Recidivism and what a punishment is meant to do

1. Recidivism means reoffending, so a person who is punished for one offence and later commits another has reoffended.
2. It is measured as the proportion of people convicted of a further offence within a set period after a sentence.

Prison

1. A custodial sentence removes a person's liberty for a fixed period and holds them in a secure institution away from the community.
   1. It is meant to work as a deterrent by adding an unpleasant consequence to offending, and to protect the public while the sentence lasts.
2. Strengths
   1. A strength is that the public is protected for the length of the sentence, because the person cannot offend in the community during it.
   2. A second strength is that prisons can provide education, work training and treatment for addiction, which address some of the reasons the offending happened.
3. Weaknesses
   1. A weakness is that a large share of people are reconvicted after release, so the deterrent plainly fails for many of them.
   2. A second weakness is that prison places someone among others who have offended, which supplies criminal models and can teach new offending through social learning.

Community sentencing

1. A community sentence is served in the community under supervision and can include unpaid work, a curfew, a treatment requirement or an exclusion from certain places.
   1. The person keeps their liberty but has conditions imposed, and they can be returned to court if they breach them.
2. Strengths
   1. A strength is that the person keeps the job, housing and family ties that make not reoffending easier.
   2. A second strength is that requirements can be matched to the cause of the offending, such as a treatment requirement where an addiction is driving it.
3. Weaknesses
   1. A weakness is that it is unsuitable for serious or violent offences, because it does not protect the public in the way custody does.
   2. A second weakness is that it can be seen as lenient, which risks weakening public confidence and any deterrent effect.

Restorative justice

1. Restorative justice brings the person who offended and the person harmed together in a supervised meeting run by a trained facilitator, and only where both sides agree to take part.
   1. The person harmed explains the effect the offence had, and the person who offended answers for it and agrees how to make amends.
2. Strengths
   1. A strength is that hearing the harm directly can build empathy, which makes reoffending feel unacceptable rather than merely risky.
   2. A second strength is that the person harmed gets answers and a say in the outcome, which a court process rarely offers them.
3. Weaknesses
   1. A weakness is that it cannot run unless the person harmed is willing, so it is simply unavailable in many cases.
   2. A second weakness is that a meeting can distress the person harmed if it is handled badly or if the apology is insincere.

Weighing the three against each other

1. Prison is the strongest of the three on immediate public protection and the weakest at addressing why the offending happened.
2. Community sentencing keeps in place the work, housing and relationships that make reoffending less likely, but it offers little protection where the risk is serious.
3. Restorative justice works on the person's attitude rather than their circumstances, so it does most where a lack of empathy is the problem.

Turning this into marks

1. Name the disposal and quote the detail in the scenario that shows it, because that link carries its own mark.
2. Give every point a reason, so say why the disposal raises or lowers reoffending rather than only naming it.
3. The mark most often lost is the judgement, so say which disposal does more about reoffending and why.