ac4.1 - assess the use of criminological theories in informing policy development

Question 1

what is the psychodynamic treatment for criminality

Answer 1

psychoanalysis

Question 2

define psychoanalysis

Answer 2

founded by freud where the patient verbalises their thoughts through a variety of methods

Question 3

what is the aim of psychoanalysis

Answer 3

access unconscious, repressed thoughts believed to lead to criminality

Question 4

what does psychoanalysis assume

Answer 4

that any psychological problems caused during development or repressed trauma are embedded in the unconscious mind

Question 5

why does psychoanalysis allow free association

Answer 5

so the patient talks about whatever enters their mind

Question 6

how is psychoanalysis conducted

Answer 6

with the patient lying down on the couch facing away from the analyst

Question 7

list weaknesses of psychoanalysis

Answer 7

least favoured in contemporary approaches, very time consuming and unlikely to provide quick answers

blackburn - very few positive evaluations of it as a treatment method with offenders

andrews et al - argue it should be avoided with offenders

nature of it creates power imbalance between therapist and client - ethical issues

patient could discover very painful memories that were deliberately repressed

Question 8

what did a 2010 study conclude about psychoanalysis (strength)

Answer 8

works as well as other treatments such as cbt

Question 9

what is the policy linking to learning theory and bandura

Answer 9

behaviour modification

Question 10

what does behaviour modification focus on

Answer 10

techniques to extinguish undesirable behaviours and promote desirable ones

Question 11

how does behaviour modification work

Answer 11

criminal behaviour is punished in order to weaken the thought-process leading to the illegal behaviour

Question 12

what is token economy in relation to behaviour modification

Answer 12

token given for desired behaviour which is later exchanged for a treat. prisoners who follow rules can earn privileges

Question 13

how is fo and o’donnell’s study of buddy systems a weakness of behaviour modifications

Answer 13

adult volunteers assigned to a young offender to provide consistent reinforcement for socially acceptable behaviour. while this appears to improve behaviour of serious offenders, its impact on less serious offenders was mixed

Question 14

describe the mixed evidence for the effective of token economies

Answer 14

suggests that they have short term effectiveness with both young offenders (hobbs and holt) and adult offenders (allyon and milan). however improvements tend not to generalise beyond institutions in the long term

Question 15

describe social skills training and its effectiveness as behaviour modification

Answer 15

aims to improve skills to avoid offending and become more socially competent. however once training stops the benefit can often be forgotten or totally disappear after a long time

Question 16

describe anger management and its effectiveness

Answer 16

aims to avoid violent offences taking place by people unable to control their anger. can be effective if resourced correctly

Question 17

how does novaco describe anger management programmes

Answer 17

suggests that because offenders cannot deal with their anger, it tends to be displaced onto targets. anger management uses cbt techniques to help offenders deal more effectively with their anger

Question 18

how does gesch et al show that neurochemicals can inform criminality as a biological theory

Answer 18

231 young adult male volunteers agreed to receive either a daily vitamin, mineral and fatty acid supplement or a placebo drug. took psychological testing, reports of violence and disciplinary action before and after. found that average number of disciplinary incidents per 1000 person-days dropped by 6 in the supplement group (35% reduction) versus the placebo (6% reduction). violent incidents 37% drop vs 10% drop

Question 19

what does gesch et al studys demonstrate

Answer 19

that diet can positively impact aggressive behaviour resulting in less crime

Question 20

what did virkkunen et al find about violent offenders (neurochemicals)

Answer 20

violent offenders had a lower than average serotonin turnover

Question 21

how can a low serotonin turnover be treated (neurochemicals)

Answer 21

diet with salmon and fresh tuna

Question 22

schoenthaler found that a reduced sugar diet reduced anti social behaviour by what percent

Answer 22

48%

Question 23

how has research around neurochemicals and diet had an impact on prisons?

Answer 23

all prisons now attempted to embrace the balance of good health model by providing balanced and healthy diets

Question 24

describe what happened when a pilot scheme provided chemical castration for sex offenders in a prison in whatton

Answer 24

volunteers given a pill to reduce sex drive, positively received by the prisoners

Question 25

define eugenics as a biologically informed policy

Answer 25

inheritance of genes could explain certain characteristics, reinforces biological determinism and claims that genes have contributed to many social problems

Question 26

describe the nazi sterilisation programme as an example of eugenics

Answer 26

advocates for higher rates of reproduction for people with desirable traits and sterilisation for those with less desired traits, would prevent disabilities and incarcerated criminals from giving birth to criminal offspring

Question 27

how does obsorn and west support eugenics

Answer 27

found 40% of boys whose fathers had criminal records had criminal records themselves, compared with 12% of boys with non criminal fathers

Question 28

give an example of eugenics for ethical and moral reasons that happened in 2015 in the uk

Answer 28

a judge gave an order allowing a mother of 6 with learning disabilities to be sterilised

Question 29

why was the death penalty abolished in the uk in 1969 after it was temporarily halted in 1965

Answer 29

it was shown that the murder rate did not soar as a result of the abolition

Question 30

statistics from the usa show that which states have higher and lower murder rates based on the death penalty

Answer 30

25% lower in non death penalty states than ones who still have it, suggests that it is not a deterrent

Question 31

how is impulse crime a weakness of the death penalty as a biological policy

Answer 31

often people kill in the heat of the moment under drugs or alcohol or by mental illness and impulse. they are unlikely to make rational decisions based on future consequences such as being given the death penalty

Question 32

define penal populism as a sociological and right realist policy

Answer 32

govts attempts at proposing laws to punish offenders that will be popular with the public

Question 33

how is the policy of penal populism believed to have started

Answer 33

when the public became concerned about violent crime in the community after the murder of james bulger in 1993. the media fuelled this concern saying they need to be tough on crime and punishment

Question 34

how has the media being tough on crime impacted prison sentences in the uk (penal populism)

Answer 34

many people given prison sentences and the uk has more life sentences than the whole of europe combined

Question 35

what punitive laws have been introduced by successful political parties and leaders such as tony blair (penal populism)

Answer 35

automatic life sentences for a second serious offence. minimum fixed term custodial sentences

Question 36

describe concurrent sentences

Answer 36

multiple sentences given and served at the same time

Question 37

describe consecutive sentences

Answer 37

served one after the other

Question 38

describe suspended sentences

Answer 38

served in the community with conditions such as unpaid work

Question 39

the prison population has risen by how much in the last 30 years

Answer 39

70%

Question 40

short prison sentences are less effective than community sentences are reducing what

Answer 40

reoffending

Question 41

fewer than how many people surveyed said that having more people in prison was the most effective way to deal with crime

Answer 41

one in ten

Question 42

what can be seen as a more effective way of rehabilitation other than prison

Answer 42

early intervention such as better parenting, discipline in schools and better rehabilitation

Question 43

almost what percent of prisoners reported that they had felt unsafe at some point in prison

Answer 43

50%

Question 44

the prison system as a whole has been overcrowded every year since when

Answer 44

1994

Question 45

what percentage of adults are reconvicted within a year of release from prison

Answer 45

46%

Question 46

define zero tolerance policing as a sociological policy

Answer 46

all crimes are acted on no matter how trivial they are

Question 47

how is zero tolerance policing successful in nyc

Answer 47

used computers to analyse crime hot spots street by street and crime by crime, since 1993 murder fell by 50%

Question 48

what theory is zero tolerance policing based upon

Answer 48

broken windows theory by kelling and wilson, run down areas must be acted upon to prevent further crime occurring

Question 49

what are the negative consequences of aggressive policing from zero tolerance policing

Answer 49

accusations of heavy-handedness by the police, racial tension such as the death of george floyd in 2020 and the rise of black lives matter campaign

Question 50

what other reasons are there that crime fell in nyc apart from zero tolerance policing

Answer 50

fewer residents take violence inducing crack cocaine, many criminals in the 80s now in prison, fell in areas without the policy

Question 51

where may zero tolerance policing have less of an effect

Answer 51

dispersed or low crime rate populations, rather than heavily populated and crime ridden areas

Question 52

define restorative justice as a sociological policy

Answer 52

voluntary process where the victim and the offender discuss what happened and what can be done with a trained facilitator

Question 53

when can restorative justice happen

Answer 53

any stage in the criminal justice process.

Question 54

how is restorative justice more used nowadays

Answer 54

growing in popularity, govt funding providing to make process available to all victims of crime

Question 55

what does restorative justice allow for victims and offenders

Answer 55

allows victims a voice in the cjs and makes offenders accountable and responsible for their actions

Question 56

what do pilot studies suggest about restorative justice

Answer 56

can reduce ptsd in victims and motivate offenders to turn away from a life of crime

Question 57

what have various studies suggested about restorative justice

Answer 57

reduced reoffending rates and is good value for money

Question 58

what percent of victims who took part in restorative justice were satisfied with the process

Answer 58

85%

Question 59

why is cctv an invaluable technique in criminal investigations and as a sociological policy

Answer 59

one of the first requests made by the police, id of a perpetrator made easier, can be a deterrent to prevent crime

Question 60

what types of crime is cctv more and less effective at preventing

Answer 60

more effective with theft but no impact on violent crime

Question 61

how is the case of james bulger an example of cctv success as a policy

Answer 61

cctv image of james bulger being led away by the two ten year old perpetrators helped identify suspects and show the severity of the crime

Question 62

define the multi agency approach as a sociological policy

Answer 62

cooperation between agencies in the cjs to prevent and detect crimes and issues such as domestic abuse and safeguarding, as it cannot be tackled by just the police alone

Question 63

how is prevent an example of the multi agency approach

Answer 63

teachers and doctors taught to detect and prevent terrorism and radicalisation in schools and hospitals

Question 64

how can prevent as a multi agency approach be problematic

Answer 64

staff in schools and nhs may not feel comfortable to monitor the behaviour of the people they are trying to help