3.3

Question 1

describe how recidivism rates can cause limitations for agencies in achieving social control

Answer 1

stats:
- reoffending rate - 26% for all prisoners and 64% for prisoners who had received a sentence less than 12m.
- stats from Bromley fact files suggest a 41,000 increase in the number of prisoners from between 1993 and 2015.

• shows punishment isn’t effective, lead to rise in prison pop
• increase in pop impacts ability to rehab, increasing pop size so becomes a vicious cycle
• increased pop means limited budget so further reduces available resources
• ratio of prisoners and staff widened so increased violence directed towards prisoners and staff
• increase in released prisoners so social provision is limited, prisoners feel have few options so reoffend.
  provision includes finance, employment and housing.
• explanation - prisons called ‘universities of crime’ in studies of Bandura and Sutherland.
  individuals learn crime through diff associations in family and peer groups through imitation of criminal acts and socialisation with other criminals exposing them to pro-crime attitudes.

Question 2

describe how civil liberties and legal barriers may be a limitation in agencies achieving social control.

Answer 2

• civil liberties are basic human rights and freedoms guaranteed to every individual by the law in a particular country
• e.g. freedom of speech: can lead to controversial opinions from the individual atreeted( so police might have to deal with escalated issues, taking away from more important issues.
  freedom of movement, freedom from arbitrary arrest (police cant arrest anyone they wish for no reason). can limited police as their are certain loophole before they can arrest someone.
• human rights act (1998) protects us (provides legal rights to human rights to everyone in UK)
• e.g. US department of states annual report of human rights found Turkish police abusing their powers with many arbitrary killings.
• Civil liberties are aspects of due process model of justice: assumes innocence
  e.g. freedom from arbitrary arrest, important protection for individual against states abuse of its power.

Question 3

describe how access to resources and support in prisons can be a limitation of agencies achieving social control

Answer 3

prisons fail to rehab offenders due to:
- short prison sentences - doesn’t give time to adress deep issue (e.g. drug dependency, AM)

• inadequate resources for education and training - 2020 report of chief inspector of prisons - 1/2 prisoners had too few programmes of useful activity. fewer than 2/5 delivering reasonably good activities.
• 15% cut in number of prison officers - less to supervise prisoners undertaking rehab.
  prisoners locked up earlier, denying access to recreational and educational facilities such as prison library.

Question 4

describe how access to resources and support for newly released offenders can be a limitation.

explain the campaign that tries to adress this.

Answer 4

once released on lisence - spend rest of sentence in community - supervised by probation.
face issues due to lack of money, lack of job (1/4 have job to go to), homelessness (Nacro / 1in9 prisoners have no settled accom to go to.

The ‘end friday releases’ campaign:
- ppl released on friday - almost impossible challenge to get support before weekend shut down (e.g. drug medication, benefits)

• often sleep rough weekend, vulnerable to reoffend.
• campaign tries to end friday releases

Question 5

describe how access to resources and support in community can be a limitation of agencies achieving social control

Answer 5

more successful than prison in reducing recidivism

but still significant maj reoffend due to:
- inadequate support for complex needs such as drug addiction, mental health problems, homelessness. often too few places on specialist programmes to adress needs.
so feel like no one cares, what’s the point?

• inadequate supervision by probation - criticised for being too lax in allowing offenders to miss supervision appointments
  don’t care, think can get away with crime.

Question 6

describe how finance can be a limitation for agencies in achieving social control.

Answer 6

• all agencies in CJS face financial pressures with reduced budgets -e.g. prison and probation
• police: 2010-2018-budget cut by 19%. Fall of 20,000 in police numbers. Less available to detect and investigate crime, cases dropped, particularly serious ones such as sexual assault (take longer, more expensive), society loses faith in police and less victims report crime, so crime will continue.
• CPS: 2010-2018-CPS budget cut by 1/4 and lost 1/3 of staff.
  head of CPS said in 2018-CPS and police failing to investigate thousands of cases efficiently including rape, modern slavery. Short of skills and resources needed to combat crime. could lead to miscarriages of justice.

led to downgrading of charges so cases tried in magistrates (quicker and cheaper) offenders get off with lighter sentences than deserve as sentencing powers of mag is limited (max 12m - 60% recidivism)
leads to public feeling unsafe, less faith in CJS, less likely to report

• Prison services: 2010-2018-16% fall in budget, staff levels 15% cut.
  an increased level of assault, self harm and suicide was seen.
  overcrowding and budget cuts means many prisoners lack opportunities for rehab, eg education, work exp.
  leads to more inexperienced staff, don’t know how to deal with dangerous people. Sc in prisons hard to achieve.

privatisation contributed to issue - 2016 prison riot at HMP Birmingham - privately run by G45.
official report - staff has been worn down by chronic staffing shortages. prisoners ‘were in effect policing themselves’.
gov took prison back in 2020.

• probation service: problems have affected resources available and efficiency of support (staff shortages, failures by private CRS’s)
• effectiveness of groups such as prison reform trust has decreased due to lack of secure funding due to reliance on voluntary contributions.
  If don’t receive public donations, unable to function (can’t create a just and effective penal system, less rehab)

Question 7

describe how policy can be a limitation on agencies in achieving social control.

Answer 7

• limit ability of agencies such as police in achieving SC as new law = police prioritisation on wrong law. old more serious crimes = ignored.

national gov policies
- central gov introduced laws and policies affecting work of agencies such as CPS, police etc.

• serious violent strategy: aims to prevent and reduce serious violence (e.g. knife and gun crime, homocide) through increased police powers (e.g. stop and search) - removes barrier for police to do job easily and quickly.
  aims to involve other agencies such as youth services, e.g. children excluded from schools vulnerable from grooming by gangs to drug deal.

BUT ethics of enhanced police powers - ruins good relationship between police and public, less likely to report crime.

local policies:
- police prioritisation set locally in response to local needs -e.g. knife crime high in certain area leads to police responding to extra measures such as increased stop and searches.

• 2017 - gun amnesty, 2 weeks in London.
  350 firearms, 40,000 rounds of ammunition handed in.
  used to reduce criminal use of weapons in local area.
• but police prioritising one crime - not looking at lower level crimes/ other crimes such as domestic violence - escalate, wider issue with SC.

Moral panics: press about ‘dangerous dogs’ led to introduction to new law - turned out to be largely ineffective in protecting public.

Question 8

describe how crime committed by those with moral imperatives is a limitation in achieving social control

Answer 8

• a moral imperative is a strongly felt principle that may compel a person to act illegally or when they feel the criminal act is morally right.
• e.g. Stansted 15 chained themselves to a deportation flight in order to protest the perceived human rights violations and prevent the gov. from wrongfully convicting people.

Shows how agencies can be limited as the group continued to protect this cause even after being arrested and facing prosecution, suggesting it doesn’t matter what CJS does, beliefs about what is right and wrong will override any lesson that can be delivered through punishment (difficult to change mind of offenders with moral imperative) so continue to commit the crime despite intervention from agencies.

• Durkheim - Functionalist - example of a crime showing the need for social change leading to changes in law. without deviance, new social values couldn’t emerge, e.g. suffragettes law breaking due attention to injustice of denying women vote.
• In UK - assisted suicide is illegal, but a family member may resort to such action if at wish of victim - Kay Gilderdale.

Question 9

explain how the environment may be an issue when prisoners leave custody.

Answer 9

homelessness
- root cause of offending
- left realists argue their environment presents opportunity to offend to survive (e.g. drugs, theft)

criminal family ties
- SLT - crim beh learnt from family (pro-crime). increased risk of individuals observing and imitating them - become criminal

lack of family support
- lack of help means reoffending more likely.
- studies show prisoners who receive family visits are 39% less likely to reoffend.