AC 4.1 Flashcards
what are the 4 main individualistic policies in dealing with criminal behaviour?
- psychoanalysis treatment
- behaviour modification
- social skills training
- anger management
what is psychoanalysis treatment?
a treatment where patients verbalise repressed thoughts which led to the criminal activity
what is the assumption made in regards to psychoanalysis treatment?
that any psychological problems caused during development, or repressed trauma is embedded in the unconscious mind
what does psychoanalysis treatment do?
it tries to bring the repressed thoughts to the conscious mind where they can be dealt with
what does the analyst allow during psychoanalysis treatment?
free association so the patient can talk about whatever enters their mind, this is done with the patient lying on a sofa facing away from the analyst
why is psychoanalysis treatment least favoured?
because it is time consuming and is unlikely to produce quick answers
what did Blackburn say about psychoanalysis treatment in 1993?
he pointed out there were very few positive evaluations of this method
what did Andrews et al argue about psychoanalysis treatment in 1990?
traditional psychodynamic therapies are to be avoided within general samples of offenders
what does the nature of psychoanalysis treatment create?
a power imbalance between therapist and client that could raise ethical issues e.g. a patient could discover very painful memories that were deliberately repressed
what did a 2010 study conclude about psychoanalysis treatment?
that it works as well as, or is at least equivalent to other psychotherapy treatments such as cognitive behaviour therapy
which theory does psychoanalysis treatment link to?
psychodynamic
which theory does behaviour modification treatment link to?
learning theories
what does behaviour modification treatment focus on?
techniques to extinguish undesirable behaviours and promote desirable ones
what is the underpinning principle of behaviour modification treatment?
behaviours that are reinforced are strengthened, whereas behaviours that are punished are weakened
with regards to behaviour modification treatment, why is criminal behaviour punished?
to weaken the thought process leading to illegal behaviour
what is the token economy in regards to behaviour modification treatment?
it is one aspect of behaviour modification where a token is given for a desired action, which is later exchanged for a treat e.g. prisoners who follow rules can earn privileges in the ‘Incentives and Earned privileges scheme’ such as more visits.
according to the Prison Reform trust what does the Incentives and Earned privileges scheme promote in regards to behaviour modification treatment?
it promotes conforming behaviour through rational choice enabling people to earn benefits in exchange for responsible behaviour and it encourages prisoners to engage with sentence planning and ensures a more disciplined and controlled environment which is safer for staff and prisoners
what behaviour modification treatment work did Fo and O’Donnel do in 1975?
they devised a buddy system in which adult volunteers were assigned to a young offender to provide consistent reinforcement for socially acceptable ways of acting, while this appears to have improved the behaviour of serious offenders, its impact on those who had committed less serious offences was mixed
in regards to behaviour modification treatment, what does evidence regarding the token economy suggest?
that they have short term effectiveness with both young offenders (shown by the work of Hobbs & Holt 1976) and adult offenders (shown by the work of Allyon & Milan 1979)
however, the improvements tend not to generalise beyond the institution in the longer term
in regards to individualistic policy development, what do social skills training aim to improve?
skills in order to avoid offending and become more socially competent, however once training has stopped, the benefit can be forgotten and even totally disappear in the long term
in regards to individualistic policy development, what does anger management do?
aim to avoid violent offences taking place by people unable to control their anger, this can be effective if used correctly
in regards to individualistic policy development, what did Novaco suggest in 1975 relating to anger management?
he suggested that because offenders can’t deal with their anger, it tends to be expressed in anti-social ways.
in an anger management programme cognitive behaviour techniques are used to help offenders deal with it more effectively
what are the 3 main biological policies in dealing with criminal behaviour?
neurochemicals
eugenics
the death penalty
what was Gesch et al’s 2002 neurochemical study?
231 (young male adult prisoner) volunteers agreed to receive either a daily vitamin or a placebo drug, a number of measures were taken before and during the test including psychological testing, reports of violent acts and reports of disciplinary action
what was the result of Gesch et al’s 2002 neurochemical study?
the results showed the average number of disciplinary incidents per 1000 person-days dropped from 16 to 10.4 in the group that took the supplement (35%) whereas the placebo group only dropped by 6.7%
violent incidents in the active group dropped by 37% and in the placebo group only 10.1%
what did Gesch et al’s 2002 neurochemical study demonstrate?
that it’s possible for diet to positively impact on aggressive behaviour
what did Virkkunen et al find in 1987 as part of a neurochemical study?
that violent offenders had a lower than average serotonin turnover, this can be treated by a diet with foods that contain serotonin: salmon or fresh tuna
what neurochemical scheme took place in 2012?
a pilot scheme which provided chemical castration for sex offenders in HMP Whatton, volunteers were given a pill or an anti-libidinal psychopharmacological intervention, to reduce their sex drive; the treatment was positively received by the prisoners
what does the study of eugenics claim?
inheritance of genes could explain the presence of simple and complex human behavioural characteristics and that it reinforces the ideas of biological determinism and claims that biology has contributed towards many of the social problems throughout the late 19th century, this policy has varied over time and country e.g. Nazi regime
what does eugenics advocate for?
higher rates of sexual reproduction for people with desirable traits only
what claims did eugenics follow?
that sterilisation laws would prevent incarcerated criminals from giving birth to ‘criminal’ offspring
what support did Osbourne and West provide for eugenics?
40% of boys whose father had a criminal record had one too, compared to 12% of boys whose fathers didn’t
what happened in 2015 in regards to eugenics?
due to moral and ethical reasons a UK judge gave an order allowing a mother of 6 with learning disabilities to be sterilised
what is the death penalty?
perhaps the most extreme biologically driven policy (capital punishment or state execution)
according to Amnesty International how many people were executed in 2019 excluding China?
657
how did the permanent abolition of the death penalty come about in the UK?
the temporary abolition in 1965 didn’t lead to a soar in murder rates, so the permanent abolition of the death penalty for murder came about in 1969
what did statistics from the USA show in 2015 about the murder rate in death penalty states compared to non-death penalty states?
death penalty states had seen an increase of 25%
what do the stats from the USA in 2015 regarding the death penalty suggest?
it isn’t a deterrent at all, because often people kill in the heat of the moment and therefore it is unlikely they make reasoned decisions based on a fear of the death sentence
what is a punitive law?
a law that intends to punish
what is a concurrent prison sentence?
when 2 or more prison sentences are given and ordered to be served at the same time
what is a consecutive prison sentence?
served one after another
what is a suspended prison sentence?
served in the community with conditions often relating to unpaid work
what is a determinate prison sentence?
of a fixed length
what is an indeterminate prison sentence?
of no fixed length
what are the 4 main sociological theories in dealing with criminal behaviour?
restorative justice
penal populism
prison
zero tolerance
CCTV
multi-agency approach
what is penal populism?
the government’s attempts at proposing laws to punish offenders that will be popular with public
what did David Wilson say in 2014 in regards to penal populism?
it started as a result of the Jamie Burger case in 1993 when there was concerns of violence in the community
what happened in regards to penal populism as a result of the media?
political parties decided they needed to be tough on crime, because of this the prison population increased as so many people were given prison sentences
the UK has more life sentences than the whole of Europe combined
in regards to penal populism what have political parties introduced since Tony Blair?
punitive laws to be tough on crime and this has resulted in punishments e.g. the automatic life sentence for a serious offence and minimum fixed term custodial sentence
what is a custodial sentence?
a punishment of being sent to prison
what is prison?
one of the main ways society tries to control crime is by imprisonment
what does the HM prison services website say?
“We keep those sentenced to the prison in custody, helping them lead law abiding and useful lives, both while in prison and when released. We work either courts, police and local councils as well as voluntary organisations to do this
what are the 5 types of prison sentences?
concurrent
consecutive
suspended
determinate
indeterminate
what has happened to the prison population in the last 30 years?
it has increased by 70%
who has the highest imprisonment rates in Western Europe?
Scotland, England and Wales
what is zero tolerance?
it demands all crimes are acted on no matter how trivial they are
where has zero tolerance been used?
King’s Cross London, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Strathclyde
what did former Cleveland Police Superintendent Ray Mallon promise to do in regards to zero tolerance?
cut crime in his area by 20% in 18 months using zero tolerance or else he would quit
what is zero tolerance based on?
Kelling and Wilson’s broken windows theory in 1982, which suggested a link between disorder and crime, stating that visible signs of decay are signs of public disinterest that must be acted upon to prevent further crime
in regards to zero tolerance what did New York see?
major crime fall by 39% and murder by 49%
in regards to zero tolerance how did Mallon’s mission go?
he fulfilled it and reduced crime in his area by 22%
what is a negative of zero tolerance?
aggressive policing could lead to accusations of heavy-handedness by police and the possibility of racial tension, if people feel victimised e.g. George Floyd
what is the multi-agency approach?
the cooperation between agencies which is important to increase the detecting of crimes and preventing them e.g. for domestic abuse
in regards to the multi-agency approach, what did the section 5 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 do?
place a statutory duty on local authorities, police, health authorities to work together to tackle problems of crime and disorder in their area
give 2 examples of forms of the multi-agency approach.
- involving the police working with the security industry authority, Trading standards and environmental health to decrease alcohol disorder offences
- specialist police officers working with resettlement workers, the probation service, substance misuse team and drug intervention programme to tackle repeat drug offending
what is CCTV?
one of the first requests made by the police at the start of their enquiries, the identification of a potential perpetrator being difficult if there is no CCTV, a policy working as a deterrent to crime
does CCTV work as a deterrent to crime?
according to the 2013 College of Policing’s briefing it can make a small but statistically significant reduction in crime, it is more effective when directed at reducing theft, while it has no impact on violent crime
what can CCTV do as an investigative technique?
provide compelling evidence e.g. the haunting image of Jamie Bulger being led away by 2 10year olds : Venables and Thompson
what is restorative justice?
a voluntary process involving the offender and the victim and also a trained facilitator who works with them to talk about what happened and what can be done to fix it
when can restorative justice take place?
at any time in the judicial process, it’s growing popularity and government funding has been provided to the police to make the process more available to victims
what does restorative justice allow victims to do?
have a voice and can make offenders accountable for their actions
according to the 2017 Prison Fellowship website, what can restorative justice reduce?
PTSD in victims and motivate offenders to turn away from crime
what was found in 2001 in regards to restorative justice?
the majority of victims chose to participate in face to face meetings with the offender, when offered by a trained facilitator, and that 85% of victims who took part were satisfied with the process
what did the government’s analysis of research into restorative justice conclude?
that it reduces the frequency of reoffending by 14%
