ac4.1 sociological influences on policy Flashcards
how has right realism influenced policy
-Situational Crime Prevention SCP
-> aim= to reduce opportunity for crime by increasing the risks, based on rational choice by target hardening measures (such as locking cars, security guards etc)
what is a problem with SCP
displacement
->criminals will look for an alternative target which may involve more vulnerable targets
how has right realism influenced prison policy
“Prison works” -> from 1990s Governments began to take the view that tougher penalities are needed
what are the 2 functions right realists see of prisons
- Incapacitation: criminals become incapable of harming the public
- Deterrence: criminals think twice before committing an offence due to the punishment
when was the Crime (sentences) Act brought in by the conservatives
1997
what did the 1997 Crime Act introduce
minimum sentences
what were the minimum sentences introduced by the 1997 Crime Act
-automatic life sentence for 2nd serious sexual/violent offence
-minimum 7 years for 3rd class, class A drug trafficking conviction
-minimum 3 years for 3rd, domestic burglary conviction
what was introduced when Tony Blair’s new labour came into power in 1997 (2)
1.ASBO: anti social behaviour order -> a court order which can be obtained by local authorities in order to restrict the behaviour of a person likely to cause harm or distress to the public
2.Curfews
give stats on reoffending rates (right realism)
since 2008/09 re-offending rates fluctuated between a high of 31.6% in 2008/09 to 24% in 2021/21
how have sociological theories influenced policy
(3)
-policies to tackle poverty: better welfare policies, wages + job security would reduce crime by providing equal opportunities
-equal opportunities in school: treating working-class pupils equally would reduce failure rate, making it less likely they would join a subculture
-education in prison: half of UK prisoners have a reading age of 11 -> better education in prisons would help inmates gain skills
sociological theories have influenced policies, how effective are these
evidence shows anti-poverty policies have a positive effect
->societies that spend more on welfare, jail fewer people
->those with greater inequality, like the USA have higher crime rates
how has the labelling theory influenced policies (3)
-decriminalisation: minor offences such as posession of cannabis would mean fewer young people were labelled as criminal. a criminal record could prevent them from getting a job and may lead to further crime
-diversion policies: aim to keep an offender out of the justice system to avoid labelling. some diversion policies are informal, others are formal such as programmes to avoid prison
-reintegrative shaming: BRAITHWAITE identifies 2 types of shaming/labelling : disintegrative and reintegrative
what is disintegrative shaming (labelling theory)
crime an d criminal is labelled as bad + offender is excluded from society, could cause secondary deviance
what is reintegrative shaming
labels the act but not the offender, avoids stigmatising the offender as evil
labelligt theories have influenced polices, are these effective
evidence shows some crime control policies based on labelling can deal with minor offences successfully
-by avoiding labelling people as criminal they avoid deviant careers
tell me about right realism environmental and crime prevention
-Wilson and Keeling’s broken window theory argues that a disorderly are creates a message that nobody cares ->attracts crime
-environmtal improvement strategy: all signs of disorder must be tackled promptly
-zero tolerance policing strategy: all tough zero tolerance approach -> police to focus on quality of life offences eg: begging, prostitutiona dn vandalism
is zero tolerance effective (right realism)
-crime fell after ZTP was introduced in 1990s NYC, but this could be due to other factors
-Males and Mascallair found that ZTP curfews can increase juvenile crime
-ZTP can lead to targeting of ethnic minorities due to police racism
-ZTP and SCP fail to tackle structural causes of crime, they also focus on low level crimes
how has left realism influenced policies to reduce inequality
left realists call for changes in structure to tackle discrimination and equality ->reduce relative deprivation
how has left realism influenced democratic policing
police are losing public support
to win back this support, police should involve the communities and focus on victimising crimes such as domestic violence
what are the 3 left realism policing policies
-neighbourhood policing + police community support officers
-possession of cannabis is a low priority crime
-domestic violence + hate crime are of higher priority
how has left realism introduced a multi-agency approach
involvement of a range of agencies such as schools, youth services, housing departments etc. Local councils could improve facilities for young people etc
name an example of a multi-agency approach
No knives, Better Lives -> including schools, local council, youth services which aims to reduce knife crime
how has left realism introduced new labour policies
“tough on crime” -> investment to communities that care
tell me about surveillance theories and their influence on policied
-modern form of Panopticon
-CCTV depends on the criminals believing they are being watched
HOWEVER Gill and Loveday found that very few criminals were put off but CCTV
-Stereotyping: Norris + Armstrong found CCTV operators using racist sterotypes
-“Surveillance creep” is where technology gets introduced for one reason but gets extended to another eg: ANPR being used for untaxed vehicles
