AC3.3 Limitations of agencies in achieving social control

Question 1

Repeat offenders/recidivism

Answer 1

• If offenders fail to rehabilitate & continue to commit crime then social control will never be achieved.
• Recidivism is one of main reasons why prison population has increased over past 20 years - Prison Reform Trust
• Links to SLT - explains some of these statistics due to offenders learning and copying from others in prison.

Question 2

Repeat offenders/recidivism statistics

Answer 2

• Recall population is 19% higher than in 2015
• 46% of adults are reconvicted within one year of release - 60% for those serving sentences less than 12 months.
• Nearly 7 in 10 children (69%) sent to prison are reconvicted within a year - rises to 77% for those children serving sentences less than 12 months.

Question 3

Civil liberties and legal barriers

Answer 3

• Basic rights and freedoms granted to citizens of a country e.g Freedom of Speech, movement.
• Limit social control as they restrict police from achieving social control such as foreign nationals with criminal convictions who cannot be deported from UK due to prions being in danger in home country.
• Links to Marxism as laws are necessary to protect working class from ruling elite making judgement against them.

Question 4

Case example of civil liberties and legal barriers

Answer 4

• Abu Qatada - in 2012 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that hate preacher could not be deported to Jordan due to the risk of him being tried on evidence obtained by torture.
• He was eventually deported back in 2013.

Question 5

Access to resources and support

Answer 5

• Limit prisoners from being able to rehabilitate, therefore limits success of SC.
• Prisoner apprenticeships - offers prisoners opportunity that will count towards completion of formal apprenticeship on release.
• Lack of support - prisoners are given discharge grant, this has remained at £46 since 1997.

Question 6

Access to resources and support statistics

Answer 6

• 1 in 10 people released from prison have no accommodation.
• 48% of those housed had a primary or secondary support need to manage risk of reoffending.
• 51% of people entering prison were assessed as having literacy skills expected of a 11 year old.

Question 7

Finance

Answer 7

• Funding is limited and budget cuts have impacted the effectiveness of achieving SC - leads to shortage of police, prison staff.
• The impact - police riot squads were sent to HMP The Mount twice in 24 hours - lack of finance impacts on a ability to keep SC in prisons.

Question 8

Finance statistics

Answer 8

• HOC Briefing Paper 2016 - central grant to police has decreased by 25% limiting number of focusers available to detect crime.
• ## HM prison service also suffers from budget cuts - decreased by a 1/4 - leading to suicides, self harm.

Question 9

CPS and lack of finance

Answer 9

• Staff cuts at CPS has led to a marked decline on performance with inadequate case progression and preparation.
• This could lead to miscarriages of justice ad decrease effectiveness of SC.

Question 10

Charities & pressure groups lack of finance

Answer 10

• Funded by voluntary contributions, if not received unable to function.
• Charities have lost more than £3.8 billion in grants from government over last decade.

Question 11

Local and national policies

Answer 11

• Local police forces prioritise certain crimes over others depending on scale of problem in area.
• National Government Policies focus on certain crimes such as knife crime and gang related - dedicated £1.2 billion to fund support workers in area.
• e.g. Mayor Sadiq Khan launched policing plans outlining a series of policies aimed at tackling hate crimes & boosting Met Police’s armed anti terror squad.
• In 2017 CPS indicated there would be a crackdown on social media hate crimes.

Question 12

Environment

Answer 12

• Prison reform trust - people less likely to reoffend if they have family visits in prison - 68% had no visit.
• Offenders released to same environment such as drug taking or reoffending leads them to more crime but less likely yo if live with immediate family after release.
• 1in 4 people have a job on release.
• 12% of employers employ someone with criminal record.

Question 13

What is a moral imperative?

Answer 13

A strongly felt principle that compels a person to act e.g offenders commit crime as they believe they are doing the right thing based on their morals.

Question 14

Anti - vivisection actions

Answer 14

• Prosecutors believe their actions are right thing to do.
• In attempt to protest at experiments on live animals their actions can result in a criminal offence e.g. Luke Steele imprisoned twice for attacks labs along with harassment and intimidation of lab workers.

Question 15

Assisted suicide

Answer 15

• Crime committed with a compassionate motive, in UK helping someone to die is a criminal offence e.g Kay Gilderdale administrated drugs to her daughter to help her die - Shows drastic action can be out of a sense of sympathy and a feeling of being morally right to commit crime.
• Links to functionalism - produce boundary maintenance by showing what is acceptable in society - where majority of right-minded, law abiding members in society would reaffirm their values and produce social solidarity.