Ac2.1 - describing the biological theories into criminality Flashcards
1
Q
What do the biological theories to crime further suggest?
A
There behaviour is then down to the characteristics they would have then been born with - for example eye colour
2
Q
What is the XYY theory(genetic theory)?
A
There is further a Y chromosone and this is then associated with an increase in testerone which is then associated with agressive behaviour and those with the extra Y chromsone are more likely to then be a criminal than males with a single Y chromosone - they are often reffered to as then being “super males” - we have 46 chromosones and two determine our sex and the pattern of the chromosones - women xx - men xy
3
Q
What does the XYY theory suggest?
A
some crime might be to do with chromosone abonormaility
4
Q
What did Jacob et al do in his study - supporting the XYY theory?
A
They were studying individuals in a hospital with max security and realised there was a higher proportion that had XYY chromosones than the general population - he had found that 1 in 1000 men had XYY in society - they were 15 in 1000 prisoners with XYY
5
Q
What is the stockholm theory - supporting research?
A
He had found out there was an increase in the number of convicted males who with XYY compared to the general incidents of crime with the general population - commiting crime and XYY is then correlational
6
Q
Real life case study to do with XYY theory?
A
John Wayne Gacey - he had further been convicted for murder, torture,rape and he also had the XYY syndrome - there were enviromental factors involved as since he was 4 he had been physically and emotionally abused
7
Q
What are some more real life case studies we could further use to support the XYY theory?
A
Richard Speck - he had been convicted for a mass murder - he had the XYY syndrome - there are other factors because of his stepdad abusing him
8
Q
What is a last case study we can use to support the XYY theory?
A
Daniel hugon - he had murdered a prostitute in Paris and he had the XYY syndrome - he also had required pyschiatric care from earlier ages from when he was then further 17
9
Q
What are strengths of the XYY theory?
A
- There is alot of supporting research - for eample Jacob et al and Stockholm
- If we are finding the syndrome early(25% of them at birth) we are then able to give them intervertions to help deal with problems that may then be occuring within the future
10
Q
What are some weaknesses of the XYY theory?
A
- The theory further then does not consider any enviromental factors like how you were further brought up - this could link to the case study of Richard Speck as he was then abused by his father from the age of 4
- Having XYY could then further end up causing individuals to then be feeling different so this group could be excluded from society and then could end up being bullied
- The theory of this may then also not be explaining why individuals that do not have this XYY syndrome may be commiting crimes - this also does not explain female criminality as this gene is only then being found within men
11
Q
What are the twin studies(genetic theory) ?
A
Monozygotic twins - they are born from the same egg with 100% DNA are then more likely to have concordance(being similar) than Dizygotic twins - they are born from two eggs and they have 50% of the same DNA- this is then supporting that crimes are then to do with genetics
12
Q
What is the twin study of Johannes lange?
A
He had further investigated 13 MZ twins and 17 DZ twins - he had further then found out that 10 of the 13 MZ twins, 67% concordance rate had both then served time within prison and only 2 of the 17 DZ twins, 13%, had both been serving time within prison - this had further concluded that genetic factors in twins then do play an extremely important role, due to there being significantly higher concordance rates in the MZ twins
13
Q
What further was the the twin study of Christiane?
A
- This study was further looking in to proving whether genes where a result of criminality
- This was further being done through investigating 3568 pairs of twins that had been born within Denmark
- She had further found concordance rates( reflecting the odds if one person has a trait the other will) and had found that male twins are more likely to be sharing criminal characteristics compared to female twins
MZ (they are identical twins) Gender - male - 35% - female - 21%
DZ(non identical) - male - 13% - female - 8%
14
Q
What are the strengths of these twin studies?
A
- the results for the studies have then further helped with the preventation of vulnerable disorders - they are then able to catch these disorders early and put them in early intervention so then it does not lead to causing a problem
- The studies give us more supporting evidence that the view of criminality is created through the genetic component
15
Q
What are some weaknesses of the twin studies?
A
- Early twins studies had been inadequately controlled and lacked validity for whether the twins were MZ or DZ it was based on there appearance - of the twins and not the DNA - so may not be scientific
- There is a small sample so may then not be representable for the whole population
- If the twins are brought up in the same environment then criminality could easily be about the environment and then not just the genetics
- Twins look the same or even similar and so could then be treated the same by people who are around them - so we do not know if it genetics causing the problems or the enviroment
16
Q
What are adoption studies(genetics)?
A
- these are studies where adopted children are compared to there biological and there adopted parents to see which has had more of an influence out of the environment or biology
17
Q
What further is the study of hutching’s and Mednick(genetic) (adoption study)?
A
- They wanted to see if there was a genetic link with criminal behaviour
- They had studied 14,000 adopted children and had found a high boy proportion with criminal convictions had biological fathers who had criminal convictions too
- The included a control group where it was set up on things like there sex and age - they were checked whether they had criminal records as well as there fathers being checked, for the experimental group they checked the adopted and biological
- he had further found that a massive amount of male offspring with criminal convictions had biological parents with criminal convictions
18
Q
The strengths of adoption studies?
A
- They are exposed to a different enviroment from there biological family so then easier to seperate the enviroment and then biological
-The studies had further concluded that there is a correlation between adopted children and there biological parents
19
Q
The weaknesses of adoption studies?
A
- The age of adoption may then mean children have already been influenced by there environment
- They had further made the use of self report methods so then they could have ended up commiting a crime but they may have then just not have been caught
- It does not shows whether the type of crime that has been commited via the father has then further had an effect on what the results has then said
20
Q
What is lombroso’s atavistic theory (physiological theory)?
A
- He had arrived at his theory when he was measuring skulls, analysing the features of criminals and recording tatoos
-He explains criminality in the concept that we are “born criminals”, they are an evolutionary throwback and primitive versions of human beings, they have atavistic features that characterise a criminal like smaller skulls, heavier and taller, receding chin, twisted nose, large forehead
21
Q
What makes Lombrosos theory being considered as physiological?
A
It is related to the physical body parts and also the criminals appearances
22
Q
What further is the evaluation that we can have about Lombroso that is considered as a weakness?
A
- His work had become a problem because many jurors had ended up finding it difficult as they had been making use of biological terms that they didn’t understand and they were then becoming overwhelmed
- There had been a study by Charles goring that had also further tried to challenge him and he had found that there had been no physical differences between criminals and non criminals
23
Q
What is the further evaluation that could be considered as being a strength?
A
- His research had further become the starting point to try and develop more research to try and look into the causes of biological and physiological factors that may be playing as being a contribute to understanding criminal behaviours
- He had further highlighted the role that biology and evolution had in affecting criminal behaviour. arguing that criminals could be distinguished through there specific traits making a shift into understanding biology in relation to crime
24
Q
What is the sheldon’s somatotype theory?(physilogical)
A
- He said there was 3 somatotypes(body types)
- ectomorph - they are rounded, soft and tended to fat. Relaxed,social and outgoing personality
Endomorph - They are thin and fragile, they lack muscle and fat. Flat chested with narrow hips and shoulders, thin face and high forehead. Self concious, fragile, inward looking, emotionally restrained and thoughtful - Mesomorph -They are muscular and hard bodied, little fat and strong limbs. They have nroard shoulders with a narrow waist. There personality is adventurous, sensation seeking, assertive and domineering and they also enjoy physical activity
- he had then said mespomorph are most likely to be commiting crime because they like risk taking there strong physique and assertiveness would be great for commiting crimes
25
What are the weaknesses of sheldon's somatotype theory?
- Criminality is best explained with pyschological, biological and socioloigical aspects. This is a weakness as we need to be including a range of different theories in order to then be explaining criminality
- Labelling may play a part - they may be labbled as being troublemakers because they fit the stereotype of being considered as the tough guy. This may then be causing stigma around the group so they may then end up becoming isolated
26
What are the strengths of sheldons somatotype theory?
The most deliquants within sheldon's sample were those with the most extreme mesopmorph body shape. This is a strenghth because as most of the criminals in sheldon sample had the mesomorph body shape
There have been studies that have been replicating sheldon's findings - Gluek and Gluek have found that 60% of offenders were mesomorphs. This means that it is more valid as the results are then considered as being easily repeatable
27
What is the brain and biochemistry theory(Biological theory?)
- This theory had started with phineus gage and he was a railroad worker and a metal rod had ended up going through his head and destroying the left frontal lobe of his brain - he had become a totally different man - he was using bad manners, bad language and he had also kept lying - he had lost the part of the brain that was associated with his emotional and mental functions and he could not behavive in a socially appropriate way - it had shown that people with serious head injuries are twice more likely to be ending up in prison (misaac et al)
- This then has a link to causing criminality because damage to the left frontal lobe can then cause you to be behaving more agressively
Brain diseases have been linked to antisocial and with criminal behaviours:
Huntingsons diseases - this has a link with anti social and deviant behaviour
senile dementia - Linking with deviant behaviour and anti social behaviour
Encephalitis lethagica - among children in the 1920's and caused them to then behave detructiveness, impulsiveness and arson
28
What is the operant learning theory(individualistic learning theories)?
- According to Skinner people repeat behaviours when they are rewarded and stop the behaviours that are then being punished
-He also proposed that if crime has more rewarding consequences than punishing ones, they will then be more likely to engage with criminal bheaviour
29
What did the skinner box then further involve?
- It had further worked trough the use of the rat being first reinforced for pressing the lever - this would then lead to a high frequency of lever pressing - the rat would then be rewarded with a pellet - this would be the positive reinforcement- Then they might begin to give an electric shock when the rat is pressing the lever - this would then be the negetive reinforcement this should then be reducing the amount of lever presses that are then happening
30
What is the negative reinforcement(operant learning theory)?
this is when we take away an unwanted stimuls, for example teacher taking away homework because the class is being well behaved
31
What is the punishment(operant learning theory) ?
This reduces the likelihood that the behaviour would then end up occurring again, for example a child not doing there homework may then result in them receiving behaviour points
32
What is a positive reinforcement(operant learning theory)?
This is a reward for a behaviour that is desired, for example doing homework for achievement points
33
What is a case that then links to the operant learning theory?
The case of Harold Shipman - he had killed about 250 of his patients as he was a british doctor and his mother had lung cancer - due to his mother he then wanted to be in control of everything - his rewards was further outweighing the punishments - he go to control all of those patients
34
What are strengths of the operant learning theory?
- can be applied to offending, as most of the crimes are then being commited with having some type of reward in mind
- It is supported by animal research - Some animals are learning in similar ways to human's, so the theory is then able to be applied to human's
35
What are the weaknesses of the operant learning theory?
The theory is based on studies of learning in animals - even though some animals learn in a similar way it is then not an adequate model of how human's learn criminal behaviour's
Human's have free will and they are then able to choose there actions, this theory does not account for that
36
What is the psychodynamic theories (individualistic theories of crime) ?
- We are animals and we are driven by our basic biological motives - the emerges of society requires us to keep our impulses under control - freud believes that are personality("pysche") contains several parts and then these are at war with eachother - the conflict between these parts is then what helps to motivate our behaviour and he believes that the personality is split into 3 parts:
37
What are the 3 personality types(indivdualistic theories of crime - pyschodynamic) ?
ID - this is known as the selfish beast and it is then present at birth - it has instinctual drive like food and sex - if frustrated it can then end up becoming aggresive - unconcious part of the mind and uses the "primary process" in order to then try and satisfy it's needs
Ego - this is the reality principle - it balances the demands of the Id with the constrains of the superego in a way which is realistically possible - it is the executive of our personality - The ego defends itself from the ID and the superego and it then struggles via the defense mechanisms
Superego - This is known as the morality principle and it is governed by the way our parents would approve of - when we don't it then punishes us with anxiety and guilt - it is the concious - it is known as the "relentless policeman" and insists that we are doing the "right thing" - it opposes the desires of the ID - it enforces restrictions and battles against the ID
38
How may then this link with criminal behaviour(individualistic theory the pychodynamic theory)?
When the superego is weakly developed - they would have less guilt, might not experience remorse and not be concerned with right and wrong - so committing crimes being more likely
Overly harsh superego - they would have lot's of guilt and anxiety and might then want to punsish themselves
The superego is deviant - growing up in a family where crime is commited and will not experience any guilt so more likely to then be commiting crimes
39
What is the eysnick criminal personality (individualistic theories of crime)?
- Eyesnick had further suggested that personalities were innate and fixed but they can also be influenced through the enviroment
- Using a personality questionaire eyesnick had measured personality traits which includes neurotism, pyschotism, introvertion and extroversion and stability
- He had measured to the extent which people ranked in these four catogories, they were placed on a scale for these personality types - personality could be described as a combination
40
What did they find from eyesnick criminal personality questionaire (individualistic theories of crime) ?
- from combinations of personality traits, they had found one personality type that had emerged that had then been associated with criminal behaviour - high extroversion and neurotism - a later version had then included pyschotism, this had then created a second personality trait
- People who have high extroversion are prone to risk taking behaviours and they may push the boundaries more and try and break the rules
- Lack of stability with those scoring high neurotism may lead to unpredictable behaviours, higher levels of anxiety and guilt so they may be more quick tempered
- Those who then have higher levels of pyshcotism may then lack empathy and then more likely to then be antisocial and display agressive behaviorus
41
What are 2 strenghths of the eyesnick personality type theory (individualistic theories)?
- Ruston and ChristJon had measured that people with high levels of deliquancey and found that they had scored higher on neurotism, extroversion and pyschotism
- It has taken into account the both nature and nurture aspects - the biological theories ignore or at least downplay how important the enviroment can be in the development of criminal behaviour
42
What are 2 weaknesses of the eyesnick personality type theory(individualistic theories)?
- Perhaps traits like extroversion and neurotism may be found in the criminal populations because the criminal lifestyle has then resulted in a change of personality - the alternative could be that being in prison could cause the higher rates rather than being caused by it
- Only criminals have further been used in the sample - maybe criminals that have been arrested have higher scores in high extroversion and high pyschotism than those who are then not getting captured - high extroversion and high pyschotism may make an individual prone to angry outbursts, impulsivity and reduced ability to plan and asses the outcome of there behaviour
43
What is the labelling theory(sociological theories of crime)?
- she had put forward this theory as a way of explaining criminality - crime is considered as being a social construction - if someone is then being labelled as being a criminal, they will then behave in ways that reflects upon the label - this makes the individual deviant or criminal - this then has negative effects as society will then be biased - the individual becomes a self fuffiling prophacy by taking on the label and being criminal becomes there master status
44
What is Durkheim's functionalist theory (sociological theories of crime?)
- structural theories of crime focus on how societies structure causes an individual to commit a crime
- She had suggested that crime causes different functions for society
- Durkeim saw crime as having positive and negative effects on society as it alternated the value consesus(they are sharing social norms and also values) of social norms and values
- crime is a reflection of both changing norms and values in society and the decline of social norms - anomie - norms and values of society no longer mattering
- Too much crime in society can then cause a social breakdown - too little may cause society to then stagnate
- Impacts of crime that may then benefit society would be:
- boundary maintainence - crime produced a reaction that reunites society members against the wrongdoer, reminding them of what is right and wrong
- social change - for society to progress, individuals with new ideas must challenge existing norms and values
- Safety valve - for example, davis argues prostitution acts as a way to release men's sexual frustration without then hurting the nuclear family
- warning light - deviance institutes that society is then not functioning properly, for example high truancy rates could then signal that something is going wrong with the education system
45
What are the strenghhs of durkhein's functionalist theory of crime(sociological theories of crime)?
- first theory that had then shown that crime can have a positive effect on society
46
What are the weaknesses of durkeim's functionalist theory of crime(sociological theories of crime)?
- Impossible to then be saying how much crime is the "right amount" for society
- Each country has different social norms and values from eachother, an example would be that assisted suicide would be considered as being legal within Switzerland
- ignoring the effect that crime may then have on the individuals, for example if someone is then vandalising a property
47
What is merton's fuctionalist theory(strain theory) (sociological theories of crime)?
- Examined the different ways individuals respond to society's unequal structure
- He examined the structure of the american society, suggested that there is an existing "american dream" - this is a goal of financial success
- the means of achieving this goal depended on the opportunites that people have - not all people are able to be achieving this goal
- This caused a "strain to anomie" - individuals may turn to alternative means or reject social goals in response to this strain
- He argued that there were 5 possible ways that the members of american society could then respond to success goals:
- conformity - accepting goals and institutional means of achieving them, this was the most common response
- Innovation - accepting goals but then rejecting institutional means, they often found other more deviant ways
- ritualism - rejecting goals but then going along with institutionalised means, This behaviour results in being strongly socialised to conform to expected behaviours
- Reatreatism - rejecting the goals and the means, this often then turns to alcoholism and also drug abuse
- Rebellion - response that seeks to replace cultural goals and institutionalised means with new ones that meet norms and values of there particular group or culture
48
How does this then link to Nick leeson's case(Merton's strain theory, sociological theories of crime)?
- he had lost 1.3 billion of money, and he was making risk trades - the bank he was working in had ended up collapsing after 230 years an he had plead guilty and ended up getting 6 and a half years in prison with Singapore - this has had ended up conforming to Merton's strain theory now as it conforms to innovation as he was accepting the goals but he was then attempting to try and find other criminal ways to then be able to achieve this
49
What are the strengths of Merton's strain theory(sociological theories of crime)?
- Shows how normal and deviant behaviour can then happen because of following the same goal but through different means
50
What are the weaknesses of Merton's strain theory (sociological theories of crime)?
- It ignores crime that then has no economic motive, such as vandilism
- Sees crime and deviance as an individual response and then ignore this as being a group response
- It cannot explain why crimes are then being committed by wealthy people
51
What is the marxist theory (sociological theories of crime)?
- examines the conflict between different social classes within society - the bourgeousie(the ruling class) and the proleteriat(the working class) over the access to resources
- focuses on the ways in which the ruling class look to control the majority of the population
- Main argument is that society is considered as being unequal, both in the access to resources and in power
- The ruling class look to maintain there position of superiority over the rest of the population and use the criminal justice system as a way of achieving this
- The ruling class then create law so they can criminalise the activities of the lower classes and enforce punishments upon them
- They also control resources
52
What is cohen's theory(sociological theory)?
- He was influenced by Merton's ideas of inequality and agreed crime is caused by a reaction to blocked opportunities
- subcultural groups are most responsible for crimes
- In his research he had examined young males from low income backgrounds from USA in the 1950's
- As a response to education failure and ability to achieve status through legitimate means the males had suffered status frustration
- In response they had then turned to subcultural groups in order to obtain status from there peers
- As they were not able to obtain there status through legitimate means, the subcultural groups had ended up forming there own social norms and values that had subverted those of society
- Status was awarded based on a alternative status hierachy which awarded higher status to it's members for deviant activities than it did for conforming
- He had focused on non utilitarian crimes - it was most common among the groups - those that had little or no financial motive - for example criminal damage
-He argued that these behaviours were a result of seeking revenge on society
- Alternative status hierarchy had flipped social norms on there head - things like employment, hardwork had then been given a lower status
- The contemporary applications of this would then be that it can explain a high percentage of excluded pupils then going on to then be commiting crimes
- crime rates higher among young males who are most likely to be low achievers within education
- His ideas can also then be applied to crime prevention programmes - alternative ways to males to gain status for example boxing
53
What is the evaluation of Cohen's theory(sociological theories of crime)?
He assumes that people want to conform to society's norms and values and that being unable to then leads to a reaction - some retreat and some become ritualistic according to merton
Is crime the result of subcultures? Matza suggests that most young people drift in and out of deviant behaviours as unable to then be controlling subtereanian values
He explains petty crime, but fails to explore opportunities for further criminality based on location
54
What is bandura's learning theory(individualistic theories to criminality)?
- learning theories vary upon the reactions of individuals to what they observe and what they experience
- Based on individuals copying a behaviour from another - modelling
- They witness others peforming the behaviour perceive it to then be socially desirable - vacarious learning
- Associated with bandura and the bobo doll study - wanted to investigate the impact on being exposed to violent behaviours by adults
- Found out that when children observed adults acting violently towards the doll, imitate behaviour when given opportunity
- tested 36 boys and 36 girls ages of 3 and 6 - split into 3 groups one observed an agressive model, non agressive model and no model
- More physical aggression if male model was present for both males and females - more physical aggression if observed agressive role model
- Later study - rewarding model had then led to more agression - observing models behaviour was a form of observational learning - observing model being rewarded is vacrious reinforcement
- children being rewarded for imitating the behaviour of the models made them more likely to be copying the behaviours
55
How can Bandura's theory then end up being applied to crime?
if observing criminal behaviour it is then normalised so people may then imitate it
More likely to imitate criminal behaviour from family and friends if they are then being given a reward for this
56
What are the evaluation points for Albert Bandura's study?
weakness: It would be considered as being derterministic and that it assumes we have no free will over our behaviours
weakness: it also fails to explain why people who are always observing crime do not commit crime and those who do observe crime then do not
Strength: The study is considered as being scientific as they have managed to apply research methods to study agression with control groups showing limited agressive behaviour
Strength: proposed that criminality is able to then be learnt indirectly, we may be watching others commiting crimes and observing there rewards and punishments
57
What is the legal definition of crime?
breaking the law and then being punished by the legal system
58
what is the social definition to crime?
Act that goes against the community and society dissaproves of
59
What are non court sanctions?
punishment that does not then involve imprisonment, fo-r example: conditional causes, penalty notices
60
What are court sanctions?
Penalty or a punishment which is then imposed by the court, for example, custidial sentences, community sentences
61
what is deviance?
act or behaviour that goes against the dominant social norms of a specific group of society - this then causes disaproval
62
What is a formal sanction?
a punishment by the police (caution) or by a court (like a fine or imprisonment) - they are usually given for criminal behaviour
63
What is an informal sanction?
sanction from others within society such as name calling or ignoring the deviant person
64
What is criminal behaviour and deviance ?
some crime are against social norms and are deviant like theft and fraud but crimes like speeding or the illegal downloading of music are sometimes so common that they are not then deemed to be deviant
65
What is a norm?
These are social expectations that guide behaviour and explain why people act the way that they do and they often keep deviant behaviour in check and can bed different across cultures - for example: stopping at pedestrian crossing and waiting due to varying on what society you live in - in the USA you can get a ticket for jaywalking (cross or walk in street unlawfully) - handshaking when meeting someone - western societies good with handshakes whereas muslim societies do not encourage men and women to shake hands
66
What is a moral code?
good ways of behaving, breaking a moral code is considered as being serious in society for example murder
67
What are values?
Rules that are then shared by people in a given culture, general guidlines for living than norms, for example the sense that we should be respecting the elderly - native american, japenise and indian - societies in the USA may place a high value on human wealth
68
What is the legal definition of whether a crime has occured?
The dual code test for an act too be seen as criminal - two components is actus rea and mens rea - Mens rea further means "guilty mind" - whether they had intended to commit the act and were they aware of there actions causing harm - Actus rea - "guilty act" - act or ommision that has then led for the crime to then take place - combine to see if intention was to commit crime
69
What are some examples of laws that have been changing over time?
age of consent - 1944 the criminal justice system and public order act had lowered the age of consent for gay men from 21 to 18, 2001 it had been lowered to 16
Marriage: 1975 when Britain had agreed on homosexual couples being allowed to live openly, same sex marriage for couples had been legalized March 29 2014
Employment: 12 january 2000 a ban had been lifted from,gay, lesbian and bi people to serve in the armed forces - employment equality regulations had prohibted discrimination of sexual orientation within the workplace
discrimination: homosexual acts had been decriminilised by 1967, scotland: 1980 and isle of man 1992 and nothern island 1982
70
How can behaviour be considered as being unusual?
behaviour that is both unusual and good - risking your life in order to then save someone
behaviour that is ecentric and bizzare - like talking to trees in the park
Behaviour that is unusual and bad - for example attacking someone for no reason
not all harmful acts are crimes just like not all crimes are harmful acts - air pollution is not a crime yet vagrancy(homeless) is
71
What is strict liability?
Sometimes the wrongful act on it's own is enough to convict someone - even if you did not intend to do wrong it is still a crime - health and safety working on and traffic laws
72
What is self defence?
assualting someone when it is self defense is not considered as being a crime - this is as long as the force was then reasonable for the situation
73
What are the maim two types of offenses?
Summary offenses - less serious offenses such as speeding
Indictable offenses - more serious like rape and murder
74
What type of punishments would be given at the magistrates and police?
Magistrates court: community sentences, fines
Police: warnings,fines and cautions
75
What does it mean by crime is a "social construction"?
Norms are changing all of the time - societies are understanding criminal and deviant behaviour
- Social construction is something that has been made or defined by society. Therefore, what counts as being criminal is simply whichever acts society defines as criminal - one society or culture may define a particular act as criminal and pass a law against it while another country may then see nothing wrong with it
76
What are some example where laws differ from culture to culture?
Switzerland it is legal to be carrying out assisted suicide whereas in the UK it is illegal
It is illegal to chew gum in Singapore whereas it is legal within the UK
It is legal in the UK to feed pigeons whereas it is then not within Venice
In barbados it is considered an offense to be dressing your children in camouflage clothing
77
What is the application of the law according to circumstances?
In theory, the law is being applied equally to everyone, two people who have been suspected of the same crime should be treated in the same way by the justice system
This is not always the case:
- There are several ways laws may be applied differently according to the circumstance a criminal act occurs
- An example of this would then be the Mods and rockers within the 1960's they were handed out tougher sentences in order to try and "teach the young people a lesson"
- Moral panics - those who had convicted minor offenses during the London Riots were more likely to receive custidial sentences then similar cases conducted in "normal" circumstances
78
What is the study of typifications? (application of law according to circumstance)
Another way law may be enforced against similar cases would be the work of chanbliss
2 groups of youths - middle class the "saints" whilst the working class the "roughnecks"
He had found while both groups had commited offenses, police enforced the law more strictly against the roughnecks
supported the work of CIrcourel who had found the police hold typifications - ideas of a typical criminal
79
What are situational factors(application of law according to circumstances)?
situational factors play a large part in poice officers descions to stop and arrest the person - Pillivian and Briar
class,ethnicity and age these include - two indivduals may commit the same offense yet one may be more likely to be arrested than the other - two people may commit the same criminal act but they may be treated differently by the law if one is under the age of criminal responsibility - this is where a child is not deemed to have the capacity to commit crime
80
Examples of legal ages (the application of law according to circumstances)?
- Education - you leave school at 16 or if you are going to turn 16 - you must stay in some sort of education untill you are 18
- consent - from the age of 16 you are allowed to be giving consent
- You can leave home without parental consent at 18 - it would be unlikely would approve a parental order to bring back a child aged 16 or over
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v What are the 3 social defenses contained in the homicide act 1957 - this is solely for the offense of murder where the defendant can plead not guilty despite having killed someone?
- They will bring the investigation at the level of murder and work there way through the evidence to see if the defense is considered as being acceptable
- Diminished responsibility - if they are able to show there mental condition substantially reduced there ability of what they were doing or form a rational judgement, it reduces the conviction for manslaughter
- Loss of control - this is a partial defense that may reduce the offense to manslaughter
- Automatism - a crime must be a voluntary act - they must have conciously chosen to commit it - if they can show it was involuntary they can plead the defense of automatism
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What is the marxism theory(sociological theories of crime?)
- focuses on the way the ruling class look to control the majority of the population
- Society is unequal both into access to recourses and in power
- Ruling class mantain there superioty over the other classess to stop them having properties and capital - they do this through the goverment and the criminal justice system
- The ruling class create the law so they can criminilise the activities of the lower class and enforce the punishments - they have the control of resources - limiting the access people have to goods and services through what they pay workers
- Capitilism is the dominant economic system and it is based upon the private ownership of property and goods - we own goods and purchase them with wages we have worked for and in order to earn the goods we must sell our labour
- They argue that they allow ruling class to exploit workers by keeping low wages and profits then high and sell goods which makes profit of the ruling class - so they are then not able to afford the goods so go to crime
- They believe that laws are created in the ruling class interests to protect there property - tresspass , theft and copyright examples of protecting wealthy individuals property
- Law enforcement also focuses on working class areas and ignores coperate and white collar crime
- Law created via the ruling class they can get across what is right and wrong about society - this helps to control our population as it creates scapegoats out of less powerful groups of society - BLM protesters were labeled as disruptive when protesting
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What are some strengths for the marxism theory(sociological theories of crime)
There are many prosecutions for white collar or coperate crime like bernie maddof and the wolf of wall street
Provides an explanation for crime that covers all social classes and a variety of offenses
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What are some weaknesses of the marxism theory(sociological theories of crime)?
Largely ignores other non class inequalities such as ethnicity and also gender
Overstates the amount of crime that is in working class communities, not all working class individuals are commiting crimes, not all capitilist societies have high crime rates, like Japan
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What is left realism(sociological theories of crime)?
- They focus on tackling the crime causes rather than the punishment for the offender
- social inequality has an important role in the creation of crime through relative deprivation, marginilsation of groups and subcultural formation
- Main cause of crime is the marginilisation of the vulnerable groups within society
Marginilisation:
- working class and minority ethnic groups face social exlusion as a result blocked opportunites to be able to suceed within society
- low education, high levels of unemployment and way individuals are perceived leads to criminal behaviours
Relative deprivation:
way individuals perceive themselves to be financially disadvantaged compared to others
Paying higher costs for goods and services, low paid work - this can then be leading towards relative deprivation
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How do biological theories influence policies?
Biological theories argue that criminality is caused by a physical abnormality - led to crime and control punishemnt policies - aims to change the working of there brain or body and cure the condition that causes criminality - biochemical proccesses and factors have linked with criminality - like testosterone - led to policies mostly in form of indivdualised treatment programmes
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What is example 1 of the biology influencing the policies?
Diet being modified to the change there anti social behaviour
- Vitamain B3 has been used to treat some forms of skitzophrenia - a disorder that can be assoicated with violent behaviours
- Gesch et al had found that supplementing criminals diets with vitaimins, minerals and fatty acids caused a "remarkable reduction" in anti social behaviour (37%)
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What is example 2 of biology influencing policies?
Surgery - been used to alter there bodies and brains
Surgery castration - sex offenders been used to change offending behaviour, in denmark and the USA but then received some mixed results
Lobtomy - this proceedure involves cutting the frontal lobes of the brain and the thalumus - used to treat paranoid skitzophrenia - it can have serious side effects so there are many that are not peformed
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What is example 3 of biology having an influence on policies?
they can be used to treat or control anti social behaviour - affects the bodies biochemical proccess
alcohol abuse can trigger violent behaviour - antabuse can be used to treat alcoholism - prevents the body from breaking down the alcohol - this causes very unpleasent hangover symptoms if they even consume a small quantity
Heroin addicts - often leads to them commiting a crime so they are able to afford the drug - methadone is used in treating addicts - long term alternative or could prevent the withdrawel symtptoms - providing a legal substiute
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How do individualistic theories end up influencing policies?
develop treatment programmes to reduce offending behaviour
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What is example 1 of individualsitic theories having an influence on policies?
Operant learning and token economies - criminal behaviour being learnt through punishment and reinforcement - - can be applied through token economies - behaviour modification programme used in prisons
It works within this way:
- They are setting a list of desirable behaviours
- When they do a desirable behaviour they are then rewarded with a token
- The tokens may then be able to be exchanged for rewards
- This may increase the likelehood of the desired behaviours
Some have shown an improvement within there behaviour - but when the reinforcement stops it then may dissapear - they return to the crime more slowly than the ones who have not undergone the programme - make them more managable when they are in prison
In the USA food and drink have then been withheld as being rewards - people argue that is a human right and then not a privelidge
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What is example 2 of individualistic theories then having an influence on policies?
cognitive theories and CBT
- been applied to CBT
- they shape that our thought proccesses are shaping our behaviour, including offending behaviour
- They have "cognitive distortions" that then lead them to offending behaviours
- It aims to then be changing there thoughts and atitudes so they can then change there behaviours
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What is the think fast programme(example 2 indivdualistic theories)?
one to one sessions for repeat offenders that are on probation - aims to control there thoughts, feelings and there behaviours - teaches problem solving, what is the consequences of actions and descion making and seeing things from others point of view
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What is agression replacement training(example 2 indivdualistic theories)?
- It is for violent and agressive offenders
- They do role play, anger control techniques( dealing with emotions and doing alternatives instead of then being violent)
- moral reasoning training - this challenges there atitudes through confronting them with moral dilemas
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What is an evaluation of CBT therapy(individualistic theories of crime example 2)?
Not all CBT programmes are equally successfull or suitable - for example, there would be no point in putting a non violent burglerer on an ART programme
Home office what works policy is aimed to see that CBT is actually reducing offending so it have to meet the crteria:
- clear plan and proven methods to altering the offenders behaviour
- carefully matching the offenders to there programmes - terms of offense, reoffending and learning ability
- targeting the risk factors that then lead to offending
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What is example 3 of indivdualistic theories having an influence on policies?
Aversion therapy and eyesnicks theory - to treatment of sex offenders - he states that criminals are high extroverts and have high neurotism - hard to condition as being resistant to learning through punishemt - the conditioning then needs to be stronger:
asked to think about unacceptable sexual fantasy untill aroused
strong aversive stimulus like an electric shock
repeated untill the offender associates deviant arousal with stimulus - aim to stop thoughts and the offending behaviour - this usually only used for short term
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How do sociological theories end up having an influence on policies?
For merton in America he suggests the main goal is wealth - poor find doing this legitimately is then blocked - many adapt to this through "innovating" which is making the use of illegal means - some argue that crime is caused by the blocked opportunities - subcultures coping with this by becominbg proffesional criminals
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What is decriminilisation example 1(sociological theories having an influence on policies)?
decriminilisation of offenses like cannabis would then mean fewer young people being labeled as criminals - can prevent them from getting a job and can lead to secondary deviance(reoffending)
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What is diversion policies example 2 (sociological theories having an influence on policies?)
Aims to keep an offender out of the justice system so as to avoid labelling them as criminals - some are informal so you use the discretion not to charge someone - some are formal like attending an anger managment course to then not get porsecuted
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What is reingenerative shame example 3(sociological theories having an influence on policies)?
There had been two types of labelling or shaming that were identified:
Disintegrative shaming - the crime and the criminal are labelled as bad so the offender is then excluded from society - go to secondary deviance
Reintergrative shaming - this is when they label the act but not the actor - "he has done a bad thing" - rather than "he is a bad person" - it avoids stigmatising the offender as evil which is encouraging them to admit them back into society
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What is the evaluation for this(sociological theories having an influence on policies?)
It can deal successfully with minor offenses - keeping them out of the justice system and avoiding them to going to adeviant carer
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What is the first case for AC3.1?
The Enron case:
Marxist explanation - greed and competitiveness of Enron that was shown via executives is the selfish mentality that capitalism then promotes. Exploitive atitudes to there emloyees(they lost there pentions and there jobs) illistrates conflict between the capitilists and the workers
Labelling theory - enron has a respectable public image enabled the bosses to get away with the corrupt practices for long, without being labelled negatively, just because the company is above suspicion
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What is the second case of AC3.1?
Harold shipman:
The operant learning theory - commited the crimes because the rewards of having control over the patients for such a long period of time had then had an outweigh over the punishments
Pyschodynamic theory - Id taken over - immidiate gratification for needs and desires - shown through taking control of the patients - underdeveloped superego because he may not have felt any guilt when he was commiting the crime
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What is the third case of AC3.1?
Ted Bundy:
Merton strain theory - The american dream - everyone in America having the goal of financial success - means of achieving goal is opportunity - not everyone able to achieve goal - stealing as family tight for money to pursue skiing - innovation accepting the goals but achieving through deviance
The social learning theory - grandfather being violent - percieved the behaviour as being socially desirable - vacarious learning - may have mimicked the behaviour - violence towards women - karen he had carried out sexual assualt whilst she was unconcious
Pyschodynamic theory - Id taken over - instinctual needs and desires - sexual gratification by spying on women at night - pyschotic pysch - his Id had taken control completely - started to act upon his inhumane fantasies - Karen's apartment and had sexually assualted her whist she had then been unconcious
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What is the fourth case of AC3.1?
Ma Baker:
She was the mother of several gang members - she was acting as motherly support to her vilaanious sons - Freddie, Lloyd arthur and Herman
They had started with petty crime but had then moved onto robbery and kidnapping people who had lot's of money - Edward Bremer - 200,000
There had been a myth circulating that Ma Baker was the leader of the group - the newspaper was sensationalising and branding criminal personality types - she was moving with her sons but she had not much involvement within the criminal business - "she was the meanest cat" "She never cried"
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What are social norms, mores and values?
aspects of culture that regulates people's behaviours
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What are values?
general principle, beliefs or guidelines about how we should be living our lives. Different societies have different values, for example UK placing a high value on pursuing wealth
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What are norms?
different rules or socially acceptable standards about how we are expected to behave within specific situations. They can be informal, like you should not jump the queue. specific norms are often based on general values. for example, modern society values the principle that all individuals have equal worth and value. Becomes a specific norm when they make it illegal to discriminate against someone based sex, sexual orientation and race
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What are mores?
basic essential norms that society sees as vital for maintaining standards of decency and civilised behaviour, for example is the taboo against incest
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What is the public perception on crime for drink driving?
- laws change over time - change because of the change within society's culture - norms and values - changes of value can impact the public's perception they have on crime - an act that used to be seen as acceptable is then now being seen as wrong
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what did they used to further think about drink driving (the public's perception they have on crime)
views about drink driving has changed - changes in law and policies - now they have tighter laws as they see it as more serious
1925 - first law passed in making drink driving an offense - there was no definition of being "drunk" - no legal limit to the alcohol that is within your blood - police and courts left to see whether fit to drive
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What is AC4.3 pressure group campaigns?
Organisations that try and influence government policies in a interests on a particular cause - important role in policy making in both gaining the support of the public and creating change by persuading politicians to then agree that the change may then be needed
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What is the campaign of inquest?
- They focus on state related deaths like people police custody and in prison - they have been involved in many Inquest like the death of the grenfell tower
- It campaigns to make sure that investigations into deaths treat bereaved people with respect and dignity:
casework - they carry out casework to support the bereaved people so they can establish the truth about a death that occured whilst someone is in the care of a state
accountability - state institutions are held accountable when they fail to safeguard those who are in care
Changing policies - spread lessons learnt from investigations to prevent future deaths - casework, conducts research and information to press public bodies to be changing there policies - examples of policy changes - independent policies complaints commision - investigating serious complaints against the police - extending 2007 coporate manslaughter act to cover death in custody of public authorities
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What is the campaign of protection against stalking?
- wanted to introduce a new law making stalking a specific offense - 1997 anti harrassment law did not refer specifically to stalking
stalking can lead to death and physical attacks - Claire Bernal had been shot dead by the stalker in London department store - due in court for harrasing her
The way the police was dealing with stalking was inadequate - victims not taken seriously and only 70 prosecutions in 10 years in the 1997 act and no clear policy often left to individual officers discretion
Concluded that the law had not been fit for purpose - Napo supported (the probation officers union) - set up an independent parlimentry inquiry asking MPS and peers from all parties to serve it
This had lasted for several months - hearing evidence from victims and relatives,acedemic experts, lawyers
The inquries report had then been published on feburary 2012 - with support from MPS they were able to get the amendment of a bill to go through parliment - Protection of freedoms act 2012 - voices of victims were then heard - gain support from organisations and groups
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What is the sarah's law campaign newspapers?
- Sarah payne had further been abducted and within 2000
- The news of the world had managed to back up the campaign led by Sarah's mother who is Sarah Payne
- She was an 8 year old girl and she had been abducted and murdered by Roy whiting - he was on sex offenders register for abducting and assualting a young girl
- They had a petetion that had been promoted by the News of the World it had received 700,000 signatures
- The policy that had been introduced was the child sex offender disclosure scheme - it allows people who are able to protect the children to apply for details of those in the area with convictions of child sex offenses - it had been extended to all areas within England and Wales in 2011
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What is the clare's law campaign?
Clare wood of Salford in greater manchester had been beaten,raped and strangled and her body had been set on fire by George Appleton - they had a relationship, it had ended but he was still harrassing her
He had a history of convictions of violence against women but Clare did not know this - 5 year prison sentence for holding his girlfriend at knifepoint
Michael did not know anything about his criminal history either - after she had died he had found out that she made lot's of complaints to the greater Manchester police - after relationship she had been harrased, threatened to kill and rape her but the police did nothing
they had waited 26 months while Clares death and the police failure had been investigated by INQUEST - he had then launched a campaign about changing the law for women to know about there partners violent past - 4 years they were gathering evidence - organising petetions and gathering support from charities and the media to change the law
The domestic violence disclosure scheme - introduced a pilot scheme in 4 areas - went out to 43 police forces in England and Wales
Two proceedures the police can use in disclosing info about individuals about an individuals violent and abusive offending to there partner:
Right to ask: member of the public has the right to apply for the police to disclose info - own partner or somebody that they know
Right to know - the police may disclose info to protect the potential victim, even without being asked to do so - there had been 6496 "right to ask" requests and 2575 had been granted
