Unit 2 - Criminological theories - 1.2 Explain the social construction of criminality

Question 1

What is meant by ‘Social construction’?

Answer 1

Something that has been made or defined by society, rather than something that happens naturally

Question 2

Explain how the social construction of crime can explain changes in the law of a country

Answer 2

Criminal acts are defined differently by different societies and cultures. One society can define a particular act as criminal and pass a law against it, while another culture sees nothing wrong in it. Likewise, as a society changes over time, its ideas about what is crime can also change

Question 3

How laws change from culture to culture

What does polygamy mean?

Answer 3

Practice of having more than one partner

Question 4

What is polygyny?

Answer 4

Where a man has more than two wives

Question 5

What is Polyandry?

Answer 5

Where a women has more than two husbands

Question 6

Where is polygamy, polyandry and polygyny legal?

Answer 6

• Polygamy is legal in 58 countries
• Polygyny is legal in some muslim countries
• Polyandry only happens in a handful of societies

Question 7

Give two reasons why laws on polygamy vary between cultures

Answer 7

Religion - The Qur’an permits muslim men to have up to 4 wives and this is evidenced by the fact that these acts happen in mainly muslim countries

Tradition - Polygamy has been practised in some African societies

Question 8

What is adultery?

Answer 8

Involves a sexual act between two people and one of them is married to another person

Question 9

Where is adultery illegal?

Answer 9

Muslim countries, 21 US states, Christian countries in Africa

Question 10

Where is adultery legal?

Answer 10

The UK, most countries and India

Question 11

Why do the laws on Adultery change between cultures?

Answer 11

Religion - Most religions prohibit adultery. in societies where religion influences law making, adultery is often illegal.

position of women - laws against adultery are common in societies where women are unequal to men. usually in these societies, the laws for adultery are unequal

Question 12

What is homosexuality?

Answer 12

Sexual attraction between members of the same gender

Question 13

Where is homosexuality a crime?

Answer 13

72 countries mainly muslim countries and in 45 so are lesbian relationships

Question 14

Where is homosexuality legal?

Answer 14

UK, Europe, North and South America

Question 15

Why does laws on homosexuality vary between cultures?

Answer 15

Religion - many religions condemn homosexuality/ countries where religion impacts politics often have homosexuality as illegal. However, in secular societies, social norms are generally more tolerable of sexual diversity

public opinion - Polls by the Pew Research Centre showed higher levels of support for bans on homosexuality in some countries, some of these countries are where religion has a strong influence, but others are not such as Russia are not.

Sexism - the fact that homosexuality is a crime in more countries than lesbianism may be due to sexist assumptions made by male lawmakers that believe women are incapable of same sex attraction

Question 16

What is the punishment for possession and supply of Cannabis in the UK?

Answer 16

5 years for possession and 14 years for supplying

Question 17

Where is possession of cannabis legal?

Answer 17

Canada/Uruguay - Portugal have decriminalised possession for personal use

Question 18

Why do laws on cannabis vary between cultures?

Answer 18

Different ideas about how best to control drug use - Lawmakers in some societies take the view that the best way to prevent drug use is to deter their use. They favour severe criminal penalties. In contrast, lawmakers in other societies see legalisation and decriminalisation as a way to take cannabis out of the hands of criminal supplies and reduce harm by enabling users to get help

Different norms and values - Differences in laws on cannabis to some extent reflect differences in norms, values and attitudes between societies. Societies that have a greater emphasis on individual freedom may see drug use as victimless or as an individual’s right to so as they wish with their body

Question 19

How laws change over time

How did laws on same-sex relationships change in the UK?

Answer 19

All homosexual acts made criminal in 1885. Homosexual acts between consenting males over 21 in private made legal in 1967 in England and Wales, Scotland in 1980. Age of consent reduced to 18 in the UK in 1994 and then to 16 in 2000 (equal with heterosexuals)

Question 20

How have laws on homosexuality changed in India?

Answer 20

In 1861, homosexuality was made a crime. Struck down by India’s Supreme Court in 2018 and is no longer an offence.

Question 21

Why have laws on homosexuality changed over time?

Answer 21

Human rights - In Indian Supreme Court they decided that the state cannot control citizens lives. In the UK this concern with equal rights also underlies changes in the law on homosexuality

Politicians - Roy Jenkins supported campaigns for change towards homosexuality/gave it time in parliament/Wolfenden report that looked into treatment of Gay men, recommended change in law

Campaigns - Homosexual Law Reform Society that successfully campaigned for change in law that legalised gay sex in 1967. Further campaigning from Stonewall and other groups led to the age of consent being reduced to 16 in 2000

Wolfenden Report - After WW2 there was a spike in prosecutions of gay men and after several well-known figures were put on trial, the government set up a committee under Sir John Wolfenden to look into the treatment of homosexuals. After gathering evidence from police, psychiatrists, religious leaders and gay men, the committee’s report recommended that homosexual acts in private between consenting adults over 21 be legalised

Question 22

How have drug laws changed over time in Portugal?

Answer 22

From 2001 possession of drugs changed from criminal to a civil offence. Even hard drugs if the amount was less than 10 days supply. Before this in the 1930’s until 1975 Portugal had been ruled by a dictatorship in a very closed society (bans on coke and had to have a license to obtain a lighter). However, after a revolution in 1975, Portugal became a democracy and there was a huge influx in drug use. Very soon Portugal had the highest rates of heroin addiction in Europe.

Question 23

What was the impact of changing drugs from a criminal issue to a public health issue?

Answer 23

Drug use fell sharply, HIV infections from needles fell massively, Death from drugs are lowest in Europe (1 in 4 million)

Question 24

Why have drug laws change in Portugal since 1975?

Answer 24

There was a sudden and rapid growth in scale of drug addiction. By 1990’s 1/100 people were addicted to heroin. This led to calls for action

Question 25

Which two mass shootings led to changes in gun control laws in the UK?

Answer 25

1987 Michael Ryan shot and killed 16 people in Hungerford

1996 Thomas Hamilton shot and killed 16 children and 1 teacher in Dunblane primary school

Question 26

Which two changes were made to gun control laws in 1997 in the UK?

Answer 26

• Banned all handguns except from .22 single shot weapons

- Banned the remaining handguns except sporting or historic guns

Question 27

Which campaigns helped to change the gun control laws in the UK?

Answer 27

Snowdrop campaign - started by bereaved Dunblane parents, who organised a petition and collected 750,000 signatures calling for a change in law

Gun control network - set up by lawyers, academics and parents of victims to campaign for tighter gun control laws

Question 28

Explain why childhood is a good example of social construction

Answer 28

Although everyone goes through a biological stage of physical immaturity in the first years of life, how society defined this stage has changed over time

Question 29

How is childhood described by todays British society?

Answer 29

‘Best days of your life’

Question 30

How was childhood seen until the 11th century?

Answer 30

Children were put to work from an early age and were in effect ‘mini adults’. Law made no distinction between children and adults

Question 31

How has the idea of Childhood changed over time?

Answer 31

The idea of childhood as a separate stage in life gradually developed

Question 32

Explain how the changes in law reflect todays society’s view of childhood

Answer 32

• Laws excluding children from paid work - in 19th century children aged 6 would work in factories
• Series of factory acts excluded children from the workplace
• Compulsory schooling kept children out of work and gave them education.
• Child protection agencies like social services.
• Children’s rights.
• Laws and policies that only apply to children I.E. minimum age for sex

Question 33

What is capital punishment?

Answer 33

Execution

Question 34

Give an example of corporal punishment

Answer 34

Flogging, caning and branding

Question 35

What happened to capital punishment in the UK?

Answer 35

Over time number of offences carrying it reduced. only remained for murder and treason. Abolished completely in 1967

Question 36

What happened to the use of corporal punishment in the UK?

Answer 36

Gradually disappeared, similarly to capital punishment. Abolished in 1967

Question 37

Give reasons why laws concerning physical punishment have changed

Answer 37

• Breach of human rights,
• Does not act as deterrent to crime
• Nothing can be done to correct miscarriage of justice
• Society has undergone a ‘civilising process’ where physical punishment has been replaced with self-control over last 500 years. Society has moved away from physical violence shown by disappearance of public executions

Question 38

How laws are applied differently according to circumstances in which actions occur

Explain how moral panics can affect how offenders are treated by the law

Answer 38

Those convicted of minor offences during the London riots in 2011 were more likely to receive custodial sentences than similar crimes committed under ‘normal conditions’. Similarly, the courts imposed more severe sentences on youths convicted of offences during the moral panic of the mods and rockers.

Question 39

According to Chambliss and Cicourel, how do typifications affect how offenders are treated by the law?

Answer 39

Chambliss’s studies on two groups of youths, middle class ‘saints’ and working class ‘roughnecks’. He found that although both groups committed offences, the police enforced the law more strictly against the ‘roughnecks’. Cicourel argues that the police officers hold typifications. For example, they are more likely to regard working class rather than middle class individuals with suspicion leading to more arrests.

Question 40

According to Piliavin and Briar, how do situational factors affect police officers decisions?

Answer 40

ethnicity, age, attitudes towards office, place and time. Thus two individuals could commit the same crime in different circumstances but one may be arrested.

Question 41

What is meant by ‘age of criminal responsibility’?

Answer 41

The minimum age that a child can be prosecuted and punished by law for an offence. At any age below this age, the child is said not to have the capacity to commit a crime

Question 42

Why are individuals below the age of criminal responsibility treated differently by the law?

Answer 42

Children below a certain age are unable to understand the full understanding of the act they have committed and so cannot be responsible for it in the same way.

Question 43

How are offenders aged 10-17 dealt with by the courts?

Answer 43

They go to youth courts which are special magistrate courts that hear cases involving people aged 10-17. They are less formal. The court cannot send anyone to prison. They can impose sentences involving detentions and training orders.

Question 44

Explain Diminished responsibility from the homicide act 1957

Answer 44

If a defendant can show that their mental condition substantially reduced their ability to understand what they were doing or form a rational judgment , the sentence can be reduced to manslaughter

Question 45

Explain loss of control from the homicide act 1957

Answer 45

If a defendant can prove they lost control it can act as a partial defence and get sentence reduced to manslaughter

Question 46

Explain Automatism from the Homicide Act 1957

Answer 46

If an offender can prove that the crime was involuntary, they can plead the defence of automatism which can reduce their sentence