Topic 4- Crime, control and prevention

Question 1

Where does the criminal justice system cover

Answer 1

England and Wales

Question 2

What makes up the CJS

Answer 2

-Police
-Crown prosecution service
-Courts
-Prisons

Question 3

Who is responsible for the CJS

Answer 3

-Ministry of Justice
-Home office
-Attorney general

Question 4

Ministry of Justice

Answer 4

-Oversees the magistrates courts, the crown court and legal services
-Manages the justice process from start to end
-Responsible for criminal law and sentencing

Question 5

The Home Office

Answer 5

-Oversees the police
-Protects the public from terror, crime and anti-social behaviour
-Responsible for crime reduction, policing, security and counter-terrorism

Question 6

The Attorney General

Answer 6

-Oversees the Crown prosecution service
-Chief legal adviser to the government
-Responsible for ensuring the rule of the law is upheld

Question 7

What are the key goals for the CJS

Answer 7

-Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the CJS in bring offences to justice
-Increase public confidence
-Increase victim satisfaction
-Increase the recovery of criminal assets

Question 8

Role of the CJS

Answer 8

-Deterrence
-Public protection
-Retribution
-Rehabilitation

Question 9

Restorative justice

Answer 9

Naming, shaming and facing victims

Question 10

Right realists

Answer 10

Emphasis the individual
-They say that people choose to commit crime because the benefits outweigh the cost of crime

Question 11

Garland

Answer 11

Now a ‘culture of control’- concerned with controlling, preventing and reducing the risks of people becoming victims of crime

Question 12

Situational crime prevention

Answer 12

Clarke 1992
-That relies on reducing opportunities for crime
-directed at specific crimes
-involve managing the environment of the crime
-aim to increase effort of committing crime

Question 13

Target hardening

Answer 13

Aims to make potential targets of crime more difficult and riskier for potential offenders
-E.g. CCTV, locks and car alarms

Question 14

Rational choice theory

Answer 14

Sees offenders as acting rationally, weighing up the benefits and risks when they see an opportunity for crime
-E.g. Port authority bus terminal, NYC

Question 15

Port authority bus terminal, NYC

Answer 15

Poorly designed so the toilets were a setting for thefts, rough sleeping and drug taking.
Reshaping the physical layout greatly reduced the crime and deviance

Question 16

Routine activity theory

Answer 16

Suggests that crime occurs as part of everyday routine when there are 3 conditions present:
Suitable target
No ‘capable guardian’
Potential offender present

Question 17

Displacement

Answer 17

One criticism of SCP measures is that they don’t reduce crime, simply displace it

Question 18

Theorist that supports displacement

Answer 18

Chaiken et al

Question 19

Evaluation of displacement

Answer 19

Strengths
-Reduces certain kinds of crime
Limits
-Most measures lead to displacement
-Focusses on opportunistic petty street crime
-Assumes criminal actions are rational

Question 20

Environmental crime prevention

Answer 20

James Wilson
-Crime is caused by ‘incivilities’ or anti-social behaviour such as vandalism

Question 21

Broken window

Answer 21

If a broken window is left unrepaired, this then encourages further acts of deviance

Question 22

Wilson

Answer 22

Proposed a number of environmental solutions
1.Environmental improvement strategy- Any broken window must be repaired
2.Zero tolerance policing- Police should be proactive tackling things

Question 23

Left realists

Answer 23

Focus on the organisation of society and the inequality, disadvantage and poverty that can result from this

Question 24

The Perry pre-school project

Answer 24

-Michigan
-Disadvantaged black children aged 3-4
-Offered 2 years of intellectual enrichment
-By age 40, fewer lifetime arrests for violent crime etc
-For every $ spent $17 were saved on prison costs

Question 25

Evaluation of the right realist theory of crime and prevention

Answer 25

-They don't address the wider social causes of crime -Don't allow that some people may be targeted unfairly by police -They assume that offenders act rationally in choosing crime -Removes the focus off of other forms of crime prevention

Question 26

Evaluation of the left realist theory of crime and prevention

Answer 26

-They are 'soft' on crime as they focus too much on the social causes of crime -The explanations are inadequate -They deflect attention away from more practical crime-prevention measures

Question 27

Post modernism

Answer 27

See crime as a social construction based on a narrow legal definition

Question 28

Evaluation of the post modernist views on crime and prevention

Answer 28

-Draws attention to diversity of society -Provides insights into the development of CCTV -Doesn't recognise the importance of social inequality -Doesn't recognise that decentralised and informal arrangements are likely to benefit the most well organised m/c