedures of organization of the society and the common societal norms which lead to divisions in the society and agitation within human beings which leads to some people committing criminal offenses. According to the supporters of rehabilitation, extending some sort of help and assistance to the convict is likely to restore their faith in the society and also support them in conducting a living in the society as a respectable part of the society. Reparation is aimed at providing adequate compensation to the victim of any criminal offences by the offender. Reparation is usually done by ordering a legal sentence that obligates the offender to compensate the victim with a specified amount of money that would be sufficient to repair the damages and bring the condition of the person or any of his damaged property to the same condition as was existent before the crime had been committed (Stuntz, 2004). This is also done through restitutions like ordering the offender to return the stolen property or goods to the victim in case of a theft or to rebuild a property that has been damaged intentionally by the offender and is proven such in the court of law. Some reparation projects also include bringing together the victim and the offender to enter into direct reparation which is based in an agreement on the part of the victim and is guided suitably by the prevailing laws in the state. Restitution is achieved in the form of community punishments like probation, rehabilitation, restoration and prohibition. The main idea underlying restitution is to make reparation to the whole society as a unit of the civilized world. These community punishment orders are given to the offenders when it is identified by the judges that the convicted people are required to dedicate a pre-specified amount of time in any kind of community projects while being under continuous supervision. This is often aimed at rectifying the societal behaviour of the offenders and making them aware of the need of conducting a living in a respectable and acceptable manner as per the guidelines and norms of the society in which they belong (Ministry of Justice, 2010d). In context of modern republics, the role of prison is regarded as correction. The scenario in which individuals perform any such actions that break laws set for the common benefit or when there is no such conventional wisdom left it becomes important to punish them or teach them ways to become generous and socially cooperative. However the major lesson that is taught by a prison is obedience. Prison is often related to constant threat to all those individuals who are against those activities performed by corporations and governments with collective resources. Prison service majorly serves the public by holding those individuals in custody who has committed any form of criminal act. The main objective of the prison service is to look after these individuals with total humanity and help them to live useful and law abiding lives in custody as well as after their release. UK government though is complicated has distinguished framework for such legal services, like, in England and Wales there is similar structure of prison services but the conditions are not identical in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Wales do possess an elected assembly comprising of devolved responsibilities and power but does not possess its own framework of prison service (McGuire, 2004). There are several strategies designed in prison service but OBP or Offending Behaviour Programs can be stated as the most important strategy. This program encompasses various techniques such as to reducing re-offending risk, designing activities for prisoners such as treatment for drug addicts and education on basic skills. There are certain group of experts present who designs the entire program in such a manner that reconviction can be successfully avoided. CSAP or Correctional Services Accreditation Panel is the one that is in-charge of framing such activities for prisoners. The prison service has a specific role to play in lives of prisoners as it gives them a chance to rectify their mistakes and develop the necessary skills which would prevent them from committing such offences. Prison service offers various educational programs in order to make prisoners capable enough for solving wide set of problems, performing moral reasoning and taking social perspective. This initiative has been able to create such a massive impact that in 108 establishments around 8720 prisoners were able to complete the program, amongst which 1191 had attended sex offending programs. It is not always beneficial to punish the accused by taking one into custody or issuing legal sentences but in certain cases it becomes essential to eradicate crime from the grass root level. This is only possible through providing the basic education to prisoners so that when they are released they are able to distinguish between rights and wrong (Vanstone, 2004). However, it cannot be stated that such services is a medium of relaxation for prisoners as they are under continuous surveillance so as to ensure that training which is been provided is turning to be productive or not. In prison service, there exists a community which examines the level of impact created by such programs on prisoners. Probation service for Wales and England is a statutory body for criminal justice service and its major role is to supervise offenders in community and provide required reports to criminal courts which could assist them in sentencing duties. This form of service was established in the year 1907 and it interacts closely with the central government. NOMS or National Offender Management Service is the agency which is responsible for providing required probation service. There are about 42 probation areas which are covered effectively by such bodies with the support of police force and there are a total of 35 Probation Trusts. The entire operations of these trusts are highly scrutinized by NOMS. Major role of probation service is to conduct assessment and provide advice to courts. This service provides reliable, accurate, impartial, professional and skilled advice to the courts in order to make effective decisions. The information needed is either communicated verbally or in writing and provides alternatives wherever it is possible. Its other role is of offender management whereby such services are responsible for linking various elements in order to provide best facilities in terms of robust management of behaviour and contact, well targeted interventions and high quality assessment. These services can be treated as having two fold purposes such as supervising offenders on different community sentences and even on custodial sentences while prisoners are in custody or even after their release. The third major role of probation service is to supervise license and community orders. Staffs responsible for such form of probation service coordinates sentence, monitors the overall progress, reports and monitors breaches and ensures compliance. Various interventions are designed so as to arrive at a conclusion through which such offenses can be prevented and proper sentences can be filed. In such services there is a need for strong relationship between the offenders and offender manager (Hudson, 2003). This relation helps to analyse the areas which need to be treated well so that offenses can be eliminated. An offender can understand the impact of such programs when offender manager is able to communicate well. However there is an extent to which such probation officers can get close with offenders in order to analyse their problems as there are others works entitled to these officers. Risk management is also another function which is performed by such probation officers. There are certain factors related to offending stated criminogenic needs which deal with the risk of getting reconvicted or to cause any form of harm to public. The needs and risks of offenders related to these factors need to be assessed well so that end result of such probation services is effective for long term. Certain advices are framed by probation officers in context of helping practitioners so as to manage offenders and even handle any form of needs related to offending. There are two roles played by such probation officers, in one of their roles they work in collaboration with victims and in the other role they work together with specific groups of offenders. The prison should be used to that extent so that it can reduce the harm caused on the society and even eliminate the reason which results into such actions. Effectiveness of such prison services cannot be measured as there are crimes committed by those individuals who have passed through system of criminal justice. It is often an issue that such services do not prove to be effective for long term as criminals are accustomed towards such behaviour which cannot be altered by designing educational programs. The factor of reoffending has been considerably high though lump sum amount is spent by government on such activities. In the last decade millions were spent by UK government towards such offender management programs but the end result was not satisfactory as there was only marginal difference observed in terms of reoffending. In the rates of reconvictions there has been little change witnessed and those prisoners who are released from custody within 12 months go on to reoffending. Prison services has been able to provide sufficient knowledge to prisoners regarding various fields so that they are not deviated towards crime after release but such an objective is considered to be difficult by prison service officers. They state that though their assessment on criminals within custody is positive but after release the conducted evaluation fails to gain importance. This in turn continuously increase the impact caused on the society. There is a need to design such a program or rather a criminal justice system which will punish those individuals who have broken the set laws and also provide required support so that such crime is not committed by them in nearby future. However certain positive impacts has been created by such prison services in rehabilitation of offenders such as establishing punishment system based on community, providing training on productive work to all the prisoners while they are in custody, implementing techniques on drug counselling, supporting prisoners so that they are able to settle down in their communities and incorporating restorative justice into the system. Prison service works in coordination with Offender Rehabilitation Act which states that supervision should be kept on prisoners not only within boundaries of the custody but also after they are released from custody so as to ensure that the objectives of such services is being accomplished. On the other hand it even provides a medium through which officers are aware of the tasks being undertaken by prisoners which can create a significant impact on the society. It can be stated that such services has initiated a hope amongst offenders for a better life. In earlier days prison was considered to be an end for majority of the offenders but government has been able to design a system where punishment will be given along with proper training to prisoners so that they are not reconvicted (Robinson, 2008). In some regions such as Northern Ireland and England these prison services has been effective as the rate of reconviction is considerably decreasing in the last few years. However in places such as Wales there is no such impact caused on rehabilitation of offenders by prison services which in turn has consistently increased the rate of reoffending. Probation services can be considered to be another force that is driving legal justice system. These services have two-fold purpose as it aims at working along with victims and also with offenders so that better results can be determined. Rehabilitation of offenders indicates the status and treatment which should be done against the offenders. The word treatment was often misinterpreted by many as for some it meant legal sentences against those who are found guilty and some argued it to be a procedure through which criminal behaviour can be eradicated from mind set of accused. Probation services has provided a new meaning to such treatment where justice would be given to victims by punishing the offenders and simultaneously offenders would be involved in some work so that they are able to lead a decent live after release. This service to some extent has proved to be effective as probation service officials in all respect consider themselves to be moral agents. The effectiveness of such service is observed across prisons in England as there are small groups of offenders who work in collaboration with other agencies for some productive work. Majority of the drug consulting groups which operate across this region comprise of offenders who were involved in various form of drug related cases. These offenders mainly are those individuals who were arrested for being involved in any kind of drug scandal. The probation services has been able to provide such effective guidelines that many drug accused in the present scenario are actively involved in reducing this crime from the society. It can be stated that proper analysis and problem identification behavioural aspect of these services has created a massive impact on the society. These services are not only centred towards criminals but also take into consideration potential victims (Mair, 2004). There are proper training programs designed for these victims in terms of improving their communication skills, self-control, self-management, and ability or skills to solve or defend a problem. This in turn has given the power to potential victims to prevent any form of harm being caused by offenders. However sexual offending cases have reached its peak even though such services are being highly incorporated in the society. There are appropriate measures adopted by government to reduce the rate of crime in this particular field but offenders usually switch back to this path after their release. It is a highly alarming situation and in the present scenario these cases are at par with drug scandals. In certain areas such services has proved to be highly effective but there are various other areas where such group work has not proved to be effective. The ineffectiveness of probation services in certain areas is due to lack of continuous supervision since the main focus is on framing strategies to indulge offenders into productive work. This often results into improper assessment which has a direct impact on legal sentencing as probation service officers usually put across their advice for final sentence. Conclusion Legal sentencing guidelines are devised in different countries and states in order to help and guide the judges and magistrates of the courts to decide on the suitable legal sentences that should be ordered to a person convicted for any type of criminal offense. The legal sentences are given to the defendants or the convict by the judges and magistrates. The judges and magistrates aim to give legal sentences to the convicted individuals that would ultimately help in reducing the rate of criminal offences in the region. When it comes to the ordering of legal sentences by the magistrates and judges, they have to consider the available legal sentences which are permissible within the state and they also have to decide what results they are trying to achieve through the punishments they are ordering for the convicted persons through the legal sentences. Also, the individuals involved within the criminal justice system are known to have complex needs for rectifying their actions and preventing future crimes. Therefore, the legal sentences should be ordered after a careful evaluation of the effectiveness of the different types of legal sentences available in a state because different types of legal sentences gave their own added benefits and drawbacks and each is more effective than the other based on the situation and degree of the offense. References Hough, M., 2001. People talking about punishment. The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 35(1). pp.89-101. Hudson, B., 2003. Understanding Justice, 2nd edition. Buckingham: Open University Press. Kuziemko, I., 2007. Going Off Parole: How the Elimination of Discretionary Prison Release Affects the Social Cost of Crime. National Bureau of Economic Research. Working paper, 13(1). pp.1-15. Mair, G., 2004. What Matters in Probation. Cullompton: Willan. Martin, J., 2005. The English Legal System, 4th ed. London: Hodder Arnold. McGuire, J., 2004. Understanding Psychology and Crime. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Ministry of Justice. (2010d). Breaking the Cycle: Effective Punishment, Rehabilitation and Sentencing of Offenders. London: The Stationery Office. Robinson, G., 2008. Late-modern rehabilitation: the evolution of a penal strategy. Punishment and Society, 10 (4), pp.429-45. Stuntz, W. J., 2004. Plea Bargaining and Criminal Laws Disappearing Shadow. Harvard Law Review, 117 (8). pp.2548-69. Vanstone, M., 2004. Supervising Offenders in the Community: A History of Probation Theory and Practice. Aldershot: Ashgate. Wright, V., 2010. Deterrence in Criminal Justice: Evaluating Certainty vs. Severity of Punishment. The Sentencing Project, 12(1). pp.1-9. Read More