Control, punishment and victims

Question 1

what it situational crime prevention ?

Answer 1

refers to how, in certain situations, adaptations can be made to prevent criminal acts.

Ron Clarke describes it as focused ‘simply on reducing opportunities for crime’.

(Links to rational choice theory)

Question 2

what are the approaches to situational crime prevention?

Answer 2

Target hardening- decreases the opportunity for crime with measures like window locks, window shutters, car security features, anti-climb paint, CCTV, etc.

Designing out- means that some features of an area are re-designed in order to make impossible common associated crimes eg: use of “anti-homeless spikes” outside certain town centre properties.

Question 3

what are some evaluation points for situational crime prevention?

Answer 3

very popular with councils and businesses as they can be effective at a relatively low cost
Designing out

Manc- Magnet of drug use and antisocial behaviour. Homeless spikes (EVAL-HOMELESSNESS ATTRACTS CRIME (DOES IT?) Going to move somewhere else) - against
significant problem with situational crime prevention is displacement. While the measures might prevent crime in a specific situation
Port Authority Bus Terminal- Felson - in support

Question 4

what are the types of displacement?

Answer 4

Spatial- Moving elsewhere
Temporal- Committing at a different time (More lights= crime to dif time )
Target- Choose a different victim (phone in bag)
Tactical- Use a different method (Car- Steal keys or own tech to steal car)
Functional- Different type of crime

Question 5

more evaluations of situational crime prevention

Answer 5

• prevent activities that most would not consider to be criminal
• Lyng (1990) seduction of crime comes from the thrill of taking risks.
  -burglar alarms, CCTV and improved car security features all have a significant impact on reducing specific crimes
• Bauman- turning contemporary cities into “fortress cities” where people are at once controlled and kept safe.
• street crimes are mostly opportunistic
• It does not provide people protection from corporate, white collar or state crime- Marxists, then, would point out that these measures control the working class, but not the ruling class.
• Ignores the root causes of crime such as poverty and poor socialisation, not a long-term solution.- Left realist (Young)

Question 6

What are some successes of situational crime prevention?

Answer 6

Suicide- Toxic coal gas —–> Natural gas, Number of suicides by gassing fell to Zero by 1997
Overall suicide Rate fell- those people who would have committed suicide was NOT displaced, they didn’t commit suicide

Question 7

What is Environmental Crime Prevention?

Answer 7

formal and informal social control measures which try to clamp down on anti-social behaviour and prevent an area from deteriorating eg Zero Tolerance Policing, ASBOs, curfews, street drinking bans, dispersal orders and the three strikes rule in America.

RIGHT REASLISM- WILSON AND KELLINGS BROKEN WINDOW THEORY

Question 8

What is Zero Tolerance Policing?

Answer 8

police strictly enforcing every facet of law,
the police are obliged to hand out strict penalties for any and all criminal activity.

Question 9

what is are some of the best-known examples of zero tolerance policing working?

Answer 9

New York City in 1994- crack-cocaine epidemic and suffered high levels of antisocial and violent crime. Within a few years of Zero Tolerance, however, crime had dropped from between 30 – 50%.
Liverpool- blighted by antisocial behaviour and violent assaults, following its introduction in 2005. Overall recorded crime fell by 25.7 per cent in the three years to 2008 with violent crime falling by 38%.

Question 10

What are Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs)

Answer 10

best known crime control methods in the UK – related to Zero Tolerance techniques – ASBO for antisocial rather than criminal behaviour, and go to jail if you breach it, thus they police minor acts of deviance.
introduced in 1998 in order to correct minor acts of deviance which would not = criminal prosecution. over the age of 10 can receive an Antisocial Behaviour Order, 50% handed out to 10-17 year olds

‘behaving antisocially’ includes:
drunken or threatening behaviour
vandalism and graffiti
playing loud music at night

Question 11

Criticisms of Environmental Crime Prevention Strategies

Answer 11

• NY- lot more people being arrested for possession of marijuana – 25 000 a year by 2012 some of those people lost their jobs or rental houses as a result
  -ASBOs give people a criminal record for not actually doing anything criminal. ASBO for being loud and then go to jail for breaching the ASBO – by being loud again. (kick off from deviant career)
  -Not necessary= crime down anyway.
• Self fulfilling prophecy- more men in certain place arrested= harsher policing
• mostly felt by ethnic minorities - in the region of 85% of people dealt with under Zero Tolerance in New York were/ are black or Hispanic
• Crack cocaine became less readily available - NEW YORK ZERO TOLLERNACE
• murder rate fell but the attempted murder rate didn’t – perhaps medical advances simply saved more victims from dying and therefore their assailants were not murderers - NEW YORK ZERO TOLLERNACE

Question 12

What is social and community crime prevention?

Answer 12

Left realism view.

social and community crime preventions policies focus on individual offenders and the social context which encourages them to commit crime.

Question 13

What are the two broad approaches to Social and Community Crime Prevention?

Answer 13

Intervention, identifying groups and risk of committing crime and taking action to limit their offending

Community, involving the local community in combating crime.

Question 14

What does Farrington’s study say?

Answer 14

Longitudinal research comparing offenders and non-offenders found various ‘risk factors’ which correlated with crime – such as low education and parental conflict. Intervention programmes based on the above have included pre-school programmes to help with attainment and parenting classes.

Question 15

Examples of Farrington’s research in play

Answer 15

Examples of this working include the Perry School Project (USA) and the Troubled Families Initiative (UK)
Example: Sure start centres- parental classes

Question 16

What is the Perry School Project

Answer 16

3-4 yr old disadvantaged black children offered a 2yr intellectual enrichment programme, weekly home visit. Longitudinal study followed the process by the age of 40, they had sig fewer lifetime arrests of violent crime. For everyone $1 spent $17 saved in social care

Question 17

In the UK - Social and Community Crime Prevention

Answer 17

 actuarial approach
identifying individuals and groups
risk of committing crime and intervening in some manner or other.
some social groups are apparently more likely to commit crimes than others.
Targeted interventions such as pre-school classes, parenting classes, and family and relationship counselling could prevent crime by reducing the circumstances that create crime.
supported by left realist sociologists.

eg. Troubled Families Programme established by the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government (in the wake of David Cameron’s infamous “hug a hoodie” speech). The programme sought to “turn around” a significant number of identified “troubled families” in order to reduce crime, truancy and other social problems.

Question 18

Evaluations of social and community crime reduction

Answer 18

While the Troubled Families Programme claimed a 99% success rate, a leaked independent evaluation suggested that it had no discernible effect on criminality.

If done effectively, these are the most costly of all crime prevention measures.

However, if done properly, community prevention measures can save hundreds of thousands of pounds, by ‘turning’ a potential criminal into an employed tax-payer.

Marxists argue that these policies may tackle deprivation but they do not tackle the underlying structural inequalities in the Capitalist system which are the root cause.

Such approaches target working class, inner city communities and do not tackle elite crime.

Michel Foucalt and David Garland interpret these strategies as being about surveillance and control rather than real social change which prevents crime.  

Question 19

What stops people offending?

Answer 19

Increasing the chance of being caught – deterrence
Reducing opportunities for crime – situational crime prevention
Winning hearts and minds – enhancing police legitimacy

Question 20

how does Increasing the chance of being caught – deterrence stop people offending ?

Answer 20

showing that there are negative consequences to offending
- Von Hirsch et al- The police specifically can discourage potential offenders by increasing their chance of being caught
Pratt et al. (2009) deterring people more generally from offending by increasing the risk of being caught, vary by factors such as age and gender, are weaker peer-groups pressure + self-control
The targeting at place where crime is concentrated provides an efficient way for the police to target repeat and prolific offenders
(Homel 1988). Deterring people from offending in general might be a more sustainable option when it is possible for people to be caught remotely or automatically

Question 21

how can Reducing opportunities for crime – situational crime prevention stop people offending?

Answer 21

based on the idea that crime occurs in specific situations when a ‘likely offender’ and ‘suitable target’ come together in the absence of a ‘capable guardian’
For example, manufacturers have made it much harder for vehicles to be stolen by fitting anti-theft devices to new cars such as immobilisers (Laycock 2004; Farrell et al. 2011). Vehicle crime accounted for about a quarter of all recorded crime in the 1980s and 90s, but now accounts for around one in eight crimes.

Question 22

why does enhancing police legitimacy stop people offending

Answer 22

encouraging people to obey the law because they think it is the right thing to do
‘procedural justice’, suggests fair decision-making and respectful treatment by the police can enhance the legitimacy of the police in the eyes of the public which, in turn, fosters greater law abiding behaviour and cooperation with the police Tyler 2006
A new review which is shortly to be published3 has shown that fair treatment can improve satisfaction with police contact, public trust and confidence, and compliance and cooperation with the police – and increase the capacity of the police to prevent and control crime

Question 23

Foucault- disciplinary power examples

Answer 23

CCTV in public spaces; but disciplinary power is also at work in schools – through the use of electronic registers and reports

Question 24

Foucault- disciplinary power

Answer 24

Most people now obey the rules because they know they are being watched
they regulate their own behaviour for fear of becoming the wrong kind of person

Question 25

what are the evaluations of Foucault's ideas

Answer 25

The move from sovereign to disciplinary power not as clear as he says He exaggerates the extent of control that surveillance has over behaviour.

Question 26

what is evidence of these two points

Answer 26

Goffman shows that inmates can avoid detection, resist control Norris (2012) found CCTV not as effective in preventing crime, worked in car parks but no effect on other crimes Gill and Loveday (2003) found criminals such as robbers, burglars or shoplifters weren’t generally put off by CCTV while, worryingly, the public were falsely assured of their security Koskela (2012) argues from feminist point of view that CCTV allows men to view women through the ‘male gaze’, encouraging voyeurism and not providing women with any more security

Question 27

Whats the last evaluation point of Foucault

Answer 27

late modernity surveillance exists- not top down but by the ruling few to control the behaviour of the masses HOWEVER: Mathieson ‘synopticon’, that is one where everyone watches everyone.

Question 28

Evidence of ‘synopticon’

Answer 28

fear the media’s surveillance of them and so control their behaviour, Thompson Dashcams; can serve to encourage people to exercise self-discipline when driving/cycling Phone cameras mean almost everyone has a camera with them at all times which may allow citizens to ‘control the controllers’ - George Floyd Ericson (2000) argue today surveillance often exists in cyberspace and involves the manipulation of virtual representations of the being, for example photographs, posts, profiles on websites. They argue these ‘surveillant assemblages- eg face recognition via CCTV

Question 29

How does Feeley and Simons "technology of power" differ from Foucault?

Answer 29

Focuses on groups Not interested in rehabilitating offenders only in preventing crime Uses calculations of risk or ‘actuarial analysis’ (derived from insurance companies)

Question 30

what is an example of Feeley and Simon's "technology of power"

Answer 30

airport security checks use known ‘risk factors’ to assess how likely someone is to be committing a crime. These factors might include data gathered (its all your passport) such as; age, sex, religion, ethnicity.

Question 31

what these techniques are used to ‘identify, classify and manage groups sorted by levels of dangerousness’?

Answer 31

these techniques are used to ‘identify, classify and manage groups sorted by levels of dangerousness’. Young notes that this is damage limitation to pick off likely offenders. Lyon (2012) calls this ‘social sorting’ and argues its purpose is to categorise everyone so they can treat groups differently. Marx (1988) uses the term ‘categorical suspicion’ to describe how whole groups can be placed under suspicion and surveillance just because of the group they belong to.

Question 32

What is this more likely to lead to because of labelling?

Answer 32

self-fulfilling prophecy. derived from the OCS young, black men are more likely to carry weapons then police stop and search will target these groups Norris and Armstrong (1999) found that there was a ‘massively disproportionate targeting’ of young black males by CCTV operatives when deciding, of the thousands of faces in front of them, who to focus on

Question 33

Newburn argued there are five main purposes of punishment

Answer 33

To discourage them from offending To force them to make amends to victims for the harm they have done To protect society from those who are dangerous To reinforce social values and bonds To punish them simply because they deserve to be punished

Question 34

Rusche and Kirchheimer - Changing forms of punishment

Answer 34

Marx perspective- part of a system of social control and UC domination. From physical to hard labour. Criminals used as cheap labour. forms of punishment reflect whatever was in the economic interests of the dominant class at any particular time

Question 35

Foucault (Postmodernist Perspective)- changing form of punishment

Answer 35

Sovereign power --------> Disciplinary power

Question 36

Durkheim (Functionalist Perspective) - changing form of punishment

Answer 36

Retributive + Restitutive prevents future crime by removing the desire for personal avengement response to criminal behaviour that focuses on the punishment of lawbreakers and the compensation of victims. In general, the severity of the punishment is proportionate to the seriousness of the crime. + prevents future crime by punishing the defendant financially. Restitution is when the court orders the criminal defendant to pay the victim for any harm and resembles a civil litigation damages award.

Question 37

Eval for Durkheim

Answer 37

Marxists argue that laws are not an expression of collective values but of ruling class ideology. Prisons benefit capitalism; lower classes neutralises opposition to the system, keeping potential revolutionaries from forming together ‘repressive state apparatus’ (Althusser). mechanisms of social control of the working class and as a means of reinforcing ruling class power in an unequal society sweeps out of sight the ‘worst jetsam of Capitalist society’ such that we cannot see it - such as the unemployed, the homeless, the poor, those who are mentally ill and people from ethnic minority groups, particularly black men

Question 38

Weberian Approaches: The Rationalisation of Punishment.

Answer 38

Weber- process of rationalisation. power to punish offenders eg landowners or factory owners as in the past. impersonal rules and regulations administered by bureaucracies. regulations governing punishment are based on legislation decided by elected and accountable governments, which gives them some claim to being legitimate the eyes of the public, and with which it is reasonable for offenders to comply

Question 39

Eval of Weber

Answer 39

come from the question surrounding the extent to which the rules and regulations are really fair and how far officials actually follow those rules.

Question 40

Garland – The Punitive State and The Culture of Control (Late Modernity)

Answer 40

relatively recent shift in attitudes towards punishment. 1950s ‘penal welfarism’ -----> convincing the public that it is taking a tough approach on crime and reassuring communities that something is being done about crime. Due to individual freedoms have increased, while social bonds have weakened, life is more uncertain and less predictable, and (despite the fact that crime is now decreasing) the public are more worried about crime than ever

Question 41

what does ‘penal welfarism’ mean?

Answer 41

in which the criminal justice system did not just try to catch and punish offenders, but also tried to rehabilitate them, so that they could be reintegrated into society

Question 42

Garland

Answer 42

new era of ‘punitive state’ enforces a ‘culture of control’ increasingly identifies potential groups who are at risk of offending at a young age and take early interventions (Actualism) the era of ‘mass incarceration’ and ‘transcarceration’. ‘being tough on crime’ as a means to win elections Prisons are part of the economy- products made in prisons which society relies on

Question 43

Eval of Garland

Answer 43

important - draws attention to ‘political nature of crime control. Cynical theory-'tough on crime'= policital move to win votes Foucault - too simple- ignores other factors of social control

Question 44

Why doesn't prison work?

Answer 44

Interactionist Theory Total Institutions and The Mortification of the Self Left Realism

Question 45

What does the Interactionist Theory say the reason the prisons don't work?

Answer 45

labelled as deviant= hard to remove label considered, and treated, as untrustworthy by others they accept the label- causing self fulfilling prophecy

Question 46

What does Total Institutions and The Mortification of the Self say about why prisons don't work?

Answer 46

Goffman- mental asylums, concentration camps and prisons - ‘total institutions’ complete control of the institution. process of “mortification of the self” degrading and humiliating treatments designed to remove any trace of individual identity mark a clear separation between the inmates’ former selves and their institutional selves. Haver no privacy. inmates effectively lose the ability to construct their own identities and function independently. Rather than making sick people well, asylums make them more insane, and rather rehabilitating, prisons actually make prisoners more criminal.

Question 47

what is the definition of total institutions

Answer 47

places which are closed off to the outside world and where inmates’ lives come under the complete control of the institution

Question 48

What does left realism say is the reason for why prisons don't work

Answer 48

hey believe it needs to be combined with the practice of restorative justice reintegrative ‘shaming’ unlike the anonymous processing and exclusionist shaming of the courts and prison sentences. offender benefits 80% of victims who choose to participate.