criminology unit 2 AC4.1

• individualistic theories informing policy development 


  • psychoanalysis and treatment for criminal behavior ,linking to Freuds psychodynamic theories of criminality.
  • psychoanalysis founded by Freud is a therapy treatment in which offenders can analyse why they offend.
  • this method aims to access unconscious and repressed thoughts which have led to the criminal activity and bring the repressed thoughts to the consciences where they can be dealt with.
  • this treatment is used to treat convicted stalkers by encouraging them to think about why they commit crime
• evaluation of freuds psychoanalysis treatment 


  -positive evaluation

  a study in 2010 concluded that it works every well or is equivalent to other psychotherapy treatments

  has a good success rate and keeps victims safe
• negative evaluation of Freuds psychoanalysis treatment

  least favored in contemporary approaches to working with offenders as its very time consuming to gain full commitment from the offender.

  a patient could discover very painful memories that were deliberately repressed.

  the nature of psychoanalysis therapy creates a power imbalance between the patient and the therapists this could raise some ethical issues.
• behavior modification -linking to learning theory of criminality (individualistic)

  behavior modification focuses on techniques to extinguish undesirable behaviors and promote desirable ones.

  one technique of behavior modification is the token economy, where a token is given for a desired action then can be later exchanged for a treat.

  for example this is used in prisons where prisoners who follow rules can earn privileges such as more visits from family members.

  its called the incentives and earned privileges scheme.
• Evaluation of behavior modification

  evidence regarding the effectiveness of token economies suggests that they have short term effectiveness for both young and adult offenders
• biological theories informing policy development

  death pentaly

  ·         The most extreme capital punishment used to kill offenders with a lethal injection who committed the most serious offences such as murder.

  However the death penalty was temporarily abolished in 1965 , as a result of this the murder rate didn’t increase so permanent abolishment for the death penalty took place in 1969
• death penalty -theory link

  ·         This links to genetics theory as by killing the offenders and removing them from the gene pool they cant produce criminal children
• death penalty positive evaluation

    Keeps society safe from the offender

  The public like it as they may feel the offender deserves it and justice is served.
• death penalty negative evaluation

  Statistics show that areas where they do have the death penalty do not have lower crime rates than those who don’t for example in 2015 the murder rate was 25% higher in death penalty states than non death penalty states, suggesting that the death penalty is not a deterrent at all
• sociological theories informing policy development

  prison

  restorative justice

  cctv
• prison

  ·         Imprisonment is one of the main ways that society tries to control crime.

  ·         Prisons keep those who have been sentenced in custody, working to rehabilitate them and helping them to lead law abiding ,useful lives while they are in prison and once they are released.
• prison 


  theory link

  ·         Links to right realism-prison is a  harsh punishment to stop people choosing to commit crime.

  positive evaluation

  by placing criminals in prisons it keeps the public safe

  negative evaluation

  ·         48% of prisoners reoffend within a year of release

  ·         Shorter prison sentences are less effective than community sentences at reducing reoffending

  ·         The prison system as a whole has been overcrowded ever since the year 1994
• Restorative justice


  A voluntary process involving the victim of the crime, the offender and trained facilitators who work with the victims and offenders to talk about what happened, who was affected by the harm and what can be done to repair the harm also included what can be done to move forward
• Restorative justice


  Links to functionalism as this can help to improve values consensus as both victims and offenders can resolve their issues to reach a value consensus (a shared way of understanding)
• Restorative justice


  Links to right realism - if they realise the consequences of their actions they are less likely to reoffend
• positive evaluation for restorative justice

  ·         restorative justice does work as it gives a voice to the victim in the criminal justice system and makes offenders accountable for their actions by allowing them to take responsibility for their actions.

  ·         Prison fellowship suggests that this can help victims recover trauma and can help offenders turn away from crime

  ·         Stats found 85% of victims that took part were happy with the process

  ·         Restorative justice reduces the frequency of reoffending by 14%.
• negative evaluations restorative justice

  ·         Not appropriate for all offences such as sex offences for crimes involving children, for safeguarding reasons
• CCTV

  ·         Cctv cameras are placed everywhere in society monitoring us,e.g shops public transport and on the streets, in a criminal investigation cctv are one of the first things that police ask for when starting their investigation,cctv can identify potential offenders without cctv this can be made very difficult.

  Theory link

  ·         Links to right realism-makes sure everyone who commits crime is caught and is punished.
• CCTV


  • Works as a deterrent
  • Can make a small but statistically significant reduction on crime
  • More effective when reducing theft of vehicles
  • Has no impact on violent crimes
• CCTV as an investigation technique


  • Can provide compelling evidence
  • Can be used to show the severity of a crime
  • Can be used to identify witnesses and victims
  • Many cases have been solved due to CCTV, e.g. the London riots 2011 with images of looters
• CCTV


  • Not useful for violent crimes such as domestic violence that happen behind closed doors
• individualistic theories informing policy development

  freuds psychoanalysis treatment

  behavior modification
• biological theories informing policy development

  death penalty