AC 3.4 - evaluate the effectiveness of agencies in achieving social control Flashcards
POLICE: increased use of out of court disposals (S)
- 2021: 164,000
- 9% increase from the previous year
- reduces offenders in prison so less money is spent
POLICE: improved responses to violence against women & girls (S)
- 2021 HM Inspectorate found:
- better service provision for victims
- better identification of repeat victims
- more tailored responses
- increased use of body-worn video
- committed & professional officers & staff
POLICE: gaps (W)
- data gaps at local & national levels about protected characteristics
- police areas not sharing the best practice (especially prevention tactics)
- unexplained variation between police areas in how often protective powers are used / enforced
- e.g : domestic violence protection powers
- management of repeat offenders varying
POLICE: funding cuts (W)
- 2010-2018: 19% funding cuts
- leading to:
- staff shortages
- public losing trust
- procedures not being followed efficently
POLICE: case study - John Lowe (W)
- threatened to kill his step-daughter
- police took away his guns but they were given back to him in a few months
- resulted in the murder of his partner & step-daughter
POLICE: fewer crimes solved but more crime happening (W)
- 2022: increase in most types of crime amd some exceeding pre-pandemic levels (sexual)
- homicides: increased by 25%
- fraud : increased by 17%
- 5.6% of crimes resulted in charge or summons
- decreased from 2015 where it was 16%
- police closed 36% of offences w no suspect
- 12% cases remained open & unsolved
POLICE: institutional racism (W)
- macpherson report found:
- met police to be institutionally racist
- made 70 recommendations to improve policing
- investigations have been compromised due to failing to establish positive relationship w all sections of the community
POLICE: stop & search 2020-2021 (W)
- males aged 15-34 from black & minority communities accounted for 1/3 of stop and search
- 1 in 5 of all stop & search were of black individuals
- 1/2 adults arrested in london were from minorities compared 15%
- 2/3 children arrested in london were from minorities compared to 1 in 5
POLICE: case study - Child Q (W)
- a 15-year-old black schoolgirl was strip searched while she was menstruating, and her mother was not told
POLICE: case study of institutional corruption - Daniel Morgan (W)
- attacked with an axe in London but no one was convicted
- 5 police inquiries made & inquest
- e was on the verge of exposing corruption within police & organised crime
POLICE: casey review - institutional failure (W)
- sexual offences covered up / downplayed
- stop & search , use of force is excessive
- evidence destroyed by lunchbox left in fridge with rape kits
POLICE: media & police prioritisation (W)
- police giving in to pressure from media leads to a waste of time & resources
- police invited bbc to film raid Cliff Richard’s home who had a history of sexual abuse charges
- no evidence found
CPS: strengths
- around 80,000 cases are prosecuted in the Crown Court & 450,000 in the Magistrates
- around 80% cases are convicted
- full code test & other restrictions cause some to argue that social control isn’t fully achieved
CPS: criticisms from victim groups, politician/ police - centralised( w)
concentrate control of an activity or organisation - under a single authority
CPS: criticisms from victim groups, politician/ police - bureaucratic (w)
relating to a system of controlling or managing a country, company or organisation operated by a large number of control
CPS: criticisms from victim groups, politician/ police (W)
- ineffiecient & slow in proceeding with cases such as rape
- too close to the police: corruption
CPS: rape allegations (W)
- criticism for the handling cases: hard to gather evidence for
- 2018: campaigners accused CPS of dropping supposedly ‘weak’ cases in order to improve rate if successful prosecution
- limiting victims access to justice - 2010 = funding gap: 25% staff lost
CPS: controversial cases (W)
- damiola taylor: no checks on lying eyewitness testimony
- lord janner: died & no justice given
CPS: ethnic diversity
- ethnic profile has become more diverse over last 5 years
- more employment of staff from more ethnic backgrounds
- driven by recruitment if mixed thnic backgrounds
- more knowledge for varying cases
judiciary: ULS scheme (S)
- allows victims, prosecutors & members of public to apply to the Attorney General
- applies to sentences for serious offences ( murder, rape etc)
- very few application made: indicating sentences are fair
- 2017: 173 cases referred to COA & 137 had sentences increased
judiciary: strengths
- experienced & highly qualified lawyers (training)
- use system of precedent to ensure consistency & fairness
judiciary: lack of diversity
- 2/3 male
- more than 1/2 aged 50+ (can’t change mindset which leads to bias)
- BAME groups underrepresented only 1 in 5
- 3/4 privately educated or went to oxbridge
- bias against lower classes
- hindering social control
judiciary: case study - Lavinia Woodward (w)
- too clever to go to prison for stabbing her boyfriend
judiciary: sentencing (W)
since 2016 white defendants had lower average sentence length than other ethnic backgrounds
- white: 19.6 months
- black: 26.8 months
- asian: 28.6 months
prisons: strengths
- few escape
- march 2021: 101 escaped
- prisoners escaping has decreased since 2009
prisons: ineffectivness (W)
- not rehabilitating offenders
- unable to cope w causes of offending:
- mental health
- drug & alcohol dependency
- illiteracy & lack of qualifications
- short sentences doesn’t allow time for needs to be met leading to recidivism
- diverse population : many issues & backgrounds
prisons: funding crisis (W)
- 2010-2018: officers decreased by 15%
- experienced officers likely to leave
- 1/3 had less than 2 years experience
- harder to maintain control over prisoners
prisons: overcrowding (W)
- contributed to dicontent & rule breaking
- many breaches of security (drugs, sims)
- 2018: 8,400 assaults on staff
- 22,000 prisoner assaults
- 5 homicides
- lecister prison: 50% over populated
- breakdowns od order & loss of control by staff has increased
prisons: overcrowding examples
- strangeways riot which lasted 25 days
- 2016: birmingham riot
prisons: recidivism rates
- many reoffend especially those on a short sentence
- due to lack of staff & overcrowding, leaving them unable to receive rehabilitation
- prison reform trust: short sentences less effective than community sentences
prisons: part-privatisation
- jan 22: 14 prisons run by 3 private companies (Secro)
- 2019: G4S lost government contract over Birmingham prison
- private prisons have nothing to do with MOJ
probation:
- local service for offenders
probation: effectiveness lies in achievement of
- rehabilitating offenders to ptotect the public
- supervising offenders in the community
- under 1/4 million people are supervised by the probation service
-prison reform trust: community orders more effective
probation: weaknesses
- officers don’t feel supported enough
- too many responsibilities
- monitoring competition of additional requirements
probation: Inspectorate of Probation (W)
- less money
- high vacancy raye
- unmanageable work loads
probation: education, training & employment opportunities limited (W)
- 61% offenders w community sentences are unemployed
- 90% ex prisoners are unemployed on release
probation: part-privatisation
work done on 21 community rehabilitation companies (CRCs) was having a poor impact on reducing recidivism rates
probation: CRC run projects also found:
- staff focusing on paper work & tragets than meeting offenders needs
- many prisoners released w no accomodation
- prisoners risk to public had been inadequately assessed prior to release
probation: loss of CRCs contracts
- 2021: MOJ withdrew contacts
- effectiveness still limited
probation: lower recidivism rates (S)
2020: 28% offenders w community sentence reoffended
- compared 57.5% of those with prison sentence
charities: stronger commitment (S)
- reduce recidivism rates as they have commitment to one particular cause or group
- they are motivated to help & go further than agencies may not
charities: gaps in provision (W)
- largely voluntary
- only exist when people are concerned for an issues
- may be set up for victims & won’t contribute to the rehabilitation of offenders
charities: media reporting (W)
- demonise categories of offenders making it harder for charities to form
charities: funding (W)
- may rely on government funding
- public may not want to offer funds to charities catered towards offenders rather than victims
