Pathways into/out of Crime Flashcards
Dynamic factors assoc’d w reoffending (MoJ Transforming Rehabilitation (2014) report)
Dynamic factors assoc’d w reoffending:
- Substance misuse (drug/alcohol)
- Impulse (low self-control)
- Pro-criminal attitude (crime is ‘worth it’)
- Social network (negative/anti-social peer supports criminality)
- Poor family ties etc. (more family visits less likely to reoffend + more likely to be employed etc.)
- Unemployment (offending decr’d w stable+quality employment)
- Accommodation problems
Post-Custodial factors directly assoc’d w reduced reoffending (MoJ Transforming Rehabilitation (2014) report)
- First time in custody
- Employment 12mo before custody
- Reporting worry about being in prison
- Age (2%/yr reduction in reoffending)
- +1yr> sentence
Desistance
Process by which those engaged in a sustained pattern of offending give up crime
Moffitt’s Theory of Offender Types (1993, 1997)
Life-course-persistent and adolescence-limited.
LCP behaviour:
- starts very early and continues throughout offenders life.
- But way in which it is expressed depends on the stage in the life-cycle.
Suggested that this is developed by neurodevelopmental and family factors, harmful features in early social environment.
AL offending:
- incr. rapidly in early adolescence, peaks –> declines rapidly after this.
- Considered “normal”, demonstrate autonomy and maturity.
Criminogenic Needs
Psychological and dynamic ingredients of criminal behaviour and anti-social maladjustment.
Crime-producing factors, strongly correlated with greater risk.
Prison Pop. (England & Wales, June 2016)
84,405
Number + rate of E&W Prison Pop. increase?
Since 1993:
92% rise (incr. by 41k)
% of prisoners who ran away from home as child
47% of males;
50% of females (compared to 10% of gen. pop.)
% of prisoners taken into care as child
24%
% of prisoners w convicted family member
43%
% of prisoners w convicted family member who’d been in prison?
35%
% prisoners unmarried pre-custody?
81% (double the gen. pop.)
% of prisoners divorced since imprisonment?
10% (double the gen. pop.)
% of young male offenders who are fathers?
25%
% of women living at home w dependent children at time of custody?
20%
Proportion of prisoners excluded from school?
42% overall. (50% of males; 33% of females)
Proportion of prisoners w/o qualifications?
1/2 of males; 7/10 females
Prisoners’ numeracy, writing & reading skills (vs. level expected of 11yro)
Numeracy: 2/3 (±66%) Reading: 50% Writing: 82% (compared w gen. pop. = 15%)
% prisoners unemployed in 4wks before custody?
2/3rds
% of prisoners w 2+ mental disorders?
70% (Gen. Pop. = 5% men; 2% women)
Prisoners’ likelihood to abuse drugs/alcohol?
Far more likely than gen. pop.
% of prisoners in receipt of benefits immediately pre-custody?
75%
% of prisoners homeless / w/o permanent accommodation pre-custody?
5% and 33%, respectively
% of adult reconviction w/in 1yr of release?
46% - Those serving ≤12mo = 60%
% of under-18s reconvicted w/in 1yr?
0.68
% of children in prison w absent parents?
75% w/o father 1/3 w/o mother
% of children in prison on child protection register OR experienced neglect/abuse?
40%
% of prisoners who never had a job?
13%
% of prisoners w job on release from prison ?
27% (for women it’s worse = <10%)
% of unpaid work requirements successfully completed ?
78% (Apr-Dec 2014) (highest to date)
Rates of community sentence use?
-44% over 10yrs
% of victim and offender satisfaction from restorative conferences ?
85% and 80% (respectively) (part of gov’t funded 7yr £7m research: Shapland)
Reoffending rates of offenders post-restorative conference ?
27% fewer crimes compared w those who didn’t undergo restorative conference
Intervention can slow down desistance
McAra and McVie (2007, 2010) WHAT? - Edinburgh Study showed children who became known to services earlier desisted more slowly than those who didn’t. WHY? - Likely labelling –> leads to over-policing (confirms, compounds, & extends criminal identities & pathways).
What is the paradox of early anti-social behaviour (in terms of predicting adulthood offending) ?
Sampson & Laub (1993) Offending in adulthood is strongly predicted by anti-social behaviour in childhood; BUT, most anti-social children do NOT go on to become offenders in adulthood
Who is the principal advocate of the ‘risk factor prevention paradigm’ ?
Farrington (2007)
What is the ‘risk factor prevention paradigm’ ?
Farrington (2007) Characteristics, circumstances, or behaviors that may be predictive of a particular outcome (e.g., offending; seriousness of crimes; etc.)
What is the ‘negotiated order’ theory?
McAra (2005); McAra and McVie (2012) - Based on Edinburgh Study - Theory of offending and desistance, drawing on ‘labelling theory’. - Formal (e.g., school) & informal (peers) orders inform the identities of young people, which they fight back or absorb. PROPOSAL - Exclusion from e.g. school , and inclusion in CJS » self-fulfilling prophecy = can lead to absorbing the criminal label. - The ‘usual suspects’ (repeat targeting+labelling) went deeper into CJS » incr. inhibition of desistance.
Examples of intervention programmes ?
Family-focused
- Elmira Study (Olds (1998); Hawkins (2010)): 400 pregnant women randomly assigned to intervention or control groups.
OUTCOME
- Early home-visits by nurses –> significantly lower levels of child abuse/negelct.
- 15yr follow-up confirmed these + 20% fewer arrests than control group.
Mixed school+parent-based
- Seattle Social Development Project (O’Donnell (1995); Hawkins (1999)): 500 6yrs assigned to experiment/control groups –> parent management techniques, teacher training, skills training. OUTCOME - At ages 12, 18: less likely to be involved in violence or alcohol abuse.
McAra and McVie’s (2012) critique of developmentalist policies ?
Research consistently shows those most at risk of offending are most socially disadvantaged/impoverished. But policy suggestions tend to focus on the INDIVIDUAL or their immediate social environment, rather than on the broader extant STRUCTURAL SUPPORTS for the adversities that put them at risk.
