Crime Control Flashcards

Question

What is the marxist perspective to punishment?

Answer 1

- Marxists argue that laws are not an expression of so-called collective values, but of ruling class ideology. - Althusser saw punishment as part of the repressive state apparatus which are the parts of the state that are concerned with mainly repressive, physical means of keeping a population in line through police, courts and prison —> helps reinforce ruling class ideology and protects the ruling class’s private property from the proletariat. - Rusche and Kirchheimer regard the law and punishment as forms of social control of the working class, and as a means of reinforcing ruling class power in unequal class societies. The unequal distribution of power in society is reflected in the unequal distribution of punishment: some people and acts are criminalised more than others, e.g. the working class. - The way the CJS and the media focus on working class crime diverts attention from the crimes of the middle and upper class who either escape punishment altogether or are treated leniently.

Answer 2

- Difficult to see all punishments as simply linked to the interests of the dominant class. - Some argue the working class fill the prisons because they commit some of the most harmful offences. - Left Realists would argue victims of crime tend to be other disadvantaged people like the offenders.

Answer 3

Retribution provides: - An outlet for public anger and outrage at the violation of the collective conscience - An opportunity for society to express its disapproval of criminal behaviour - Reasserts the boundaries between right and wrong and re-establishes social order - Reaffirms and strengthens collective values and laws which are an expression of them - Reinforces social regulation and social control - Contributes to building social solidarity

Answer 4

Modern societies: - Process of rationalisation, based around laws and regulations. - Only the state has the open to punish offenders.

Answer 5

- Rationalisation of punishment of offenders is based on legal-rational authority. - Punishment is based on impersonal rules and regulations. - It is administered through bureaucracies of officials rather than by arbitrary treatment handed out by sovereign power.

Answer 6

- Based on legislation decided by elected governments, giving some legitimacy and it is reasonable for offenders to comply with these punishments.

Answer 7

- 2003 = 22% increase in the prison population since 1997 was estimated to have reduced crime by only 5% at the time when crime had fallen by 30%. This suggests that there is no convincing evidence that putting people in prison reduces crime.

Answer 8

- 47.5% of prisoners released in 2010 were proven to have reoffended within a year of being released. - For juveniles, the reoffending rate was 70%

Answer 9

1. Complex social causes: Boorman and Hopkins cite evidence that reoffending prisoners had chaotic childhoods, experienced abuse, witnessed violence in the home and had been taken into care. 2. Unemployment 3. Problems with accommodation 4. Histories of mental illness 5. Prisons may make pre-existing problems worse such as destabilising family ties, and disrupting employment opportunities by stigmatising offenders. 6. Goffman suggests prisons have their own subcultures, which provides training grounds for criminals and confirms the criminal label, becoming the master status.

Answer 10

GARLAND: - USA and UK are moving into an era of mass incarceration. - 200,000 inmates in state and federal prisons in USA 1970s, now there is 1.5 million. —> Once imprisonment reaches this scale, it becomes the imprisonment of the whole population (young black males).

Answer 11

- Downes argues mass incarceration has an ideological function. The US prison system soaks up about 30-40% of the unemployed, thereby making capitalism look more successful.

Answer 12

- Garland argues mass incarceration is due to the politicisation of crime control. - Since the 1970s, there has been a move towards a political consensus around tough on crime measures. - This has led to higher rates of imprisonment and longer sentences.

Answer 13

- Another reason is due to the war on drugs. - As Simon argues, because drug use is so widespread this has produced an almost limitless supply of imprisonable offenders.

Answer 14

- There is also a trend towards transcarceration which is the idea that individuals simply move between different carceral agencies during their lives. —> This results in them being locked into a cycle of control. - E.g. Someone might be brought up in care, then sent to a young offenders’ institution, then adult prison, with bouts in a mental hospital in between. - Some sociologists see transcarceration as a product of the blurring of boundaries between criminal justice and welfare agencies. E.g. health, housing and social services are increasingly being given a crime control role in multi-agency working.

Answer 15

- Growth in community based controls e.g. curfews and electronic tagging. - At the same time, there has been a growth in the number of people in custody.

Answer 16

WILSON AND KELLING: - Right realist policy - Developed what has become known as the broken windows thesis. --> This is the idea that if a broken window (a symbol for social disorder and a lack of community concern) is not repaired, then others are likely to be broken and further neglect will follow. - Unless anti-social behaviour of all kinds are kept to the minimum, then there will be a gradual deterioration of neighbourhoods and a sense that no one cares will develop. - This will lead to more anti-social behaviour and petty crimes will eventually grow into more serious crimes. Therefore two things should happen: 1) Any broken window must be repaired immediately, abandoned cars towed away etc. 2) There should be zero tolerance policing on all anti-social behaviour, even if it isn’t strictly illegal.

Answer 17

Felson and Clarke suggest a crime occurs as party of everyday routines when there are three conditions present: 1) There is a suitable target for the potential offenders, e.g. a person, place or object. 2) There is no capable guardian, e.g. neighbour, police, CCTV, to protect the target. 3) There is a potential offender who thinks the first two conditions are met and then makes a rational choice whether or not to commit the crime.

Answer 18

- This is concerned with preventing crime in particular locations rather than catching offenders. - It aims to make crime a less attractive choice and reduce opportunities for crime. - This is achieved by ‘designing out crime’ and target hardening measures, e.g. post coding goods, anticlimb paint, CCTV, alcohol free zones. - Other examples include hostile architecture such as public benches with graffiti resistant surfaces or spikes outside buildings to deter rough sleepers. - These measures aim to make possible targets more risky for potential offenders. It is argued these could be combined with signs warning people of surveillance in an area which would encourage people to regulate their behaviour or face punishment.

Answer 19

- Displacement theory suggests situational crime prevention doesn’t prevent crime and simply displaces it to other areas where the risks of being caught are lower. - However, a review of situational crime prevention found it led to a diffusion of benefits with neighbouring areas also seeing reductions in crime. - This review found potential offenders instead find legitimate activities more appealing.

Answer 20

- This is linked to Hirschi’s control theory. The focus is on tighter family and community control to promote conformity and isolate deviant individuals through community pressure. - This approach also suggests it is possible to predict crime, and therefore prevent it, by identifying those from at risk backgrounds. Policies linked to this include: --> Making parents take more responsibility for the supervision of their children and socialising them into conformist behaviour. Those who don’t may be issued with Parenting Orders which compel a parent to attend parenting classes or counselling etc. --> Schemes like Neighbourhood Watch, which help to build community controls over crime. --> Cracking down on anti-social behaviour through measures like Criminal Behaviour Orders or Dispersal Orders. --> Supervision of offenders, e.g. electronic tagging to restrict and monitor their movements. --> Adopting zero tolerance policing which involves taking steps against all crimes. This links to the broken windows thesis. --> Heavier policing and more arrests particularly in high crime areas to deter potential offending. --> Fast track punishment of offenders with more imprisonment and harsher sentences.

Answer 21

- Focus on social and community crime prevention Policies such as: --> Building community cohesion, enabling them to develop more informal controls over behaviour. --> Multi agency working, e.g. Community Safety Partnerships, where a variety of agencies such as the police, the local council etc, work together with local people to tackle crime rather than just relying on the police. --> Democratic and community control of policing so it is more responsive to local needs. The police need to be more tolerant of those with different lifestyles or those from non- white ethnic groups. By building more public confidence victims and the community will be encouraged to report crime. Examples include: Safer Neighbourhood teams, Community Forums and the election of Police and Crime Commissioners.  Tackling social deprivation and other risk factors by improving community facilities, reducing unemployment and improving housing.  Intensive parenting support and early intervention strategies, e.g. Sure Start Children’s Centres.

Answer 22

NEWBURN: - Making previously ignored forms of victimization visible., e.g. domestic violence, - Exposing the extent to which violence against women is primarily an issue of men’s violence against women, rather than violence perpetrated by strangers. - Recognising that sexual violence is primarily an issue of male power and in some cases misogyny (hatred or dislike of females), not of sex. - Showing how a patriarchal criminal justice system holds stereotyped views of women and fails to respond appropriately to crimes against them. - Identifying the features of the criminal justice system that lead to further victimization of women, e.g. the questioning of female victims in rape trials. - Liberal feminists emphasise improving the circumstances that might encourage women to report crimes against them, e.g. more specialist training of police officers to deal with intimate crimes.

Answer 23

- Mainly related to poverty, debt and drug abuse, there need to be more supportive welfare policies and better paid jobs. - These policies would involve similar approaches to the Left Realists but with more focus on the circumstances of women.

Answer 24

- Focus on how inequality in a capitalist society has its hardest impact on women, particularly working class women, which drives them to commit ‘female’ crimes, e.g. prostitution and shoplifting, through economic necessity, as well as making them the main victims of crime. - Tackling female crime therefore involves tackling social inequality focus on how inequality in a capitalist society has its hardest impact on women, particularly working class women, which drives them to commit ‘female’ crimes, e.g. prostitution and shoplifting, through economic necessity, as well as making them the main victims of crime. --> Tackling female crime therefore involves tackling social inequality.

Answer 25

- Emphasise the way women sometimes turn to crime as a result of the responsibilities placed on them by a patriarchal society, e.g. housework and childcare. - Radical Feminists emphasise policies such as opening more rape crisis centres, highlighting the abuse of women through things like ‘slut walks’ and ‘reclaim the night’ marches. - Men need to undergo re-socialisation so they no longer treat women as sexual objects.

Crime Control Flashcards

(49 cards)