Topic 3.2 - Describe the contribution of agencies to achieving social control Flashcards
Environmental design
In what two ways can the built environment affect the level of crime?
- By influencing potential offenders , e.g presenting them with opportunities to commit crime
- By affecting people’s ability to exercise control over their surroundings
Defensible space
According to Oscar Newman, what is meant by ‘indefensible spaces’?
Spaces where crime is more likely to occur, in what he calls ‘confused’ areas of public space such as anonymous walkways and stairways. They belong to no-one, are cared for by no-one, and are observed by no-one
Give an example of an indefensible space found by Newman in his study.
In his study of high-rise blocks in New York, Newman found that 55% of all the crimes committed occurred in public spaces such as hallways, lifts, stairwells and lobbies, because no-one felt they ‘owned’ them
According to Newman, what is meant by ‘defensible spaces’?
Areas where there are clear boundaries so it is obvious who has the right to be there. Newman argues that defensible spaces have low crime rates because of four key features: territoriality, surveillance, a safe image, and a protected location
What is meant by ‘territoriality’?
Where the environment encourages a sense of ownership among residents - the feeling that it is their territory and they control it. Certain layouts also tell outsiders that particular areas are for the private use of residents. For example, cul-de-sacs project a ‘private’ image and encourage a sense of community
What is meant by ‘natural surveillance’?
Features of buildings such as easily-viewed entrance lobbies and street-level windows allow residents to identify and observe strangers. Likewise, cul-de-sacs allow residents to overlook each other’s homes. By contrast, high-rise blocks often have concealed entrances that allow offenders to come and go unseen
Why is a safe image important for a neighbourhood?
Buildings designs should give the impression of a state neighbourhood where residents look after each other. A negative image means the area will be stigmatized (negatively labelled) and target by offenders
What is the impact of a safe location?
Neighbourhoods located in the middle of a wider crime-free area are insulated from out the outside world by a ‘moat’ of safety
Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED)
According to C.R. Jeffery, what is the importance of the built environment in relation to crime?
Jeffery argued that the built environment can either create or deny opportunities to criminals. By altering this environment, therefore, we can reduce crime
Summarise the findings of Alice Coleman in her study of London.
She analysed 4,099 blocks of flats in two London boroughs. She concluded that the poor design of many blocks produced higher rates of crime and anti-social behaviour
What were the three features of blocks that Coleman thought encouraged crime?
Anonymity, lack of surveillance, and easy escape
What were Coleman’s three recommendations in relation to the built environment?
- No more blocks of flats should be built
- Each existing block should have its own garden or private space, so residents would look after it
- Overhead walkways should be removed because they obstruct surveillance
What were Coleman’s three recommendations in relation to the built environment?
- No more blocks of flats should be built
- Each existing block should have its own garden or private space, so residents would look after it
- Overhead walkways should be removed because they obstruct surveillance
Give three examples of how planners have attempted to ‘design crime out’.
- On the Lisson Green estate in West London, the removal of overhead walkways led to a 50% reduction in crime
- Some police forces now employ architectural liaison officers to ‘build in’ crime prevention features at the design stage for new buildings
- The ‘Secured by Design’ (SBD) kitemark scheme used by the building industry indicates that a new building meets crime prevention standards. Home Office research found a 30% lower burglary rate in SBD houses
Gated lanes: an example of CPTED
What are ‘gated lanes’ and why are they used?
They are lockable gates installed to prevent offenders gaining access to alleyways, such as those at the rear of many older terraced houses. They are used mainly to prevent burglaries, but may also stop fly-tipping, anti-social behaviour by youths congregating, dog fouling ETC
According to Sidebottom et al and his 43 studies, what are the seven reasons why gated lanes reduce burglary rates?
- They provide a physical barrier, thus increasing the effort required to commit
a crime - Residents taking responsibility for closing the gates increases guardianship
and surveillance - Gates increase residents’ sense of territoriality
- Offenders can no longer use the excuse that they thought it was public space
- Open alleys may suffer from the ‘broken windows’ problem of disorderly,
uncared-for space that invites crime. Gating indicates it is a cared-for space
that doesn’t tolerate crime - Gating may reduce the rewards of crime. For example, it will be difficult to
steal large objects if the offender has to climb over tall gates with the items - Cost may be an issue for residents in some areas, although Sidebottom et al found that the average cost was £728 per gate and that the average benefit was over twice the cost (£2.19 for every £1 spent
Limitations
Summarise four limitations of gated lanes as a crime prevention strategy.
- While they may decrease criminals entering from outside, they don’t work against criminals who live within the gated area
- In areas where neighbours don’t know or don’t trust each other, residents may be less likely to get together to install gates, or may not take responsibility for them
- There may be difficulties installing gates if the alley is a public right of way, or if it has several owners all of whom will need to agree. There needs to be full consultation with residents to win their commitment to the scheme
- Gated lanes can restrict access for emergency services and refuse collectors, which can be a problem
CPTED and theory
Explain three ways in which CPTED links to right realist theories and ideas.
- Situational crime prevention (SCP) - Like SCP, CPTED involves ‘target hardening’ by changing the physical environment to make it harder to commit crime: e.g. barriers to prevent vehicle access to a neighbourhood will make getaways harder
- Felson’s routine activity theory - Emphasises the importance of a ‘capable guardian’ protecting potential crime targets. In CPTED, mutual surveillance by neighbours acts as a guardian
- Rational choice theory - CPTED sees offenders acting rationally. For example, if intruders fear they will be challenged by residents, they will be more likely to stay away from the area
Describe five criticisms of CPTED in reducing crime.
- CPTED focuses on defence from outsiders who come into the area to offend, but insiders commit crime too e.g. domestic violence
- CPTED cannot prevent offences that don’t involve physical intrusion into a neighbourhood, such as cybercrime, fraud, and white collar and corporate crime
- Cul-de-sacs might be defensible spaces - but they might not actually be defended. For example, if the residents are all out to work all day, there is no surveillance
- Some housing estates have high crime rates because of councils’ housing allocation policies rather than because of how they are designed. Some councils place ‘problem families’ with a history of anti-social behaviour on ‘sink’ estates
- An area’s reputation rather than its design may cause a high crime rate. If police regard a particular estate as crime-ridden, they will patrol it more, leading to more arrests, a higher recorded crime rate and an even worse reputation
Prison design: the Panopticon
Briefly explain how the Panopticon prison design can produce self-surveillance.
In the Panopticon, prisoners’ cells are visible to guards from a central viewing point such as a watchtower. However, though the guards can see the prisoners, the prisoners cannot seen the guards and so they do not know whether or not they are being watched at any given moment. Therefore, not knowing if they are being watched, the prisoners must constantly behave as if they are, just in case. In this way, surveillance turns into self-surveillance. The guards have no need to discipline the prisoners; the prisoners discipline themselves
Surveillance theory
How might Foucault’s surveillance theory apply in today’s society?
Foucault’s surveillance theory argues that in today’s society, self-surveillance has become an important way of achieving social control. We know that we might be being watched - for example by CCTV cameras - so we monitor and control our behaviour ourselves
Behavioural tactics
Who introduced ASBOs (Anti-social Behaviour Orders)?
Tony Blair’s New Labour government in 1998
What were ASBOs introduced to deal with?
To deal with low-level anti-social behaviour such as vandalism, graffiti, public drunkenness and youths gathering to play loud music at night
What were ASBOs?
Civil orders, not criminal orders, and were used to restrain a person from committing actions that threatened the legal right of another person, for example, an order to stop behaving noisily outside someone’s house late at night
What could happen to someone who breached the conditions of an ASBO?
Was a criminal offence and was punishable by up to 5 years in prison
Labelling theory and ASBOs
What evidence was there that ASBOs were not working?
Between 2000 and 2013, ASBOs were issued to just over 24,000 people, but 58% of them breached their ASBO’s conditions, and over 10,000 orders were breached repeatedly
Why would labelling theorists criticise ASBOs?
Labelling theorists argue that labelling a person as a criminal or deviant can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. In this situation, the individual internalises the label as part of their identity and begins to live up to it, earning status and credibility from their peers. Labelling theorists suggest that ASBOs became a ‘badge of honour’ for some young offenders, reinforcing rather than reducing their offending behaviour and leading to repeat offending
Criminal Behaviour Orders
What are injunctions?
Aim to deal with low-level nuisance and annoyance. Breaching an injunction can mean up to two years in prison for adults or a three-month detention order for under-18s
What are Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs)?
Aim to deal with seriously anti-social individuals who cause harassment, alarm or distress to others. A CBO lasts at least two years for adults and one to two years for under-18s. Breaching a CBO can mean up to five years in prison for adults or two years’ detention for under-18s
What are the possible negative requirements of a CBO?
As with ASBOs, a CBO forbids a person from doing something, such as going to certain places, seeing certain people or engaging in certain activities
What are the possible positive requirements of a CBO?
Unlike an ASBO, a CBO can require a person to do something positive to improve their behaviour. For example, where someone has committed a drug related offence, the CBO can require them to join a drug treatment programme to address their addiction
Token economies
What is the aim of a token economy?
It aims to achieve social control by re-shaping inmates’ behaviour patterns so that they conform to what the institution requires
What theory are token economies based on?
B.F. Skinner’s operant learning theory - the basic idea being that if a particular behaviour results in a reward of some kind, it is likely to be repeated. The reward acts as a reinforcement of the behaviour
What desirable behaviours might an institution aim for in a token economy?
- Obeying the rules
- Interacting positively with staff and other inmates
- Staying drug-free
- Engaging in ‘purposeful activity’ like attending vocational training or anger management programmes
Describe how the token economy works for prisoners.
When the prisoner behaves in a desired way, they earn a token. For example, each time a drug test shows they are clean, they receive one token. The prisoner can then exchange tokens for rewards like tobacco or sweets. In UK prisons, the rewards can be in the form of the incentives and earned privileges (IEPs). Through this selective reinforcement, the behaviour that the institution desires becomes more likely and undesirable behaviour less likely
How effective are token economies?
According to Hobbs and Holt’s study, how effective are token economies?
Hobbs and Holt’s study of 125 boys aged 12-15 found that behaviour change lasted throughout the 14-month study in a correctional institution in Alabama USA
What happens when the offender leaves prison?
Other studies have found that when the offender leaves prison and the reinforcements stop, the desired behaviours disappear. However, the offenders return to crime more slowly compared with those who have not undergone the programme
Why might offenders behave better in prison on the programmes?
The programmes give the prisoners more attention and it spells the rules out very clearly which suggests that the tokens do not influence their behaviour
What is there a risk of with token economy programmes?
The offenders behaviour may be modified to fit the institution (e.g. to give the staff a quiet life), rather than to meet the prisoners’ rehabilitation needs for when they are released
Institutional tactics
What would institutions use to achieve social control and avoid deviant behaviour?
Sanctions
What institutions might use sanctions?
Families, schools, workplaces, and the army
Give some examples of the sanctions that might be used by;
- Families
- Schools
- Workplaces
- The Army
- Withholding pocket money
- Gold star for getting full marks
- Pay docked for lateness
- Court martial for disobedience
Criminal justice institutions
How do the following enforce obedience and social control to their rules?
- The Courts
- The Probation Service
- Can sentence offenders to various punishments. Punishment may put the convicted offender off repeating their crime and also serve as a lesson to the public in general. The courts can also use a Community Order to require offenders to rehabilitate, for example by undergoing drug addiction treatment to change their behaviour patterns
- Supervises and monitors the behaviour of offenders, whether serving a community sentence or released from prison on licence. If the offender fails to meet the requirements of their licence, they can be returned to prison or to court for re-sentencing
Prison rules
What are the offences that the Prison Rules covers that applies to all prisons and prisoners?
- Offending, threatening or hurting someone
- Preventing staff from doing their jobs
- Escaping from prison
- Using drugs or alcohol
- Damaging the prison
- Being in possession of forbidden items like a knife
- Being somewhere in prison that you shouldn’t be
- Not doing as staff tell you
What can breaking the Prison Rules bring?
Cautions, loss of earned privileges, cellular confinement, being prevented from working or receiving money earned from working with punishments being time-limited like cellular confinement being limited to lasting up to 35 days
Phased discipline
Briefly explain what is meant by ‘phased discipline’?
Is a common way of attempting to achieve social control. A first offence, whether in prison or in wider society, is often dealt with more leniently, like a warning or police caution. Repeat offending, particularly if it is more serious, is likely to be met with stronger sanctions such as probation or prison in an attempt to deter future misbehaviour
Gaps in state provision
Why will state agencies never achieve full control over criminal and anti-social behaviour?
- Resources
- New technology
- Unreported crime
- Existing laws
Resources
Who pays for the funding of state agencies of social control? How does this limit their income?
From taxes paid by the public. There are limits on how much taxpayers are willing to pay for these agencies and governments face competing demands for resources from other sectors such as the NHS, education, pensions and welfare benefits
What cuts were made to the police’s, CPS’s and prisons budget?
- The police budget was cut by 19% - Led to a fall of 20,000 in police numbers
- The CPS budget was cut by 25% - Organisation lost 1/3 of its staff
- The prisons budget fell by 16% - Staff levels fell by 15%
New technology
According to Alison Saunders, what has been the impact of new technology on the work of the CPS?
Caused the criminal justice system to creak and unable to cope with the huge amounts of data being generated by technology and extra burden imposed on criminal investigations by digital technology
According to Max Hill, what is the impact of having to check mobile phones for evidence?
Led to failures with disclosing evidence and a fall in the number of rape and sexual offences charges
What is the impact of the cost of DNA profiling on the work of the police?
Poses a limitation on the police’s ability to investigate offences
Unreported crime
Describe the patterns of reporting for rape, domestic abuse, and white collar and corporate crime.
Rape - Only about 1/4 rapes and attempted rapes are reported
Domestic abuse - An estimated 2.3 million domestic abuse cases occurred in 2019-2020, but not all were reported to police and only 759,000 were recorded
White collar and corporate crime - Often go unreported because people may be unaware that they have been victims, for example of fraud, over-charging or environmental pollution
Existing laws
Why might the public not be protected from some forms of harmful behaviour?
Sometimes, a new type of harm emerges but there is no existing law to forbid it and so state agencies are unable to bring prosecutions to control the harmful behaviour as social control by state agencies can only be achieved as long as there are appropriate laws in place to begin with
What has been the impact of social media on crime?
There had been much debate about the responsibilities of social media platforms such as FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube for offensive and harmful material that appears on them. For example, the right-wing terrorist who massacred 51 Muslims in mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019 was able to livestream his crimes on social media
Why are social media companies not prosecuted for their role in hate crimes and terrorism in the UK?
Social media companies claim that the are not publishers and in the UK they cannot currently be prosecuted for the material found on their sites, however if it was published in more traditional ways like books and magazines, the publisher could be held criminally liable
How do laws in Germany and Australia relating to social media differ from those in the UK?
Germany introduced a law in 2017 which requires for social media companies to quickly remove hate speech, fake news and illegal material or face fines up to 50m euros. In April 2019, following the Christchurch massacre, Australia passed a law requiring companies to notify police or promptly remove videos depicting terrorist acts, murder, attempted murder, torture, rape or kidnap. Executives of companies who fail to comply may be liable for up to 3 years in jail
