The third part of this book takes up the story of the criminal justice system where it was left at the end of the first part, by turning to the consequences of court decisions, both for the offender and for society. This chapter reviews punishments, handed down and regulated by the courts. All involve some element of deprivation, whether of life, liberty, or possessions, although sometimes there is an additional intention to rehabilitate the offender. Responses to offenders which wholly, or largely, involve some form of therapy or training (most often for juveniles but sometimes for adults) are discussed in the next chapter.

The topics covered in this chapter are: the main methods of punishment, their history and efficacy, both corrective and deterrent, and some current alternatives; special issues concerning the punishment system (the death penalty, incapacitation and prison populations); the social and psychological effects of prison life; and the reliability and validity of prediction techniques applied to future offenders and to dangerousness.

Methods of punishment

Most current methods have a long history; even reparation, one of the fastest growing alternatives, can be traced back to the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, set out in 2270 BC (Binder 1987).