Criminal Justice System Flashcards
What is the criminal justice system ?
institutions responsible for delivering justice is the UK , (comprised of various governmental departments and agencies)
e.g police, ministry of justice , prisons
what are the four aims/roles of the CJS?
deterrence - deter people from committing crime
public protection- police , maintain public order , courts-aim to stop criminals causing further harm
retribution- concerned with punishing criminals for their actions
rehabilitation- criminals should be reformed
What is the functionalist viewpoint on the CJS?
CJS serves people by upholding the norms, values and laws of society
What is the marxist viewpoint on the CJS?
CJS reflects interests of the ruling class and seeks to defend ruling class’ intrests
What is the feminist viewpoint on the CJS?
the CJS is patriarchal and protective over women
OR
changing social attitudes have found women treated more harshly for more ‘masculine’ offences - such as drug dealing
What did Phillips and Bowling say about the CJS?
CJS operates on processes/procedures that disadvantage minority groups.
What did the McPherson report (1999) say about the CJS?
there is institutional racism
(e.g Stephen Lawrence case)
What did the Lammy report (2017) find about the CJS?
25% in custody were from minority ethnic groups
what percentage of prisoners in the UK, in June 2020, were women?
5%
what are the functions of prisons?
to act as a deterrent
incapacitate offender, keeping public safe
rehabilitation (rejoin society)
punishment
Durkheim (functionalist) argued there are two forms of punishment in society - what are they?
retributive (form of vengeance for acts they committed)
restitutive (allows them to make amend and become functioning member of society)
What did Althusser (marxist) argue the CJS acts as?
a repressive state apparatus , prison is a way to control those who do not conform
punishment is about interests of ruling class (e,g providing cheap labour, especially in privately owned prisons)
What was found in the Downing Street Strategy Unit 2013
‘no convincing evidence that putting people in prison prevents crime’
What do symbolic interactionists , Goffman and Becker argue?
prison has its own subculture which provides a training ground for criminals and confirms a ‘master status’
In recent decades, there has been an increase in the use of restorative justice - what is this?
restorative justice is a system of criminal justice which focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community at large
What did Braithwaite (1999) claim?
restorative justice is most effective when it involves ‘reintegrative shaming’ - offenders face offenders and are publicly ‘named and shamed’ - makes them realise the extent society disapproves of them and take responsibility for their own actions.
What did Newburn (2007) say are the 5 main reasons for punishing criminals?
discourage reoffending
force them to make amends (restorative justice)
protect society
reinforce social values and bonds
punish them for their actions
What did Foucault (1991) (postmodernist) say about the changing forms of punishment?
Decline in public forms of physical punishment is due to changing structures of power in society. Brutal punishments were not concerned with deterring crime, rather as public demonstrations of supreme power of sovereigns/monarch.
As this declined , a new form of state power developed - disciplinary power.
This suggests criminals are controlled and disciplined by surveillance. Demonstrated change from sovereign to disciplinary power through the disciplinary mechanism of the panopticon. This is a prison design whereby the guards could see every prisoner, the prisoners did not know if they were being watched. This uncertainly of surveillance encouraged the prisoner to exert self surveillance and control their behaviour.
Constant external monitoring eventually internalised into self surveillance.
What did Rusche and Kirchheimer (2007) (marxists) argue about the changing forms of punishment ?
see punishment as part of the system of social control and class domination in unequal societies
argue the changing forms of punishment overtime is as a result of changing economic interests of the dominant class (scale of brutality rose when labour was plentiful and decreased when there was a labour shortage)
Durkheim argues societies can only exist with a _____________ ____________ , this forms moral ties and binds the community together through a _________________ ________________. This regulates behaviour.
Durkheim argues societies can only exist with a VALUE CONSENSUS, this forms moral ties and binds the community together through a COLLECTIVE CONSCIENCE. This regulates behaviour.
Durkheim argues laws are an expression of the ….
collective conscience
Durkheim argues retribution has the following roles:
provides outlet for public anger - express disapproval
reassert boundaries and social order
contribute to building social solidarity
Why is the functionalist perspective of punishment criticised?
- assumes law reflects value consensus
-ignores inequalities in wealth and power
-punishments (like imprisonment) may not assist in restabilising social order, but actually threaten it (as prisons often harbour crime)
Althusser (1971) argues punishment is
Althusser (1971) argues punishment is part of the repressive state apparatus. This aims to remove dissent and rebellion towards ruling class.
What does Weber argue about society and punishment?
Modern societies have undergone a process of rationalisation , based around laws and regulations.
Only the state now has the power to punish , meaning punishment is based on impersonal regulations administered by complex systems of officials.
In democratic societies, punishment is based on legislation decided by elected governments and therefore is arguably more legitimate.
criticisms of Weber’s theory of rationalisation
there are many cases of miscarriages of justice where judges have discriminated unfairly.
What do right realists argue about imprisonment?
Right realists argue prison is a key way of deterring people away from crime as it increases the cost of crime (what people could lose)
Past 100 years, the number of people in prison has…
quadrupled
Between 2001-2011, the prison population
rose by 30%
England and Wales have the highest ____________________ rate out of European countries
imprisonment
Ministry of Justice found in 2010, 47.5% of offenders ________________ within _______
Ministry of Justice found in 2010, 47.5% of offenders reoffended within a year.
Boorman and Hopkins (2012)
68% of offenders reoffend within a year of being released
How may prisons not help society?
make existing problems worse, such as destabilising family ties.
Goffman (1991) , an interactionist sociologist, argued prisons have own subcultures and confirm the ‘criminal’ label. This then becomes what Becker (1997) called, a ‘master status’.
Prisons become institutions for the manufacturing of crime rathe than the rehabilitation of criminals.
Explain Foucault’s (1991) theory of surveillance
surveillance is a key way of monitoring and changing behaviours of criminals.
It is a form of disciplinary power, encouraging people to exert internal surveillance.
Contemporary society ahs been transformed into a surveillance/disciplinary society, in what he called the ‘age of panopticism’ - everyone is subject to the disciplinary gaze of the panopticon.
Lyon (2009)
surveillance has been enhanced by information and communication technologies
there’s an estimated ___________ cameras across Britain
5 million
criticisms of Foucault’s theory of surveillance
- surveillance is so pervasive that people cease to be aware of it (especially on social media/internet)
-some people may resist surveillance , they are not deterred by it
-some crimes are committed behind closed doors, and therefore are not seen , such as domestic violence
Outline crime prevention strategies that may help reduce crime.
increased surveillance deters people from committing cime, they are less likely to offend if they percieve the risk of getting caught to be high
zero tolerance strategies increase the risk of crime, risks begin to outweigh the benefits so decreases the likelihood of crime
reduction of poverty and unemployment - reduces feeling of relative deprivation and therefore the need to compensate for that with crime
punishment prevents people from being able to commit crimes , e.g prisons take people off the street
