Sociological Theories Informing Policy Development

Question 1

What is penal populism?

Answer 1

The governments attempts at proposing laws to punish offenders that will be popular with the general public.

Question 2

Which sociological theory is penal populism based on?

Answer 2

Right Realism.

Question 3

What do right realist believe in terms of penal populism?

Answer 3

That tougher penalties should deter criminals because they have a rational choice to offend.

Question 4

What are the two aims of prison?

Answer 4

• Incapacitation.

- Deterrence.

Question 5

Which professor presented evidence for when penal populism began?

Answer 5

Professor David Wilson (2014).

Question 6

Which case is seen to have started penal populism?

Answer 6

The James Bulger case in 1993.

Question 10

What did the public become concerned about during the James Bulger case (1993)?

Answer 10

Violent crime in the community.

Question 11

What happened as a result of the rise in concern about violent crime (James Bulger 1993)?

Answer 11

There was a consensus between political parties that they needed to be tough on crime.

Question 12

How did an increase in concern (James Bulger 1993) about violent crime impact the prison population?

Answer 12

More people were given prison sentences - the UK has more life sentences than the whole of Europe combined.

Question 13

When was Tony Blair Prime Minister?

Answer 13

May 1997 to June 2007.

Question 14

Does penal populism reduce criminality?

Answer 14

No, doesn’t work a day deterrence as England and Wales have the highest prison population (shows people are not intimidated by the tougher sentences).

Question 15

What are the 4 types of prison sentences?

Answer 15

• Concurrent.
• Suspended.
• Determinate.
• Indeterminate.

Question 16

What is a concurrent prison sentence?

Answer 16

Where two or more sentences are given and served at the same time or consecutively.

Question 17

What is a suspended prison sentence?

Answer 17

Served in the community with conditions often relating to unpaid work.

Question 18

What is a determinate prison sentence?

Answer 18

A sentence of a fixed length?

Question 19

What is an indeterminate prison sentence?

Answer 19

A sentence of no fixed length.

Question 20

Short prison sentences are ____ effective than community sentences at reducing reoffending.

Answer 20

• less.

Question 21

What percentage of adults are reconvicted within one year of release?

Answer 21

46%

Question 22

What percentage of adults are reconvicted who served a sentence of less than 12 months?

Answer 22

60%.

Question 23

How much does reoffending by all recent ex-prisoners cos the economy annually?

Answer 23

Between £9.5 and £13 billion.

Question 24

Prison has a ____ record for reducing reoffending.

Answer 24

• poor.

Question 25

What is zero tolerance?

Answer 25

A policy that demands that all crime is acted on, no matter how trivial they are.

Question 26

Where in America has zero tolerance been successful?

Answer 26

New York.

Question 27

Where has the zero tolerance policy been used in the UK?

Answer 27

King’s Cross (London), Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Strathclyde,

Question 28

What theory is zero tolerance based on?

Answer 28

The ‘broken windows’ theory (James Wilson and George Kelling, 1983).

Question 29

In New York in 1993, by how much did major crime and murder drop by?

Answer 29

Major crime fell by 39% and murder fell by 49%.

Question 30

In Hartlepool, how much did crime fall by in 28 months?

Answer 30

38%.

Question 31

What is a negative consequence of zero tolerance?

Answer 31

Aggressive policing leads to accusations of heavy-handedness by police.

Question 32

In what areas does zero tolerance work well and work not so well?

Answer 32

It works well in heavily populated areas with high policing levels and petty crime.
It may not work so well in areas where the population is dispersed or the crime rate is low.

Question 33

It can be argued that the ____-____ effects of zero tolerance are unknown.

Answer 33

• long-term.

Question 34

What did Tony Blair state in a landmark pledge?

Answer 34

That we must be “tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime”.

Question 35

What have successful political parties introduced to be tough on crime?

Answer 35

Punitive laws.

Question 36

What do punitive laws result in?

Answer 36

Punishments that include automatic life sentences, a second serious offence and minimum fixed term custodial sentences.