1 / 19

RETHINKING CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

RETHINKING CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. What Works? Murray Short 2012. What I will cover. Tough or soft on crime? Current trends in crime and sentencing The purpose of sentences Effectiveness of sentences; belief and reality Addressing the causes Inequality, crime and imprisonment.

cais
Download Presentation

RETHINKING CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. RETHINKING CRIME AND PUNISHMENT What Works? Murray Short 2012

  2. What I will cover • Tough or soft on crime? • Current trends in crime and sentencing • The purpose of sentences • Effectiveness of sentences; belief and reality • Addressing the causes • Inequality, crime and imprisonment

  3. Tough or soft on crime • An unhelpful characterisation • Need to be effective on crime • Need for evidenced based policy and practice • Reduced crime reduces victimisation – this must surely be everyone’s goal

  4. Current Trends • Number of people convicted over the past 20 years • Offences • Sentences • Imprisonment • Reconviction and re-imprisonment over a 5-year period

  5. Number of People Convicted 1990 to 2010 Source: Statistics NZ, Criminal Conviction and Sentencing Statistics, 2010

  6. People Convicted by Offence Category Source: Statistics NZ, Criminal Conviction and Sentencing Statistics, 2010

  7. People Convicted: Most Serious Sentence Source: Statistics NZ, Criminal Conviction and Sentencing Statistics, 2010

  8. Convicted Offenders: Prison Sentences Source: Statistics NZ, Criminal Conviction and Sentencing Statistics, 2010

  9. Released Prisoners: Reconviction and Re-imprisonment Rates by Age Department of Corrections, Reconviction patterns of released prisoners: A 60-months follow up analysis, 2009

  10. Re-imprisonment Rate by Time to First Proved Re-offence Department of Corrections, Reconviction patterns of released prisoners: A 60-months follow up analysis, 2009

  11. Reconviction rate by time to first proved re-offence : All community sentences Department of Corrections, Reconviction patterns of offenders managed in the community: A 60-months follow up analysis, 2009

  12. The Purpose of sentences • Punishment • Retribution • Denunciation • Deterrence – individual and general • Rehabilitation • Restoration • Containment • Prevention of re-offending

  13. Effectiveness of sentences: belief and reality • Punishment, retribution, denunciation- yes • Containment – yes and essential for protection of community • Rehabilitation, restoration – limited • Preventing re-offending – very limited • Belief - just like bringing up children • Reality – the children that won’t be brought up! • Sentences, like punishment lose their sting • We need other approaches as well – “prevention is better than cure”

  14. Addressing the causes • Nigel Latta is convinced • “It (the Dunedin study) clearly shows at age three you can identify the children most likely to be in jail by age 26 on the basis of a 30-minute behavioural test. And we know without any doubt that early intervention is how you have an impact on those families.”New Zealand Listener, February 18-24 2012, p 20

  15. Inequality, crime and imprisonment • Emerging evidence of links between income inequality and crime, including many of the “drivers” • “The impact of inequality on violence is even better established and accepted than the other effects of inequality that we discuss in this book...” • Wilkinson, Richard and Kate Pickett; The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone. Penguin Group, Great Britain, 2009.

  16. How much richer are the richest 20% than the poorest 20%? Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level, 2009

  17. Health and Social Problems are Worse in More Unequal Countries • Index of: • Life expectancy • Math & Literacy • Infant mortality • Homicides • Imprisonment • Teenage births • Trust • Obesity • Mental illness –incl. drug & alcohol addiction • Social mobility Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level 2009

  18. Child Well-being is Better in More Equal Rich Countries Source: Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level, 2009

  19. Conclusion A more balanced approach to crime and punishment that invests more resource in addressing the causes. For more information: http://www.rethinking.org.nz/

More Related