AC4.1

Question 1

What is an informal policy?

Answer 1

These are policies linked to unofficial ideas to prevent crime, and are created by unofficial authorities e.g. the family

Question 2

What is a formal policy?

Answer 2

These are policies linked to official ideas to prevent crime, and are created by official authorities i.e. the Government

Question 3

What is a social policy?

Answer 3

Refers to legislation, guidelines and interventions designed to change, maintain or create living conditions that are necessary for human welfare. They were designed to address social issues e.g. to reduce violent crime

Question 4

What type of policy is crime control policies and what do they do?

Answer 4

Formal policies that place emphasis on reducing crime in society through increasing the powers of the police, prosecutors and courts

Question 5

What type of policy is state punishment policies and what do they do?

Answer 5

Formal policies which set guidelines for the type of punishments that go with particular crimes. Most justice systems have a variety of sanctions that can be imposed on offenders

Question 6

What are the three biological policy developments for crime?

Answer 6

Death penalty
Chemical castration
Eugenics

Question 7

What the death penalty?

Answer 7

State authorised execution of convicted criminals deemed too dangerous to be allowed to live or they are believed to be ‘deserving’ of death

Question 8

When and why is the death penalty used?

Answer 8

Often used for the most severe offences such as murder and fulfils an aim of punishment called retribution (i.e. an eye for an eye)

Question 9

What are the methods for the death penalty?

Answer 9

Hanging, Electric chair, Lethal injection, Firing squads

Question 10

What theorist would support the use of the death penalty as a crime policy, and why would they have supported the policy?

Answer 10

Biological theorists such as Lombroso - because he believed that criminals are biologically abnormal and genetically predisposition to crime. Therefore, by using the death penalty to execute serious criminals it prevents the criminal from inevitably committing crime again

Question 11

How would the death penalty control crime?

Answer 11

Helps to remove the biological abnormality and criminal genes from the gene pool

Question 12

What are the two arguments for the death penalty policy?

Answer 12

-Serves as a deterrent against serious crimes
-Has a 100% success rate from preventing the offender from committing future crimes

Question 13

What are the two arguments against for the death penalty policy?

Answer 13

-Stats from the USA shows that the murder rate is lower in states that do not have the death penalty
-Possibility of executing innocent individuals who have been wrongfully convicted

Question 14

What is chemical castration?

Answer 14

A legal body chemical treatment that has been used in the UK since around 1944 to reduce the level of testosterone in men, and also in women, to lower sexual desire. It’s done through the administration of antiandrogen drugs, either in pill form or more commonly via injections

Question 15

What is chemical castration used for?

Answer 15

Initially it was used for the treatment of sex offenders, thought of as a cure for their problem and as recently as 2010, a British man agreed to undergo chemical castration as part of the terms of his sentence

Question 16

Who was the man in 1952 who received chemical castration and why did he receive it?

Answer 16

Alan Turing - deemed to be ‘sexually devaint’ because he was homosexual. He was given 2 choices, either receive the chemical castration or go to prison. Alan later committed suicide as a result of the side effects from chemical castration

Question 17

Hoe does chemical castration link to biological theories?

Answer 17

Links to the idea that criminals suffer from biological abnormalities, such as irregular hormone levels. For example, from a biological perspective a sex offender’s actions could be caused as a result of an overproduction of sex hormones

Question 18

How does chemical castration aim to control crime as a policy?

Answer 18

There’s an attempt to correct/cure the abnormality. Once the abnormality is addressed then the criminal behaviour should reduce as a by-product

Question 19

What biological theories does chemical castration link to/be supported by?

Answer 19

High levels of testosterone to criminality such as Sheldon’s somatotyping and Jacob’s XYY theory

Question 20

What are the three arguments for chemical castration?

Answer 20

-This policy has been trialed- suggested it can cut re-offending rates from 40% to 5%
-Reduces motivation and ability to commit offences
-Allows convicted criminals to participate in society

Question 21

What are two arguments against chemical castration?

Answer 21

-Positive effects of this policy may be limited, only a small number of sex offenders will benefit from these treatments
-Usually last between 3-5 years and then no longer effective after it’s discontinued - range of negative side effects