Evaluate the effectiveness of agencies in achieving social control Flashcards
What are the strengths of the police?
- Main agency for detection, investigation and prevention of crime
- Huge volume of cases brought to trial every year
- Many out of court disposals - police use powers to issue fixed penalty notices, cautions and reprimands
- Specialist departments/forces: - Counter terrorism / British Transport Police / Civil nuclear constabulary
- 2/3 domestic abuse practitioners (non-police) felt polices approach had improved in the last 3 years
- However, report showed shortcomings in polices performance regarding domestic abuse: Arrest rate failing / Body worn cameras not being used to gather evidence
How effective are the police in achieving social control? RACISM AND BIAS
Case study - Murder of Stephen Lawrence
- Found the metropolitan police to be institutionally racist
- Principle is policing by consent
- Concerns continue regarding the relationship of the police to BAME groups - Recruitment / Stop ans searches / Tasers
Police funding
Adequate funding is a major factor in police achieving control over crime. From 2010 the gvmt made major cuts in police budgets and this has been a cause of police decisions to drop investigations. With limited budgets and fewer officers, some investigations and prevention measures have been prioritised over others
Stats regarding the effectiveness of the police in achieving social control
Statistics suggest that crimes rates are increasing, therefore police not
achieving social control.
BUT Crime rates are up because police have become better at recording them?
In 2014, police recorded statistics were deemed not to meet the standards required
by the Office for National Statistics. Since then, the police have made some efforts to
improve crime recording.
Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) suggests crime in dropping BUT
this could be that they get their figures from a sample of the population, do
not include crime for children under 10, do not include crime against
businesses etc.
Media
The way the media portray
crime and the sensational
headlines should be considered
when judging the efficacy of the
police
The police have been criticised
for over-reacting to
media-driven moral panics
Evaluate the effectiveness of the police force in achieving social control (STRENGTHS)
Huge volume of cases brought to trial every year
Many out of court disposals –police use powers to issue fixed penalty notices, cautions and reprimands
Specialist departments/forces:
- Counter-Terrorism
- British Transport Police
- Civil Nuclear Constabulary
- CSEW: 7% fall in crime, however looks at different crimes compared to ONS & Home Office.
Evaluate the effectiveness of the police force in achieving social control (WEAKNESS)
Institutionally Racist (Stephen
Lawrence & Macpherson Report)
Errors in judgement (Puppy Farm
Murder & Disorder in Cromer)
Statistics:
ONS: 48% of Offences with no suspect identified however criticised by MP’s for poor quality data
Home Office: 10% increase in crime. However, it may be easier to report crime, rather than police are less effective.
Crown prosecution service
The CPS acts as the main independent
prosecutor in England and Wales
It aims to achieve social control by
preparing cases and presenting them to
court to secure the conviction of offenders
Strengths of the CPS
The CPS has had some success in achieving its aim.
For example;
In a typical three-month period, it prosecutes around 80,000 cases in
Crown Court and 450,000 cases in magistrates’ courts
Around 80% of the defendants that it prosecutes are convicted.
Criticisms of the CPS
Occasions when the CPS has failed to bring about social control
It has been beset by funding problems and criticisms that it is
Inefficient and slow in proceeding with cases
Too close to the police
CPS criticised for not prosecuting
Abu Hamza (Unit 3)
CPS criticised in the case of
Damilola Taylor in terms of the
application of the tests
Controversy over Lord Janner’s
prosecution
Criticisms of CPS for handling of
rape cases
CPS accused of dropping
supposedly ‘weak’ cases in order
to improve rate of successful
prosecution
Criticised by experts and
campaigners, who warned it was
limiting victims’ access to justice
CPS budget cuts
Large budget cuts 25-30%
Lost a third of staff
Director of Public Prosecutions
(2018)CPS cannot sustain further
cuts
Digital technology imposing
heavy additional workloads on
staff eg analysis of smartphones
in search of evidence and to
comply with rules for disclosure
to the defence
The judiciary
Authority figures ensuring trials
are fair and human rights
compliant
Experienced and highly qualified
lawyers
Uses a system of precedent to
ensure consistency and fairness
In the media judges are often
portrayed as old, upper-class
males who are out of touch with
modern society
Are judges biased?
They tend to come from a
narrow, unrepresentative
section of society
Judges backgrounds
68% male
More than 50% over 50 years old
BAME groups under-represented –
only 7%
74% privately educated/went to
Oxbridge
This may mean judges are biased
towards people from similar
backgrounds to themselves
Is there a class bias in sentencing
Case study - class bias
Lavina woodward - oxford med student
The unduly lenient sentences scheme
Allows victims, prosecutors and members of the public to apply to the
Attorney General for a sentence to be reviewed
The scheme applies to sentences for serious offences: murder, rape,
robbery, child sex crimes, human trafficking
Very few applications are made
2017 – 173 cases referred to the Court of Appeal – 137 had sentences
increased
Suggests that, in general, judges are not unduly lenient in sentencing
Prisons
Aims to achieve social control by
punishing offenders and by
rehabilitating them so they can
follow a crime free life on release
Aims to exercise social control over
offenders whilst they are in prison
– following the rules and acting in
orderly manner
However, evidence suggests that
are not very effective in achieving
social control
Prisons - staff cuts
Staff cuts – between 2010-18
number of prison officers fell by
15% as a result of budget cuts
More experienced officers more
likely to leave
A third had less than 2 years
experience
Harder to maintain control over
inmates
Prisons - overcrowding
Overcrowding – prison
population has almost doubled
1993 – 43,000
2019 – 83,000
2018 – 58% prisons
overcrowded
Overcrowding contributes to discontent and rule breaking
Prisons - not addressing rehab needs
Prisons often unable to cope
with causes of prisoners’
offending
Mental health needs
Drug and alcohol dependency
Illiteracy and lack of qualifications
Short sentences – insufficient
time to address complex needs
Prisons - a drugs epidemic
Between 2013-16 64 deaths in
prison were linked to ‘new
psychoactive substances’ eg the
drug ‘Spice’
2018 Chief Inspector of Prisons
reported that mandatory drug
testing programme in prisons
was not running effectively due
to staff shortages
Drug taking undermines prison
discipline and control
Prisons - security and safety
Between 2013-16 64 deaths in
prison were linked to ‘new
psychoactive substances’ eg the
drug ‘Spice’
2018 Chief Inspector of Prisons
reported that mandatory drug
testing programme in prisons
was not running effectively due
to staff shortages
Drug taking undermines prison
discipline and control
Prisons - riots and disorder
Between 2013-16 64 deaths in prison were linked to ‘new psychoactive substances’ eg the drug ‘Spice’
2018 Chief Inspector of Prisons reported that mandatory drug testing programme in prisons was not running effectively due to staff shortages
Drug taking undermines prison discipline and control
Recidivism
Between 2013-16 64 deaths in
prison were linked to ‘new
psychoactive substances’ eg the
drug ‘Spice’
2018 Chief Inspector of Prisons
reported that mandatory drug
testing programme in prisons
was not running effectively due
to staff shortages
Drug taking undermines prison
discipline and control
Probation
Between 2013-16 64 deaths in
prison were linked to ‘new
psychoactive substances’ eg the
drug ‘Spice’
2018 Chief Inspector of Prisons
reported that mandatory drug
testing programme in prisons
was not running effectively due
to staff shortages
Drug taking undermines prison
discipline and control
Criticisms of CRCs
The crc performance failed to live up to government expectations. Of the 21 companies 19 failed to meet their targets for rehabilitating offenders and had to have an extra £342m pumped in
Bias
The political ideology of the Conservative government biased it in favour of privatisation. Conservatives see privately-owned commercial companies as the most effective means of
achieving social control in the justice sector. They believe that private companies can provide both a more efficient and a more cost-effective service. For this reason the Conservative government followed a policy of privatisation in both probation and the prison service.
However, Dame Glenys Stacey, the then head of the probation service, said in 2019 that the part-privatisation was ‘irredeemably flawed’ and that it was difficult to see how people could have confidence in the service while it’ remains subject to the pressures of commerce’. She concluded that the core work of engaging with offenders, monitoring them and helping their rehabilitation should be in public hands.
NPS
The NPS has been more successful than the CRCs in achieving social control. Overall, it has about half the rate of re-offending compared with prison. However, the service has limitations that reduce its effectiveness in achieving social control. These include:
a critical national shortage of probation officers
high workloads have led to professional standards being compromised
a lack of professional leadership
probation premises are dated, shabby and in some cases not secure
there is no national strategy to provide enough local specialist service
there is a shortage of places on specialist programmes to address the causes of offending.
What is the role of charities and pressure groups
Charities are organisations funded by donors who work to help a particular group in society. There are several charities who work to help offenders. Some help them to get legal help for a fair trial, like the Access to Justice Foundation, while others help prisoners to get fairer sentences or better conditions in prisons and on release, such as the Howard League and NACRO. Some focus specifically on women such as Women in Prison.
You should already be familiar with the sorts of work they do. If not, remember to look them up!
Many Charities also function as Pressure Groups as well. Pressure groups lobby the government to make changes in the law and government policy to benefit the groups they work with.
Penal Reform Charities do not try to ‘get offenders off the hook’ or make their lives too easy…they act in the interests of rehabilitating of offenders for society and making sure everyone is treated fairly which is something everyone should care about.
NARCO and women in prison - Women MATTA
Women MATTA is a Manchester based women’s service tha provides support to women who have been involved in the criminal justice system
What do you think limits what charities can achieve?
They only exist where there are enough people who are really concerned about a particular issue or group and are sometimes only local in their reach, leaving some areas with no charity provision
People and companies need to be generous in their donations for charities to continue to exist. Usually this happens when they care or have experience of a problem. How likely is this compared to say a cancer charity?
The role of the media is important…media might be less likely to be positive about penal reform charities or may not give them publicity at all. They may also stigmatise or demonise offenders (especially some types)…what effect might this have on charities that work with them?
The role of politicians, both local and national is important too. Think about what sort of charity they are more likely to show public support for or give government money to… Celebrities, including the royal family, are less likely to support or be patron of a charity for offenders than they are to support another cause such as mental health
