Crime, control and prevention - booklet 4 Flashcards
What is restorative justice?
Naming, shaming and facing the victims.
What was the aim of diverting people involved in low level minor offending away from formal sanctions?
To avoid unnecessary criminalisation of those on the fringes of criminal activity and to avoid them joining the ‘universities of crime.’
What is restorative justice more effective according to Braithwaite?
When it involves redintegrative shaming - the offender faces the victim and are publicly named and shamed making them realise the extent that society disapproves of their actions to shame them into future conformity and make them take responsibility.
Why do Postmodernists identify a growing detachment of the CJS?
As it starts to consider peoples different lifestyles and needs e.g. policing policies become more localised and community-based reflecting the communities it serves.
What is an example of growing informality and localism of criminal justice?
The voluntary use of Sharia Courts based on Islamic rather than British law among some sections of the Muslim community to deal with disputes.
What do Right realists emphasise?
The individual - people choose to commit crime because the benefits outweigh the cost of crime so society needs to increase the cost of crime.
What does Garland argue there is?
A culture of control concerned with controlling, preventing and reducing risks of people becoming victims.
Links to Hirsh’s control theory - strong social bonds integrate people into communities encouraging individuals to choose conformity over deviance and crime.
The focus is on tighter control and socialisation by strengthening social institutions like the traditional family, religion and community and constraining and isolating individuals through community pressure.
examples of increased social control:
- Making parents take more responsibility for the supervision of children - September 2024 mum fined for not taking her son to court and going to Ibiza instead has to take part in a 6 month parenting course.
- Schemes like neighbourhood watch.
- Cracking down on anti-social behaviour through naming and shaming measures like Anti-Social Behaviour Orders.
How does Clarke describe situational crime prevention?
A preventative approach that relies on reducing opportunities for crime.
What are features of situational crime preventions?
- Directed at specific crimes.
- Involve managing the environment of the crime.
- Aim to increase effort of committing crime and reducing rewards.
What are some examples of target hardening measures?
- Post-coding goods.
- Anti-climb paint.
- CCTV.
- Locks.
- Premises and car alarms.
What does target hardening reduce?
The opportunities for crime and poses greater risks for offenders and encourages them not to commit an offence.
What is SCP concerned with preventing?
Crime in particular locations rather than catching offenders.
Rational choice theory
- Offenders act rationally, weighing up benefits and risks when they see an opportunity for crime before choosing whether or not to commit an offence.
- Clarke - most theories dont offer realistic solutions to crime so we must reduce opportunities.
- Felson e.g. Port Authority Bus Terminal NYC - poorly designed, toilets were a settling for luggage thefts, rough sleeping, drug taking and homosexual liaisons - reshaping physical layout to design crime out replacing large sinks which homeless bathed in.
Routine activity theory
- Crime occurs as part of everyday routines when there are 3 conditions present:
1. Suitable target for potential offender which could be a person, place or object.
2. No ‘capable guardian’ like neighbour, police or CCTV surveillance to protect target.
3. A potential offender present who thinks the first two conditions are met and then chooses whether or not to commit the crime.
Criticism of SCP - displacement
- They don’t reduce crime simply displace it.
- If criminals are rational they simply move to where targets are softer.
- E.g. Chaiken et al found crackdown on subway robberies in NY displaced them to streets above.
Factors of displacement:
- Spatial - moving elsewhere.
- Temporal - committing at a different time.
- Target - different victim.
- Functional - different type of crime.
- Tactical -using a different method.
Evaluation of SCP
- Reduces certain kinds of crime.
- Most measures lead to displacement.
- Focusses on opportunistic petty street crime - ignoring corporate and state crime which is the most harmful.
- Assumes criminal actions are rational - unlikely as many violent crimes amongst others are committed under the influence of drugs/ alcohol.
- Ignores root causes of crimes such as poverty/ poor socialisation - makes it difficult to develop long term strategies.
Who influenced Environmental crime prevention? (ECP)
Wilson
What does Wilson argue crime is caused by?
Incivilities/ anti-social behaviour such as vandalism, graffiti, drugs being openly pushed in public places, dog fouling, littering, swearing and physical harrassment.
What does Wilson say will happen if incentive behaviour is tolerated?
Areas deteriorate and a sense of ‘anything goes’ develops.
What example does Wilson use?
- Broken window.
- If signs of disorder e.g. broken windows are left Un repaired this encourages further similar acts of deviance and sends a clear message that no one cares and encourages more of the same behaviour.
When will disorder happen according to Wilson?
- When there is little sense of community/ neighbourhood - means formal and informal social controls are weak.
- Members of community may feel powerless and older members afraid to leave.
- Respectable people may move away and more anti-social elements replace them.
What do police feel about anti-social behaviour?
That it isn’t their responsibility - target more serious offences.