ac3.3 limitations of agencies in achieving social control

• limitations

  • repeat offenders/ recidivism
  • civil liberties and legal barriers
  • access to resources and support
  • finance
  • local and national policies
  • environment
  • crime committed by those with moral imperatives
• access to resources and support

  • due to lack of funding, prisoners may be enable to get access to support such as rehab
  • prisoners upon release may struggle with finance, accommodation, employment
  • leads to many reoffending
  • bromley briefings state literacy levels are low among prison population, many not gaining academic qualifications
  • gov announced plans for prisoner apprenticeship pathway
  • some are able to get discharge grants - only £46
• local and national policies

  • local police forces often prioritise certain crimes
  • leads to dark figure of crime
  • allegations that police won't investigate or prosecute certain crimes
  • e.g 2010-2015 police focused on knife and gang crime, introduced new offences
• environment

  offenders home environment impacts whether they reoffend

  prison reform trust states people less likely to reoffend if they have family visits
• moral imperatives

  • a strongly felt principle that compels that person to act
  • when offenders commit a crime as they believe they are doing the right thing
  • e.g assisted suicide
• Kay gilderdale 


  administered drugs to her daughter to help her die

  admitted a charge of aiding and abetting the suicide of her daughter

  shows that offences can be out of sympathy
• lack of resources and support

  • lack of rehabilitation
  • poor prison conditions e.g riots, confinement
  • lack of education
  • lack of support after release e.g housing, employment
• recidivism

  • overpopulation in prison
  • lack of rehabilitation
  • widening staff to prisoner ration
  • limited provision after release - forces prisoners to reoffend