AC 3.1 EXPLAIN THE ROLE OF AGENCIES IN SOCIAL CONTROL Flashcards
What are the aims of the police? And what actions do the police take to maintain social control (working practices)?
- Aims:
Keep the peace and maintain order
Protect life and property
Prevent, detect and investigate crime
Bring offenders to justice - Patrolling the area
Working with the local community
Responding to the public’s call for assistance
Detectives in fraud, drugs, abuse etc
39 regional forces in England and Wales
Testifying in court
Arrest criminals/suspects
How may the funding of the police prohibit them from maintaining social control?
The funding of the police mainly comes from the local council tax and central government. With changing priorities of the government, funding for the police can be limited and this may prevent them from taking on complex cases such as fraud, limiting the maintenance of social control.
In 2020/21, the total police budget was 15.2 billion. The budget is split into different force areas and manage their own budget. This allows different police forces to have the freedom to prioritise the crimes that effect their communities, however, many forces do not prioritise rape cases, often dismissing victims.
What is the philosophy of the police and how does that impact social control?
- Prevent crime and disorder
The police’s ability to perform their duties depends on the public’s willingness to cooperate
Use of physical force as a last resort
The police’s duty is to serve the law
The police are the public and the public are the police - If the public is not willing to cooperate with the police, this means that social control may not be maintained effectively. For instance, cultures that do not trust the police or look down on reporting crimes within their communities. This prevents proper investigations into certain crimes such as honour killings as members of the community refuse to cooperate.
The use of physical force as a last resort has negatively impacted the police’s reputation as a ‘last resort’ can be subjected in certain situations and may enable police violence against people of colour (could reference George Floyd or for a UK case Sean Rigg’s who died in a police station in 2008 due to negligence)
To what extent is role of the CPS in social control effective? Mention aims and objectives, funding, philosophy , and working practice.
The CPS are the main public protector in England and Wales. They advise the police in their investigations about lines of inquiry and the evidence needed to build a case ad independently assess evidence and keep cases under continuous review.
They decide whether to prosecute and what the charges should be and prepare a prosecution case and present it in court using their own lawyers and self defence employees. They also inform and support victims and witnesses. This allows the CPS to maintain social control by aiding in investigations and prosecuting cases.
Their funding is mostly from the government and is around half a million per year. However, the CPS suffered significant cuts since 2018 and lost a 3rd of its staff which negatively impacted its ability to maintain social control.
Their philosophy: Independent and fair, Honesty and openness, Treating everyone with respect , Behaving professionally and striving for excellence, and Equality and inclusion enable the protection of the rights of the public and the fairness of a trail.
Their working practices:
Except for minor offences, the CPS deals with a full range of offences and criminals
CPS is a national body throughout England and Wales with 14 regional area teams prosecuting cases locally. Each one is headed by a Chief Crown prosecutor
The evidential test is also important as it allows the CPS to decide if there is rough evidence for a realistic prospect of convicting a suspect. Particularly, they must decide that evidence is admissible, reliable and credible.
(Mention the evidential test and public interest test).
Explain the role of the judiciary in social control
The basic role of the judiciary is to interpret and apply the law to the cases e.g. statutory interpretation (literal rule, golden rule, and mischief rule).
The crown court judges must manage the trial, ensuring fairness to all parties and explaining legal issues and procedures to members of the jury, summing up the evidence and passing sentence if the defendant is found guilty.
The court of appeal judges and supreme court judges make rulings on the appeals that come before them from lower courts in the hierarchy. This may include setting precedents through the principle of judicial precedent.
How does the philosophy and working practice of the judiciary contribute to social control?
Judicial independence means that judges should be independent and free from the government’s interference in their decisions. This enables them to uphold the rule of law and safeguard the rights of citizens against the power of the government.
Impartiality means not showing favour to one side or the other and integrity means being honest and holding strong moral principles which enables court trials to be fair and for both sides to have their rights respected. This maintains social control as it enables society to believe in the criminal justice system and that their rights are respected, which deters criminal activity and enables members of the public to report criminal activity.
Working practices
Judges have security of tenure: they cannot be removed from the office except by petition to the Queen passed by both houses of parliament. This has only happened once in 1830
Their salary is guaranteed and depends on the judiciary hierarchy. For example the supreme court, court of appeals, and high court are paid more than lower judges.
Judges deal with all types of offences and offenders, except for less serious offences, which is dealt with by the magistrates court
Judges have a national and local reach at the most senior level. The Supreme Court has nationwide jurisdiction and styles points of law of national importance. While crown courts deal with local cases in their venues.
How does the funding of prisons contribute to the effectiveness of prisons in social control?
Prisons are paid for by the government through general taxation.
In 2018, the total budget was about 3 billion pounds; tis was 16% lower then 2010
There was a 15% decrease in prison officers between 2010 and 2018 and by 2020, almost a third of staff had less than 3 years of experience.
How do prisons contribute to social control?
They protect the public from harm.
They rehabilitate offenders and enable their positive contributions to society through meeting the aims of retribution.
They follow the orders of the court and hold prisoners securely.
They deter criminal activities are an example of external forms of social control.
In 2019, there were approximately 121 prisons which held around 80,000 prisoners at any time. The prison services deal with high risk offenders who are deemed unsuitable to serve their sentence in the community. However, the range of seriousness of offence varies from murder, to theft.
Prison services aim to rehabilitate prisoners and have been criticized for their lack of opportunities for education, training, and work experience. For instance, in 2020 the chief inspector of prisons said that half the prisons inspected had few programmes of useful activity.
What is the role of probation services in social control?
The probation services are a statutory criminal justice service that supervises high-risk offenders who are released into the community.
They provide statutory support to victims of serious sexual or violent crimes.
Its priority is to protect the public by rehabilitating offenders through tackling causes of their offending such as drug abuse, and helping them turn their lives around.
Community sentences have requirements such as up to 300 hours of unpaid work, exclusion order or curfews and group programs such as anger management
Or offenders can be released on license before the end of their sentence which enables supervised release by the probation services
By believing in that offenders can change for the better, in the dignity of individuals, and having a commitment to social justice, social inclusion, equality, and diversity, the probation service enables offenders to have a second chance at being model citizens and prevents recidivism through community sentences.
How do working practices contribute to social control
Prepares pre-sentence reports for the courts helping them select the most appropriate sentence for the individual offender
Manages approved premises for offenders whose sentences includes a residence requirement e.g. where they should live
Assessing prisoners to prepare them for their release on licence back to the community
Helping offenders serving sentences to meet the requirements ordered by the courts
Probation services prioritise the wellbeing of victims of violent or sexual crimes
Outline the roles of charities and pressure groups in social control (6)
Charities such as the prison reform trust have the role of defending and supporting the interests of their beneficiaries. For example, reducing the unnecessary imprisonment of individuals and promoting equality and human rights in the justice system. Charities like the prison reform trust support the interest of their beneficiaries through advocating for community sentences over custodial sentences as community sentences are proven to be more effective for first time offences and enable long term change. Charities and pressure groups are not government funded and have to earn funding through community work and advocacy for donations. However, they do not have to pay taxes, which aids them in their cause. Another role of charities and pressure groups in social control is their philosophy of positive prison reforms. For example, the prison reform trust aims to improve living conditions for prisoners and promotes equality and human rights within the criminal justice system. The prison reform trust is able to do this through being proactively involved within the system; they often offer prisons their skills in rehabilitation as well as informing prisoners of information they would need outside of prison such as how to apply for benefits. Furthermore, the prison reform trust puts pressure on governments and officials to change oppressive rules against prisoners, such as the rule that people who did not have housing could not apply for a bank account. This had a negative effect on prisoners.
