Asses the use of criminological theories in forming policy development

Question 1

Who founded psychoanalysis?

Answer 1

Freud

Question 2

What is psychoanalysis?

Answer 2

it is a treatment where the patient verbalises their thoughts through a variety of methods

Question 3

What is the aim of psychoanalysis?

Answer 3

it aims to access the unconscious, repressed thoughts which are believed to have led to the criminal activity

Question 4

What is assumed with psychological problems?

Answer 4

that it is repressed trauma that is embedded in the unconscious mind

Question 5

What does the psychoanalysis method try and do?

Answer 5

tries to bring the repressed thoughts to consciousness where they can be dealt with

Question 6

Does psychoanalysis work in reducing criminality?

Answer 6

No
- it is the least favoured method when working with offenders as it is time consuming and it is unlikely to provide quick answers
- the patient can discover painful memories that were deliberately repressed
- it creates a power imbalance between the therapist and the patient which cab raise ethical issues

Question 7

What is behaviour modification?

Answer 7

it focuses on techniques to extinguish undesirable behaviour and promote desirable behaviour

Question 8

What is the principle in behaviour modification?

Answer 8

behaviours that are reinforced are strengthened whereas behaviours that are punished are weakened, it is punished in order the weaken the thought process leading to the illegal behaviour

Question 9

What is an example of behaviour modification?

Answer 9

Token economy

Question 10

What is token economy?

Answer 10

it is where a token is given for a desired action, which is later exchanged for a privilege (such as in prison it may be exchanged for a tv in the cell or more visits). However, if there is an undesired action then these privileges can be taken away as part of a punishment

Question 11

Does behaviour modification work?

Answer 11

Yes and no
- it has been shown to have a short-term effectiveness with both young and older offenders
- it has been shown to improve the behaviour of serious offenders however its impact on those who committed less serious crimes were mixed

Question 12

What is anger management?

Answer 12

it is a technique that aims to avoid violent offences taking place by people who are unable to control their anger

Question 13

Can anger management be seen as effective?

Answer 13

yes if it is resourced correctly

Question 14

What techniques are used in anger management?

Answer 14

cognitive behavioural techniques, this helps the offenders to deal more effectively with their feelings of anger

Question 15

What does neurochemicals demonstrate?

Answer 15

it demonstrates that it is possible for diet to positively impact on aggressive behaviour which may result in less crime

Question 16

What did Virkkunen find?

Answer 16

he found that violent offenders had a lower level of serotonin which can be treated by a diet with foods that contain serotonin such as salmon and fresh tuna

Question 17

What have prisons done in response to the serotonin research?

Answer 17

they have attempted to embrace the Balance of Good Health model and are providing nutritionally balanced and healthy diets

Question 18

What experiment was completed in 2012 at Her Majesty’s Prison?

Answer 18

Sex offenders who volunteered were given a pill or an ant-libidinal psychopharmacological intervention to reduce their sex drive and such treatment was positively received by the prisoners who were volunteers

Question 19

What did the study of eugenics claim?

Answer 19

• inheritance of genes could explain the presence of simple and complex Behavorial characteristics
• it reinforces the ideas of biological determinism and claims that biology had contributed towards many of the social problems throughout the late 19th century

Question 20

What did Osborn and West find in their research?

Answer 20

they found that 40% of boys whose fathers had criminal records had criminal records themselves, compared with just over 12% of boys whose fathers did not have a criminal record

Question 21

What did the statistics from the USA show about the death penalty?

Answer 21

it showed that the murder rate is lower in states that do not have the death penalty than those that do. In 2015 the murder rate was 25% higher in death penalty states then non-death penalty states, suggesting that the death penalty is not a deterrent at all

Question 22

When are people most often to commit murder?

Answer 22

in the heat of the moment, while under the influence of drugs or alcohol or while suffering from mental illness, such people are unlikely to make reasoned and rational decisions based on fear of future consequences that is of being given the death sentence

Question 23

What is penal populism?

Answer 23

refers to the government’s attempts at proposing laws to punish offenders that will be popular with the general public

Question 24

Why was penal populism created?

Answer 24

the policy started as a result of the James Bulger case in 1993, when the public became concerned about violent crime in the community

Question 25

What happened between the political parties as a result of the public’s concerns?

Answer 25

There was a consensus that they need to be tough on crime and that offenders needed to be punished which had an impact on the prison population as so many people were given prison sentences

Question 26

What did Tony Blair state about crime?

Answer 26

that they were to be tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime, as a result punitive laws were introduced which lead to punishments such as automatic life sentences

Question 27

Name the three individualistic theories informing policy development

Answer 27

• psychoanalysis
• behaviour modification
• Anger management

Question 28

Name the three biological theories informing policy development

Answer 28

• neurochemicals
• eugenics
• death penalty

Question 29

Name the sociological theories informing policy development

Answer 29

• penal populism
• prison
• zero tolerance
• restorative justice
• CCTV
• multi-agency approach

Question 30

What is one of the main ways that society tries to control crime?

Answer 30

imprisonment

Question 31

What are the different types of prison sentences?

Answer 31

• concurrent = where two or more prison sentences are given and ordered to be served at the same time
• consecutively = served one after the other
• suspended = served in the community with conditions often relating to unpaid work
• determinate = of a fixed length
• indeterminate = of no fixed length

Question 32

Does prison work in controlling crime?

Answer 32

• the prison population has risen by 70% in the last 30 years
• nearly 70,000 people were sent to prison to serve a sentence in June 2020 and the majority had committed a non-violent offence (65%)
• the death rate in prisons has has risen by over 50% in the last decade, 282 people died in prison in the year to September 2020
• prison has a poor record for reducing reoffending, 46% of adults were reconvicted within one year of release and for those serving less than 12 months increases to 60%

Question 33

What is zero tolerance?

Answer 33

this policy demands that all crimes are acted on, no matter how minor they are

Question 34

Who is zero tolerance favoured by?

Answer 34

Right realists

Question 35

Where was zero tolerance claimed to be successful?

Answer 35

Claims to be very successful in New York.
The New York police department used computers to analyse crime hot spots street by street and crime by crime before introducing zero-tolerance approach

Question 36

What theory is zero tolerance based on?

Answer 36

‘broken windows’ theory , it suggests that there is a link between disorder and crime. Stating that visible signs of decay such as litter and broken windows are signs go public disinterest and these signs must be acted upon to prevent further crime from occurring

Question 37

Does zero tolerance work?

Answer 37

• New York have seen major crime fall by 39% and murder by 49% since 1993 and in the Uk the figures for three months to February 1997 showed a 22% fall.
• However, there are other reasons for falling crime rates in New York such as those responsible for committing crimes in the 1980s are now in prison.

Question 38

What is restorative justice?

Answer 38

it is a voluntary process involving the victim and the offender, a trained facilitator works with the victim and the offender to talk about what happened

Question 39

Does restorative justice work?

Answer 39

• it does work, it allows the victim a voice in the criminal justice system and can make the offenders accountable for their actions by allowing them to take responsibility
• 85% of victims who took part were satisfied with the process
• the governments analysis of the research concluded that restorative justice reduces the frequency of reoffending by 14%

Question 40

CCTV…

Answer 40

• it is one of the first requests made by the police at the start of their enquiries
• it has policy implications as a deterrent to prevent crime

Question 40

CCTV…

Answer 40

• it is one of the first requests made by the police at the start of their enquiries
• it has policy implications as a deterrent to prevent crime

Question 41

Does CCTV work?

Answer 41

Yes it does
- it can make a small but significant reduction in crime and it is more effective when reducing theft but it has no impact on violent crime
- as an investigative technique it can provide compelling evidence

Question 42

What is the multi-agency approach?

Answer 42

it is the corporation between agencies working in the criminal justice system when detecting crimes and preventing them from happening in the first place

Question 43

The multi-agency approach can take several forms including…

Answer 43

• specialist police officers working with resettlement workers, the probation service substance misuse team and drug intervention programme to tackle repeat drug offending
• the multi agency public protection arrangements assesses and manages the risks posed by sexual and violent offenders and provides guidance for the police, prison service and probation trusts.

Question 43

The multi-agency approach can take several forms including…

Answer 43

• specialist police officers working with resettlement workers, the probation service substance misuse team and drug intervention programme to tackle repeat drug offending
• the multi agency public protection arrangements assesses and manages the risks posed by sexual and violent offenders and provides guidance for the police, prison service and probation trusts.