Crime and Deviance: Control, punishment, and victims

Question 1

Situational Crime Prevention: How does Clarke define situational crime?

Answer 1

A pre-emptive approach that relies not on improving society or its institutions, but simply reducing opportunities for crime.

Question 2

Situational Crime Prevention: what are the 3 key features of measures to prevent crime?

Answer 2

1: directed at a specific crime e.g. cameras - theft
2: they involve managing or altering the immediate environment of the crime e.g. alarms/alerts over tannoys
3: they aim at increasing the effort and risks of committing a crime and reducing the rewards e.g. alarm tags, padlocks, and barriers.
For example, target hardening measures such as locking doors and windows to increase the effort a burglar needs to make, or increased surveillance or security guards in shops.

Question 3

Situational Crime Prevention: how is situational crime theory and rational choice theory similar?

Answer 3

Rational choice theory: criminals weigh up the cost and benefits of a crime opportunity before deciding whether to commit the act.

Question 4

Situational Crime theory vs socialisation theories

Answer 4

this theory contrasts with theories of crime that stress ‘root cause’ such as criminals been socialised to behave the way they do. according to these theories, in order to beat crime we would need to transform the socialisation of large numbers of children in order to bring about a revolution. Clarke argues that these theories do not offer realistic views of crime prevention. He argues that the most obvious thing to do is to focus on the immediate crime situation. Most crimes are believed to be opportunistic, so opportunities need to be reduced.

Question 5

AO3: Situational Crime Prevention - Displacement

Answer 5

Displacement: it is argued that situational crime doesn’t reduce crime, but it displaces it. if the criminals are acting rationally, they will react to the hardening target by moving to where the target is softer.
Spatial Displacement: more crime takes place in other areas due to crime prevention e.g. cameras covering areas.
Temporal Displacement: the time of the crime varies e.g. day/night light/dark
Target Displacement: choose a different victim
Tactical Displacement: choosing a different method
Functional Displacement: committing a different type of crime.

Question 6

Situational Crime Prevention: Evaluation

Answer 6

situational crime prevention works to some extent in reducing certain types of crime. however, with most measures there will be some kind of displacement.
it tends to focus on opportunistic petty crimes. it ignores white collar crimes, corporate and state crime which is costly and harmful.
it assumes that criminals make rational calculations; however, it seems unlikely in many cases of violence and crimes committed under the influence of drink and drugs as they have impaired thinking which leads to decreased rational choice.

Question 7

Environmental crime prevention: Wilson and Kelling

Answer 7

They use the phrase ‘zero tolerance’ to stand for all various signs of disorder and lack of concern for others that are found in some neighbourhoods. This includes undue noise, graffiti, begging, dog fouling, and littering.
They argue that leaving broken windows unrepaired sends out the signal that no one cares.
In these neighbourhoods, the absence of social control and informal control (the community). The police are only concerned with serious crime and then a blind eye to petty behaviour, while respectable members of the community feel intimidated and powerless. Without remedial action, the situation deteriorates, tipping the neighbourhood into a spiral of decline. Respectable people move out and the area becomes a magnet for deviance.

Question 8

Zero tolerance policing: Wilson and kelling - environmental improvement strategy

Answer 8

Any broken windows must be replaced immediately, abandoned cards towed without delay etc, otherwise more will follow and the neighbourhood will slide.

Question 9

Zero tolerance policing: Wilson and kelling - zero tolerance policing strategy

Answer 9

Instead of merely reacting to crime, they must proactively tackle the slightest sign of disorder, even if it’s not criminal. This will halt the neighbourhood decline and prevent serious crime from taking root.

Question 10

Zero tolerance policing: Wilson and kelling - evidence of zero tolerance policing

Answer 10

The success of zero tolerance was demonstrated in New York (Kelling was an adviser in the police in NY)
Clean car programme: any cars that were seen to have graffiti on them were taken out of circulation and cleaned them immediately. As a result, graffiti was largely removed from the subway.

Question 11

Zero tolerance policing: Wilson and kelling - AO3 evidence against zero tolerance policing

Answer 11

In the scheme the NYPD gained 7000 extra officers, these could have been the cause of the clear up rather than the scheme - could be increased social control, and increased chance of being caught that led to reduced crime, not to Zero Tolerance programme.
There was a general decline in US cities at the time.
Zero tolerance has seen to be influential globally. In the UK, it influenced Labours approach to anti-social behaviour such as ASBOS, breaking isolation lockdown laws.

Question 12

Social and community crime prevention

Answer 12

Social and community prevention strategies place the emphasis firmly on the potential offender and their social context. The aim of these strategies is to: remove the conditions that predispose individuals to crime in the first place. These are long-term strategies, since their attempt to tackle the root causes of offending, rather than simply removing opportunities.
Because the causes of crime are often rooted in social conditions such as poverty, unemployment and poor housing, more general social reform programmes addressing these issues may have a crime prevention role, even if this isn’t their main focus. Eg policies to promote full employment as likely to reduce crime as a side effect.

Question 13

Social and community crime prevention the Perry pre-school project

Answer 13

3-4 year olds in Michigan
Children were offered ‘intellectual enrichment’ programmes, and received weekly home visits throughout the programme - longitudinal study.
There were 2 groups: enrichment and control
By 40, those in the enrichment group had fewer arrests, more had graduated and were employed. They believed that for every $ spent on the programme, they had saved $17 in Welfare.

Question 14

punishment - reduction: what is deterrence

Answer 14

punishing an individual discourages them from future offending. making an example of them may serve as a deterrent to the wider public.

Question 15

punishment - reduction: what is rehabilitation?

Answer 15

the idea that punishment can be used to reform or change the offender so they no longer re-offend. providing education and training for prisoners so they are able to have an honest living.

Question 16

punishment - reduction: what is incapacitation?

Answer 16

the use of punishment to remove the offenders capacity to offend again. these policies vary in different societies e.g. imprisonment, execution, and cutting of the hands.

Question 17

punishment - retribution: what is it?

Answer 17

Retribution means ‘paying back’. It justifies punishing crimes that have already been committed rather than preventing future crimes. It is based on the idea that offenders deserve to be punished and that society is entitled to take its revenge on the offender for breaching its moral code.

Question 18

what is Durkheim’s view on crime?

Answer 18

he aegues that the function of punishment is to uphold social solidarity and reinforce shared values. through rituals of order, such as public trials and punishment, society’s shared values are reaffirmed and its members come to feel a sense of moral unity.

Question 19

Durkheim’s view on crime: retributive justice

Answer 19

in traditional society, there is little individualism and solidarity between individuals and is based on similarities with one another. This produces a strong collective conscience. Punishment is severe and cruel, and its motivation is purely expressive.

Question 20

Durkheim’s view on crime: restitutive justice

Answer 20

‘payback’
in modern society, There is extensive individualism and solidarity is based on the resulting interdependence between individuals. Crime damages this interdependence so it’s necessary to repair the damage e.g. compensation.

Question 21

Marxism: Capitalism and punishment

Answer 21

The function of punishment is to maintain social order. As part of the ‘repressive state apparatus,’ it is a means of defending ruling-class property against the lower classes.
The form of punishment reflects the economic base of society. it is argued that under capitalism, imprisonment becomes the dominant form of punishment because the capitalist economy is based on the exploitation of wage labour.

Question 22

Marxism: Foucalt - the birth of prison - what is sovereign power?

Answer 22

the monarch had absolute power. Control was asserted by inflicting pain. punishment was brutal and an emotional spectacle. e.g. public execution

Question 23

Marxism: Foucalt - the birth of prison - what is disciplinary power?

Answer 23

a system of discipline that aims to control the mind/soul and body. this is done through surveillance.
Foucault demonstrates this with the Panopticon. this was a design for a prison in which all prisoners’ cells were visible to the guards from the central watch tower, but the guards were not visible to the prisoners.

Question 24

Marxism: Foucalt - the birth of prison - AO3

Answer 24

• The shift from corporal punishment to imprisonment is less clear than he suggests.
  -Unlike Durkheim, he neglects the expressive aspects of punishment.
• He exaggerates the extent of control. e.g. Goffman shows how inmates can resist control in institutions e.g. prison, mental hospitals.

Question 25

The Changing Role of Prison: Pre-industrial Europe vs imprisonment today

Answer 25

pre-industrial Europe: has a wide range of punishments, including warnings, banishment, corporal punishment, and execution. until the 18th century, the prison was used mainly for holding offenders before their punishment.
imprisonment today: prison is seen as the most severe form of punishment, but it isn’t effective: 2/3 of prisoners re-offend. prison population is bigger than ever, it has more males than females, and they tend to be young and poorly educated.

Question 26

the era of mass incarceration: Garland

Answer 26

from the 1970s, the numbers increased: 1.5 million in federal prison and 700,000 in additional surveillance.
these figures have shown that incarceration is no longer about punishing the individual but become an era of mass incarceration.
Downes argues that there is an ideological function to the use of prisons on such a scale. the US prisons soak up 30-40% of the unemployed, making capitalism look good.

Question 27

what is transcarceration?

Answer 27

individuals become locked into a cycle of control, moving between different agencies of control.
some sociologists see transcarceration as a product of the blurring of boundaries between criminal justice and welfare agencies. e.g. health, housing, and social services are increasingly being given a crime control role, and they often engage in a multiagency approach: working with the police, and sharing data with the same individuals.

Question 28

explain the 3 alternatives to prison

Answer 28

avoiding the risk of self-fulfilling prophecy: a major group of young offender institutions is to ‘divert’, meaning that they wanted to minimise the contact with the criminal services - the focus would be on community punishment rather than imprisonment.
community-based controls: curfews, community service orders, and electronic tagging. more range of measures could be used but custody still rising.
cohen: argued that the growth of community controls means that control penetrates deeper and so people have fewer freedoms. criminal controls therefore could be diverting people into the criminal justice system rather than away.

Question 29

victims of crime: what is the definition of a victim?

Answer 29

someone who has suffered harm, including mental, physical, or emotional suffering, economic loss, and impairment of their basic human rights.

Question 30

victims of crime: what are Christie’s views on victims?

Answer 30

christie takes a different approach, highlighting the notion of ‘victim’ been socially constructed. the stereotype of the ideal victim is favoured by the media, public, and criminal justice system is a weak, innocent, and blameless person, who is the target of a stranger attack.

Question 31

victims of crime: what are the 3 features of the positivist victimology perspective according to Meirs?

Answer 31

1. aim to identify factors that cause patterns of victimology.
2. it focuses on interpersonal crimes of violence.
3. it aims to identify victims that have contributed to their own victimisation.

Question 32

victims of crime: define victim proneness

Answer 32

identifying the social and psychological characteristics that could result in someone becoming a victim.
Hans Von Hentig: 13 characteristics including female, elderly, and ‘mentally subnormal’.

Question 33

victims of crime: what was Wolfgang’s example of positivist victimology

Answer 33

588 homicides, 26% of them included ‘victim precipitation’ the victim is believed to have triggered the events that led to the homicide.

Question 34

victims of crime: positivist victimology evaluation

Answer 34

• wolfgang shows the importance of the victim-offender relationship and the fact that in many households, it is a matter of chance which party becomes the victim.
• this approach identifies certain patterns of interpersonal victimisation, but ignores wider structural factors e.g. poverty, and patriarchy.
• it ignores situations where the victim are unaware of their victimisation, as with some crimes against the environment, and where there is harm done but no law broken.

Question 35

victims of crime: critical victimology
explain structural factors

Answer 35

poverty and patriarchy, these place powerless groups such as women and the working-class at greater risk of victimisation. this is known as ‘structural powerlessness’.

Question 36

victims of crime: critical victimology
explain the states power to apply or deny the label of victim

Answer 36

victim is a social construct, through the criminal justice system. the state applies the label of a ‘victim’ e.g. the police could decide not to press charges which denies the victim the ‘status’.

Question 37

victims of crime: critical victimology
Tombs and Whyte

Answer 37

they show that safety crimes, where employers violations of the law lead to death or injury to workers, are often explained as the fault of ‘accident prone’ workers. as with many rape cases, this both denies the victim ‘official victim’ status and blames them for their fate. they note the ideological function as ‘failure to label’. not labelling an individual as a victim allows the rich in society or men to give control over the ‘victim’ and keep them opressed in society.

Question 38

victims of crime: critical victimology evaluation

Answer 38

• it disregards the role victims play in bringing victimisation on themselves through their own choices e.g. not making their homes secure
• it is valuable in drawing attention to the way that ‘victim’ status is constructed by power and how this benefits the power at the expense of the powerless.

Question 39

victims of crime: patterns of victimisation
class

Answer 39

the poorest groups are more likely to be victimised. Newburn and Rock found that from a survey of 300 homeless people, they were 12x more likely to have experienced violence. marxists would agree that the proletariat are more likely to be victims of crime due to repressive state apparatus.

Question 40

victims of crime: patterns of victimisation
age

Answer 40

younger people are more likely to be victims of crime. however, according to statistics, young people are the most criminal.

Question 41

victims of crime: patterns of victimisation ethnicity

Answer 41

minority ethnic groups are at greater risk of becoming a victim. young and homeless ethnic minorities are more likely to report feeling under-protected yet over-controlled.

Question 42

victims of crime: patterns of victimisation gender

Answer 42

males are more likely to be victim of violent crimes, whereas women are more likely to be victims of sexual assault and stalking. feminists agree that women are more likely to be victims as a result of the patriarchy.

Question 43

victims of crime: patterns of victimisation repeat victimisation

Answer 43

if you have been a victim, you are more likely to be one again. according to the British crime survey, 4% of the population are victims of 44% of all crimes.

Question 44

victims of crime: the impact of victimisation
physical and emotional impacts

Answer 44

this can include disturbed sleep, feelings of helplessness, increased security consciousness, and difficult socially. the impact depends on the crime.

Question 45

victims of crime: the impact of victimisation
indirect victims

Answer 45

children who witness sniper attacks continued to have grief-related dreams and display different behaviours for years after the incident.

Question 46

victims of crime: the impact of victimisation
hate crimes

Answer 46

hate crimes create waves of harm that radiate out to others: these could be seen as ‘message’ crimes that intimate and impact the whole community.

Question 47

victims of crime: the impact of victimisation
secondary victimisation

Answer 47

not only is the individual a victim of the crime but they may face further victimisation by the criminal justice system e.g. rape cases - often the woman is treated poorly #metoo

Question 48

victims of crime: the impact of victimisation
fear of victimisation

Answer 48

crime can create a fear of being a victim that is often not justified. e.g. women may fear going out into the community because they fear getting attacked; however, statistics show that young men are more likely to be victims of violence in the community.