Unit4 3.4 Flashcards
Evaluate the effectiveness of agencies in achieving social control- government sponsored agencies- police(
At times the police can be very effective
The work they do includes
- work in the community to prevent crime, keep the public safe and try combat anti social behaviour
- issuing notices if necessary ordering people to cease unacceptable behavior and referring matters to a court if necessary
- there are many specialist units trained to deal with issues such as terrorism or incidents involving weapons
The media tend to report negative aspects of the role of the police in achieving social control. For example the police were labelled as institutionally racist in the macpherson report 1999 following the murder of Stephen Lawrence. In more recent times the police have faced more criticism over their effectiveness in achieving social control
Evaluate the effectiveness of agencies in achieving social control- government sponsored agencies- police theory
The puppy farm murder- in April 2017 in what came to be known as the puppy farm murder the surrey police were heavily criticized for returning a killers shotgun and firearm certificate to him just months before a double murder. 7 months before john Lowe had his shot guns and certificate seized after his stepdaughter had reported to the police he had threatened to shoot her
Disorder in cromer- in September 2017 the police admitted we got it wrong to the residents of cromer in a meeting to discuss disorder and anti social behavior in the seaside town. During a weekend of disorder by a group of people, police recorded 37crimes, including rape, theft and assault. However at the time they failed to provide support to the locals and classed it as low level disturbance but later said they had misjudged the disorder
Evaluate the effectiveness of agencies in achieving social control- government sponsored agencies- police synoptic link
However, the way, the media portrayed crime and the desire for sensational headlines which was studied in unit one should be considered when judging the effectiveness of the police. Statistics can be used to consider the effectiveness of police from both sides of the argument. according to the office for national statistics ONS 2017, for the year ending March 2017 police forces closed almost half of offenses with no suspect identified. This includes around 2/3 of criminal damage and arson offenses. the proportion of offenses that resulted in a charge or summons decreased from 14 to 11% over the last year. Such low statistics suggests a lack of effectiveness. The OS is the largest independent producer of statistics. The independent aspect suggest reliability with regard to the information, however, reliability of statistics should be considered. in 2016 the chairman of the treasury select committee Andrew tyrie criticized the ONS for falling behind other countries and jeopardizing policy decision with poor quality data.
According to the home office statistics, the police believe crime is on the increase as in July 2017. It had increased by 10%, which was the largest annual rise for a decade. . This includes a 20% increase knife, crimes and rise in homicide rates.. These are becoming less affective tackling crime. It’s important to consider the clarity of data which can be affected in part by improving crime recording processes, which the ONS suggest is a factor that has contributed to the increase in police recorded crime.
Throughout there was a lack of accuracy in the police statistics, which show its not very accurate for example there was a lot of unrecorded crimes such as sexual offences
Evaluate the effectiveness of agencies in achieving social control- government sponsored agencies-cos
They bring an independent element to the charging and prosecution of offenses. They are separate to the police, but they work with them to bring about social control.
The full code tests provide a uniform and fair approach to its role and allows a G process model of justice to be implemented.
However, there has been occasions when the CPS has failed to bring about social control . For example it has been beset by funding problems and criticisms that it is centralized,bureaucratic, ineffective and too close to the police. Sir lain Glidewell produced a report in 1998 stating the organization lacked effectiveness and efficiency making reference to the number of judge ordered acquittals of defendants being far too high.
Evaluate the effectiveness of agencies in achieving social control- government sponsored agencies-cps example
As shown in the previous AC, there has been a lack of enthusiasm to take formal action against known offenders like abu hamza. The case of damilola Taylor is an example of an inappropriate application of the test resulting in a failed prosecution. there has also been criticisms of the failure to produce a successful prosecution concerning female genital, mutilation, and for the controversy over Lord janners prosecution.
Evaluate the effectiveness of agencies in achieving social control- government sponsored agencies-judiciary
One aspect of the criminal justice system that may suggest a lack of effectiveness by the Judiciary is the increasing number of appeals alleging an unduly lenient sentence. The Attorney General‘s office said that 141 prison terms were increased in England and Wales in 2016 under the unduly lenient sentence scheme. this is a 17% price from the previous year. It’s worthy of note that 41 were sex offenses, 16 were associated with robbery and 19 work grievous bodily harm cases.
Social Control can’t be achieved with unduly lenient sentences
The media have been quick to report cases that suggest the judiciary are in effective in achieving social control . Judges are often portrayed as being out of touch with society. The following are questions that have been asked by judges at various times.
-Who is Gazza? Isn’t there an operatta called La Gazza Ladra (Mr justice harman)
-What is that referring to a Teletubby (judge Francis appleby)
Evaluate the effectiveness of agencies in achieving social control- government sponsored agencies-judiciary newspaper headlines
There have been many occasions when judges appear to have made inappropriate comments, leading to sentences fought to be unsuitable, given the circumstances. These are some examples of headlines.
-Judge who spared aspiring Oxford student from jail after she stabbed her partner is cleared following investigation into three complaints (Harley 2017)
-judge let for drug dealer off unpaid work because of transport issues (discombe 2017)
-Judge let off sex abuser, then blames victim (rantzen 2013)
-Manchester United can afford it says judge as he lets off thieving burger kiosk workers (scheerhout 2017)
-Judge lets off thief and commends his enterprise (court news uk 2017)
- model caught stealing from Harrods spared jail after judge praised her talents (pilditch 2017)
Evaluate the effectiveness of agencies in achieving social control- government sponsored agencies-prisons
Overall, it could be argued. Prison is not effective at achieving social control. There are many statistics from the prison reform trust, 2016, 2017 and 2020 that would support this suggestion as regards preventing further offending.
For example
-Anyone leaving custody who has served two days or more is required to serve a minimum of 12 months under supervision in the community. As a result, the number of people recalled back to custody has increased, particularly among women. 8931 people serving a sentence of less than 12 months were recalled to prison in the year to June 2020
-Scotland and England, England and Wales have the highest inprisonment rates in Western Europe
-the prison population has risen by 70% in the last 30 years, but it has studied in the last six years
-Few of them in 10 people surveyed, said that having people in prison was the most effective way to deal with crime. Early intervention, such as better parenting, discipline in schools and better rehabilitation were all rated as more effective
Evaluate the effectiveness of agencies in achieving social control- government sponsored agencies-prisons evidence
There is evidence to suggest social control is not maintained inside prisons. there has been a significant rise in prison disturbances, and the callout of the national response group the prison riot squad. In December 2016 riot occurred in HMP Birmingham that lasted 15 hours during which time staff was sprayed with fire hoses and pictures of prisoners in riot gear were posted on social media. Keys to key doors and gates were stolen from a prison officer, and the sales of 500 prisoners were opened by other prisoners.
Furthermore, the use of drugs and their wide availability inside prisons suggest a lack of achieving social control . The center for social justice in the report drugs in prison 2015 states….
Prison in England and Wales have a serious drug problem. They have done for decades.
According to the report use of drugs impact on social control as an undermined prison security leading to the buildup of debt and violence. It makes prisoners less likely to engage, constructive rehabilitation and contributes towards offending rates. For example, more than two prisoners in England and Wales reported committing offenses in order to get money to buy drugs, in December 2017 holme house prison in teeside was found to have a very serious drug problem. HM inspectorate of prisons said a quarter of the 1200 male inmates of holme house needed help
Violence within the prisons impact on the effectiveness of social control , this refers to the assault on both prisoners officers, and prisoners. Attacks are on the increase and they’re taking place at the rate of 19 per day. as a consequence of this suggests prisoners should be routily armed with tasers and stab proof vests in order to tackle rising violence in jails
Evaluate the effectiveness of agencies in achieving social control- government sponsored agencies-prisons case study
Incident in prison
And inmate in HMP Pentenville in North London was stabbed to death in October 2016 . Weeks later at the same prison so two inmates escape, shortly after that officers lost control at HMP Bedford 100s of prisoners rioted. As previously mentioned, also occurred in Birmingham in December 2016..
Statistics from the ministry of Justice (wright and palumbo 2016) an enormous rise in prisoner attacks over the last five years. in the year ending June 2016, there were 23,775 assaults in prison which mounted to a 62% rise from 2010 with officers and offenders now seeing an average of 65 adults behind bars every day. Included in the statistics are an unprecedented number or attacks on prison staff doubling from about 3000 to 6000 between 2010 and 16
Evaluate the effectiveness of agencies in achieving social control- government sponsored agencies-probation
The national probation service has been part privatized meaning that it now works in partnership with other organizations or companies known as community rehabilitation companies. The then Director of the service Sarah Payne said privatization would enable the national probation service to nurture collaboration working to get the root cause of re-offending.
She states …
I think people who have the right expertise should get involved in this . Reoffending is a complex societal issue, offenders will muck up, they will get things wrong, but we must not give up. It is a complex thing and needs a lot of people to give it the attention it deserves.
Such a view clearly contains bias, given her position within the organization. However, there have been many suggestions that this makes the service less effective. The national order office has warned. The government has no way of knowing how well the companies responsible for running the countries probation services are performing (Fenton 2016). There are fears that these companies are not subject to adequate oversight or scrutiny.
A joint report in 2017 by the chief inspectors of probation and prison says staff are focused on paperwork and targets at the expense of prisoners. Dame Glenys Stacey the chief inspector of probation, and Peter Clark, the chief inspector of prisons say the work done by the 21 community rehabilitation companies are having a negligible impact on reducing prisoner, offending rates. The report contains many criticisms that impact on the effectiveness of the probation service, including that
-Too many prisoners have been released, not knowing where they would sleep that night
-In too many cases, prisoners risk to the public has been adequately assessed before released
-despite the use of mentors, they could only find one prisoner out of a sample of 98 who had been mentored
An inspection in August 2016 in Durham found that overall the quality of the work undertaken by the national probation service was good and leadership was strong . however, one of the issues it found was that pre-sentence report used by the courts to help decide sentencing were not good enough and led in many cases to poorly focus, proposals, and inappropriate sentences
Charities and pressure groups-the prison reform trust
This has championed many campaigns to work towards a just, humane and effective penal system. Mental health is an area that has fought for change.
Working with the women’s Institute they launched the care not custody campaign to ensure people with mental illness were given treatment and not placed into the prison system. Some success was achieved in 2011 when the secretaries of state for health and for justice jointly announce their commitment to develop services within police stations and courts with vulnerable suspects and defendants.
This was developed by 2014 with parliamentary reports showing an investment of 50 million towards the development of such schemes . There is also a variety of groups and organizations that I’ve come together to join the campaign and support the government in keeping the care not custody promise..
Charities and pressure groups-the prison reform trust-examples of organizations
-NHS confederation mental health network
-bar Council
-police Federation
-Royal College of nursing
Charities and pressure groups-the prison reform trust-was the campaign successful
The campaign clearly had some success and the backing of a large number of high profile groups. However, they can only put pressure on the government to agree to their request. They can’t force them to take action.
Charities and pressure groups-the princes trust
This helps young people, including those who have been in trouble with the law, could be said to be an effective charity as regards to social control. It was founded in 1976 at time of writing has helped 825,000 young people across the UK. it helps 13 to 30 year olds who are unemployed or struggling at school to transform their lives. More than three and four people will achieve a positive outcome moving into jobs, education, and training.
There are several initiatives, including one that aims to help ex offenders make a positive transition back into the community
Charities and pressure groups-the Howard league for penal reform
This is the oldest penal reform charity in the UK having been established in 1866. It aims for less crime, safer communities and fewer people in prison. it has run many successful campaigns such as the books were prisoners campaign, which won a charity award in 2015 and a campaign to reduce the criminalization of children by working closely with police forces in England and Wales. This resulted in the number of child arrests falling by 58% between 2010 and 15. Individual success stories should also be credited.
