Crime control, surveillance, prevention and punishment, victims, and the role of the criminal justice system and other agencies Flashcards
Right Realist: situational crime prevention
Felson: Target hardening
Reducing…
E.g., Greater p…….
Redesign public areas
… alarms for p…
-Reducing the opportunities for crimes to be committed.
E.g., Greater police presence on the streets
-More CCTV and anti-climb paint.
-Redesign public areas to make them safer; more lighting, more signs like “CCTV in operation” to make people aware.
-Burglar alarms [for private households and companies, to protect their property]
Felson’s example of New York
Bus station redesigned to make all areas…
E.g., increased.. and more …..-……
Bus station in NY redesigned to make all areas clean and visible which reduced crime rates.
-E.g., increased lighting and more see-through- nowhere to hide
Evaluation of situational approach
LR argue RR ignore social ine…
LR argue that we need to red MD and CD
Chaiken et al: Displacement of crime
Selective policing leads to
Not all crime take place due to …
{example included of Marxists arguing that proletariat crimes..}
-Left Realists argue that RR ignore social inequalities, that could be the cause of crime.
-LR argue that we need to reduce- material and cultural deprivation
-Selective policing leads to distorted official statistics as police patrols more w/c / ethnic minorities areas- which reinforces stereotypes.
Chaiken et al: Displacement of crime
- Crime still happens; it is just “displaced”
- Spatial displacement- crime instead occurs in areas without surveillance.
-Mainly focuses on petty crimes- e.g., vandalism
Not all crimes take place due to rational choice.
-e.g., Marxists argue that the proletariat crimes are to fight against the bourgeoisie.
Environmental Crime Prevention
Wilson and Kelling: ‘Zero tolerance’
-Obvious signs of delinquency and decay
Wilson and Kelling: ‘Zero tolerance’ [based on the broken windows theory]
-Obvious signs of delinquency and decay (which have been left unrepaired) suggests little control and such deviant behaviour is acceptable.
-Therefore, visible signs of crime should be resolved immediately to reduce further crime.
Other RR crime prevention strategies:
Increase public perception of
Policies to encourage parents to..
Increasing employment levels to provide..
-Increase public perception of effectiveness of the police i.e. publishing statistics.
-Policies to encourage parents to the be stricter with children and removing the “over generous” welfare state.
-Increasing employment levels to provide strong working role models for children.
RR views on punishment
Argues prisons are…… and the threat of prison is a …
Included less expensive measures such as the use of…
-Argues prisons are effective and that the threat of prison is a deterrent.
-Included less expensive measures such as the use of electronic tagging devices.
Functionalism views about crime prevention and punishment
Durkheim: 3 points
- Maintain
- Promote …..
- Prevent a state of…
Durkheim argues that we need to be tough on crime in order to:
- Maintain boundaries
- Promote social solidarity and value consensus
- Prevent a state of anomie
Functionalist view on punishment
-Punishment should be visible to remind…
-Small amount of crime plays a….
-Punishment should be visible to remind members of society what happens when the boundaries are crossed.
-A small amount of crime plays a positive role in reinforcing social solidarity and the value consensus.
Evaluation of Functionalist view on punishment
Marxists criticise Functionalists for ignoring …, as the law….
-The b…. creates the … and exerts …………
-Marxists criticise Functionalist views for ignoring inequalities, as the law does not reflect a value consensus.
-The bourgeoisie creates the laws and exerts formal control.
Marxists views about crime prevention
Prisons are part of the…… and punishment is a way to maintain…
Rusche und Kirchheimer:
- In a capitalist society punishment is carried out through the …… of…….
-Capitalists think that imprisonment is suitable …. as it means the….. are not able to……rendering…
-Prisons are part of the repressive state apparatus and punishment is a way to maintain capitalist society
Rusche und Kirchheimer:
- In a capitalist society punishment is carried through the confinement of w/c.
-Capitalists think that imprisonment is a suitable punishment, as it means that the proletariat are not able to sell their wage labour, rendering them powerless.
Left Realists views about crime prevention
-Take MD and CD through policies like … to encourage better… and reduce ……… …… and increase ……
-Build ….,….. relationships between the … and the …
-Make the…. more and … in their actions.
Prevention:
-Tackle material and cultural deprivation through policies such as Sure Start, to encourage better parenting, reduce social exclusion and increase social mobility.
-Build positive, trusting relationships between the police and the public.
-Make the police more accountable and transparent in their actions.
Left Realists views about punishment
-Rehabilitation of offences is ..
-Alternative to prison such as…
-Restorative…
-Prisoners need re-…. to reduce feelings of…..
-Rehabilitation of offences is needed to reduce reoffending.
-Alternatives to prison such as community service should be considered.
-Restorative justice programmes may help (the victim meeting the offender)
-Prisoners need re-education to reduce feelings of marginalisation.
Evaluation of LR views
-RR would criticise them for being too “..” and not …
-Ignores the evidence that most people in poverty……
therefore,… tackling …. will …………
-RR would criticise them for being too “soft” and not holding offenders accountable for their actions.
-Ignores the evidence that most people in poverty dor not commit crime, therefore, by tackling deprivation this will not necessarily reduce crime rates.
Patterns of victimisation
Class
What groups are at more risk?
..% of the… population suffered?
- Lone parents, the unemployed and homeless at risk.
- 67% of the homeless population suffered theft.
Explanation:
Mack and Lansley (1985)
- Poor people suffer from victimisation.
- inequalities increasing in income and an increase on crime.
Marxists:
- W/c as victims dues to their powerless position
-The ruling class deciding what to label a “victim”
- Biased
Patterns of victimisation
Ethnicity
- Mixed ethnic groups, Bangladeshi and Pakistani in low-income households more prone to becoming victims.
Explanation:
- Less likely to report due to distrust in the police, as they view them to being institutionally racist.
Patterns of victimisation
Gender
- 68% of men were victims
- Women were more likely to be a victim of domestic abuse.
Explanation:
- Men are most likely to be victims of crimes by a stranger.
- Opposite for women: most likely victims of crimes by a known person.
Patterns of victimisation
Age
- Households headed by young people are twice as likely to be vulnerable.
- 8% of 10-15 year olds experienced violent crimes.
- 5% experienced violence with injury.
Explanation:
- Young people are more vulnerable, despite the media portraying the youth being dangerous.
- The elderly are also vulnerable e.g., lack of knowledge on cybercrime; making them more vulnerable to cyber crimes.
Christie: “victim” is a socially constructed concept
-E.g., Sometimes, we, are unaware of being a victim such as cases of identity theft.
-Victims have now become more visible in the media, with greater efforts made to understand their experiences.
-E.g., Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (2013), which sets the rights of victims, the process they should expect, how to make a complaint and information about victim support gangs.
Explanations of victimisation
Positivist Victimology
-Positivists believe that social problems are discoverable and solved through scientific methods.
Miers defines 3 features in positivist victimology:
1. Aims to identify that produce patterns in victimisation
2. Focuses upon interpersonal crimes of violence.
3. Aims to identify victims who have contributed to their own victimisation.
Explanations of victimisation
Victim proneness:
Identifying people with characteristics which predispose them to becoming a victim, means that patterns can be established, predictions made and crimes reduced.
Explanations of victimisation
Victim precipitation:
Victims may be in some way to blame e.g., tearing valuables on display in their ear/ dressing provocatively/ being out late at night
Evaluation of positivist victimology
-Blames the victim rather than the offender.
Feminists are particularly critical of suggestions that females are to blame for domestic violence or sexual offences.
-Ignores wider structural inequalities which may influence victimisation e.g., patriarchy/poverty/racism.
-Tends to focus upon visible crime such as robberies rather than issues of state crime.
-Ignores situations where victims are unaware of their victimisation.
-Lots of research based upon outdated subjective judgements of interactions between individuals.
Explanations of victimisation
Critical victimology
- Marxists and Feminists suggest that victims are constructed in a way that reinforces and justifies structural inequality.
-Through the criminal justice process, the state applies the label of victim to some but withhold it from others e.g., when police decide not to press charges against a man for assaulting his wife, denying her victim status.
- The powerless are most likely to be victimised, yet least likely to have this acknowledged.
Explanations of victimisation
Critical victimology
Feminists
Mawby and Walklate:
- Victimisation is a form of structural powerlessness.
- Crimes such as domestic violence are often unrecognised.
- When cases do go to courts; often unsuccessful- thus reinforcing patriarchy and undermining the ability of women to challenge structural inequalities.
Tombs and Whyte
The victim can be seen to blame e.g., in a rape trial.
-Puts victims off reporting crimes- making them even more powerless.
-Victims of health and safety violations at work are explained as the fault of the “accident prone” worker.
Evaluation of critical victimology
RR criticism
-Disregards the role victims may play in bringing victimisation on themselves, e.g., not making their home secure.
4 aims of the criminal justice system
- Deterrence: To create to prevent other people committing crime.
(Eva. Possibly not effective- higher rates of re-offending) - Public protection (incapacitation) Keeping offenders of the streets.
-E.g., house arrest, jailed - Retribution: Punishment
-Uses taxpayers money
(Eva. Costs a lot money
-RR emphasise the deterrence role of punishment: it criminals make a rational choice to offend; they should make a rational choice not to offend.) - Rehabilitation: Reforming
- Restorative justice, community service, mental health support, training for employment, anger management lessons.
- Preparing them to be let out back into society.
-LR emphasise restorative justice and the idea that a key role of punishment, is to make a amendments for the harm caused.
-E.g., Braithwaite: Reintegrative shaming
Problems with justice system
Reoffending (recidivism) rates tells us that prisons do not work.
-Offenders still re-offend- higher rates of re-offending
-Too confident that prisons work
Marxists claim that the criminal justice system reflects the values of the ruling class.
-Ruling class crimes largely go undetected and unpoliced.
There is evidence of racism within the criminal justice system.
-Black minority are 7x more likely to be stopped and searched by police compared to their white counterparts.
The criminal justice system may not be equal for men and women.
-Chivalry thesis- women may be treated more leniently.
-E.g., less harsher sentences due to their position in society- wife or mother.
Prisons are overcrowded
-Prison population is projected up to 25% (20,000)
