3.3 Examine The Limitations Of Agencies In Achieving Social Control. Flashcards
(10 cards)
Issues faced when trying to achieve social control.
Repeat offending.
Civil liberties and legal barriers.
Access to support and resources.
Finance.
Local or national policies.
Crime commit committed by those with moral imperatives.
Repeat offending
- High rates of recidivism suggests that attempts to establish social control are ineffective.
- recidivism rate across all criminals was 30%
- recidivism rate is up to 74% for people who only serve a short sentence in juvenile centres.
- Repeat offending is one of the main reasons why prisons are overcrowded.
- Those who are more likely to offend are those with several previous convictions who have already spent time in prison , usually possessing more complex needs like addiction
Synoptic links with repeat offending.
Marxists - the financial status of some people who are released from prison means that they struggle to meet their needs outside of prison, such as unemployment, therefore reoffending is likely to occur unless changes.
Civil liberties and legal barriers.
Civil liberties = freedom of speech, freedom to protect peacefully, freedom to move, and right to privacy.
Critics argue that agencies such as the police may prevent human rights, e.g they could negatively sanction speech that they consider undesirable.
People have the right to freedom from arbitrary arrest, however the police have legal powers to arrest anyone if they claim reasonable cause.
Access to resources and support. (Within prison).
Many prisons require access to support such as education and training, however some prisons fail to provide these resources for various reasons:
1) offenders serving short sentences do not have sufficient time to participate in support.
2) 15% reduction in number of police officers means support is difficult. E.g staff shortages and lack of support.
3) less than half of the presence in UK provided good education and training, however one main reason of this is due to lack of funding.
Access to resources and support outside of prison.
When offenders are released into the community on license, they may face money issues such as unemployment and homelessness.
In many occasions, this is the reason people commit crime, out of necessity and not wanting to sleep outside.
Finance.
- spending cuts mean that many agencies cannot operate effectively to establish social control.
Police = 19% reduction in funds between 2010 and 2018 = reduction in 20,000 officers.
CPS = a quarter of the budget for CPS was cut, leading to decrease in staff. = inability to investigate crimes efficiently.
Prisons = prison budget fell by 16% between 2010 and 2018 = overcrowding = less rehab rehabilitation programs = less members of staff = increased number of assaults.
National probation service = Claimed not to be effective in 2019 due to staff shortages and inadequate safeguarding of victims.
Local and national policies.
Policies and policy changes can affect the way agencies such as the police operate.
National gov policies.
- introduce laws and policies = “serious violence strategy” = law was made to increase police powers and collaborations with other agencies such as schools, to support at risk children.
Local gov policies.
An increase in burglaries may lead to an increased police presence within an area due to community and council concern.
Crime committed by those with moral imperatives.
People committing crime with a strong sense of what they’re doing is right.
E.g suffragettes.
- Campaigned for the right for women to vote.
- Campaigning involved breaking the law deliberately to raise awareness, such as smashing windows.
- When convicted they refused to pay their fines, due to them not believing they committed crimes.
Synoptic links to crime committed through moral imperatives.
Functionalist - the lack of Durkheim may argue that new social values and movements would not be possible without acts of deviance. Such as those acts committed by the suffragettes.
