4.2 (social change and policy development)

• Public perception of crime (e.g - drunk driving)

  Changes in society's culture (norms and values) affect public perception of crime. An act seen as wrong can be changed to be accepted. This led to changes in laws and policies as the public saw it as more serious.
• Demographic changes

  Immigration and racism changes
• Windrush generation

  Immigrants who moved to Britain for economic opportunities
• The Windrush generation faced hostility as many white people had racist stereotypes of black people as dirty, diseased or criminal
• Discrimination carried on through the 50s and 60s
• As a result of racial discrimination


  The Racial Relations Act was passed in 1965 which banned discrimination
• The 1976 Racial Relations Act extended to cover direct and indirect discrimination
• In 2010 the Equality Act covering all protected characteristics was passed
• Since the 1960s


  There has been a decline in prejudice attitudes towards ethnic minorities and the public accept it as a criminal offense
• This change in law could be the reason for a change in attitudes as people abandoned their attitudes to fit how they were required to behave
• However, discrimination still exists
• Drunk driving made an offence, but definition of 'drunk' was unclear


  1925
• Lack of road users led to lack of concern about drunk driving
• Car ownership increased, leading to more deaths by cars and therefore more concern


  1960s
• Increase in car ownership and deaths


  Perceptions changed, leading to road safety becoming a public concern
• Road Safety Act introduced and alcohol limit enforced (and breathalyzers introduced in 1968)


  1967
• Additional advertisement campaigning helped to change the public perception on the issue of drunk driving
• It is argued not enough has been done to change public perceptions on drunk driving
• Norms

  Social values that guide behaviour and give the explanation of why people act in the way that they do
• Norms

  • They keep deviant behaviour in check
  • An individual is looked on by society as bad if these norms are not obeyed
  • They can differ from culture to culture but a majority of them stay the same
  • They are socially accepted standards of how to behave and many people are expected to behave this way
• Social Values

  Shared by people within a culture that are seen as general guidelines that teach morality - right from wrong
• Different societies/cultures may have other social norms compared to others
• Social change

  1. Campaigning

  2. Changing views from society

  3. Laws changing

  4. Acts put in place
• Social changes

  • Homosexuality
  • Smoking
  • Women's rights
• In 1945 there were fewer then 20,000 black people in the UK with the main immigrant groups being white: the irish (for economic reasons) and the jews (fled from persecution)
• Demographic changes

  1. Non-white immigrants came from the former british colonies in the Caribbean, indian subcontinent and Africa

  2. They came in the search of economic opportunities and jobs that the british people did not want to fill
• There was discrimination against the non-white people for housing, employment and services
• It was completely legal to discriminate someone due to their race which meant landlords could easily let slum housing to people with low-paid and low-skilled jobs but had the required intelligence
• The Race Relations Acts banned racial discrimination in public places and discriminating based on colour, race, ethnicity and national origins became an offence
• In 1976 both acts were replaced by a law by extending it to cover both direct and indirect discrimination
• In the 1930s it was a social norm to smoke cigarettes as it was widely accepted by the whole of society
• The links between lung cancer and smoking were being made during the 1950s


  It became illegal to smoke in public places, inside a building and inside a vehicle
• Homosexuality was punishable by death in the 16th century but this was removed later in the 19th century: sexual acts between two males was still prohibited by law
• Cultural changes for homosexuality

  1. Sexual relations between people of the same gender was decriminalised

  2. The age of consent for sexual relations was decreased from 21 to 16

  3. The views of society have drastically changed and homosexuality is widely accepted
• The view of women's rights were changed rather early on by the campaigning of the suffragettes as they received the right to vote in the early 20th century
• Over time women have took on a more active role with jobs and the current aim is equal pay