Unit 4.1

• define policy

  a plan of course of action by the government to deal with an issue or to acheive a goal
• define legislation


  a law

  policies must always comply with existing laws, but may lead to a new law
• biological social policies

  chemical castration

  eugenics

  death penalty
• eugenics

  this is the idea that genetic inheritance can play a role in transmitting criminal genes through generations which led to the development of eugenics (people with desirable traits are encouraged to reproduced)

  this theory has led to policies affecting offenders:

  nazi sterilisation programme (sterilised criminals to stop the birth of criminals)

  inmates in american prisons during 1950-60s were forcibly sterilised

  osborn & west 1970 found 40% boys with criminal fathers has criminal records
• evaluate eugenics

  in the UK we dont have a policy on eugenics due to ethical reasons

  result of changes of social attitudes about role of eugenics and awareness of social issues eg. prejudice and discrimination

  a UK judge did allow a mother of 6 with learning difficulties to be sterilised
• chemical castration

  neurochemical research evidence comes from sex offenders

  2012 pilot scheme- 'chemical castration' for sex offenders took place in HMP Whatton, Nottingham

  840 category C sex offenders

  europes largest sex offender rehabilitation centre

  has a range of SOTPs (sex offender treatment programmes) for example SSRIs (antidepressants to increase serotonin to reduce sexual urges)

  ALIs (anti-libidinal interventions to reduce testosterone so men couldnt achieve erection
• evaluate chemical castration

  volunteer prisoners agreed to take psychopharmaceutical treatments and they were positively received

  side effects: breast growth, some of the prisoners stopped taking the treatment

  reduced libido does not automatically result in reduced offending
• death penalty

  most extreme biologically driven policy

  if the person turned to crime due to there biology then removing them from society meant lower CR

  if executed they cant reproduce the 'criminal gene'

  believed CR would reduce and criminal gene would be removed from society

  outlawed temporarily in 1965 and then fully outlawed in 1969
• evaluate death penalty

  biology cannot adequately explain offending

  stats show murder rates are lower in american states that do not use capital punishment which shows its not an effective policy

  people often commit crimes as a result of:

  heat of the moment

  influence of substance

  mental illnesses

  so actions are not influenced by fear of death penalty
• individualistic social policies

  psychoanalysis

  token economy

  anger management
• psychoanalysis

  therapists help clients to access unconscious repressed thoughts (which were thought to have led to criminal activity)

  the idea is that any psychological problem caused through trauma/development are in unconscious mind and can be dealt with

  analyst enable 'free association' so client says whatever enters their mind by lying down on a sofa facing away from analyst
• evaluate psycholanalysis

  time consuming and unlikely to give quick answers and not favoured by prison population

  long incarceration periods make it relevant for prisoners with complexed histories

  patients can uncover painful memories that were deliberately repressed

  more research is needed to examine the efficacy of treatment
• token economy

  criminal behaviours was seen to be caused by maladaptive learning

  the treatment focuses on helping prisoners to learn more desirable behaviour using positive reinforcement

  the basic principle is that a person earns a certain number of tokens by engaging in target behaviours and tokens can be exchanged for privileges

  fo & o'donnel 1975 introduced a 'buddy system' for young offenders and elderly = peer support
• evaluate token economy

  improves behaviour of serious offenders but limited impact on less serious offenders

  short term effectiveness of privileges scheme but has no impact outside of prison
• anger management

  aims to avoid violent offences being committed by helping people control intense emotions using CBTs because if individuals cant control anger it tends to be expressed in anti-social ways to get displaced onto inappropriate targets
• evaluate anger management

  ainsworth 2000 believes its effective but only if managed properly; given right recourses and target at right offenders

  howitt 2009 reiterates this, pointing out that some offenders act violently in order to receive specific goals

  rice 1997 found that psychopaths given this treatment were more likely to reoffend afterwards as the skills they acquired had raised their self esteem and allows them to manipulate others
• sociological social policies

  restorative justice

  CCTV

  imprisonment

  zero tolerance

  multi-agency approach

  custodial sentences
• custodial sentences

  concurrent: 2+ sentences ordered to be served at the same time

  consecutive: served one after the other (not in the UK)

  suspended: served in community with conditions (if you dont reoffend for the period of time you wont be imprisoned)

  determinant: fixed length sentence

  indeterminate: no fixed length sentence (doesnt exist anymore but some offenders are still serving these today)
• imprisonment

  england and wales have highest imprisonment rate in western europe

  1993-2015 the prison population has nearly doubled by an extra 41000 and have been overcrowded since 1994

  evidence and criminal records suggest prison sentences are not effective in reducing crime as 46% are reconvicted within 1 year of release
• zero tolerance

  influenced by RR views that people commit crime is social constraints are weak and crime control strategies are weak and RR believe the best policy is stricter enforcement of laws

  based on 'broken window theory' which links disorder and crime due to public disinterest
• evaluate zero tolerance

  successful in NYC since 1993 as major crimes have fallen by 39% and murder by 39%

  20% in cleveland in just 18 months

  only effective in dense populated areas with high levels of petty crimes
• restorative justice

  a voluntary process which involves offender and victim/victims family

  facilitators work with the two to talk about what happened, who was effected and how or what can be done to restore the harm

  can take place at any stage of the CJS
• evaluate restorative justice

  used in prisons and police forces and is growing in popularity

  allows victim to have a voice in the CJS and can make offenders accountable

  reduces PTSD in victims and stops reoffending as 85% were satisfied with the process and has reduced offending by 14%

  not useful to all crimes
• CCTV

  the use of CCTV is often considered to be valuable as a policy and technique because its often the first thing requested by police at start of enquiries, can be used to identify potential perpetrators which is very difficult without CCTV, used as a deterrent for committing crime and reduces small crime but not others
• evaluate CCTV

  people question if it goes too far and abuses a technology

  gives too much power to authorities as it reduces peoples liberties

  many lack sound so the motive may not be identified
• multi-agency approach

  functionalist approach argues all social institutions are interdependent to enable smooth functions in society

  this partnership approach is based on a notion that crime cant be stopped by police alone but other institutions should be involved eg. CPS, courts and prisons
• evaluate multi-agency approach

  some need safeguarding so agencies work with individuals to gain full picture of situation and prevents them living an unstable life and turning to crime

  RR believe 'underclass' are at greatest risk of crime

  state professionals should be used to monitor such individuals eg. social workers and probation officers