Ac 3.3

• AC 3.3 examine limitations in achieving social control: recidivism

  Repeat offending shows social control measures aren’t working,

  • 49% of adults reoffend within one year of release, 60% of adults reoffend when serving 12 months sentences,
  • 69% of kids reoffend within one year of release, 77% of kids serving less than 12 months reoffend
  • Prison population has almost doubled from 1993 to 2015, prisons population doubled from 48,000 to 90,000 however longer sentences may be a result of this, in 2018 indivisible offences were 26 months longer than 10 years ago
• AC 3.3 examine limitations in achieving social control: recidivism


  theory

  • Marxs working class bound to commit crimes due to capitalism oppressing them making part of capitalism and have no money due to oppressions and may have to turn to crime
  • Sutherland differential association, being surrounded by criminals you start to learn their behaviour and socialise with them
  • Learning skinner, benefit outweighs the cost so people take the gamb of being convicted because the benefit is so high
  • Labelling becker once labelled by police, charged in court, and put in prison they may get sfp
• AC 3.3 crimes committed by those with moral imperatives


  Definition- strongly felt moral principle that compels a person to act, it’s the right thing to do from a moral viewpoint but not necessarily a legal one

  • Consequences- can be difficult to change the mindset of offenders with a moral imperative, punishment is unlikely to change their view e.g. suffragettes
• AC 3.3 is committed by those with moral imperatives (assisted suicide)


  assisted suicide- is illegal under the suicide act 1961 and punishable by up to 14 years, euthanasia is regarded as either murder/manslaughter max penalty is life.

  • Kay Gilderdale Was acquitted of assisted suicide of her bedridden daughter who begged her to die.
  • Moral imperative is that it’s committed with a compassionate motive and is at the express wish of the victim.
• AC 3.3 crimes committed by those moral imperative (suffragettes+ theory)


  Suffragettes- imprisoned but gained public support in time, campaign of direct action and civil disobedience e.g. chain themselves to railings attacked politicians,

  • moral imperative was to force parliament to change the law and end injustice of women being denied the right to vote
  • Functionalism, Durkheim argues there functions of crime, one is that social change is needed for society to progress, people with new ideas must challenge existing norms and values which will first be seen as deviant (Nelson Mandela)
• AC 3.3 environment

  The environment is returned so you can have a big impact on recidivism, the prison reform trust found people are less likely to offend if they had family visit yet 68% of prisoners had no visits

  • Is less likely to reoffend if they live with a immediate family on release but only 61% do so
  • Half of the prisons received a positive writing from inspectors in 2015-16 for purposeful Work active which plays a large part in reducing risk of recidivism
• AC 3.3 environment


  Finding employment and release has a positive impact on lowering recidivism but only 1/4 had a job to go to release and struggled to keep manual labour jobs due to tags restricting their time schedule

  • However Timpsons advocate for employing prisoners to help make changes to this, the prison apprenticeships scheme also aim by 2025 to put people in apprenticeships/jobs after leaving prison
• AC 3.3 local and national policies

  These policies limit the ability of agencies to achieve social control, when a new law makes a crime priority it means other crimes are neglected.

  • local police forces prioritise certain crimes based on government targets their set e.g. police may not investigate certain crimes leading to less social control, for example police say they won’t investigate contactless card fraud
• AC 3.3 local and national policies

  National policies

  • affect the work of agencies e.g. police/CPS e.g. from 2010-15 police were focused on tackling knife, gun and gang crimes nationwide and introduced new offences e.g. gang injunctions.
  • Another example is an April 2019 homes Secretary made it easier for police to stop and search anyone for an offensive weapon without having reasonable suspicion. They were carrying one section of the criminal justice and public order act 1994.
• AC 3.3 local and national policy

  Local policy

  • In London in 2017, there was a two week gun amnesty, 350 guns and 40,000 rounds of ammo were handed in
  • On a local and national level priorities of police and other agencies can be affected by media and moral panic, dangerous dogs moral panic led to law changes
• AC 3.3 finance

  Prison, police and CPS or struggle to achieve social control if they don’t have enough funding

  • Public sector funding from taxes is limited and cutting budgets for these agencies has had an impact on the effectiveness of achieving social control
  • According to the HOC briefing paper in 2016 the central grant has decreased by 25% from 2010-15 limiting number of police available to investigate crimes. Cut led to a fall of 20,000 offices and cases being dropped e.g. sex offences and arson
  • rape cases take an average of 129 days to solve compared to 2 days for theft
• AC 3.3 finance

  Prison- national offender management scheme has decreased by £900 million from 2011-15, staff levels have dropped by 15% leading to prisoners being locked in cells for longer resulting in rising levels of assault, self harm, suicide, overcrowding and staff rehab opportunities

  • 2016 Hmp birmongham riots raised concern on private companies running prisons cus there was 1,147 assaults in 2017
  • cps- 2010-18 budget cuts by 1/4 and a loss of staff by 1/3 which had resulted in misscarages of justice
• AC 3.3 Finance

  probation- part privatisation of probation service hasn’t been a success so are being taken back into public control
• AC 3.3 access to resources and support

  One reason we can’t achieve social club from is cus in release, offender will face problems with finance, accommodation, employment, lack of support may mean ex offenders will return to crime as they have no other choice

  • Short sentences, offenders don’t have enough time to deal with issues that brought them into prison e.g. addiction, anger management
• AC 3.3 access to resources and support

  Bromley briefings, receiving treatment for drug and alcohol addictions can reduce offending, study by public health. England found there was a reduction of 44% in reoffending, people less likely to re-offend if they get family visits 68% no visits, 47% visits. less likely to be reconvicted if they secure a job after release 39% employed, 59% unemployed

  • Nacro- argues gov should provide a package of things to support people leaving prison including, housing, finance, toiletries, food supplies etc
• AC 3.3 access to resources and support

  friday releases- 1/3 of all releases happen on Friday, Nacro and Howard league support end Friday releases as it results in a race to get all required support, accom, drug medication ect as it’s closed over the weekend, if not done people left to struggle and may reconvict

  • Access to resources and support, some prisoners are entitled to £76 on release which was recently increased from £46, but many aren’t eligible. Housing benefits stop for people in prison for more than 13 weeks so many people lose their housing and are released with no accommodation.
• AC 3.3 civil liberties and legal barriers

  Civil liberties are basic human rights and freedoms granted citizens through law e.g. right to a fair trial, right to education, right to life, right to vote, freedom from Arbitary arrest (human rights act)

  • How can civil liberty stop social control- they are restriction on agencies e.g. police, as people have freedom of speech and movement, e.g. some ‘GN’ nationalists with criminal convictions who can’t be removed from the UK due to regulations. Exportation can’t take place due to prisoners being in danger in their country.
• AC 3.3 civil liberties and legal barriers

  Cases- Aso Mohammed Ibrahim, Kurdish asylum seeker that caused the death of a 12-year-old during a car accident accident, avoided deportation by claiming right to family life in article 8 of the convention to avoid deportation

  • theory- Marxist would argue these laws are needed to protect the interest of the working class against the oppression of capitalist society e.g. freedom of thought, belief and religion allows working class to have thoughts which go against capitalist ideology without being inprisoned
• 83.3 civil liberties and legal barriers


  left realists- civil liberties and legal barriers insures CJS are acting in lawful and nondiscriminatory ways which insures cooperation with the community

  • due process, civil liberties links to ideas that due process model puts forward e.g. freedom from detention without trial, this protects individual from states power to oppress people, civil liberty helps guard against oppression