Control, Punishment And Crime Flashcards
3 approaches to crime prevention
Situational crime prevention- reducing opportunities for crime, by managing or alerting the environment. Target hardening measures- locking doors, security measures etc. they believe in rational choice theory. Measures may just displace crime to other times or areas. Explains opportunistic petty street crime but not white collar and state crime.
Environmental crime prevention- Wilson and killing- broken window theory- signs of deterioration not dealt with sends out a signal-no one cares, promoting decline. Absence of formal and informal control- community feels powerless. Crack down on any disorder through environmental improvement policies and zero tolerance policing.
Social and community- dealing with social conditions eg poverty by offering full time employment.
Perry pre school Michigan case study. Disadvantaged children intellectual programme- far fewer arrests.
Foucault - the panopticon
Sovereign power- past times, physical power over peoples bodies and visible punishment to keep them from committing crime.
Disciplinary power- govern body and mind through surveillance.
Panopticon- prisoners cells visible to guards but prisoners cannot see them. Idea they are being watched means they behave. Leads to self-surveillance.
Disciplinary power has now infiltrated every part of society
Foucault exaggerates the extent of control surveillance has on people.
Synoptic surveillance
Matthiessen - surveillance from below. Everyone watches everyone. Eg media scrutiny of powerful groups, members of public monitoring others or filming police wrong doing.
However, does not reverse established hierarchy of surveillance.
Surveillance assemblages
Surveillance technology now involves manipulation of digital data.
Combining different technologies eg cctv and facial recognition.
Actuarial justice and risk management
Actuarial analysis- statistical calculation of risks - predict likely hood of groups offending.
Focuses on groups not individuals. Not bothered about rehab, want to prevent in first place.
Risk factors eg age, ethnicity, religion. Given risk score and anyone above a certain level can be stopped.
Lyon- this social sorting categories people so they can be treated differently
CRITIC- different group will have higher ratings, causing them to be over policed and thus will find more crime.
Labelling and surveillance
Norris and Armstrong- CCTV operators target young black males based on racist stereotypes causing a SFP. More criminalisation of black youths because offences revealed whereas white offenders offences are ignored.
Justifications of punishment
Deterrance- prevent future crime due to fear of punishment
Rehabilitation- reforming and re educating offenders.
Incapacitation- removing offenders capacity to re offend eg execution
Retribution- society is entitled to take revenge of the offender.
Perspectives on punishment
Functionalists- Durkheim- upholds social solidarity and reinforces values through moral outrage. 2 types of justice- retributive- traditional society, strong collective conscience , punishment is sever and vengeful.
Restitutive- modern society, interdependence between individuals. Crime damages this and punishment should repair.
Marxism- punishment is part of the repressive state apparatus. Defends ruling class property. Reflects economic base of society. Time is money and offenders pay by doing time.
Trends in punishment
- Changing role of prison- used to be to hold people before punishment. Now a form of punishment. However, not effective many still re offend. Most are young, male and poorly educated. Uk and USA era of mass incarceration
- Transcarceration- moving from different prison like institutions. Eg care, young offenders and prison. Blurring of CJS and welfare agencies.
- Alternatives- growth in community based controls. Cast more control over people, may divert people into crime.
Victims of crime- approaches
Victims- those who have suffered harm as a result of law breaking activity
Christie- socially constructed, weak, blameless individuals.
Approaches- positivist, seeks patterns in victimisation, proneness- why they are different and more vulnerable than non victims eg less intelligent. PRECIPITATION- victim triggers the event eg being the first to use violence.
Critical victimology- structural factors eg poverty and patriarchy- powerless group t greater risk/ state gives label of victim to some and not others. Eg male not arrested for wife, she is denied victim status.
Tomb and white- poor working conditions causing injury are often played off as injury and accident prone worker.s
Patterns of victimisation
Repeat- 4% of population experience 44% of crime
Class- poor more likely
Young- victims of assault, harassment theft and abuse at home.
Ethnicity- racial crimes, greater risk
Gender- male - violet. Female- sexual and harassment
Impact of victimisation
Indirect victims eg friends and family
Hate crimes- wave of harm affecting whole communities
Secondary victimisation in the CJS eg rape victims
Crime may create fear of becoming a victim eg women fear going out at night
