'The social costs of crime outweighs the economic costs' Discuss Flashcards
PHYSICAL IMPACT VICTIMS
P - One social cost of crime is the physical impact it can have on victims.
e - crime = violence + physical harm
e?
e - As a result of the offence victims will physically feel pain, may have to have their injuries treated in hospital, may need time off work, and in the most extreme circumstances lose their life.
e?
e -non sexual violence 24% of all crime according to police recorded crime statistics 2021-22, and sexual crimes, which are often violent in nature 5% of total levels.
e - Home Office report in 2009 that found that 20% of victims of domestic abuse had to take a month or more off work in the previous year due to the abuse. healthcare system, teenagers accounted for more than 1,000 admissions to hospital as a result of assaults with a knife or sharp object in 2018, NHS figures show.
Australia; as in 2018–19, there were 4,900 hospitalised assault cases of young people aged 15–24
research has found that victims of sexual abuse and domestic assault experience a variety of symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, stomach pains and loss of appetite after being victims of crime.
PHYSICAL IMPACT VICTIMS
R - However, not all crimes result in physical harm to a victim.
example?
e - As some of the most common and no physical harm significance lessened. mental and emotional impact could arguably be greater than physical for victims of crime, as physical injuries can be treated but the event can leave mental trauma that can be more complex to deal with.
example?
L - Therefore physical impact on victims is a significant social cost of crime, and it is just one of the many negative social impacts crime has on society. Overall the social costs of crime are highly important, however they do not outweigh, but rather match the economic costs as they are also very considerable.
e - The most common types of crime in the UK are crimes of dishonesty, which include cases such as fraud and embezzlement, accounting for 32% of all crime according to police recorded crime statistics
e - England and Wales figures show that the more violent the crime the more likely the victim is to be emotionally affected, with 80% of victims who were injured during such crimes being emotionally affected.
COST CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
P - One of these very considerable economic costs of crime is the cost of criminal justice.
e - As a response to crime the government spends a very large sum of money on the justice system, through areas such as the police force, court costs and prisons.
examples?
e - budget of the Ministry of Justice being £9.15 billion for 2020/21. Prisons v costly the average cost of a prison place in England and Wales in 2020/21 being £48,162 a year.
This has a knock on effect on the entire population, as taxpayers are the ones covering the costs of prisons as well as this entire system. new figures costs taxpayers more than £200 a day to keep each inmate locked up at Woodhill prison - in England,
in 2019.
Violent crime also very costly economically as well as socially, violent crime costing the UK economy more than £124 billion per year.
same pattern South Africa, the 10th most violent and 19th unsafest country in the world, the cost of violence is 19% of the country’s GDP — the 16th highest rate in the world.
COST CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
R - However the UK government is trying to keep the costs of the criminal justice system relatively low
example?
explain - In addition to this the government manages costs by making their life sentences for prisoners significantly shorter than some other countries.
e?
explain - One country the UK’s approach differs from is the USA. The USA is much more firm with their life sentences, keeping these prisoners incarcerated for longer than the UK.
e?
L - Overall, it is clear the cost of criminal justice is an immense economic cost of crime. As the economic costs of crime are so vast and affect everyone through taxes, social and economic costs are of equal importance.
e - one way this was done was through a 16% reduction in spending on police services in England and Wales from 2009/10 until 2018/19
e - uk prisoner life sentence on average 16.5 years in jail. Only a whole life order will mean a UK prisoner will never be released from jail but only been issued in approximately 100 cases since their introduction in 1983, this number is very small compared to the 8,554 people serving life sentences in UK jails.
e - For example, one out of every six people who are convicted of homicide in the USA will never be released from prison. In addition to this, the number of people serving life without parole in the USA has increased 66% since 2003.
EMOTIONAL IMPACT VICTIMS
P - A further social cost of crime is the emotional impact of crime on victims
e - Being a victim of crime can be traumatizing and lead to feelings of anger and resentment, as mentioned previously, these feelings can be particularly impactful if the person is a victim of a violent crime.
examples?
e - anger specifically can be seen throughout a range of crimes, the most commonly experienced emotion victims of property crime is annoyance at 61% followed by anger at 54%.
similarly reflected in violent crime who most commonly experience anger (54%) and annoyance (37%).
Sometimes emotional impact can lead to more serious consequences, for example two-thirds of victims of reported burglary incidents have lasting effects on their lives in the form of unease or insecurity.
Moreover 17.3% of victims of violent crime go on to experience feelings of depression as a result of their experience.
more extreme emotional Canada, one in six (16%) victims of violent crime reported three or more longer-term psychological consequences consistent with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder
EMOTIONAL IMPACT
R - However not all victims of crime are very emotionally affected
e - Although some victims of crime experience intense emotions and difficulties following the event many manage to recover and continue with their lives as normal.
example?
L - Overall, the emotional impact of crime on victims is also a large social cost as well as the physical impact as it can lead to anger and even depression in some cases. Therefore there is an extensive list of social costs of crime. Though the equally extensive list of economic costs cannot be discounted.
e - although serious criminal victimisation, such as rape, results in depression, full-blown clinical depression is rare according to Katz and Mazur.
IMPACT ON FAMILIES
p - A cost of crime that is both social and economic is the impact of crime on families of both the perpetrator and the victim.
E - In terms of the social impact of crime on families it can be very psychologically distressing to see a family member fall victim to a violent or sexual crime, and family members can be emotionally affected. The impact on victim’s families is extreme if their family member has been murdered, and the cost of their life would be immeasurable to them.
example?
e - In addition to this, families of prisoners can also feel the social costs of crime.
example?
e - 2018 Alisha MacPhail case where a 6 year old girl was raped and murdered, her mother Ms Lochrane said “Words cannot express just how devastated I am to have lost my beautiful, happy smiley wee girl.
e - children of imprisoned parents are at least twice as likely to experience mental health problems, be affected by poverty and become isolated and stigmatised.
IMPACT FAMILIES
R - Furthermore the impact of crime on families also has economic costs.
e - Having a family member in prison can lead to serious financial costs, especially for families living in poverty, as it leads to a decrease in the family income, this is felt greatly if the incarcerated family member was the primary earner for that household. Moreover this can lead to an increase in family expenditure through expensive visits, phone calls and providing money for their loved ones in prison.
example?
L - Therefore, the impact of crime on families of victims and criminals is extensive and it has both social and economic costs, displaying the large significance of both and highlighting social does not outweigh economic.
e - seen in the USA with the nonprofit Prison Policy Initiative estimating “families spend $2.9 billion a year on commissary accounts and phone calls”.
IMPACT - PERPETRATORS
P - Perpetrators of crime face many social costs
e - Many perpetrators of crime go to prison and as a result face many psychological and emotional consequences. For example,they face a loss of liberty, and time away from family and friends.
examples?
e - The poor mental health of prisoners can be seen as around 10% of prisoners were recorded as receiving treatment for mental illness with one suggestion that as many as 70% may have some form of mental health need at any one time.
e - This pattern can also be seen in the USA as according to the American Psychological Association, 64% of incarcerated individuals in jail report mental health concerns
IMPACT - PERPETRATORS
R - Furthermore perpetrators of crime face economic costs
e - struggle to find work, social stigma etc
example?
e - According to data from the Ministry of Justice, July 2020 88% of offenders released from custody between March and June who were available to work were unemployed
