policies

• what theory informs eugenics

  biological
• what is eugenics

  . it involves sterilising the criminal population so they cannot reproduce and pass on their criminal genes

  . selective breeding

  . believe we can improve the quality of the human race
• what is a case example of eugenics

  Hitlers Master Race

  . Hitler killed nearly 200,000 disabled people and forcibly sterilised twice that number
• what is a strength of eugenics

  it can help reduce further sexual assault victims, perps can be chemically castrated so they no longer have the urge to assault again
• what is a weakness of eugenics

  it goes against moral and ethical principles, who would be responsible for making the judgement on whims and isn't unfit, the case of hitler shows the dark consequences of this policy.
• what is a weakness of eugenics

  genes are not the only cause of crime, there are other factors such as the social environment and someones upbringing
• what was eugenics like in Britain

  . the government linked physical and learning disabilities to crime, vagrancy, alcoholism, prostitution and unemployment

  . they hoped the eugenics approach could build up the strong and gradually remove the weak using compulsory sterilisation
• what theory informs the death penalty

  biological
• what is the death penalty

  if crime is in your biology, then it can't be changed so therefore to stop crime you should be put to death. In the 18th century, the main form of punishment in the uk was to be hung, drawn and quartered. By the 19th century the death penalty was used for murder, arson and treason.
• does the death penalty work

  . The Howard league group campaigned against the death penalty in 1969 for the following reasons

  • faulty evidence
  • moral beliefs in society had changed
  • rehabilitation
• what happened to the death penalty

  after the temporary abolishment in 1965, murder rates did not raise so it was permanently abolished in 1969. statistics show that in the USA, states without the penalty have lower murders.
• what is a strength of the death penalty

  capital punishment prevents re-offending and provides closure and justice to the families and victims
• what is a weakness of the death penalty

  Places such as the USA still use it and crime rates are still high
• Derek Bentley

  . hung for the murder of a police officer

  . 'let him have it'

  . was asking his accomplice to give the gun to the officer not to shoot him
• what theory informs token economy

  individualistic, bandura
• what is token economy

  a behaviour modification policy used in institutions such as prisons or a psychiatric hospital
• what is token economy

  . given a token to prisoners for each act of pro-social or 'good' behaviour. This reinforces that behaviour is more likely to be repeated in the future

  . allowing prisoners to exchange their tokens for a 'treat'. In a prison, this might be a privilege such as extra visiting time or additional money allowance
• what is a weakness of token economy

  Allyon and Milan found that token economies work in the short term, but the improvements do not last once the criminal leaves prison. it does not have a long term affect and prisoners may re-offend on the outside since they have no authority.
• what is a strength of token economies

  it can be implemented easily and cheaply, it can be generalised everywhere and is a simple solution for stopping re offending.
• what is a weakness of token economies

  they only control behaviour within the prison and not crime outside, it cannot be implemented outside of prisons so people can still commit crimes
• what theory informs cognitive behaviour therapy

  individualistic
• what is cognitive behaviour therapy

  offenders may have had a difficult upbringing or poor role models which have resulted in destructive patterns of behaviour and thinking. Some might be angry and struggle to manage there emotions which is why they cause crime
• what is the cognitive behaviour therapy policy

  . forms of therapies that can be used in prisons to aim to give individuals a better way of thinking and acting

  . they focus on the way you think in the present and give you the tools to address current issues

  . anger management, think first programme
• anger management

  cognitive

  • offender taught to reflect on their own behaviours and taught to recognise their triggers

  skills

  • teaches them a range of techniques and skills to enable them to avoid triggers and deal with anger provoking situations rationally

  application

  • practise their new skills with role-play, see what is successful
• what crimes would anger management be most and least useful for

  most

  . violent crimes

  . GBH

  . murder

  least

  .robbery

  . drug dealing/use

  . drunk and disorderly
• what is a strength of CBT

  there is evidence that the policy works, those completing the 'think first' programme are 30% less likely to be re-convicted that offenders that receive a community sentence. Reduces recidivism.
• what is a weakness of CBT

  It is unlikely to work for all criminals, anger management cannot be used for criminals that committed a non violent robbery. There is a limit to the crimes this policy is used for.
• what theory informs the psychoanalysis policy

  individualistic
• what is the psychoanalysis policy

  . developed by freud

  . crime occurs because of an imbalance of the subconscious mind

  . the offender will verbalise their thoughts and dreams

  . goal is to bring trauma to the conscious mind where it can be dealt with
• what is a case study for psychoanalysis

  Oakridge

  • Elliott Barker
  • used psychoanalysis to treat psychopaths
  • locked a small group of male offenders in a room for 11 days kept completely nude and given large amounts of LSD
  • the only food they had was to be sucked through a wall
  • offenders were one third more likely to commit violent crimes after release then those that didn't receive the treatment
• what is a weakness of psychoanalysis

  it is very time consuming and expensive as psychotherapists demand a high wage, it may take many years to uncover repressed memories and the patient might only have a short sentence
• what is a strength of psychoanalysis

  shelder concluded that it works as well as other treatments, such as cognitive behavioural therapy
• what is a weakness of psychoanalysis

  the nature of psychoanalysis creates a power imbalance between therapists and client that could raise ethical issues such as the Oakridge case
• what theory informs penal populism

  sociological, right realism
• what is penal populism

  when the government attempts to punish offenders in ways that will be popular with the public

  . often put people in prison

  . UK has the highest prison rate in Europe
• what do right realists argue about penal populism

  prisons have 2 effective uses

  • incapacitation, leaves offenders incapable of harming the public
  • deterrence, makes people choose not to commit crime because of fear of a custodial sentence
• what did the government do in 1977 that brought several tougher sentences (penal populism)

  . mandatory sentences for repeat offences

  . automatic life sentences for second serious violent assault

  . minimum of 3 years for 3rd domestic burglary
• what is a case example for penal populism

  John Venables

  . murdered james bulger when he was 10 years old

  . he re-offended throughout his life and was in and out of prison

  . possessed child abuse images and committed several sexual offences

  . prison does not always work
• what is a weakness of penal populism

  . rising numbers in jail, 1993- 45000, 2021- 80000

  . in 2020 there was 76 suicides and 65000 incidents of self harm
• what is a weakness of penal populism

  it is hard to use prison as a rehabilitation institute because of overcrowding and budget cuts meaning many prisoners lack access to services such as education and treatment programmes.