LO4 Flashcards
what is social policy
concerned with the ways societies across the world meet human needs for security, work, education, health and wellbeing
5 responses if crime is truly biological
try to fix offender
lock offender up
sterilise the offender
deport or banish offender
kill offender
policy development informed by biological theories
1) neurochemistry
2) eugenics
3) death penalty
what is neurochemistry
brain chemistry
can be influenced by diet
low levels of serotonin linked to higher aggression
dark chocolate, salmon, nuts can raise secretion levels
diet can positively impact aggressive behaviour
study found that a reduced sugar diet reduced anti social behaviour by 50%
all prisons try to embrace the balance of good health model (edward’s 2001) and are providing nutritionally balanced and healthy diets
gesch et al 2002 (neurochemistry)
231 young adult male prisoners volunteered to take part
before they were allowed to, they had psychological testing, and review reports of violence and disciplinary action
required to take daily vitamins with fatty acid supplements or a placebo
results = disciplinary incidents reduced in the group who took the supplements by 35%. whereas in only dropped by 6.7% in the placebo group
what is eugenics
claim that interference of genes could explain the presence of simple and complex human behavioural characteristics
biological determinism = behaviour or personality is caused by genes that are inherited rather than social or cultural factors
policy has varied over time and in different countries (nazi sterilisation programme)
higher rates of sexual reproduction for those who have desired traits
osborn and west (eugenics)
1970’s
40% of boys who’s fathers had criminal records had criminal records themselves
compared to 12% of boys whose fathers had no criminal record
death penalty
ultimate biological response to crime
in 2012 worldwide, 1,032 were executed
in 2019, 657 were executed (excluding china)
death penalty was temporarily abolished in the UK in 1965, permanently abolished in 1969 (abolition of death penalty act 1965)
did the death penalty work
stats from USA show that murder rates are lower in states that do not have the dearth penalty than those that do
e.g. in 2015 murder rates were 25% higher in death penalty states than those in non death penalty states
suggests that the death penalty is not a deterrent
individualistic theories influence on policy development
psychodynamic theory - psychoanalysis
learning theories - behaviour modification
anger management programme
psychodynamic theory - psychoanalysis
(aim, treatment, effectiveness)
aim of treatment - to access unconscious, repressed thoughts, which have been believed to have led to criminal activity
treatment consists of - bringing repressed thoughts to the consciousness where they can be dealt with
is it effective - least favoured in contemporary approaches, time consuming, unlikely to provide quick answers
blackburn (1993) few positives
andrew’s et al (1990) avoided
creates a power imbalance between therapist and client, could raise ethical issues
patient could discover painful memories that were deliberately repressed
learning theories - behaviour modification
(aim, treatment, effectiveness)
aim = focuses on techniques to extinguish undesirable behaviours and promote desirable ones
treatment = token economy system. a token is given for a desired action, can ,after be exchanged for a ‘treat’. prisoners who follow rules can earn privileges (incentives and earned privileges scheme)
is it effective = fo and o’donnel (1975) evidence suggests short term effectiveness with both young and adult offenders
improvements tend to not generalise beyond institution in long term
anger management programme
(involved, effectiveness)
social skills training
aims to avoid violent offences taking place by people unable to control their anger
is it effective = can be if resourced properly
novaco (1975) suggests cognitive behavioural techniques are used to help offenders deal more effectively with their anger
policies informed by sociological theories
methods of crime control (8)
penal populism
prison sentences
zero tolerance
restorative justice
labelling theory
methods
CCTV
multi agency approach
penal populism
(right realists and functionalists)
governments attempt at proposing laws to punish offenders that will be popular with the general public
according to prof david wilson (2014) policy started as result of james bulger case in 1993
public we’re concerned about how the case was being dealt with, fuelled by the media
resulted in a consensus between political parties that they needed to be tough on crime, had an effect on prison population
UK has more life sentences than the while of europe combined
prison sentences
(right realists and marxists)
one of the main aims of controlling crime is to put offenders in prison
prison population has risen by 70% in the last 30 years
short prison sentencing is less effective than community sentencing
poor record for reoffending - nearly half of adults are re convicted within one year of release
prison system has been overcrowded every year since 1994
prison reform trust 2021 - majorly problematic
prison sentences can be: (5)
concurrent = two or more prison sentences are ordered to be served at the same time
consecutively = sentences are served one after the other
suspended = served in the community with conditions often relating to unpaid work
determinate = fixed length
indeterminate = no fixed length
zero tolerance
(right realists and marxists)
every crime is acted upon
based upon the ‘broken windows theory’ where disorderly neighbourhoods sends out the message that nobody carded, resulting in crimes such as graffiti
introduced in new york in 1990’s, crime rates have since dropped
e,g, murder reduced by 49% (similar to UK)
crime rates also fell in states where zero tolerance policing were not adopted
issues with police racism, happened on several occasions including the 2029 death of george floyd
restorative justice
(left realists and functionalists)
voluntary process involving the victim and the offender
trained facilitators work with them both to talk about what happened, who was effected, and what can be done to repair the harm
can take place at any stage of the criminal justice process, both pre sentence and after conviction
does restorative justice work?
yes
allows victims to have a voice and holds the offender accountable and to take responsibility for their actions
the prison fellowship 2017 - reduces PTSD in victims and reduces reoffending rates for perpetrators
the ministry of justice 2001 - 85% of victims were satisfied with the process
restorative justice council 2016 - showed restorative justice reduced frequency of reoffending, leading to £9 in savings to the CJS for every £1 spent of restorative justice
labelling theory
decriminalisation = e.g. cannabis possession, so fewer people are labelled
reintegrative shaming = labels the act, not the person ‘they have done bad’ rather than ‘they are bad’
CCTV
(surveillance and right realism)
‘closed circuit television’ in criminal investigation is a invaluable technique
one of the first requests made by police at the start of an investigation
very difficult if CCTV footage is not available
has policy information as a deterrent to prevent crime
does CCTV work?
can provide compelling evidence as an investigation technique
effective at reducing theft from cars but little to no impact on violent crimes
as a deterrent it can make a ‘small’ but statistically significant reduction in crime
multi agency approach
(everyone, but proposed by left realists)
cooperation between agencies working in the criminal justice system is important in regard to crime prevention and crime detection
approach includes: police working with the security industry authority, environmental health, and NHS to reduce alcohol disorder offences
specialist police officers working with resettlement workers, the probation service substance misuse team and drug intervention programme
what is social change?
occurs when a society as a whole or a section of a society adopts a new belief or way of behaving which then becomes widely accepted as the norm
what are norms?
social expectations that guide behaviour
keep deviancy in check
vary across different cultures
what are values?
guidelines of shared ru,es and beliefs within a culture
what are mores?
morals, or good ways of behaving
norms that a culture would think are much to serious to break
why conform?
normative social influence = desire to be liked
informational social influence = desire to be right
what might cause change?
democratic change
cultural change
campaigns
use of and/ or changes in the media
awareness of issues
changes in the way criminal law and policing has responded to crimes
change in legislation
what might prevent change?
hidden crime
slow to change the policy and attitudes
consistency, persuading, commitment
social norms and values
cultural differences
use of and/ or changes in the media
campaigns
1) the suffragettes - women’s rights
at beginning of 20th century woman had few legal and political rights
stereotype of a married woman was to stay at home, cook, clean and look after the children, where the husband would go out to work
unmarried women were often unemployed, in a service such as teaching, waitressing or cooking
in 1928, support for equality meant that women received the right to vote (equality franchise act 1928)
WWII - women had to fill many roles traditionally occupied by men
1960’s - women’s liberation movement helped many changes come about through policies and rational thinking
1970’s equal pay act 1970, made it illegal to pay women lower rates for the same work
2) drink driving
in 1925, the first law was passed making drink driving an offence, however there was no clear definition of drunk
not thought of as a serious offence
1991 new offence - death by driving under the influence of alcohol introduced (the road traffic act 1991)
new laws and tougher sentences
campaigns were an important factor in changing public perception of drink driving
in 1979 half of all male drivers admitted to drink driving once a week
3) racism
4) LGBT+ rights (social changing views)
1800’s = death penalty removed for homosexuality
1967 = homosexuality decriminalised, age of consent 21 (sexual offences act 1967)
1994 = age of consent lowered to 18 (criminal justice and public order act 1994)
2000 = age of consent equalised to 16 (sexual offences act 2000)
2010 = illegal to discriminate against someone based on sexual orientation (equality act 2010)
2014 = same sex marriage legalised (same sex couples act 2013)
demographic changes (structure of society)
why people commit crime/how to prevent it
location of crime and details of the person who offends
demographics such as race, age, gender and social class can be studied to provide information on criminality and understand why crime occurs
with greater understanding, provide ways of combating crime
this information is recorded in: the crime survey of england and wales and the police recorded statistics (home office statistics)
campaigns and social policy - how do they effect policy development (3)
newspaper campaigns
individual campaigns
pressure group campaigns
(how campaigns have effected policy making / specific campaigns + correctly identify what type of campaign they are)
newspaper campaigns - a year and a day
ancient british law in 1278 - if a victim of an attack lives for a year and a day after the attack, attacker cannot be prosecuted for murder/manslaughter
1992 - micheal gibson was assaulted by david clark in darlington
he was left in a coma for 22 months, then died
david clarke could only be charged with GBH and was given a prison sentence for this, he was released before micheal died
the northern echo newspaper took up the campaign to help micheals mom, pat gibson
campaign was called ‘justice to micheal’
justice for micheal campaign - the northern echo
readers were encouraged to sign a petition demanding the abolition of the 1278 a year and a day rule
MP alan milburn to a bill to parliament in 1994 but it was defeated
1996 - petition was passed from the northern echo to the law of commission, which makes recommendations to parliament
the law was abolished
newspaper campaigns - sarah’s law
the child sex offender disclosure scheme, ‘sarah’s law’, allows guardians to formally ask the police for information about a person who has contact with their child, or a child close to them, if their concerned the person may be a risk
sarah’s parents micheal and sara payne teamed up with the news of the world after the murder of their daughter sarah
roy whiting abducted and murdered sarah - he was a convicted paedophile
700,000 people signed petition for sarah’s law to be passed and sent to parliament
protected more than 200 children in the first year
individual campaigns - ann ming double jeopardy
(double jeopardy = prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same charges)
to change the double jeopardy law after the murder of her daughter, julie hogg, in 1989
billy dunlop was tried twice in 1991 but not convicted due to inconclusive evidence and jury indecision
ann ming wrote to the home secretary to review the laws basis, she gave a speech in the house of lords, collaborated with the northern echo press for media coverage
ann succeeded in 2006, dunlop was tried again and became the first person to be convicted under the newly reformed double jeopardy law
the 2003 criminal justice act abolished the double jeopardy law for 30 serious offences
individual campaigns - clare’s law
a police policy giving people the right to know if their current or ex partner has any previous history of violence or abuse
micheal brown (father) fronted the campaign after clare was murdered by her ex boyfriend george appleton in 2009
it was successful, resulting in the change of legislation
gives you the right to know
police can proactively share information with you if they believe you are at risk
provides greater protection
pressure group campaigns - british lung foundation
