3.4

Question 1

Police:
A strength of the police is
that they are effective as started to prioritise offences of public concern.
Explain and evidence this point

Answer 1

• Such as domestic abuse (Survey evidence from the 2017 annual report of HM inspector of Police shows ⅔ of domestic abuse practitioners felt police’s approach has been improved in the last 3 years), where cases being reported and recorded are increasing. This means crime rates of the crimes that are of public concern will decrease which will ensure more social control

Question 2

Police:
A strength of the police is
They are effective as they are the main agency for the detention, investigation and prevention of crime
Explain and evidence this point

Answer 2

• their work e.g. they made 663,036 arrests (2021/22) results in a huge number of cases being brought to trial each year, with out of court disposals being handled by police powers such as fixed penalty notices, cautions and reprimands. This means they ensure offenders receive formal sanctions which will deter offenders from committing crime and therefore helps achieve social control

Question 3

Police:
A strength of the police is
They are effective as play a vital role in maintaining law and order through coercion and deterrence
Explain and evidence this point

Answer 3

Crime survey suggests that crime is lower or the same 2016-2020. This means they prevent crime increasing which suggests they help achieve social control

Question 4

Police:
A weakness of the police is
They may lack effectiveness as shortcoming have been identified within the police
Explain and evidence this point

Answer 4

A 2017 report also identifies arrest rate has been falling, police not using bail conditions to protect victims, staff shortages causing delays/putting victims at risk and bodycams not always being used. These shortcomings show that police aren’t always successful in achieving social control.

Question 5

Police:
A weakness of the police is
They may lack effectiveness due to racism and bias within the police
Explain and evidence this point

Answer 5

• The Macpherson report 1999 found the Met police to be institutionally racist- stop and searches disproportionally used against black people and other minorities. Black people are 2.4 times more likely than white people to be arrested + Stephen Lawrence case.
• This means they may not help achieve social control as they don’t always work objectively and fairly

Question 6

Police:
A weakness of the police is
Lack effectiveness as they are inefficient at their job
Explain and evidence this point

Answer 6

The Macpherson report showed the Met Police’s failure to gather evidence and investigate leads in Stephen Lawrence’s murder that could’ve led to the 5 suspects being prosecuted. Shows police aren’t efficient at their jobs which means they aren’t effective at achieving social control

Question 7

CPS:
A strength of the CPS is that there is evidence of their success
Explain and evidence this point

Answer 7

• In 2018 CPS prosecuted 80,000 cases in Crown Court and 450,000 in Magistrates
• Around 80% of defendants they prosecuted are convicted
  This means a lot of offenders are receiving the appropriate punishment for their crime and should be rehabilitated

Question 8

CPS:
A strength of the CPS is that the Full code test gives consistency and standardisation
Explain and evidence this point

Answer 8

• This will reduce chance of bias and
• This ensures people who have actually committed a crime will receive an appropriate punishment
  (less chance of an unsafe conviction/ miscarriage of justice so people less likely to deviate from law because they see the justice system as unjust)

Question 9

CPS:
A strength of the CPS is that they prioritise offences of public concern

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 9

• Increased DA charging: in 2022 up by 2.3%
• Increased rape charges: in 2022 up by 3.6%
• This means crime rate for these crimes should decrease and the public should feel safer. People less likely to commit as see it being taken more seriously so larger risk when committing it.

Question 10

CPS:
A strength of the CPS is that they have evidential test in place but don’t use it properly/consistently

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 10

• Damilola Taylor case:relied on evidence from 14yr old girl who was obviously lying and didn’t cross check her evidence with facts and other interviews/ failure to build case
• less chance of successful conviction
• criminals less likely to be deterred from crime and more criminals free

Question 11

CPS:
A weakness of the CPS is that there are a lot of criminals that have not yet been prosecuted/gone to trial

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 11

• 75,000 people awaiting trial at Crown Court
• means certain crime will be prioritised over others
• crimes not prioritised more likely to be committed as people will see them as less serious

Question 12

CPS:
A weakness of the CPS is that media reporting isn’t always favourable and their handling of rape cases has been criticised
Explain and evidence this point

Answer 12

• E.g. in 2018 the Guardian reported that CPS specialist rape prosecutors were advised to drop ‘weak’ cases (their aim was to improve overall performance by ensuring that a higher proportion of its prosecutions would succeed i.e. improve conviction rate)
• One prosecutor was told that taking 350 weak cases out of the system would raise their conviction rate to 61%
• experts and campaigners criticised this move, saying it would limit victims access to justice and could lead cases involving young victims, students and those with mental health problems being dropped
• people more likely to commit this offence as don’t see the risk as that high

Question 13

Prisons:
A strength of prisons is Private prisons aim to help tackle the issues prisons are facing
Explain and evidence this point

Answer 13

• Private prisons introduced to deal with overcrowding and help spread the costs of interning offenders.
• There are 14 prisons run by private companies such as G4S Justice Services, Serco Custodial Services and Sodexo Justice Services. These companies own prisons which hold 14.5 percent of the prison population.

Question 14

Prisons:
A strength of prisons is they are effective at keeping people safe (public protection)

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 14

• Between april 2022 and march 2023 only 8 Escapes from prison establishments and escorts and the prison pop is 95,500.
• Could also talk about charles Manson being kept in prison (nearly 50 years)
• shows they keep dangerous people secure

Question 15

Prisons:
A strength of prisons is that they aim to reduce reoffending

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 15

• They aim to create the right conditions for reform by strategies such as making sure prisoners gain basic standards of numeracy and literacy while inside, getting offenders clean and treating addictions, trying to get offenders back into work by job matching services
• government allocated an extra £550 million to reduce reoffending

Question 16

Prisons:
A weakness of prisons is that private prisons are a business

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 16

• profit is the key aim, not punishment and keeping people safe. Which leads to issues such as overcrowding and lack of resources which limits rehabilitation of offenders
• When Birmingham prison was taken over by G4S there were cuts in funding leading to staff shortages (staff worn out and unmotivated) led to riots in 2016

Question 17

Prisons:
A weakness of prisons is that staff and prisoners may not be safe (social control not within prison)

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 17

• There is incidents of self-harm and assaults
• Incidents of these are rising:
  -2020- 9,800 assaults on staff, 32,000 assault incidents, 65,000 self-harm incidents (up from 25k in 2010)

Question 18

Prisons:
A weakness of prisons is that they are ineffective at rehabilitation

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 18

• ex-prisoners often re-offend within a year of their release
• 36% of all ex-prisoners re-offend/37.5% in 2017
  64% of those on sentences less than 12 months reoffend (within a year?)

Question 19

The Probation Service:
A strength of the probation service is that they are more effective than prisons

explain and evidence this point

Answer 19

• has around ~½ the rate of reoffending than prisons
• This means it is more effective decreasing crime rate and rehabilitating offenders and so better at achieving social control

Question 20

The probation service:
A strength of the probation service is that that it provides rehabilitation programmes targeted to specific issues

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 20

• for example in Lancashire they provide Building Better Relationships programme (BBR), Thinking Skills programme (TSP), Drink Impaired Drivers programme (DID) and the Resolve anger management programme.
• this means more likely to rehabilitate offender and achieve social control

Question 21

The probation service:
A strength of the probation service is that they are shown to be effective in rehabilitating offenders

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 21

• e.g. John Crilly spent 13 years in prison for manslaughter and dealt with a heroin addiction, released on license (got a law degree and helped stop a terrorist attack until police arrived) not reoffended since and has gotten over heroin addiction
• if rehabilitation achieved then crime decreases and social control closer to being achieved

Question 22

The probation service:
A weakness of the probation service is that they lack effectiveness as offenders not always correctly assessed

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 22

• private companies don’t always assess offenders properly due to monetary incentive for employees not to assess cases as high-risk, as this would result in them being passed on to the state-owned NPS, and a loss of income
• E.g. in the case of Zara Aleena, Zara Aleena was murdered due to the probation service (profit-driven London Community Rehabilitation Company) assessing Jordan Mcsweeney as medium risk

Question 23

The probation service:
A weakness of the probation service is CRC’s (private companies) are ineffective at rehabilitating offenders

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 23

• CRC’s performance didn’t live up to government expectations and so offenders aren’t rehabilitated and will continue to offend and so social control isn’t achieved
• 19/21 failed to meet their targets for rehabilitating offenders

Question 24

The probation service:
A weakness of the probation service is that there is a national shortage of probation officers

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 24

• There is 2,000 job vacancies
• This means professional standard are compromised due to high work loads and so offenders aren’t always monitored to the appropriate standard which can lead to a lack of social control

Question 25

Judiciary:
A strength of the judiciary is the Judiciary (judges) is made up of experienced and highly qualified individuals (have knowledge and expertise)

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 25

• to become a judge you generally have to be a qualified legal professional with at least 7 years experience in law-related work
• This means they must be effective at their jobs of handing out appropriate sentences which can be used to deter people from committing crime/reoffending. This will help achieve social control

Question 26

Judiciary:
A strength of the judiciary is they are effective as magistrates have local knowledge

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 26

• Magistrates can serve in their local court and have knowledge of the local area which they can apply to the cases and reflect local needs and priorities when sentencing offenders. Therefore, achieving social control in their area
• E.g. Paul v DPP (1989): Magistrates had to decide whether a kerb crawler was likely to pose a nuisance to others. As magistrates knew the area they knew the kerb crawler proved a real issue.

Question 27

Judiciary:
A strength of the judiciary is that magistrates are shown to be effective as there is a limited number of appeals

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 27

• Magistrates deal with a large number of cases – around 1.5 million in 2019. Very few are appealed around 5,000 in 2021. Most appeals that are received are against sentence and not the guilty verdict. Less than half of the appeals are successful – suggesting magistrates are right most of the time in terms of their verdict and sentences.
• Magistrates being right means social control is being achieved as offenders are receiving accurate formal sanctions

Question 28

Judiciary:
A weakness of the judiciary is that Judges are not effective as they are biased in their judgements

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 28

• E.g. In 1989 Judge Pickles sentences a man to probation after being convicted of sexually assaulting a 6 year old. In the same year, he jailed a woman for contempt of court when she refused to give evidence against her ex who assaulted her
• This means that not all people/offenders will receive accurate and fair verdicts/sentences and so social control may not be achieved

Question 29

Judiciary:
A weakness of the judiciary is that
Magistrates lack effectiveness as critics argue they rely on and use too often overly short prison sentences

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 29

• this doesn’t help prevent reoffending (e.g. 60% of adults serving less than 12 months reoffend within 1 year)
  as they aren’t effective in rehabilitating the offender. Therefore, social control is not achieved

Question 30

Judiciary:
A weakness is that Magistrates aren’t always effective as the sentences they hand out often lack consistency
Explain and evidence this point

Answer 30

• E.g. in 2010,Bristol magistrates handed down custodial sentences to 11.1% of offenders and community orders to 32.2% where as Coventry magistrates imposed only 6.5% custodial and 14.4% community orders to a similar number of offenders cases heard
• this means social control may not be achieved successfully consistently across all areas

Question 31

Charities and pressure groups:
A strength of Nacro is that they are effective as help house ex offenders.

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 31

• They house 3,000+ tenants in properties as well as providing bail accommodation and support services. Supported 20,000 people in 2018 to find accommodation after being released
• Offenders are less likely to commit crime if they aren’t living on the streets (⅔ of homeless ex-prisoners reoffend within a year). Therefore it helps achieve social control

Question 32

Charities and pressure groups:
A strength of Nacro is that helps provide offenders with education

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 32

• In 2018, 2,900 studied through Nacro’s education services
• education will enhance employability of offenders and help them gain a better sense of identity and self-worth. This will make them less likely to commit crime (those who steal for money won’t need to anymore). So helps achieve social control

Question 33

Charities and pressure groups:
A strength of Nacro is that they are motivated to help individuals

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 33

• This means they provide the best quality help they can to as many offenders as possible (supports 32,000 per year) which will help decrease the chance of them reoffending and so help achieve social control

Question 34

Charities and pressure groups:
A weakness of charities is that they’re volountary

Explain and evidence this point

Answer 34

only exist where people are concerned about a certain issue/group. E.g. those concerned about victims of child sexual abuse may set up charities to support them, and could become less concerned about the abusers and setting up organisations to rehabilitate them. So the opportunity to reduce reoffending is missed. Social control not achieved

Question 35

Charities and pressure groups:
A weakness of charities is that media reporting can affect the effectiveness of charities

explain and evidence this point

Answer 35

• E.g. in the James bulger case the young offenders John Venables and Robert Thompson were on the front page of the daily mirror with the headline ‘freaks of nature’ and Venables has been labelled by the sun as ‘evil’, a ‘monster’ and a ‘beast’
• If the people supported such as young offenders by a charity (E.g. The triangle trust) are demonised it is difficult to attract support and funding and so it can be difficult to help rehabilitate offenders and achieve social control

Question 36

Charities and pressure groups:
A weakness of charities is that charities rely on donations

explain and evidence this point

Answer 36

• An example of a charity that relies strictly on donations is the Prison reform trust
• This means not all charities can receive the proper funding to function and help offenders be rehabilitated and achieve social control if people are struggling with money and are unable to donate due to the cost of living or other factors.