Gaps in State Provision

• Gaps in State Provision → the lack of services provided by the government. This links to the dark figure of crime - crimes that go unrecorded or unreported. Why?

  • personal factors
  • shame
  • lack of public interest
  • nocriming
• Only 40% of crimes are known to the authorities.

  -> domestic violence goes unreported

  -> cannabis use is under recorded

  -> vagrancy isn’t seen as a crime by society

  -> abuse isn’t seen as a crime by the victim
• Unreported crime might cause a significant gap in the CJS.

  • Police: the police aim to protect people and property, having incorrect statistics means the police may not be focusing on the right area of high crime to prevent it.
• Unreported crime might cause a significant gap in the CJS.

  • Government: the government may fund certain programmes such as rehabilitation or specialised police forces. If statistics are incorrect then the funding doesn't go where it needs to be.
• Unreported crime might cause a significant gap in the CJS.

  • Victim's behaviour: victims feel alone and may be reluctant to report any future crimes that occur due to invalid statistics. Could take part in rehabilitation.
• Unreported crime might cause a significant gap in the CJS.

  • Offender's behaviour: offenders may feel more confident in committing crime: they weren't caught because the crime went unreported. Therefore will be likely to reoffend even taking into account Rational Choice Theory.
• Unreported crime might cause a significant gap in the CJS.

  • Ripple effect: eg. consumer of cannabis → dealer → slavery.Stopping cannabis consumption means no money would go to the slave 'owner’ / profiter.
• Budget Cuts - occur due to a lack of resources

  • CPS, police & prison budgets were cut by around 20% since 2010: leading to an initial fall of 20,000 police numbers.
• Budget cuts affecting Police

  The Police aim to carry out social control by enforcing the law, investigating crimes and collecting evidence. The budget cuts caused there to be 20,000 less police officers: less officers means it would be harder to police higher crime areas. As a result they're limited in the ability to protect people and property.
• Budget cuts affecting CPS

  The CPS aim to carry out social control by advising the police in investigations, assessing evidence and using the FULL CODE TEST. The budget cuts decreased the amount of employees and funding so cases were likely overlooked just to get them out of the way. As a result, they're limited in the ability to be fully present and focused on producing a fully unbiased opinion regarding sufficient evidence or need for a case.
• Budget cuts affecting Courts

  The Courts aim to oversee fair trials, make legal fair trials, making legal decisions including interpretation of the law. The budget cuts mean that numbers of criminal defence solicitors and legal aid lawyers have been quickly declining. There are 65,000 backlogged cases. As a result, their efficiency and ability to resolve legal disputes is limited.
• Budget cuts affecting Prisons

  The Prisons aim to carry out social control through supervising offenders in custody, rehabilitating prisoners and carrying aut punishments set by court. Budget cuts would’ve affected the rehabilitation programme and less offenders would've been reformed. As a result they're limited in protecting the public from harm.
• Budget cuts affecting Probation

  Probation aims to carry out social control through supervising high risk offenders who were let back into the community and provide pre-sentence reports. Budget cuts would’ve caused some offenders to be less monitored as a result of a lack of supervisors. Therefore the rehabilitation of offenders is less likely to be successful.