Which word best describes the author's attitude to the claim that short sentences protect the public?
Short prison sentences are the worst of both worlds. They are too brief to allow any serious rehabilitation, yet long enough to cost an offender a job, a tenancy and sometimes custody of a child. A person leaves prison after eight weeks with nothing to return to, and is then more likely, not less, to offend again. Advocates of short sentences answer that they deliver a clear message and protect the public while the offender is inside. The message is real, but it is a message that community sentences with strict conditions can also deliver, at far lower cost, and without the damage to the offender's family. The public is protected for eight weeks; it is exposed for years if the sentence makes reoffending likelier.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. Partly accepting, but ultimately dismissive of its importance
- Step 1: The author grants 'the message is real' and that the public is protected for eight weeks.
- Step 2: Then says the protection is outweighed by later risk, so the attitude is a limited concession.
Answer
Partly accepting, but ultimately dismissive of its importance.
Why not the others: The author does concede something, so contempt or indifference misdescribes the tone; there is no sign of enthusiasm or confusion.
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