Pathways into/out of Crime

Question 1

Dynamic factors assoc’d w reoffending (MoJ Transforming Rehabilitation (2014) report)

Answer 1

Dynamic factors assoc’d w reoffending:

1. Substance misuse (drug/alcohol)
2. Impulse (low self-control)
3. Pro-criminal attitude (crime is ‘worth it’)
4. Social network (negative/anti-social peer supports criminality)
5. Poor family ties etc. (more family visits less likely to reoffend + more likely to be employed etc.)
6. Unemployment (offending decr’d w stable+quality employment)
7. Accommodation problems

Question 2

Post-Custodial factors directly assoc’d w reduced reoffending (MoJ Transforming Rehabilitation (2014) report)

Answer 2

1. First time in custody
2. Employment 12mo before custody
3. Reporting worry about being in prison
4. Age (2%/yr reduction in reoffending)
5. +1yr> sentence

Question 3

Desistance

Answer 3

Process by which those engaged in a sustained pattern of offending give up crime

Question 4

Moffitt’s Theory of Offender Types (1993, 1997)

Answer 4

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.

Question 5

Criminogenic Needs

Answer 5

Psychological and dynamic ingredients of criminal behaviour and anti-social maladjustment.

Crime-producing factors, strongly correlated with greater risk.

Question 6

Prison Pop. (England & Wales, June 2016)

Answer 6

84,405

Question 7

Number + rate of E&W Prison Pop. increase?

Answer 7

Since 1993:

92% rise (incr. by 41k)

Question 8

% of prisoners who ran away from home as child

Answer 8

47% of males;

50% of females (compared to 10% of gen. pop.)

Question 9

% of prisoners taken into care as child

Answer 9

24%

Question 10

% of prisoners w convicted family member

Answer 10

43%

Question 11

% of prisoners w convicted family member who’d been in prison?

Answer 11

35%

Question 12

% prisoners unmarried pre-custody?

Answer 12

81% (double the gen. pop.)

Question 13

% of prisoners divorced since imprisonment?

Answer 13

10% (double the gen. pop.)

Question 14

% of young male offenders who are fathers?

Answer 14

25%

Question 15

% of women living at home w dependent children at time of custody?

Answer 15

20%

Question 16

Proportion of prisoners excluded from school?

Answer 16

42% overall. (50% of males; 33% of females)

Question 17

Proportion of prisoners w/o qualifications?

Answer 17

1/2 of males; 7/10 females

Question 18

Prisoners’ numeracy, writing & reading skills (vs. level expected of 11yro)

Answer 18

Numeracy: 2/3 (±66%) Reading: 50% Writing: 82% (compared w gen. pop. = 15%)

Question 19

% prisoners unemployed in 4wks before custody?

Answer 19

2/3rds

Question 20

% of prisoners w 2+ mental disorders?

Answer 20

70% (Gen. Pop. = 5% men; 2% women)

Question 21

Prisoners’ likelihood to abuse drugs/alcohol?

Answer 21

Far more likely than gen. pop.

Question 22

% of prisoners in receipt of benefits immediately pre-custody?

Answer 22

75%

Question 23

% of prisoners homeless / w/o permanent accommodation pre-custody?

Answer 23

5% and 33%, respectively

Question 24

% of adult reconviction w/in 1yr of release?

Answer 24

46% - Those serving ≤12mo = 60%

Question 25

% of under-18s reconvicted w/in 1yr?

Answer 25

0.68

Question 26

% of children in prison w absent parents?

Answer 26

75% w/o father 1/3 w/o mother

Question 27

% of children in prison on child protection register OR experienced neglect/abuse?

Answer 27

40%

Question 28

% of prisoners who never had a job?

Answer 28

13%

Question 29

% of prisoners w job on release from prison ?

Answer 29

27% (for women it’s worse = <10%)

Question 30

% of unpaid work requirements successfully completed ?

Answer 30

78% (Apr-Dec 2014) (highest to date)

Question 31

Rates of community sentence use?

Answer 31

-44% over 10yrs

Question 32

% of victim and offender satisfaction from restorative conferences ?

Answer 32

85% and 80% (respectively) (part of gov’t funded 7yr £7m research: Shapland)

Question 33

Reoffending rates of offenders post-restorative conference ?

Answer 33

27% fewer crimes compared w those who didn’t undergo restorative conference

Question 34

Intervention can slow down desistance

Answer 34

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).

Question 35

What is the paradox of early anti-social behaviour (in terms of predicting adulthood offending) ?

Answer 35

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

Question 36

Who is the principal advocate of the ‘risk factor prevention paradigm’ ?

Answer 36

Farrington (2007)

Question 37

What is the ‘risk factor prevention paradigm’ ?

Answer 37

Farrington (2007) Characteristics, circumstances, or behaviors that may be predictive of a particular outcome (e.g., offending; seriousness of crimes; etc.)

Question 38

What is the ‘negotiated order’ theory?

Answer 38

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.

Question 39

Examples of intervention programmes ?

Answer 39

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.

Question 40

McAra and McVie’s (2012) critique of developmentalist policies ?

Answer 40

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.