Sentencing ─ Time for a Paradigm Shift

Sentencing is the process through which the legitimacy of punishment is declared and justified. However, it is increasingly portrayed as a social activity that should be more responsive to the pluralistic needs and values of individuals and communities in contemporary society. These audiences invariably have very different perceptions of what justice is and how it should be delivered. They also differ in their sensitivities and emotional responses to sentencing processes and outcomes. Such imperatives raise fundamental questions about the normative consequences of sentencing and its wider role in criminal justice governance.

In responding to this challenge, Henham argues for a profound normative understanding of the relationship between sentencing and its perception by citizens. This is seen as vital if we are to fully comprehend the nature and significance of punishment and the particular challenges it faces as a force for social cohesion. More specifically, he suggests that that a coherent focus on the relationship between penal ideology, sentencing practice and its impact in the wider community is a fundamental prerequisite for effective future policy-making in this area.

Henham develops this argument by focusing on key areas of debate. He explores how questions of gender and race are dealt with and reflected in the sentencing context and the significance of this for social cohesion. He then considers the future role of sentencing in criminal justice governance and proposes new criteria for evaluating sentencing within a more socially-inclusive framework. In short, Henham examines the relationship between sentencing and social context at a time when fundamental questions are being asked about the relevance of existing forms of punishment in contemporary society.

Ralph Henham is Professor of Criminal Justice at Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University and a Visiting Professor in the School of Law, Politics and Sociology at the University of Sussex. Recent publications include Beyond Punishment: Achieving International Criminal Justice (2010, with Mark Findlay), and Sentencing and the Legitimacy of Trial Justice (2011). He is a co-editor of Ashgate’s series on International and Comparative Criminal Justice and an editorial board member of the International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice.