informing policy development - done Flashcards
what is a policy
A policy is a course of action adopted or proposed by an organisation or government - it is a set of guidelines that inform actions
what is informal policy making
how does it work, what does it rely on?
relies on moral and social institutions (e.g. families, peer groups, the community) to promote lawful behaviour
what is formal policy making
society attempts to control crime and prevent reoffending through punishment or programmes that offenders have to engage with
what influence have biological theories of criminality had on policy making
have led to crime control and punishment policies that aim to change the working of a criminal’s brain or body
Treatment programmes to reduce offending include the use of what?
include the use of drugs, diet and surgery.
Alcohol abuse can be treated with the drug Antabase - what does antabase do that stops alcohol abuse?
prevents the body from breaking down alcohol, causing unpleasant hangover symptoms (aversion therapy)
what is used to treat heroin addicts?
Methadone is used to treat addicts as a long term alternative to heroin to prevent withdrawal symptoms
Sex offenders can be treated with Stilbestrol - what does this do?
suppresses testosterone in order to reduce the sex drive
sometimes prisoners are given tranquilisers or sedatives such as Valium, Lithium and Largactil to do what?
to keep them calm
what did Gesch et al find on the link between diet and crime?
if prisoners were suplimented with vitamins, fatty acids and nutrients there was an upto 30% reduction in violent incidents
what is the link between vitamin B3 and schizophrenia
some types of scizoprenia might be caused by lack of vitamin b
what are the two types of surgery used to alter offender’s brains and bodies to preventing them offending
lobotomy and surgical castration
what is surgical castration?
the removal of one or both of the male testes
what is the aim of surgical castration
used on sex offenders in the past to change their offending behaviour
what is the problem with surgical castration?
it is ethically wrong
what is a lobotomy?
cutting the connection between the frontal lobes of the brain and the thalmus
what has lobotomy been used to treat?
It has been used to treat schizophrenia and sexually motivated and spontaneous violent criminals
name 2 countries where surgical castration is still used
nigeria and czech republic
is surgical castration effective
it dramatically reduces reoffending rates
in the 1940s there was a study on lobotomies and it found that for ?? patients it was effective
it is a fraction
2/3 of patients
what is the problem with lobotomy
has severe side effects such as brain damage
what is tear gas used for?
controlling crowds or dispersing rioters
what does tear gas do that helps control crime?
physically incapacitates people so they have to stop what theyre doing
what is eugenics?
the theory that humans can be improved through selective breeding of populations
what did they believe about crime in eugenics
they believed the tendancy to criminality is transmitted by inheriting a ‘criminal gene’
what did those who believed in eugenics do?
forced sterilisation on those who they thought had hereditary defectiveness & stopped certain people from breeding (those who they deemed genetically unfit)
What 2 policies came out of eugenicist theory?
- in 1927 it became legal to sterilise the unfit
- anti-miscegenation laws in places eg in some states in america it was illegal for a black person to marry a white person
give an example of a eugenic policy
Nazi germany - the holocaust
what did the law of the protection of german blood and honour do in nazi germany?
banned marriage and sexual relations between germans and jews - it was later extended to othergroups that the Nazis deemed inferior
in psychoanalysis what does Frueds treatment involve (how does it work)
involves bringing unconscious conflicts and repressed emotions into the conscious mind so they can be resolved - he saw patients 1 on 1 for sessions and used methods such as hypnosis and word association
what are token economies (explain how they work)
a behaviour modification program - if you behave well you get something, if you dont behave well you get nothing or get something taken away
where are token economies commonly used
in prison
are token economies effective
can change behaviour in incarsirated individuals in upto 69% of cases
what are the problems with token economies especially in prison?
- after prisoners leave the same currency doesnt exist so they may struggle to adapt back to the real world
- in the wider world, there is not such positive reinforcement apart from in some cases such as in a job eg promotions or bonuses
Aversion therapy applies Eysenck’s personality theory to the treatment of who?
sex offenders
according to eysenck criminals are more extravert and neurotic, why is this a problem?
makes them harder to condition because they are more resistant to learning through punishment
what does aversion therapy involve?
uses negative responses such as nausia to an undesirable stimulus
how does aversion therapy work?
makes a person develop a strong dislike or repulsion for an unwanted behavior as they link it with an unpleasant stimulus such as nausea
is aversion therapy effective
aversion therapy has a very minimal long term impact
CBT
what does cognative behaviour therapy aim to do?
aims to change offenders’ thoughts and attitude so as to change their behaviour
CBT
what does the thinking skills programme aim to do?
look beyond the service user’s crime and examine the real reasons why they offend
CBT
what does thinking skills programme aim to develop in offenders?
develops emotional selfmanagement, problem solving and social interaction skills
CBT
what is agression replacement therapy
a social skills training programme that aims to replace anti-social behaviours with desirable behaviours
CBT
is agression replacement therapy effective
evidence suggests that ART has no impact on crime
CBT
what does the what works policy say?
good decision-making should be informed by the best available evidence. If evidence is not available, decision-makers should use high-quality methods to find out what works
what is the Finland and Universal Basic Income policy they trailled
a Universal Basic Income for the unemployed - they gave 2,000 unemployed people a guaranteed monthly income for two years
in the finland universal income scheme how much money did they get a month?
600 dollars
how could the finland universal income scheme help reduce crime rates?
people won’t have to steal to survive as they will always have a guaranteed basic income even if they dont have a job
what are the problems with the finland universal income scheme?
- wont help with crimes not related to deprivation and poverty
- hard to fund as the money will have to be taken from taxes which will be expensive
- they dont monitor if the money is spent well/responsibly
Right realists see criminals as making a rational choice to commit crime. Their view has led to three main crime control and punishment policies: what are they?
- situational crime prevention
- environmental crime prevention
- Penal populism and imprisonment
what does situational crime prevention focus on?
Situational crime prevention focuses on the settings where crime occurs, rather than on those committing specific criminal acts
what does situational crime prevention aim to do in order to prevent crime from happening?
Situational crime prevention aims to increase risk and/or minimise reward, thus making either the commission of a criminal act too difficult, or the reward for committing the act too low to risk being caught
what is environmental crime prevention?
measures taken to reduce crime through the manipulation of the physical environment
give 2 examples of environmental crime prevention in society
- implementing cash handling procedures
- adding a second clerk during night-time business hours
- hiring guards
- installing security hardware systems such as alarms and video cameras and CCTV
does evidence sugest environmental crime prevention is effective?
evidence suggests that it has no impact on crime
what is penal populism
Penal populism is a media driven political process whereby politicians compete with each other to impose tougher prison sentences on offenders based on a perception that crime is out of control
what is reinntergrative shaming?
shaming the act rather than the person
what do diversion policies entail
link to labelling theory
keeping the offender out of the criminal justice system so as to avoid labelling them as criminals
what does decriminalising do to help solve the problem of labelling?
by decriminalising minor offences such as cannabis fewer younger people would be labelled as criminals
how does cctv help stop crime (what is the idea behind it)
you feel as if youre being watched so you behave well (you behave as though you are being watched even if you may not be)
what did norris find about cctv preventing crime and its effectiveness?
norris found that it doesnt stop crime it just moves the crime to a different area
what does profiling involve?
involves using data to draw up a statistical picture of likely offenders - can be profiled according to specific characteristics to decide what degree of risk they pose
the police
are the number of offences recorded by the police rising or falling? (for 2023)
police recorded crime levels increased for most crime types
the police
are the number of cases resulting in someone being charged with an offence increasing or decreasing (for 2023)
the proportion of crimes resulting in a charge and/or summons increased slightly
the police
what are some problems with the police?
- people have lack of trust in the police which makes it hard for them to do their job
- Systemic failings – charge rates too low, police aren’t focusing on what matters to the public, not getting the basics right.
- the police are not respected by the public
what did the Macpherson Report of 1999 find about the police?
found that the police is institutionally racist
the police
63% of murders in 2021/22 resulted in a charge and of those indicted 71% resulted in a conviction - what does this prove about the police
there is some evidence to show they are effective
what did the Casey Review (released March 2023) find about the metropolitan police?
they are institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic
they have a poor vetting process
rape cases dropped due to evidence not being stored properly
what is the CPS?
the main independent prosecutor for England and Wales
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what are some of the problems with CPS?
- some cases where the CPS has failed to disclose evidence to the defence
- CPS has been criticised for being too close to the police - It is supposed to be independent
- it is slow and inefficient with some cases taking months to go to court
what have prosecutors been urged to do in relation to poor rape prosecutions and convictions?
they have been urged to drop ‘weak’ rape cases
what did research by Warner et al in Australia suggest about judges being out of touch?
jurors interviewed said that they did not think judges were out of touch with public opinion on sentencing
prison
what were some of the problems with HMP bedford
- the conditions prisoners were kept in was poor
- the prisoners would openly smoke cannabis and take other drugs while in prison
- many of the prisoners were living in fear
prison
what does the probabtion service do?
probation service supervises offenders released from prison on licence and those serving their sentences in the community
is prison effective?
long prison sentences have little impact on crime, time in prison can actually make someone more likely to commit crime by exposing them to all sorts of criminals
who is CRCs and who does it deal with?
Community Rehabilitation Companies - they deal with medium to low risk offenders
what are some of the problems with CRCs
- probation staff did not have the skills, experience or time to supervise perpetrators properly
- perpetrators were drifting through their probation periods, not getting the support and challenge to change their behaviour
- in cases where a home visit should have taken place, 19% had been completed.
sarahs law
why was their a campaign for sarahs law
sarah was abducted and killed by a sex offender when playing outside her home
sarahs law
was the sarahs law campaign a sucess?
it was somewhat successful but the police often didnt release the sex offender register upon request
60 children were protected by the law
resulted in the child sex offender disclosure scheme
what was the ‘year and a day rule’?
stated that if a victim of an attack survived for a year and a day the attacker could not be charged with murder or manslaughter
why did the year and a day rule campaign start
In April 1992, David Clark assaulted 20-year-old Michael Gibson, putting him in a coma. Clark was charged with grievous bodily harm and jailed for two years. 16 months later, Michael died as a result of his injuries but because of the year and a day rule clark couldnt be charged for his death
who started the year and a day campaign?
Michael’s mother Pat
was the year and a day campaign a sucess?
yes - in 1996 parliament passed the law and abolished the year and a day rule
why was clares law campaign started?
clare was murdered by her ex boyfriend
What did the clares law campaign want to achieve?
the ability for people to request access to criminal records of your partner or a partner of someone else to see if they had any previous violent convictions
what was the result of the clares law campaign?
a disclosure scheme was put into place - the domestic violence disclosure scheme
was the clares law campaign sucessful?
successful - the domestic violence disclosure scheme came into place in 2013 & many disclosures have been made using the scheme
what was the double jeopardy law?
a law that stops people from being trialled for the same crime
what was the impact of the double jeopardy law on Julie Hoggs case?
Julies killer was tried twice but the jury failed to reach a conclusion both times so he was only sentenced to 6 years in prison and couldnt be retried due to the double jeoprdy law
how did the abolishment of the double jeopardy law help Stephen Lawrences case?
some of his suspected killers were able to be retried and charged
what is INQUEST?
the only charity providing expertise on state related deaths and their investigation to bereaved people, lawyers, advice and support agencies, the media and parliamentarians
what does INQUEST do?
they work alongside individuals or groups to investigate truth in deaths and to bring about social justice
What successful changes have INQUEST brought about?
- The Public Authority (Accountability) Bill: reintroduction of ‘Hillsborough Law’ to make state authorities take responsibility
- 2007 corporate manslaughter act made to cover those in state institutions as well as businesses
What is the ‘Hillsborough Law’?
the hillsborough law states that the authorities have a duty to be open and honest with people when something has gone wrong
