Exam 11: The Ethics of Punishment and Corrections

The current trend regarding capital punishment is toward increasing support of the death penalty.

A sexual predator is nearing completion of his sentence. He has indicated that he is consumed by compulsions that he is not able to resist. Correctional officials are convinced that he will re-offend upon being released. They decide to seek an order committing the offender to a secure treatment facility at the completion of his sentence. The legal basis for civil commitment can be found in the Supreme Court decision of

The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution protects citizens against cruel and unusual punishment.

Which of the following is not a method of prevention?

Both the American Correctional Association's Code of Ethics and the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics prohibit exploiting one's professional authority for personal gain.

The subcultures in the fields of law enforcement and corrections have not yet been affected by the integration of minorities and women into these occupations.

According to the text, there are five essential elements to the definition of punishment. Which of the following is not one of these five elements?

A slang term used by both officers and inmates that refers to providing information to authorities is _________ .

The Supreme Court has ruled that chemical castration is a violation of the Eighth Amendment.

Professionals in treatment-related occupations that intersect with corrections, such as social workers and secure hospital staff, are guided by the same professional code of ethics as correctional officers.

Write a defense of sex-offender registries using both a retributive rationale and a utilitarian rationale.

The two concepts that the text cites as being a response to deviant behavior are:

_________________ shaming is a form of punishment that results in the offender feeling cast aside and abandoned by his or her community.

Three-strikes laws are defended under a utilitarian rationale.

You are a judge considering the sentences of several convicted offenders. The first offender has been found guilty of burglary and larceny for the third time. The report tells you that the offender's previous sentences were probation for the first offense and 14 days in jail for the second. You determine that the offender has not learned his lesson after the first two convictions, and you intend to send him a message with this sentence. Accordingly, you sentence him to the maximum allowed under the guidelines. Because you imposed this long sentence to try to teach this individual a lesson, so that he will not choose to offend again in the future, your sentence is an attempt at:

The idea that the ____________ misperceive the prevalence of a belief because of a vocal __________ is called pluralistic ignorance.

The two major justifications for punishment and treatment are:

General deterrence is consistent with ethical formalism.

Analyze the ways in which the Eighth Amendment has been interpreted by the Supreme Court in relationship to punishment.

Depo-Provera is a substance that is administered by injection to psychotic prisoners to prevent them from causing harm to themselves or others.