Penal Policy Makers in Ireland - Essay Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : xxxxxxxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Penal policy making in Ireland Penal policies show discrepancies widely between various nations and have followed no steady pattern in the past 30 years. It is normal, although not, without a number of limitations, using imprisonment per population to measure the sternness of various policies within a jurisdiction as well as transformations over given period of time. In Ireland, politicians, reformist academics, human rights activists and political liberals are involved in the penal policy making process. It is therefore common for these groups to grumble about harsher public opinions regarding crimes and offenders, populist posturing of politicians along with the more oppressive penal policies. Factors Influencing the Decisions of Penal Policy Makers in Ireland Political Imperatives The political aspect has played a significant influence on Ireland’s penal policies with the political dimensions raising a lot of questions concerning power and how much the Ireland government has to do in order to implement the penal policies. O’Mahony (2000) argues that the political aspects have been pervasive across the many problems involved in the penal policy making process. O’Mahony (2000) argues further that a series of government’s justice ministers as well as parliaments in Ireland have had control over the discreditable mess of Ireland’s penal system’s. Weaker governments for instance have had to rely on the opposition side or get support from various powerful interest groups so that certain penal policies gain acceptance. Currently, though, there has been great measure of consensus between Ireland’s political parties on various policies as regards law and order, and it is therefore not likely that any party would approve a soft policy due to the fact that the publics’ perception would be hostile to it. This experience highlights major difficulties facing the Ireland government especially when politicians want to pursue policies in addition to practices thought by the general public as reasonable conflicts with the economic imperative. As a result, political convenience may result into a decision that does not deserve implementing even if money is saved. An example of this a strong Ireland government’s commitment in prison expansion programmes which are expensive but the intentions behind it being to prove to the public that were serious about their crime concerns. O’Mahony (2000) argues that the final responsibility pertaining to lack of vision for the penal system, lack of corresponding actions, for the awfully poor conditions, as well as the inadequacy of the penal system management lies with the politicians. Public Opinions Public opinion acts as a significant variable as it plays a role in shaping responses on crime as well as disorder. Public opinion has had a major influence on Ireland’s penal policies and mostly on the degree of punishment since 1990s.This has more often than not been expressed through their electoral choices, opinion polls, focus groups, or at times expressed by direct demands on sentencers. Judges for instance have always been receiving letters from discontented members with various complaints regarding sentences (Hood et.al.,2003). For instance, according to O’Mahony (2000) the present social policy in Ireland on the use of imprisonment has had a number of issues with the general public. Majority of the complaints from the public claim the sentences are short and that there is unrelenting imprisonment for absolutely out of place groupings of offenders such as drunks, fine defaulters, homeless persons and other minor delinquents. Magistrates who carry out the greater part of sentencing perceive themselves as providing public justice, as public representatives and feel that they should react to the public opinions. A number of members from the public however whine claiming that judges and even magistrates do not comply with what the public wants. Public opinion can therefore be schemed to gain support for various policies, and thereafter public opinion and moral fears on given crimes fuelled by the media. Related to political imperatives, public opinion is of great significance as it determines the effectiveness of a criminal justice system which has to portray high level of legitimacy in the general publics’ eye. According to the Ireland Penal Report Trust (2009), public opinion and media reporting on crime issues actually develops out of the political discussions than the politicians from the public opinion and media. Expectations on prisons’ role and including what it is able to do to the society are brought out to unrealistic levels. Public opinion along with media debates on detentions are more often than not motivated by reactions to violent crimes, highly publicized events and cases where there is public expectation for the government to be hard on crime. At times agreeing with the public opinion might seem risky to the government especially when its is difficult gauging the public opinion. An example of this could be during periods of concern from the public over security and the government is under pressure to deal determinedly with the particular concern. The government may misjudge the publics’ mood therefore forced to amend their policies. This generates conflict for experts towards new policies as well as new penology. In general, public opinion plays a significant role in influencing the penal policies of Ireland. Criminology and Penology Principles These principles provide justification for punishment and take in retribution, social protection, social harmony restoration and deterrence.Collectively; they are made up of knowledge concerning what in theory, is the best reaction towards dealing with various offenders. And because various theorists coming from various opposing traditions agree that punishment is obligatory, but do not agree on what is the best reaction, punishment may therefore depend on which theory, and which purpose of the punishment is inherent or clear in policy. It may also depend on the philosophical ideas supporting the preferred punishment, for instance whether individuals are perceived as either independent or having free will, or whether their reactions are shaped by their surrounding environment (Scribd, 2003). Retributivism, for example punishes in accordance with just deserts that presume free choices by rational individuals who decide on how to act, whereas the utilitarian approach is assumed to employ rewards as well as punishments to guide behaviour in order to attain desirable ends. Through this, it is able to amend the social perspective in order to change the behaviours of an individual, employing treatments to change the offender. In general, criminology and penology principles have a significant influence on the decisions on penal policy makers (Bacik, 2005). Policy Trends in the late 20th Century Policy developments in the last 20 years have had a great influence on the decisions made by the penal policy makers. Policy trends in the late 20th as well as the 21st centuries had key influences to the penal policy makers in Ireland. This is towards the development of penal policy. This has seen the materialization of law and order as a major political issue along with rising punitiveness on the governments and the general publics’ part. These shifts have been reflected in the commitment to expand prisons as well as harsher community punishments. Also observed from before is the development of the bifurcatory policy in the difference between petty and serious determined offenders, with the major concentration on community punishment along with restorative justice for the former, as well as growing use of detention for the latter. The current government of Ireland is clearly committed to making significant reforms within Ireland’s criminal justice system thereby removing discrepancies in sentencing in addition to targeting persistent criminal and to enhance cooperation among various agencies. This can be observed considering various shifts within Ireland’s penal policies after the Second World War where a number of significant trends, a significant one being the shifting fortune in the rehabilitative ideal having hopefulness that the offenders can be reformed. Human Rights Issues With the integration of the European Convention on the rights of human in 1998, the human rights concerns have taken on an increasing impact on Ireland’s penal policy. This saw the development of important policy documents with a focus on punishment as well as sentencing which provided proofs of the ongoing significance of the various factors delineated during the European convention of the 1998. According to the Ireland Penal Report Trust (2009), human rights laws have now been able to enforce legal commitments to Ireland regarding the prison standards and the basic standards of care to every prisoner. Going by the safe custody principles, attaining the expected standards must be employed in the various policies as the basis for any form of planning of prison needs. Going by the human rights standard, planning for future Irish prisons will have to take in prisoners’ needs and meeting them in areas for instance: suitable healthcare; education; caring for their physical conditions. A more serious issue according to the Ireland Penal Report Trust (2009) is the overcrowding which continues to be a major characteristic of the Ireland prison. The human rights issues therefore play a crucial impact as they also have a great influence on Ireland’s penal policy making process. Legislative changes Major legislative changes also play significant roles influencing the decisions of penal policy makers in Ireland. Specifically in growing committals, new offences can be formed, or the lawful basis for imprisonment expanded, with reflective bearing on committal rates. For instance, Ireland has witnessed the creation of various new offences, continuous use of imprisonment with regards to remand as well as the immigration law. Simultaneously, a number of changes have occurred with respect to criminal procedures in addition to the outstanding process rights, mostly through the Criminal Justice Acts 2006 and 2007.All these were set up without any early assessment of their legislation impact on the prison population size (Scribd, 2003). References Bacik, I, 2005, Crime and Punishment - Retribution or Rehabilitation, Retrieved on October from http://www.barcouncil.ie/viewdoc.asp?Userlang=EN&DocID=144&StartDate=01+January+2001 Hood, R, Zedner, C and Ashworth, A, 2003, The Criminological Foundations of Penal Policy: Clarendon Studies in Criminology, Oxford University Press. Irish Penal Reform Trust, 2009, Planning the Future of Irish Prisons, Retrieved on October from http://www.iprt.ie/files/IPRT_Position_Paper_6_-_Planning_the_Future_of_Irish_Prisons.pdf O’Mahony, P, 2000, Prison Policy in Ireland: Criminal Justice versus Social Justice, Volume 14 of Undercurrents (Cork, Ireland), Undercurrents Series, Cork University Press. Scribd, 2003, New Penology and New Policies in Ireland, Retrieved on October from http://www.scribd.com/doc/37087410/New-Penology Read More