Criminology Unit 2 revision

Question 1

what is a crime?

Answer 1

Legal definition:
An act that violates the law and is punishable by a sentence of incarceration (imprisonment).
Social definition:
An act harmful not only to some individual but also to a community, society or the state (“a public wrong”). Such acts are forbidden and punishable by law.

Question 2

Examples of types of crimes:

Answer 2

Manslaughter

Honour killing

GBH

Assault

Burglary

Arson

Vandalism

Rape

sexual harassment

Revenge porn

Drug consumption

Question 3

Formal sanctions:

Answer 3

These are given out by an authority such as the government, police force or judge. They usually have something to do with the law.

Question 4

Sanctions include:

Answer 4

Warnings from the police (non-court)

Custodial sentences (court)

Dismissal from work (non-court)

Fines (court)

Question 5

Informal sanctions:

Answer 5

These are given by other social groups in society, which do not necessarily have something to do with the law (although sometimes can- e.g. fines being given out by schools to parents whose children have poor attendance).

Question 6

Different types of sanctions used may include:

Answer 6

Socially excluding a person from a peer/friendship group

Being pushed out of a religion group

Disappointed reactions from parents

Being passed over for a promotion at work

Being sanctioned by teachers at school e.g. given a detention

Question 7

What is deviance?

Answer 7

Deviance is any behaviour that disrupts social norms and usually results in disapproval from most of society. Deviance can be criminal or non-criminal.

Question 8

Examples of types of deviance:

Answer 8

Spitting in public

Swearing at a teacher

Burping loudly in class

Fighting on the playground

Refusing to follow instructions

Question 9

What are norms?

Answer 9

These are expected/normal patterns of behaviour. These will vary from culture to culture. Most people will follow these naturally as it is seen as a normal thing to do e.g. wearing clothes in public.

Question 10

What is a moral code?

Answer 10

Moral refers to something that decides what thoughts, behaviour, actions, traits, and characteristics are right and good and what is wrong and bad. A code is basically a set of rules. It follows that a moral code is a set of rules or guidelines that a person or group follows in order to live a just and good life.

Moral codes are heavily dependent upon culture. This is because each culture has its own ideas of what is considered right and what is considered wrong. Moral codes dictate many aspects of our lives, from how we act, to how we dress, and even how we treat other people.

Question 11

Examples of moral codes

Answer 11

One set of moral codes that you may be somewhat familiar with is the Ten Commandments that are listed in the Bible. Many Christians believe that the Ten Commandments were created to serve as a guide for how to live a good, Christian life.

Question 12

What are values?

Answer 12

These are beliefs and ideas that society sees as important. They are accepted by the majority of society and tend to be things we believe in, strive to achieve and that encourage good behaviour e.g. respecting your teachers or looking after your family.

Question 13

How is crime socially constructed?

Answer 13

Crime and deviance are both ‘socially constructed’, which means they are created and defined by society. There are different factors which influence whether something is criminal or deviant.

Question 14

Culture

Answer 14

Different cultures have different expectations of appropriate behaviour. What is acceptable in one culture will not be seen as acceptable in another. For example, smoking cannabis in Arab is perfectly legal while alcohol use is a serious crime. The opposite laws apply in Britain. Honour crimes which are killings when shame is brought on the family is illegal in the UK, yet are common in South Asian and Middle Eastern families. Homosexuality would be another example, it is legal in the UK but illegal in Saudi Arabia.

Question 15

Time

Answer 15

When the act takes place can decide if it is deviant or not. Whether that is time of the day or changes of crime/deviance over a period of time. For example, drinking alcohol at 9 o’clock in the morning is different to drinking at nine o’clock in the evening. Furthermore, laws change over periods of time, for example, capital punishment was once legal and people would be killed for even small crimes. Today the death penalty has been abolished from moany countries, including the UK. Furthermore, vagrancy (sleeping rough) is actually against the law, and this was to stop beggars on the street, but today people actually feel sympathy for the homeless and accept there are genuine reasons they may need to sleep rough.

Question 16

Place

Answer 16

Where the criminal act takes place can decide whether it is criminal/deviant. This also relates to the social situation of where the act takes place. For example, an adult running naked across a nudist beach is different to an adult running naked across a football pitch. Possession of cannabis is illegal in the UK, yet in Amsterdam, you can buy and smoke cannabis legally in coffee shops. Jaywalking is another crime that varies, crossing the road when a light isn’t green is illegal there, yet in the UK there is no law and it is seen as our own responsibility to cross roads safely.

Question 17

Circumstances

Answer 17

A criminal/deviant act will often require certain circumstances to be fulfilled as well as the action itself. For example, the act of sexual intercourse is not illegal in itself, but could become so according to the age or whether consent has been given. Another example of this could be age. The age of criminal responsibility in the UK is ten, in Canada it is twelve, India it is nine and China is sixteen. Circumstance can impact how someone is punished, so if a killing is seen as self-defence rather than murder, this may reduce the sentence due to circumstance.

Question 18

FURTHER EXAMPLES…

Answer 18

PLACE:

Running naked on a nudist beach.

Running naked across the school playground.

TIME:

Drinking a bottle of wine at 8am Friday morning before college.

Drinking a bottle of wine at 8pm on a Friday night after college.

CULTURE:

Women exposing their arms and legs in some Islamic countries.

Women exposing their arms and legs in Britain today.

CIRCUMSTANCE:

Killing a person in cold blood.

A soldier killing an enemy in battle.

Question 19

How does the media contribute to social constructions of crime?

Answer 19

A moral panic is an increased reporting on some form of antisocial behaviour or negative event. This exaggerated fear or outrage created by the media and its audience is over an issue that has been blown out of proportion by the media in the first place. These become issues of public concern, about the behaviour of certain groups of people who are then seen as a threat to the stability of society.

Folk Devils are the groups targeted by a moral panic and they are seen to be a threat to society. E.g. Boys in hoodies/benefit scroungers.

Stanley Cohen believes these people are labelled and stereotyped by the media as evil or deviant and a threat to the moral wellbeing of society.

Groups such as the police, courts, judges or religious groups will use the media to create public uproar and outrage, causing people to want change to happen and these issues to be dealt with.

Question 20

deviancy amplification

Answer 20

This then puts pressure on the government to crack down on these particular groups or social issues. E.g. police start to target boys in hoodies more in public, moving them on and stopping and searching them.
Now, when the police begin to crack down on these groups, this never usually ends positively and can lead to something called a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is when a prediction becomes true.

Question 21

Theories of crime: Biological (genetic and physiological)

Question 22

GENETIC

Question 23

Jacobs xyy study

Answer 23

Crime might be down to a chromosomal abnormality. Sex is determined by the pattern of a person’s sex chromosomes: XX in a woman, XY in a man. It is a Y chromosome that makes a person male. Since an ‘extra X’ chromosome appears to feminise men, some theorists believe that an additional Y chromosome might ‘hyper masculinise’ men who had it.

Around 1 in every 1000 new-borns have an extra Y chromosome. Since men are more aggressive than women, it might be that men who have XYY chromosomes might be more aggressive than other men and hence more likely to commit violent crimes.

Early studies of XYY males suggested they were 10 times more likely than XY men to be found in criminal populations. The idea was that offenders in prisons and hospitals would be likely to contain large numbers of XYY men. XYY men are rare in the general population but more common in the offender population.

Question 24

CRITICISM

Answer 24

Focuses too heavily on genetics rather than behaviour/socialistion.

Over time the problem was found that XYY men tend to commit non-violent crime, not violent crime as the XYY study suggests.

Must also take into account psychological, environmental and social factors can cause someone to commit crime.

Question 25

Twin Studies

Answer 25

DZ (dizygotic) twins develop from two eggs and share about half of their genetic material, whereas MZ (monozygotic/identical) twins develop from a single egg and share all of their genetic material. Twins generally are raised in the same social environment, so the impact of the social environment is seen as equal and controlled. Therefore, any greater similarity between identical twins show evidence for a genetic link.

Lange took out a study on 30 pairs of twins who were the same sex. 17 were DZ twins and 13 were MZ/identical twins.

At least one of each pair were known to have committed a crime. Lange found that in 10 out of 13 MZ/identical twins both were known as criminals, compared to only 2 of the DZ pairs. More studies have followed.

It was found that the chance of one twin taking part in criminal behavior when the other twin was criminal was 50% among the MZ (identical) twin pairs but only 20% among the DZ twin pairs.

Question 26

CRITICISM

Answer 26

Although twin studies have provided some support for a genetic factor to criminal behavior, it is difficult to separate the influence of genetics from the influence of social factors.

Question 27

Adoption Studies

Answer 27

In adoption studies, the behavior of the adopted child is compared with the effects of their adopted and biological parents. The aim is to separate out the impact of the environment (adopted parents) from the influence of inheritance (biological parents).

Does someone commits a crime due to nature (genes) or nurture (upbringing)?

Research shows that an adoptee with a biological parent who is criminal is more likely to take part in property crime than other adoptees and that this effect is stronger for boys.

Question 28

CRITICISM

Answer 28

Not all children who grow up with biological criminal parents turn out to be criminals themselves. There adopted parents actually have a positive impact on them.

The age a child is adopted can influence their behavior.

Question 29

PHYSIOLOGICAL

Question 30

Cesare Lombroso

Answer 30

Argued that criminals were a throwback to an earlier stage of human evolution. He said there were several characteristics, such as large jaws, extra fingers and monobrows which were clear signs that someone was a criminal.

Compared physical characteristics of Italian prisoners to Italian soldiers and concluded that the prisoners were physically different. He found they had features such as larger hands, monkey-like ears, long arms, large chins and many more.

Stated that males who had five or more of these characteristics were seen to be criminal, but females only needed as few as three of these features to be born criminal.

Thought that tattoos were seen as markings of a born criminal as they show immortality and insensitivity to physical pain. Lombroso called these abnormalities ‘stigmata’ and said that we can easily identify who the criminals are due to these abnormalities, so we should remove them from normal society and we can therefore remove any criminals.

Question 31

CRITICISM

Answer 31

Far too simplistic, and we know there are many more factors that can cause crime then just your genetics, such as your wealth, diet, health and other social factors.

Question 32

William Sheldon

Answer 32

Argued that criminal behaviour links to a person’s physical form. He stated that people can be classified into three body shapes, which correspond with three different personality types. These are: 1) endomorphic (fat and soft physical frame) and they tend to be sociable, fun-loving, tolerant, relaxed and good humoured. 2) Ectomorphic (thin and fragile frame) and they tend to be self-conscious, private, socially anxious and withdrawn. 3) Mesomorphic (muscular and hard frame) and tend to be courageous, assertive, competitive, dominant, aggressive and adventurous.

Found that many convicts were mesomorphic and they were least likely to be ectomorphic. This was unsurprising, as many violent crimes are likely to be carried out by strong men.

It is not clear why, but a possibility might be that a mesomorphic build reflects high testosterone levels, which may result in higher levels of aggressiveness.

Question 33

CRITICISM

Answer 33

Although this is valuable when studying crime, it is very easy to assume that all mesomorphs are criminal in nature, when we know that this is not the case.

People’s body shape change throughout their lives.

Question 34

Links between serotonin and behaviour

Answer 34

Serotonin, a neurotransmitter produced by the brain is thought to influence how impulsive a person is.

If a person’s serotonin levels are reduced, this can cause a negative change in behaviour.

It has been said that violent criminal behaviour can be linked to changes in serotonin levels. Research into low serotonin levels and criminal behaviour has been taken out.

In Finland, violent offenders and impulsive fire-starters had lower serotonin levels, showing that this can be linked to more severe forms of antisocial behaviour.

Serotonin can be influenced by our diet, and studies have been carried out on how it has been used as an effective antidepressant in mild-to-moderate cases of depression.

Also, it is said to improve mood and decrease irritability in people who are argumentative, produce healthy sleeping patterns and boost your mood overall.

Question 35

CRITICISM

Answer 35

Not all criminals have low serotonin levels, there may be other factors that influence them to commit crimes, such as their socialisation and upbringing.

Question 36

Theories of crime: Individualistic

Question 37

PYSCHODYNAMIC

Question 38

Sigmund Freud

Answer 38

Best way to understand behaviour is to examine early childhood experiences and that criminality is linked to guilt.

Psychologist who believed our personality (psyche) has three parts.

1) The id, which controls our selfish urges

2) the superego, which restricts us from doing bad (also known as our conscience)

3) the ego, which makes that final decision to do right or wrong and seeks sensible control.

Freud believes the ego has to find a balance between what the id wants and what the superego tells us is wrong.

The id wants instant gratification and represents our basic needs. It is the unconscious and tells us to do bad things.

The superego is what tells us is right and wrong. It would tell us to do good things.

The ego is what tries to be realistic. It is in between the two and will try to find a balance in between both.

Freud thought you need a balance between all three parts and when this does not happen, problems occur. He said behaviour that is seen as unacceptable by society (criminal) is a result of poor development of the personality (psyche). Freud says this is determined in the first five years of life, which means that criminal behaviour is developed then too. This is impacted by the relationship between the developing child and their parents.

Freud said children must go from the pleasure principle (the id) to the reality principle (the ego). If a child does not make this transition they can become criminal and this can happen if a child does not have a stable home environment.

Question 39

CRITICISM

Answer 39

These theories rely on concepts such as the unconscious mind, which we cannot prove exists.

These theories only explain behaviour after it has happened, which makes it unscientific.

It is highly subjective- two different researchers may draw very different conclusions from the same set of information.

These studies can be very time-consuming.

Question 40

Bowlby’s ‘affectionless psychopath’

Answer 40

He said that the ability to form meaningful social relationships in adulthood relied on a close, warm and continuous relationship with the mother in the first few years. Since this relationship acts as the example for all future relationships, its disruption would damage the person’s ability to relate to others. This could result in a condition Bowlby called ‘affectionless psychopathy’.

Bowlby presented evidence that early ‘maternal deprivation’ was related to later criminal behaviour. In his study ’44 Thieves’ he reported that 39% of a group of young criminals has experienced disruption to their attachments with their mother, compared to only 5% of a non-criminal group.

Question 41

CRITICISM

Answer 41

This research has been criticised for unrepresentative sampling (group was too small). Overall, he is now regarded to have overestimated the impact of early life experiences on later criminal offences.

Question 42

Psychological theories: Eysenck

Answer 42

Eysenck believed that certain personality types are more likely to commit crime because they crave excitement, but are slow to learn that crime has bad consequences.

He based his results on the analysis of responses to personality questionnaires. He carried out the questionnaire on 700 soldiers who were being treated for neurotic disorders at the hospital where he worked. He felt the answers suggested that there were a number of different personality traits that were being revealed by the soldier’s answers.

Extraversion/introversion (E, I): Extrovert is sociable but can become bored very quickly if there is a lack of stimulation. Introverts are reliable and in control of their emotions.

Neuroticism/stability: Neurotics are very anxious and irrational. Stable personality is calm and emotionally in control.

Eysenck later added a third dimension of psychoticism (P): a cold, uncaring and aggressive personality which indicated towards criminality.

He said people who were E, N or P were more likely to offend because it is difficult to control their immature impulses. Criminals like to be impulsive, thrill-seeking and unable to understand the rules of society.

Question 43

CRITICISM

Answer 43

Suggests personality is genetic and does not consider that it can change over time.

Question 44

SOCIAL LEARNING THEORIES

Question 45

Bandura (1961) and the Bobo doll study

Answer 45

Believed that people learn by watching behaviour of others. Children watch adults gaining pleasure from an activity or being punished for an activity and they will either repeat or reject those behaviours.

Aggression can be learned from watching others behave in an aggressive manner. To prove his ideas, he conducted a series of experiments involving a bobo doll.

Tested 36 boys and 36 girls from a nursery aged between 3-6. An aggressive model was shown to 24 children, a non-aggressive model was shown to 24 children and no model was shown to 24 children.

Children who observed the aggressive model made far more copied aggressive responses than those who were in the non-aggressive or control groups. The aggressive children even came up with new ways to hurt the doll such as using a toy gun to shoot it.

The findings support Bandura’s (1977) Social Learning Theory. That is, children learn social behavior such as aggression through the process of observation learning - through watching the behavior of another person. This can be supported by the way children learn violent behaviour through things like violent video games, films and media.

Question 46

CRITICISMS

Answer 46

Cumberbatch (1990) found that children who had not played with a Bobo Doll before were five times as likely to imitate the aggressive behavior than those who were familiar with it; he claims that the novelty value of the doll makes it more likely that children will imitate the behavior.

A further criticism of the study is that the demonstrations are measured almost immediately. With such snap shot studies, we cannot discover if such a single exposure can have long-term effects.

It is possible to argue that the experiment was unethical. For example, there is the problem of whether or not the children suffered any long-term consequences as a result of the study. Although it is unlikely, we can never be certain.

Question 47

Sociological theories of crime: Functionalist- DURKHEIM

Answer 47

Durkheim saw crime as a healthy part of society. He said crime was inevitable- a society would always have some deviance as people test the boundaries within that particular society.

Promoting social solidarity

Refers to a sense of cohesion felt in society- all the members of a society feeling part of the whole. Certain events bring people together and can be seen to promote social solidarity and Durkheim argued that crime is one of those events.

He said shared outrage over a crime or scandal will lead to people expressing ‘public temper’ therefore promoting social solidarity- everyone is outraged together.

In society members all share a set of values, (ideas of right or wrong) and this is referred to as collective conscience. This leads a community to control itself, using sanctions to ensure that anyone who steps out of line knows it is wrong. The collective conscience may be expressed through a sense of shock, outrage, horror or anger after hearing about the events.

Anomie

A small amount of crime and deviance prevent anomie, as long as it is punished. However, if a society allows too much crime and deviance without punishment, or if the value consensus breaks down, this can result in a breakdown of social order and lead to a state of anomie, which threatens the stability of the whole society. As normal order is removed and anomie happens, this may lead to an increase in deviant behaviour such as looting, violence and suicides. Anomie may occur if:

If there is a sudden change of government e.g. a revolution

If there is a disaster which leads to the destruction of order e.g. New York on 9/11

If there is a major economic upheaval e.g. a recession

Question 48

CRITICISM

Answer 48

Does not actually explain why individuals actually commit crime- if we all share a value consensus why do some people break the law?

So although Durkheim does explain why we need deviance, he doesn’t explain:

Why it happens

Why some people do it more than others

Why different people are deviant in different ways.

Also, Durkheim doesn’t consider the negative effects of deviance on individuals, such as victims of crime, or issues such as who creates the law, or who has power to dodge the law.

Question 49

MERTON’S STRAIN THEORY

Answer 49

Argues that there are clear goals in any social structure and there are also clear means to achieve these goals. Crime and deviance occurs when the goals are emphasised more than the acceptable means. If alternative means to achieve the goal (such as committing crime) start to become acceptable and even preferred by some, than anomie will occur. Therefore Merton says there is a ‘strain towards anomie’- the goal becomes more important than the means.

Westernised culture provides an example of this ‘strain’- where the goal of success and money has become the root of society and Americans constantly feel the pressure to find ways of making more money. But, Merton states there is not much emphasis on the legitimate ways to achieve success as there is on the goal itself.

Modes of adaption

There are five different responses to goal of success:

Conformity- this is the most common response to society’s goals. Most people work hard at school and in their job to earn money in legitimate ways.

Innovation- adopt criminal ways/bend the rules to gain material success

Ritualism- the sight of the goal is lost. Others may judge this person as lacking ambition and can be seen as deviant in a society of achievers.

Retreatism- those who struggle to achieve success may end up dropping out of society which judges them.

Rebellion- the rebel may reject society’s goals but replace them with alternatives, joining groups which seek a different type of society or campaigns for a different cause.

Question 50

CRITICISM

Answer 50

Merton has been challenged for his assumption that the goal of financial success is universal. It could be argued that there are many other goals, such as family and love, and many other reasons to display deviant behaviour.

A person may fall into more than one category of the five ‘modes of adaption’.

Merton sees deviant responses to society as individual. He fails to take into consideration that deviance can be communal, like in subcultures.

Deviance can be a collective responses, not just individual responses.

Question 51

Sociological theories of crime: Interactionist

Answer 51

Becker argued that labelling theory explains criminality. He says official statistics on crime are socially constructed and they also believe crime is a social construction.

Crime is subjective- agents of social control such as the police and judges label certain acts and behaviour as deviant or criminal and it will then be punished accordingly.

Lemert says there is two types of deviance: primary deviance (an act of deviance that has not been socially labelled as deviant) and secondary deviance (an act which has been labelled as deviant).

Once an act has been labelled as deviant the person starts to view themselves as deviant. This has then become a ‘master status’. People will respond to the person using this label and link any behaviour to this label, meaning the deviant identity will control them. This leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy. When a person is labelled over and over, they are likely to take on board this label and it will affect their self-concept. They may then start to live up to this label, making decisions based on that deviant view.

Once someone is given a master status it is difficult to get away from it- people may feel isolated or judged differently. This might mean they find it difficult to conform to society’s rules, such as holding down a job.

The media can contribute towards this and demonise people. This creates a moral panic in society and therefore these people labelled are seen as ‘folk devils’- threats to society- and therefore they are alienated further. This process is referred to as deviancy amplification. This can lead to certain groups being stereotyped.

Question 52

CRITICISM

Answer 52

Does not explain why people commit the crime in the first place- does a murderer only murder because they are given that label?

Some people work extremely hard to get rid of the label given and prove others wrong- does not always lead to self-fulfilling prophecy.

Only explains minor crimes, not big crimes such as rape.

Question 53

Sociological theories of crime: Marxism

Answer 53

Marxism is a social structure theory of crime where the working class is the main cause of crime where there are poor conditions and high unemployment.

Marxists focus on ideology: this means a system of ideas and beliefs.

They believe the ideology in society suits the powerful and their interests and makes sure the powerless (working class) stay in their place.

Marxists see crime as being down to a capitalist society and is used by the ruling class as a means of social control.

Institutions such as the police, criminal justice system, prisons, schools, the family and religion are there to encourage us to conform.

They argue white collar crimes, which tend to be committed by the more powerful in society, are ignored, while crimes committed by the less powerful, such as burglary and street crime, are focused on and seen as more serious.

Marxists argue different social classes are policed differently, with the working class heavily policed as they are expected to be more criminal, therefore raising the chances of their crimes being detected.

Marxists also believe that government twist statistics to suit their purpose. They believe on average 42% of statistics presented by the government are false and misleading.

Marxists believe crime is caused by poverty, poor living conditions and scarcity of resources. Also, capitalism creates competition and inequality of resources. This promotes greed and leads to materialism, racism and violence.

He says crime is caused by an unequal society. Poor people live in miserable conditions and they must commit crime to survive. People with power punish the poor more harshly than the rich.

Question 54

CRITICISM

Answer 54

Focus too much on working class when there are many other factors which influence whether someone commits crime or not.

Seen as very extreme and far-fetched.

White-collar crimes are punished, not always ignored

Question 55

Left realists

Answer 55

Suggests that crime happens because there are inequalities created by a capitalist society.

Some people who are motivated by consumerism and materialism turn to crime to make up for the fact they cannot get these things legitimately.

Left realists believe poverty, unemployment and an unfair society where only the rich benefit are to blame for rising crime rates. Poorer people are socially excluded and living in relative deprivation, leading to crime taking place. They think we need gradual social change where wealth is distributed more equally, education is improved for all and raised living standards for the poor will help to tackle the problem of crime.

They also believe that punishments should not be harsher, but rehabilitation should take place instead, where criminals are reintegrated back into society after addressing the cause for offending and how that impacted the victims.

Question 56

CRITICISM

Answer 56

Left realists are challenged for their lack of evidence on the motives of offenders.

Fails to explain why not everyone who is in poverty/deprivation does not turn to crime.

Question 57

Right realists

Answer 57

Charles Murray is a leading right realist who states that everyone is tempted to commit crime, but it is the mound of social bounds that prevent us from doing so.

Murray argues it is those who do not have strong ‘social bonds’ who are more likely to commit crimes. These bonds would be:

How attached people are to their family and friends, caring about what they think therefore stopping them from committing crime.

How committed someone is to their job as they have too much to risk/lose

How involved they are in their community, stopping them from committing crime

How strong their beliefs in key morals and values are, which are often taught through socialisation.

Murray talks about the development of the ‘underclass’ such as single parents who live off benefits and do not strive to anything in life as they live off the state. He says that boys who grow up in the ‘underclass’ without appropriate role models will end up turning to crime as a way of proving their masculinity.

Right realists do not believe that poverty or unemployment are the reason for rising crime rates. They instead believe that people are more likely to commit crime when restrictions on their behaviour are weakened, so they say crime is linked to poor social control. This is why they believe punishments should be tough when it comes to crime!

Question 58

CRITICISM

Answer 58

The main challenge to right realism is that it plays down the causes of offending, focusing instead on the failures in social control and punishment.

Ignore wider structural causes of crime such as poverty.

Question 59

Relevant studies of criminality that link to specific theories

Question 60

CASE: ROBERT NAPPER (links to Bowlby’s attachment theory and social learning theory)

Answer 60

Convicted of murder of the brutal murder of Rachel Nickell and murders of Samantha Bisset and her daughter.

Carried out over 70 sexual attacks on women across London over a four year period in 1993.

In early life he witnessed father being violent towards mother so was placed in foster homes. He had no attachment to anyone and was raped by a family friend at the age of 12. He had no friends in school and was teased by the other pupils.

This shows his lack of a stable home environment and attachment to a parent led to him not developing appropriately, leading to criminality.

Also links to Bandura as Napper saw the violent behaviour his dad showed his mother and therefore copied this later in life

Question 61

CASE: FRED WEST (links to social learning theory and Freud’s personality theory)

Answer 61

Committed at least 12 murders of young females with his wife between 1967 and 1987. This included rape and torture and their daughter was one of the victims killed. They were arrested and Fred killed himself in prison before the trial while Rose was charged of ten counts of murder.

It was said that Fred was introduced to sex by his mother from a young age.

He also had a motorcycle accident at 17 where he received head injuries. A metal plate had to be inserted into his head which may have affected his behaviour.

This shows that the acts he committed may have been influenced by his mother who was his role model, linking to social learning.

It could also be argued that Fred was unable to progress from the pleasure-seeking id to the ego, so he needed instant gratification from his sexual acts.

Also, the brain damage he suffered could be a biological reason for why his personality changed, making him unable to control his impulsive behaviour.

Question 62

CASE: NICK LEESON (links to Eysenck’s personality theory and social structure/Marxism theory)

Answer 62

Was a successful banker who made large profits and bonuses for Barings Bank.

However, was found out that he gambled away £827 million and committed numerous fraudulent and unauthorised acts.

Nick was willing to take chances and be impulsive, seeking thrills and was extrovert, linking to Eysenck’s personality theory as he enjoyed the thrill of making money and risk of being caught.

Marxists would say Leeson got away with his crimes for so long because these white-collar crimes are not monitored by the police like working class crimes are. Leeson committed these crimes out of wanting more from a capitalist society and being greedy.

Question 63

How do criminological theories influence policy development?

Question 64

Biological: death penalty and eugenics

Answer 64

Death penalty should be used for those cases of people who are ‘born criminals’. Lombroso believed that these types of people were ‘stigmata’ and should be removed from society, therefore the death penalty should be put into place so we can remove these criminals and have better social order.

However, as time has passed it has become apparent that we cannot know whether someone is criminal just down to their biological make up, and many people in the past who were put to death through capital punishment actually turned out to be innocent. In America where the death penalty is illegal, murder rates are actually lower!

Eugenics argued for the improvement of human genetic qualities. Positive eugenics aims to increase the reproduction of good qualities, and negative eugenics aims to stop the reproduction of bad qualities, to improve humanity and society. The idea is that both positive and negative traits are inherited and passed down through generations, therefore if someone is criminal and they reproduce, they are more likely to create a criminal.

From this, the desire was to have higher rates of sexual reproduction among people with desired traits and reduced rates of sexual reproduction and even sterilise of people with less-desired or undesired traits, therefore reducing the risk of bringing more criminals into the world. However, this is extremely unethical.

Question 65

Individualistic: psychoanalysis and behaviour modification

Answer 65

Psychoanalysis allows someone to bring unconscious thoughts to the conscious mind and deal with them. This is usually done lying down on a couch facing away from a therapist. It can be beneficial but may also bring up painful memories form the past that people want to forget.

Cognitive behavioral therapy reduces reoffending in both juveniles and adults. The therapy assumes that most people can become conscious of their own thoughts and behaviors and then make positive changes to them. Beliefs, attitudes and values affect the way people think and how they view problems. These beliefs can distort the way a person views reality, interacts with other people and experiences everyday life.

Behaviour modification focuses on techniques to get rid of poor behaviour and replace it with desired behaviour. For example, a prison is given a reward when they do something good, such as earning visits or more money to spend each week or punished if they do something wrong. It is said that there are some benefits to this, but they are usually short-term.

Question 66

Sociological: custodial and non-custodial sentences

Answer 66

Core objectives of custodial sentences are: lock up offenders to prevent them from committing further crimes (incapacitation); discourage both offenders and would-be offenders from committing crimes (deterrence); and help offenders to reintegrate back into society (rehabilitation).

Prisons have a poor record for reducing reoffending- 46% of adults are reconvicted within one year of release. For those serving sentences of less than 12 months this increases to 60%.

In the UK the most frequently used non-custodial sentences are:

• Fines: the offender is required to pay a specified sum of money to the authorities.
• Probation: the offender is required to be supervised and regularly checked for a specific period.
• Reparation & restitution: the offender is required to undertake specified activities to ‘repay’ either society or his victim for his criminal activities.

Question 67

Sociological: restorative justice

Answer 67

Looks at the impact of offending on the victim, community and offender themselves. This encourages the offender to take responsibility for their actions, so personal needs are addressed, showing it is an inclusive approach.

RJ varies, e.g. sometimes in minor cases, the victim can have a say in what happens to the offender, particularly youth offending. In other extreme cases, victims can be asked if they want to be involved with RJ, where they usually have to meet the offender face to face in a controlled setting.

The victim has a chance to tell the offender the damage they have causes and the offender must listen and consider why they did this.

This is becoming more common and has even been used in serious crimes such as rape and murder. However, restorative justice can be a problem because it relies on the co-operation of all parties and this does not always happen.

Question 68

Sociological: CCTV

Answer 68

CCTV is designed to change the environment within which crime occurs, rather than trying to change the attitudes and capacities of offenders. It is thought to deter criminality in the area under surveillance by; (a) increasing the threat of potential and actual offenders being identified and (b) collecting evidence. Installation of CCTV is often put with other measures such as general improvements of a location and other security measures such as fencing or improved lighting.

Overall, use of CCTV makes for a small, but statistically significant reduction in crime. CCTV is more effective when directed at reducing crimes such as theft of vehicles and vandalism, while it has no impact on levels of violent crime.

Question 69

Sociological: penal populism

Answer 69

Refers to the government’s attempts at proposing laws to punish that will be popular with the general public. The public become concerned about a crime and the media ful this with headlines of concern.

As a result, there is a consensus between political parties that harder punishment must take place.

This however, has an impact on prison population, as many more people are convicted because of it.

Question 70

Sociological: multi-agency model

Answer 70

Another policy which is beneficial to reducing crime is more co-operation between agencies in society. The police, social services, media, religion, schools and education all play a part in improving a person’s ‘moral context’.

They believe more communication is needed with families/individuals at risk. If there was more communication between these agencies it would allow early intervention to take place and therefore reduce crime.

It is said no single agency can reduce crime alone and it is only when agencies work together in a partnership can solutions be implemented. However, right wing sociologists think this is too idealistic, and we need harsher punishments and stricter control to prevent or reduce crime.

Question 71

Sociological: zero tolerance

Answer 71

Zero-tolerance is a policing strategy that involves persistent order maintenance and aggressive law enforcement, against even minor crimes. For example, include New York City in the 1990s “zero tolerance” was hailed as the answer to urban crime following a police strategy introduced. This was a policy of responding with criminal charges to even the most minor offences in segments of the Big Apple for certain periods.

There was a 73% fall in homicides and a 35% reduction in overall crime, prompting some to claim that “zero tolerance” was the magic bullet for urban criminality.

This links to the ‘broken windows’ theory- that when areas show visible signs of crime the public will no longer be interested to turn them around. By acting on these signs, it will prevent further crime from happening.

However, Marxist theory would view zero-tolerance as a means of social control and focuses on crimes committed by the working classes rather than the white collar crimes committed by the upper classes. The policy is just an attempt to ensure that the working classes conform.

Marxist theory would criticise zero-tolerance as aggressive policing with accusations of heavy-handedness. Zero-tolerance does not address the causes of crime and favours the upper classes and the unequal distribution of wealth.

Question 72

How do social changes influence policy development?

Answer 72

The structure of society has dramatically changed over time, with different sexes, races and religions becoming more equal in society. For example, ethnic minorities now by law have the same human rights as their White British counterparts, and it is a crime to discriminate against anyone due to their race. Exploitation, political exclusion and unequal access to resources is now seen as a thing of the past and if this does occur, legal action can be taken.

Demographic changes in society have caused social change. For example, with more and more people living longer, they are working to a later age. This means the discrimination against the elderly is no longer acceptable under The Equality Act.

The media plays a huge part in social changes in society. Through reporting crimes, frequently campaigning for change or putting pressure on politicians through radio, TV, newspapers and social media, changes in laws have taken place. An example of this would be something known as ‘Sarah’s Law’. This was created when a young girl who was murdered by a known paedophile who had a history of sex offences. The law allowed parents and carers to have the power to ask the police if someone with access to their child has been convicted of sex offences.

The changing role of women also plays a huge part in social change. With women having very little rights in the past, being unable to vote, own their own property or even divorce their husbands, they were unable to protect themselves. Over time, through campaigning and changes in laws, women are now able to vote, study, work and protect themselves across the world. Changes in laws to marital rape and domestic violence have come about as the awareness of these issues has become more apparent. In the past a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick, as long as it was no thicker than his thumb (rule of thumb). However, this has now changed. There has been changes to the way in which criminal law and policing now respond to violence against women, for example, the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 has put protection into place for those suffering long term abuse within families and relationships. In addition to this, laws such as The Equal Pay Act have been introduced, ensuring women get paid the same as men for doing the same job role.

Cultural changes have impacted the attitudes and laws within society, bringing about social change. For example, the death penalty was once legal in Britain and many approved. This was known as The Bloody Code and if you committed a crime such as cutting down trees you could be sentenced to death. Over time, the death penalty was restricted to murder only. In 1965 there was temporary abolition of the death penalty for murder and by 1969 it was permanently abolished for murder. The case of Timothy Evans was something that swayed the public to change their attitudes on the death penalty. He was convicted of the murder of his wife and child and sentenced to be hanged, when in fact this was a crime that he did not commit. He accused his neighbour of committing the crime and years later it was found that it was in fact the neighbour who committed the crime. This along with numerous other cases brought about the cultural change in attitude to the death penalty, leading to its abolition here in Britain.

Question 73

How do campaigns for change influence policy development?

Question 74

Newspaper campaigns

Answer 74

Bring about social change in society and have the government make changes in laws. Newspapers will report frequently on certain issues, encourage members of the public to get involved and put pressure on local MPs and the government and even organise demonstrations for like-minded people to protest and campaign together.

Examples of successful newspaper campaigns would be the ‘Cinderella Law’, where newspapers such as The Daily Telegraph frequently wrote about how there needed to be a change of law on child abuse so that it included neglect and emotional abuse as well as physical. It took three years of campaigning but the government eventually changed the law.

This was mainly done through newspapers, but people were also encouraged to complain through social media, emails, letters and approaching MPs in public.

Question 75

Individual campaigns

Answer 75

These campaigns tend to be small scale, possibly local to the person, but with the development of internet and social media, it is now possible for campaigns to go to a national level.

This could be done by putting up posters, asking people for support through signatures or even using social media as a platform to be heard.

An example of this is Ann Ming’s campaign to abolish the double jeopardy law. She wanted her daughter’s killer to be brought to justice and to be put on trial for the same crime more than once.

She went to newspapers, radio and television stations and many politicians.

Eventually the government backed changes to the law and Ann’s daughter’s killer was given a life sentence.

Question 76

Pressure group campaigns

Answer 76

Pressure groups are organisations which campaign for changes in the law or new legislation in specific areas. They can have a strong influence on public opinion and voting behaviour.

Allow people the opportunity to participate in democracy by being involved in social change. They are seen to allow the free expression of opinion and the opportunity to influence governments.

Tend to use things such as demonstrations are an example of direct action, which may or may not have an effect on a government. Petitions are another way to raise awareness among politicians of public feeling about a specific issue. Media advertising may also be used to attract public sympathy and this may help the pressure group in its efforts to influence the government.

An example of a change in law through pressure groups could be Amnesty International campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty across the world. They have been doing this for 40 years, and when they began that work in 1977, only 16 countries had totally abolished the death penalty. Today, that number has risen to 104 - more than half the world’s countries, showing the national impact this pressure group is having when it comes to changing policies.

Question 77

Examples may include

Answer 77

Double jeopardy and Criminal Justice Act

Sarah’s Law: Child sex offences

Claire’s law

Lord Falconer’s Bill- assisted suicide