Crime and law Flashcards
What the biological reasons for crime?
Hormones, psychopathy, warrior gene
Example for psychopathy:
Aaron Campbell who killed 6 year old girl Alesha Mclphail on the Isle of Bute has been labelled a psychopath as he showed no remorse for his actions
What are social causes of crime?
Peer pressure, social environment, poor role models, lack of education/boredom
Example for poor role models:
Boys with a father who has been sent to prison are twice as likely to find themselves convicted in life
Example for social environment:
A good social environment will have less abuse, drugs, alcohol, also will have things like parks+ leisure centres w/o these it leads to boredom. In 2023 over 30 children were charged after Scot’s buses and drivers weee targeted in a large number of incidents such as throwing bricks at buses.
What are Economic causes of crime?
Poverty, greed
Example for poverty:
Cost of living crisis has led to people not being able to afford necessities which makes people turn to crime eg drugs/ shoplifting. In 2022-2023 shoplifting has increased by 31%.
Example for greed:
Office manager of an Edinburgh property firm who wanted a luxury lifestyle embezzled over £900,000 and was jailed for 3 years.
What are the Consequences of crime on a family:
Grief, a member of the family is in prison,
Example for grief:
The families of the girls who were murdered at their Taylor Swift dance class in Southport were devastated and shocked by the loss of their child.
Example for a member of family in prison:
The families can face financial difficulties + stigma from community. The sub-post masters who were accused of embezzling money from the people in their community and many local people turned against them.
What are the consequences of crime on the perpetrator?
Prison, stigma
Example for prison:
The isolation can be very difficult to cope with so this may lead to taking drugs such as SPICE (zombie drug) and becoming addicted
Example for stigma:
Can make it very hard for people to get a job however Timpsons actively employ people with a criminal record, 12.5 people in the UK have a criminal record as of 2024
What are the consequences of crime on a victim?
Death, loss of employment or poverty due to injury
Example for death:
Lucy Letby murdered 6 babies and injured many others
Example for poverty/ lack of employment due to injury:
Older people who face dishonesty crimes such as computer fraud and scams may lose a lot of money and feel shame about falling victim to these crimes.
What are the consequences of crime on a community?
Fear, the community being labelled as bad
Example for fear:
After the disappearance of Sarah Everard, citizens in Clapham were afraid to go out and once it was discovered that is was a police officer who abducted her the community did not trust the police
Example for the community being labelled as bad:
People won’t want to live there, businesses won’t want to open and citizens in the area are labelled as bad and may find it harder to find employment
What are the consequences of crime on wider society (the whole of the UK)
Increase in insurance premiums, the cost to taxpayers, instillation of CCTV
Example for increase in insurance premiums:
Insurance companies need to cover their costs which affects people all over the country, in 2023-2024 130,000 cars were stolen which led to an increase in car insurance costs for drivers
Example for the cost to taxpayers:
Taxpayers to need pay more for the nhs to cover wounds caused by crimes eg since 2008 it has cost £3 million more per year to treat knife wounds
