Severity of Sanctions and Deterring Criminal Behaviour - Assignment Example

In addition, the prison officers were also having problems addressing behaviour of offenders who have the least criminal cases (Mair, 1990).... Key program features include the monitoring of behaviour, thus, the participants were required to report and call daily at the center and observed by the staff.... Day treatment centers were formalized with the passing f the criminal Justice Act of 1982 so that there were already about 80 that existed by mid 1980s in England and Wales (Mair, 1990)....

This is because it prevents the offenders from engaging in criminal acts through incapacitation as they are locked.... The locking incapacitates them as they are denied the freedom to move out and engage in criminal activities.... Incarceration of offenders also prevents inmates from coordinating criminal activities with others who have not put in prison.... Research shows that one means that criminals use to organize their criminal activities is through communication....

This leads us to the debate of the severity of sentencing and its effects on deterring criminal behaviour.... As public sentiment grows more fearful and resentful, the severity of punishment rises proportionally.... Retribution focuses on the criminal's behaviour and stresses the need to punish him in proportion to the extent of damages caused or loss suffered.... Behind every criminal justice system, regardless of the cultural or political status of the state, there has been the evolving controversy between retribution and the utilitarian models of punishment....

Therefore with the use of rational theory, criminologists often assume that those who commit criminal acts had the option of rationalizing their decision against those of the basic social norms.... Therefore, because these types of offender's are generally rational in their though processes and in their actions to engage in criminal activity, law enforcement would have to use a varied deterrence technique to try and sway and deter this types of offenders from repeating their criminal intentions and also to prosecute them correctly through the judicial system (Uggen & Piliavin 1998)....

Why individuals opt to commit crime and how effective such criminal offenses should be handled in order to make sure they are… With a view to respond to this prying question, there are many scholars who have sprung up at individual level, as well as in combination, in an effort seek what should be considered the best solution that can ultimately reduce Though there are theories that can be described as being best suited to explain crime, the question is whether it can be argued that there is the best punishment that can help reduce criminal acts in the world....

Using examples that compare police officers to old-world night watchmen illustrates that the role of policing has transformed throughout the centuries from deterring criminal behaviour to actually being forced to fight crime.... It is the alleged breakdown of community relationships and, in some instances, failed urban development that actually serves to invite criminal behaviour and vagrancy.... This is the main problem with why criminal behaviour has increased in the 21st Century: for fear of personal safety, community residents are becoming rather desensitized to problems in the city such as vagrancy, drunkenness and gang congregations (to name only a few)....

Before deciding to commit a crime, the criminal weighs out the possible results of his action including the risk of arrest, the severity of the punishment if apprehended and also the reward in monetary terms, as well as esteem with their peers or individual enjoyment (Siegel 105).... This paper evaluates rational choice, routine, and behavior theories in relation to crime and describes routine and behavior theories which are used to explain criminal behaviors and reasons for committing a crime… The author concludes that routine theory observes criminal intentions, suitable target and absence of a capable guardian as acting towards promoting crime....

All the theories why people commit crimes have one assumption in common, and that is a crime is people choose to engage in criminal activities.... The physical, environmental and social conditions drive people into criminal behaviors, and therefore correctional measures on how to deal with these conditions should be taught rather than therapy which aims at altering behaviors without giving solutions to the immediate problems (Howe 64)....