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Item B
Punishment of offenders is seen by some sociologists as vital to maintaining social solidarity,
by showing people the consequences of breaking the norms of society. Other sociologists see
punishment as one way in which those in power are able to exert their authority.
The forms of punishment will vary between different societies and may change over time. An
example of a change is the move in some societies from public execution to life imprisonment
for the punishment of murderers.
The punishment of offenders may also vary depending on the desired outcome of the
punishment. Punishments may act as a deterrent or as a form of rehabilitation.
1) Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate sociological explanations
of the functions and forms of the punishment of offenders (30 marks).
Introduction
Criminal justice system is responsible for implementing punishment of criminals. Most
commonly falls under retributive justice: punishing offenders for wrongdoing.
Functionalists see this as reinforcing and “maintaining social solidarity”, whilst Marxists see
punishment as reinforcing the power of the bourgeoisie.
AO1: FUNCTIONALISM: Punishment is necessary to maintain “social solidarity”. Punishment
reinforces the collective conscience and social order (Durkheim).
AO3: No value consensus: society is so diverse there isn’t one set of shared values
(Postmodernism).
INTERACTIONISM: Punishment actually causes more crime and therefore reduces social
solidarity. Prisons act as universities of crime, leading to deviant careers (Becker) and
secondary deviance (Lemert).
AO1: MARXISM: the law is ideologically constructed and reflects ruling class values (Box).
Middle and upper class crime is ignored: selective law enforcement. The CJS keep the
population/proletariat in line, reinforce ruling class ideology and protect the bourgeoisie’s
property (Althusser).
AO3: LEFT REALISM: working class are more likely to be punished because they commit the
most crime due to relative deprivation and marginalisation (Lea and Young; Young), not
because of selective law enforcement or ideological construction of the law. Punishment
shouldn’t therefore focus on retributive justice, should instead focus on rehabilitative justice
and tackling the causes of crime.
AO1: WEBERIAN THEORY: rationalisation of punishment, based on legal rational authority.
Impersonal bureaucracies impose the law now, not monarchs. Laws are decided on by elected
governments and therefore are fair.
AO3: Not all implementation of the law is fair. Some individuals are targeted more by the CJS
based on stereotypes of what a criminal looks like. INTERACTIONISM: labelling and selective
law enforcement (Becker; Cicourel).
RIGHT REALISM: law reflects shared values. Criminals don’t uphold these values (Murray)
AO1: Forms of punishment have changed over time. Changed from brutal, physical
punishment implemented under sovereign power, to modern punishment, e.g. imprisonment.
This has been helped by surveillance and the age of panopticism which encourages self
surveillance (Foucault).
AO3: MARXISM: forms of punishment have changed due to the changing needs of the
bourgeoisie, not declining power of the monarchy. As the labour force has declined, the
bourgeoisie implemented modern punishment in order to not reduce the workforce further
and therefore not affect capitalism (Rusche and Kirchheimer).
Conclusion