AC 3.2- Contributions of agencies to achieving social control

Question 1

What are the 3 tactics to achieving social control?

Answer 1

-Environmental tactics
-Behavioural tactics
-Institutional tactics

Question 2

What are defensible spaces?

Answer 2

Areas where there are clear boundaries so it is obvious who has the right to be there, so crime is less likely to occur there.

Question 3

What four features did Newman propose for defensible spaces?

Answer 3

-Territoriality (sense of ownership)
-Natural surveillance (e.g. street level windows)
-A safe image (looked after place, by residents)
-A protected location (insulated from the outside world)

Question 4

What did C.F Jeffery suggest about Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)?

Answer 4

He suggested that the built environment can either create or deny opportunities for crime.

Question 5

What did Alice Coleman propose about her research into flats in London?

Answer 5

1) No more blocks should be built.
2) Existing blocks should have their own garden.
3) Remove overhead walkways.

Question 6

Give advantages of Gated Lanes.

Answer 6

+Provides a physical barrier
+Increases a sense of territoriality
+Reduce the awards of crime

Question 7

Give disadvantages of Gated Lanes.

Answer 7

-Doesn’t work for all crimes
-Assumes no criminals live on that street

Question 8

Give examples of Behavioural tactics.

Answer 8

-ASBOs
-Criminal Behaviour Orders
-Token economy

Question 9

What is an ASBO?

Answer 9

Used to restrain a person from committing actions that threatened the legal right of another person.

If someone breached the terms of their ASBO it is considered a criminal offence.

Question 10

How do ASBOs link to the Labelling Theory?

Answer 10

By giving someone an ASBO it labels them as a criminal and leads to them having a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 11

What are Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs)?

Answer 11

Deal with seriously anti-social individuals. It lasts for at least two years and if breached it can result in up to 5 years imprisonment.

Question 12

What is the aim of token economies?

Answer 12

Aim to achieve social control by shaping inmates behaviour patterns so that they conform.

Question 13

What did Skinner propose about token economies?

Answer 13

If a particular behaviour results in a reward of some kind, it is likely to be repeated.

Question 14

Give examples of behaviours that may be rewarded in institutions.

Answer 14

-Obeying the rules
-Staying drug free
-Interacting positively with staff and inmates

Question 15

What is one limitation of token economies in achieving social control?

Answer 15

They don’t have long term effects because the rewards wills top when the offenders get released from prison, meaning they are likely to return to criminal behaviour.

Question 16

What is the main idea of institutional tactics?

Answer 16

Sanctions.
Rewards are also known as positive sanctions and punishment as negative sanctions.

Question 17

How do the courts enforce obedience?

Answer 17

By sentencing offenders to various punishments for their offences.

Question 18

How does the probation service enforce obedience?

Answer 18

By supervising and monitoring the behaviour of offenders.

Question 19

Define Phased discipline.

Answer 19

A first offence is dealt with more leniently, reoffending is likely to be met with stronger sanctions.

Question 20

What are gaps in state provision and give examples.

Answer 20

Reasons why the tactics don’t always work, e.g:
-Resources and budget cuts
-New technology
-Unreported crime
-Existing laws

Question 21

Explain how resources and budget cuts prevent the tactics from working.

Answer 21

The funding of state control agencies mainly comes from the taxes paid by the public.
However, there are limits of how much these taxpayers are willing to pay for these agencies.

Question 22

Give statistics of recent budget cuts that have occured.

Answer 22

Between 2010 and 2018:
-Police budget was cut by 19% (fall of 20,000 staff).
-CPS budget was cut by 1/4 (lost 1/3 of it’s staff).
-Prisons budget fell by 16% and staff levels by 15%.

Question 23

Explain how new technology has prevented the tactics from working.

Answer 23

Problems with checking mobile phones has led to failures to disclose evidence and a fall in the number of rape and sexual offence charges.

Question 24

Explain how unreported crimes have prevented the tactics from working.

Answer 24

Criminal justice agencies only investigate, prosecute and convict offenders if their offence has been reported.
Only about 40% of crimes are reported to the police.

Question 25

Explain how existing laws have prevented the tactics from working.

Answer 25

Sometimes, a new type of harm emerges but there is no existing law to forbid it and so state agencies are unable to bring prosecutors to control the harmful behaviour.