Crime and Deviance - Control, Punishment and Victims

Question 1

What are the main approaches to crime prevention?

Answer 1

• Situational crime prevention
• Environmental crime prevention
• Social and community crime prevention

Question 2

Clarke (1992) and situational crime prevention:

Answer 2

Aligned with his ‘rational choice theory’, Clarke argues for an approach focussed ‘simply on reducing opportunities for crime’, identifying three features of ‘situational crime prevention’:
- Directed at specific crime
- Involved altering the immediate environment of the crime
- Aimed at increasing effort and risk of crime, and reducing the rewards

Question 3

Give an examples of situational crime prevention

Answer 3

Felson (2002): The Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC was doorly designed so provided opportunity for much deviant behaviour, such as rough sleeping and homosexual liaisons - by ‘designing crime out’, such as smaller hand basins removing homeless people’s ability to use the sinks to bathe, they greatly reduced deviante behaviour.

Question 4

Why does Clarke (1992) disregard most other theories of crime prevention?

Answer 4

He argues that they offer no realistic solutions to the immediate problem of crime, revolution against oppressive systems to instill a utopian crime-less society is not going to happen and we have to deal with the negative effects of crime here and now.

Question 5

What is the main criticism of situational crime prevention?

Answer 5

It doesn’t get rid of crime, it simply moves it to a different time, place, victim, method, etc. that doesn’t have the same preventative measures - Chaiken et al (1974) found that cracking down on NY subway robberies simply displaced it onto the streets of the city.

Question 6

What is the best example of the success of situational crime prevention? Why may this be?

Answer 6

By changing the UK’s gas supply from highly toxic coal gas to less toxic natural gas in the 60’s, suicides (half of which used gassing) overall fell, not just deaths from gassing. This may be because of the uniquely impulsive nature of suicide - by removing the opportunity for a peaceful suicide, they were able to give people enough time to consider their actions and choose not to.

Question 7

Wilson and Kelling (1982) and environmental crime prevention:

Answer 7

In line with their article ‘Broken Windows’, they argue that zero tolerance policing would inhibit any disorder (whether or not criminal) from moving into the area, empowering informal social controls to combat it interpersonally, thus reducing crime from moving in or developing in the area.

Question 8

What is the evidence for the success of ‘zero tolerance policing’?

Answer 8

NYC adopted zero tolerance policing in the 90’s in the forms of programmes such as their ‘clean car programme’ and graffiti removal. This led to a large reduction of crime, include a 50% reduction of homicide.

Question 9

Young (2011) and the myth of NYC:

Answer 9

NYC didn’t reduce crime with ‘zero tolerance’, crime had been falling for 9 years beforehand and in other cities that didn’t adopt the same policy. But police needed to justify their own existence amidst falling crime rate so ‘defined deviance up’ to increase their net - additionally, although the homicide rate halved, attempted homicide stayed roughly the same, implying that responsibility lay in the improved medical services and not the police.

Question 10

What is the wider method of crime prevention for Left Realists.

Answer 10

Social and Community Crime Prevention: As they see crime as largely based on structural factors like relatie deprivation and marginalisation, they argue for policy that seeks to reduce these conditions that predispose people to crime, such as New Labour’s ‘New Deal’ to help young people into work.

Question 11

What is the ‘Perry Pre-School Project’?

Answer 11

A 40 year longitudinal study following a group of 3-4 year olds who were offered a two-year intellectual enrichment programme, during which time the children also received weekly home visits - by age 40, the children were less likely to have been arrested for violent, property, or drug crime and were more likely to have graduated and jobs. They calculated that for every dollar spent on the programme, $17 were saved on welfare, prison and other costs.

Question 12

What is the problem with most crime prevention strategies?

Answer 12

They deal with the low-level crimes that politicians define as the ‘crime problem’ andfocus on to gain votes; Whyte surveyed 26 crime and disorder area partnerships in the North West of England to see what they were targeting - only 8 had measures for domestic violence, compared to all 26 that focussed on vehicle crime.

Question 13

Define surveillance.

Answer 13

The monitoring of public behaviour for the purposes of population and crime control.

Question 14

Foucault (1979) and sovereign power:

Answer 14

• Common pre-19th century
• Control of body
• Deterrent/retribution
• Control is asserted through overt and brutal emotional spectacle, like execution

Question 15

Foucault (1979) and disciplinary power:

Answer 15

• Common after the 19th century
• Control of body and mind
• Rehabilitative
• Control is subtly asserted through the panopticon
• More efficient ‘technology of the people’

Question 16

Foucault (1979) and the Panopticon:

Answer 16

Foucault compares disciplinary power to a panopticon: a design of a prison whereby the prisoners are unable to see the guards so live under the constant possibility that they are being monitored - this causes them to monitor themselves, with surveillance becoming self-surveillance.

Question 17

Foucault (1979) and the ‘dispersal of discipline’:

Answer 17

Since the 19th century, more institutions than prisons have been utilising disciplinary power, such as schools and factories. Other control practices, like community service, form a ‘carceral archipelago’, prison islands where professionals like teachers surveil parts of the population.

Question 18

Goffman (1982) and control:

Answer 18

Foucault (1979) exaggerates the extent of control of disciplinary power - inmates in prisons and mental hospitals are able to resist control.

Question 19

Gill and Loveday (2003) and CCTV:

Answer 19

Foucault (1979), a form of digital panopticism, is not entirely effective: few criminals are put off by CCTV. It’s real role may be ideological, falsely reassuring the non-criminal population they are safe.

Question 20

Koskela (2012) and CCTV:

Answer 20

CCTV is a form of ‘male gaze’: it objectifies women to the voyeur operator whilst not making them any safer.

Question 21

Give the surveillance theories since Foucault.

Answer 21

• Mathiesen (1997): synoptic surveillance
• Haggerty and Ericson (2000): surveillant assemblages
• Feeley and Simon (1994): actuarial justice and risk management
• Labelling and surveillance

Question 22

Mathiesen (1997) and synoptic surveillance:

Answer 22

In late modernity, we are in a ‘synopticon’ with everyone surveilling everyone, up-and-down and between us. Mann (2003) calls surveillance from below ‘sousveillance’.

Question 23

Give a criticism of Mathiesen (1997).

Answer 23

McCahill (2012) argues that occasional bottom-up surveillance is unable to reverse established ‘hierarchies of surveillance’ that give the top greater levels of power.

Question 24

Haggerty and Ericson (2000) and surveillant assemblages:

Answer 24

As the internet has developed, surveillance has now involved more manipulation of virtual objects (digital data) in cyberspace rather than physical bodies in physical space. Additionally, surveillance technologies are being combined, such as the use of facial recognition in CCTV; they call these ‘surveillant assemblages’

Question 25

Feeley and Simon (1994) and actuarial justice:

Answer 25

Surveillance now focusses more on predicting and preventing crime, rather than rehabilitating. TSA categorises people based on attributes like age and sex to find their risk factor and search them based on it.

Question 26

Give a criticism of Feeley and Simon (1994).

Answer 26

Lyon (2008) argues that this 'social sorting' places certain groups under 'categorical suspicion' (Marx (1988)), where they are placed under suspicion purely for their social group.

Question 27

Outline labelling and surveillance.

Answer 27

Surveillance Technologies are utilised based on typifications rather than most efficiently: Ditton (1999) finds that CCTVs, which could be used for finding out if car insurance has expired, was not being used and motorists were being left unchecked.

Question 28

Norris and Armstrong (1999)

Answer 28

Young black males are disproportionately surveilled for the crime of the colour of their skin.

Question 29

What are the two justifications for punishment? Give a policy for each.

Answer 29

Consequentialism/instrumental justification (punishment is a means to an end): - Deterrence: punishing offenders discourages future offence (Thatcher's 'short, sharp shock') - Rehabilitation: punishing offenders socialises them out of future offending (the Prison Education Service) - Incapactiation: removing the opportunity for offenders to commit (Clinton's 'three strikes and you're out' policy) Retributivism/expressive justification: offenders deserve punishment and society is entitled to 'justice'

Question 30

Durkheim (1893) and the function of punishment:

Answer 30

Punishment is primarily expressive, expressing society's moral outrage at the offence - punishment then serves to reinforce social solidarity and 'moral unity' (value consensus) through 'rituals of order', such as public trials and punishment.

Question 31

Durkheim (1983) and the two types of justice:

Answer 31

Modern and traditional societies have different types of justice: - Retributive: traditional societies have strong 'collective conscience' due to lack of specialisation and strong solidarity, offence of which inspires a purely 'expressive' vengeful passion against the offender - Restitutive: specialisation leads to solidarity based purely on interdependence which crime damages, requiring instrumental punishment to return society back to the status quo.

Question 32

Give a criticism fo Durkheim's (1893) two types of justice:

Answer 32

He distinguishes too harshly: - Traditional societies often used restitutive justice, such as blood feuds often being ended by compensation, rather than execution of the murderer - Modern societies's punishments often have an expressive element to them, with the death penalty having a great emphasis place on 'getting what they deserve' by its supporters

Question 33

What is Althusser's view of punishment?

Answer 33

Althusser sees punishment as part of the repressive state aparatus, that uses force to coerce workers into complying with the capitalist regime - one could also argue that it is an ISA as it serves to promote false 'justice'.

Question 34

Rusche and Kirchheimer (1939) and punishment:

Answer 34

The form of punishment (i.e. the penal system) reflects the economic base, with money fines impossibel without a money economy - imprisonment becomes the dominant punishment under capitalis, especially due to its ability to extract near free labour from workers.

Question 35

Melossi and Pavarini (1981) and imprisonment:

Answer 35

Imprisonment reflects a capitalist mode of production in two ways: - Capitalism puts a price on workers' time, making them 'do time' to 'pay' for their crimes - Prisons and capitalist factories have similar strict disciplinary styles, involving subordination and loss of liberty

Question 36

How has the role of prisons changed?

Answer 36

Until the 18th century, prisons were largely used to hold offenders until they could be punished more harshly, such as with flogging; however, the enlightment brought forth the idea that prison itself is a punishment, one that could 'reform' prisoners through hard labour.

Question 37

How isn't prison functional?

Answer 37

Despite being created to 'reform' people of the criminal ways, most don't - about 2/3 of prisoners go on to reoffend.

Question 38

What political movement has gained traction and how has this affected the prison population?

Answer 38

Globally, 'populist punitiveness' ('tough-on-crime' politics) has gained serious traction even among the Left; for example, New Labour also saw prisons as a deterrent for persistent petty offenders. This has caused the prison population to double to 86,000 since 1993 - Carrabine et al (2014) argues that this causes overcrowding, which in turn leads to poor sanitation, barely edible food and more.

Question 39

Where is England and Wales in the imprisonment global rankings?

Answer 39

The UK has a higher imprisonment per 100,000 than most other Western countries (150 compared to an average of 70 in Western Europe); however, we are not near the world leaders, Russia (440) and the US (700).

Question 40

Garland (2001) and mass incarceration:

Answer 40

Garland argues that we are in an era of mass incarceration (the number of people in state and federal prisons has gone up by 750% since the 70's), where it is no longer about incarcerating offenders but the 'systematic imprisonment of whole groups of the population', such as African Americans only being 13% of the population but 37% of the prison population.

Question 41

Garland (2001) and the reason for mass incarceration:

Answer 41

Since the 70's, crime control has been increasingly politicised; whereas before there was a great deal of consensus on 'penal welfarism' (the idea that prisons should reintegrate people into society), there has been more of a focus on 'tough on crime' policies to gain electoral support.

Question 42

Downes (2001) and the ideology of mass incarceration:

Answer 42

American mass incarceration also serves to maintain capitalism, soaking up 30-40% of the unemployed so making it look more successful.

Question 43

Simon (2001) and the mass incarceration in the US:

Answer 43

Another reason for mass incarceration in the US is America's 'War on Drugs', which, because drug use is so common, has provided ‘an almost limitless supply of arrestable and imprisonable offenders’ that others (the documentary '13th') claim have been used as stand-in labour since the abolishment of slavery.

Question 44

What is transcarceration?

Answer 44

There is an increasing trend towards individuals becoming locked into cycles of control by the state, moving between 'carceral archipeligos' like the foster system, young offenders institutions, prisons, etc. Some sociologists see this as due to the blurring of lines between welfare services and criminal justice, with the former gaining an increasing role in tackling and preventing crime.

Question 45

Cohen and community-controls:

Answer 45

Community-based controls, like curfews and ASBOs, have been lauded as a way of keeping young offenders from the self-fulfilling prophecy of emprisonment; however, their increasing use has accompanied rising number of youth arrests. Cohen argues that this is because it has simply 'cast a wider net of control' and, applying Foucault, allowed control to penetrate even deeper and actually diverted them towards the criminal justice system.

Question 46

Christie (1986) and the definition of a victim:

Answer 46

Christie highlights the socially constructed nature of 'victims' and media's 'ideal victim' is weak, innocent, and blameless, the victim of an attack by a psychopathic stranger.

Question 47

What are the 2 kinds of victimology?

Answer 47

- Positivist criminology - Criticalcriminology

Question 48

What is positivist victimology?

Answer 48

Miers (1989) outlines three features: - Aims to identify factors that produce 'patterns of victimisation', sepcifically 'victime proneness' - Focusses on interpersonal crimes of violence - Aims to identify victims who have contributed to their own victimisation

Question 49

Wolfgang (1958) and victim precipitation:

Answer 49

In a study of 600 murders in Philadelphia, 25% of cases involved 'victim precipitation', such that the victim triggered the events that led to their death, such as being the first to use violence.

Question 50

Give a strength and criticism of positivist criminology.

Answer 50

+ Brookman (2005): Wolfgang (1958) shows that in many homicides, it is a matter of chance which party becomes the victim. - It can very easily fall into victim blaming: Amir’s (1971) claim that one in five rapes are victim precipitated is not very different from saying that the victims ‘asked for it’.

Question 51

What are the two elements of critical criminology?

Answer 51

- Focus on how structural factors lead to victimisation; Mawby and Walklate (1994) argue that victimisation is a form of 'structural powerlessness'. - The state has the power to deny the label of victim, through the pressumption of innocence and the state's ability to refuse to press charges

Question 52

Tombs and Whyte (2007) and the hierarchy of victimisation:

Answer 52

Similarly between victims of rape and 'safety crimes' (harm due to employer violation of safty law), both are denied 'victim status' and are 'de-labelled', thus allowing powerful groups to hide their crimes and avoid justice - in the 'hierarchy of victimisation', the powerless are most likely to be victimised and least likely to acknowledged.

Question 53

Give a strength and criticism of critical criminology.

Answer 53

+ It is valuable in drawing attention to the way that ‘victim’ status is constructed by power and how this benefits the powerful at the expense of the powerless. - Critical victimology disregards the role victims may play in bringing victimisation on themselves through their own choices

Question 54

How does class affect victimisation?

Answer 54

Newburn and Rock (2006): the poorest are the most risk of victimisation - in a survey of 300 homeless people, they were 12x more likely to have experienced violence and 1 in 10 had been urinated on whilst rough sleeping.

Question 55

How does age affect victimisation?

Answer 55

The young most likely to be victims: the most at risk of being murdered are infants under one; however, the old are also at risk of things like abuse in nursing homes.

Question 56

How does ethnicity affect victimisation?

Answer 56

Ethnic minorities are more likely to be victimised (both from regular crime and racially-based) and less likely to recieve support from the police.

Question 57

How does gender affect victimisation?

Answer 57

Men are at greater risk of violent crime (70% of homicides); however, women are at greater risk of domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, etc.

Question 58

What is repeat victimisation?

Answer 58

If you have been victimised, it is likely to happen again - the British Crime Survey found that 60% of people have not been victimsed ever, wherease only 4% of the population are victims of 44% of all crime.

Question 59

What is 'indirect' and 'secondary' victimisation.

Answer 59

- Indirect victimisation: people who are not the direct of a crime but are still negatively affected - Pynoos et al (1987) found that childhood-witnesses of a sniper attack continue to have nightmares a year after the incident - Secondary victimisation: further victimisation by the criminal justice system - Feminists argue that rape victimse are so poorly treated that it amounts to a double violation

Question 60

How does victimsation create 'fear of crime'? How is this criticised?

Answer 60

Crimes (especially 'message crimes' that are doen to intimidate, like hate crime) creates fear in the public, often exacerbated by the media - studies show that it is often irrational, women are more afraid of crime but less likely to victims of violence. - Dark figure of crime - Feminists: it takes attention away from the actual problem of safety and almost victim blames women for being so afraid.