sociological policies

Question 1

What is penal populism

Answer 1

can be compared to left realism

This is a formal policy created by the government where people are punished as a result of what the
population wants.

This led to a consensus overall to be tougher on crime.

Question 2

Strengths and weaknesses of penal populism ?

Answer 2

strengths
1. protects vulnerable members
2. highlights issues to the government
3. give the population power

weaknesses
1. take the problem out of context
2. can be used to target groups
3. folk devils, media and public may have overexaggerated.

Question 3

What is prison ?

Answer 3

can be compared to merton or right realism.
This is a formal state punishment policy set by the goverment aiming to keep society safe, punish, rehabilitiate and reform.
concurrent, consecutively, suspended, determinate and indeterminate.

Question 4

strengths and weaknesses of prison

Answer 4

strenghs-
1. societal protection
2. justice
3. rehabilitiation opportunities

weaknesses
1. increase in mental health
2. poor living conditions
3. social exclusion

Question 5

what is zero tolerance

Answer 5

can be compared to right realism
this is a formal crime control prevention policy created by the government.

police are clamping down on crime, no matter how trivial it is it’s always punitive.

it started in new york due to high levles of use of cocaine and antisocial and violent behaviours which needed to come to an end.

Question 6

strengths and weaknesses of zero tolerance

Answer 6

strengths
1. it’s cheap
2. has an immediate effect on crime
3. make public feel as if something is getting done (sense of justice )

weaknesses
1. jobs and houses are lost
2. more people are arrested
3. if labelling theories correct once labelled as criminal if will forever be hard to find a job in the future.

Question 7

what is restorative justice

Answer 7

this can be compared to durkeim or left realism

this is a voluntary process which involves the person suffering the harm and the perpetrator of it.

trained faciliators work with the victims and the offenders to talk about what happened, the effect and what can be done.

this can be done at any stage of the criminal justice system

stakeholders who have involvement
- community
- victims
- offenders

85% victims were satisfied with the process

Question 8

strengths and weaknesses of restoritive justice

Answer 8

strengths
1. its a voluntary process
2. make offenders aware of their consequences
3. reduces reoffending

weaknesses
1. might not make a difference
2. might only be in it to get out of prison
3. make victim relive their experiences

Question 9

what is multi agency approach

Answer 9

this is a cooperation between agencies working in the criminal justice system where a range of different services are brought together and overlap to prevent crimes from occuring.

it’s needed for
- partnership
- cooperation
- communication

e.g public/ health services
police forces
community

Question 10

strengths and weaknesses of multi agency approach

Answer 10

strengths
1. more likely for crime to be resolved
2. make community more effective

weaknesses
1. more chances of mistakes
2. communication might not be passed on
3. some agencies might feel that it’s not their responsibility

Question 11

what is cctv

Answer 11

can link to right realism

this is a formal crime control policy set to reduce the amount of crimes happening

it
- helps solve cases
- create evidence
- reduce crime
- identifies

Question 12

strengths and weaknessses of cctv

Answer 12

strengths
1. always available
2. evidence is prepared

weaknesses
1. invalid
2. unconsistant
3. some evidence gets wiped