Control, Punishment and Victims

Question 1

What is situational crime prevention and give examples?

Answer 1

Clarke- A strategy that aims to reduce the oppurtunity for crime by increasing the risk and reducing the rewards
-Based on rational choice theory
For example, target hardening e.g adding CCTV>increases risk of getting caught
-Felsons Bus Terminal in NYC, changing size of bathrooms and sinks meant the subway was no longer a criminal hotspot/ homeless people couldnt live there
-Changes from coal gas ovens to natural gas

Question 2

How can situational crime prevention be criticised?

Answer 2

Chaiken argues it just displaces crime e.g crime prevention in subways led to increased roberries in streets
Spatial,temporal,target,tactical,functional(different type of crime)
-Ignores white collar/coorporate crime
-Ignores root cause

Question 3

What is environmental crime prevention and give examples?

Answer 3

Based on Wilson ans Kellings ‘broken window thesis’
-Environment should be improved at first sign of decay as decay give impression people do not care (zero tolerance). This halts environmental decline and prevents serious crime from taking place
-‘Clean car programme’ on the subway used to take down any cars that had signs of graffiti and clean them- led to a 50% drop in homicide rate

Question 4

How can the environmental crime prevention evidence be criticised?

Answer 4

At the asame time
-NYPD got more police, decline in availability of crack cocaine
-Level of attempted homicide remained high

Question 5

What is social and community crime prevention and examples?

Answer 5

-Emphasise removing the conditions that may make someone commit crimes e.g poverty, unemployement, poor housing etc.
-These are longer term as they tackle the root cause of offending
Perry pre school project gave a group of disadvantaged black children an intellectual enriching programme as well as weekly home visits. (longitudinal)
-Found at age 40 they had fewer lifetime arrests for violent crimes,property and drugs and more were employed than those not in project

Question 6

How can all three methods of crime prevention be criticised?

Answer 6

Ignore crimes of the powerful

Question 7

What is Foucalts view of surviellance?

Answer 7

-Aargues that we have moved from sovreign power (power over our bodies through violence e.g public execution) to disciplinary power in the 19th century (discipline aims to govern mind,soul and body, through surveillance)
-Disciplinary power is seen through the panopticon design in prisons- prisoners behaved at all times as if they were being watched>self-surveillance and self-discipline. This rehabilitates the offender instead of just violently repressing them
-Other institutions also follow this pattern of disciplinary power and self-surveilance e.g schools, mental assylums,workhouses> forms a carceral archipelago
-Disciplinary power is now dispersed through every institution, panopticon occurs on a larger scale
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Question 8

How can Foucalts view be criticised?

Answer 8

CCTV cameras are a form of panopticon but they are not neccessarily effective in preventing crime; Norris found CCTV has litte effect on crime and may cause displacement
-Surveillance may not be a form of control for the possible criminal but instead perform ideological function by reassuring the public
-Koskela sees CCTV as an extension of the male gaze where women are watched by a male camera operator,

Question 9

What is synoptic surveillance?

Answer 9

Mathiesen argues that there is also surveillance from below, no longer a panopticon but a ‘synopticon’-everybody watches everybody
-For example, politicians fear of media surveillance / articles may act as a form of social control over their activities
-Dashboard cameras and mobile phones may warn others their behaviour is being monitored>self-discipline
Mann argues this can also mean citizens can ‘control the controllers’ e.g by filming police brutality

Question 10

What are surveillant assemblages?

Answer 10

Haggerty and Ericson argue survieillance technologys now manipulate digital data in cyber space rather than physical bodies in a confined space (prisoners in a prison)
-They also note how many different technologies are being combined into ‘surveillant assemblages’ e.g CCTV with face recognition software>creates a ‘data double’ of the individual

Question 11

What is actuarial justice and risk management?

Answer 11

Feeley and Simon argue a new form of surviellance is arising in which we analyse the stastical likelihood of an individual offending
-Using information about age,sex,religion etc. to be given a risk score, anyone that scores above a level can be stopped (used in airport security)
-Unlike foucalt, the aim of this is not to rehabiliate but just to prevent offending

Question 12

What is a criticism of actuarial justice and risk management

Answer 12

Can lead to SFP as it often uses official crime statistics that may misrepresent certain groups e.g young black mails carrying a weapon> more likely to be stopped> more likely to find wesapon even if all groups had equal likelihood of carrying weapon

Question 13

What if Labelling and surveilance?

Answer 13

Norris and Armstrong found CCTV operates make judgements about which groups they want to target, using typifications of sterotypical beleifs> can lead to SFP
-e.g more liekly to target young black males

Question 14

What are the two main justicfications for punishment?

Answer 14

Reduction and retribution

Question 15

What are the three ways that punishment reduces crime?

Answer 15

-Deterrence; punsihment discourages future crime due to fear of further punishment (general/individual)
Rehabilitation; reforming offenders so they no longer offend e.g education porgrammes, anger management
Incapacitation; removing the offenders capacity to reoffend e.g execution/imprisonment
-This are instrumental justifications;not emotion based

Question 16

What is meant by retribution?

Answer 16

A justification for offending in which society gets revenge on the offender for breaching its moral code- expressive view

Question 17

What is the functionalist view on punishment?

Answer 17

-Durkheim;Function of punishment is to uphold social solidarity and reinforce value consensus
Distinguishes between two forms of justice that uphold social solidarity in different types of society
-Retributive justice;Traditional society has a strong collective conscience as all individuals are similar, when this is threatened punishment is severe and vengeful (expressive)
-Restitutive justice; extensive interdependence between individuals, crime damages this interdependence so we must repair the damage through compensation-restore things to how they were (instrumental; to restore equilibrium)

Question 18

How can Durkheims view of punishment be criticised?

Answer 18

MOdern societies still have expressive elements to punishment e.g it expresses collective emotions
-Traditional societies also had restitutive elements e.g blood fueds often settled by payment not execution

Question 19

What is the marxist view on punishment?

Answer 19

-Punishment functions to maintain social order; part of the RSA that defends ruling class property
- The form of punishment reflects the economic base of society e.g fines as well as prisoners ‘do time’ to ‘pay’ for their crime.
-This reflects how the capitalist system is intertwined with punishment

Question 20

What are the three trends in punishment today?

Answer 20

-Changing role of prisons
-Mass incarceration and transcarceration
-Rise in alternatives to prison

Question 21

What is the changing role in prisons and what are the trends in imprisonment today

Answer 21

-Imprisonement no longer just seen as a holding place for prisoners, it is now the punishment itself
-May not be effective to rehabilitate offenders due to high recidivism rates
-Rise in ‘populist punitiveness’ where politicians call for harsher sentences> risinf prison population
-Prison population is largely, young,poorly educated and males. EMs are overrepresented

Question 22

According to Downes, what ideological function does the US prison system serve?

Answer 22

Soaks up large percenatge (30-40%0 of unemploted population
-Makes capitalism look successful

Question 23

What is transcarceration?

Answer 23

Individuals become locked into a cycle of control and shift between control agencies e.g brought up in care> young offenders> adult prisons
-Arguably due to blurring of CJS and welfare system as many services e.g social services are given a crime control role

Question 24

What are the alternatives to prison?

Answer 24

In order to prevent SFP of young offenders, there has been a focus on community based controls e.g curfews, tagging etc.
Cohen- argues this hasnt prevented SFP buas just cast a net of control, diverting them more into the CJS

Question 25

What is the definition of victim and how can it be criticised?

Answer 25

-Those who have suffered harm through acts that violate the laws of the state -Christie argues that victim is socially contructed as weak and innocent

Question 26

What is positivist victimology and give an example?

Answer 26

Miers;Focuses on interpersonal crimes of violence to find patterns in victimisation and identify characteristics that predispose victim to their own victimisation -Focus on victim proneness; social and psychological characteristics that 'invite' victimisation e.g less intelligent, females,elderly -Wolfgang study of 588 homicides found that 26% involved 'victim precipitation' e.g being the first to use volence

Question 27

How can Positivist victimology be criticised?

Answer 27

-Seems like victim blaming e.g Amir claims thet 1 in 5 rapes are victim precipitated -Ignore victims that are unaware of victimisation e.g environment -Only focuses on interpersonal crimes

Question 28

What is critical victimology

Answer 28

-Focuses on structural factors e.g patriarchy and poverty that place certain groups at an increased likelihood of victimisation -Focuses on the states power to apply or deny status of victim but apply it to others -Tombs and Whyte; this perfoms an ideologocal function by hiding crimes of the powerful. Powerless more likely to be victimised but less likely to be acknowledged

Question 29

How can critical criminology be criticised?

Answer 29

-Diaregards role victims play in their own victimisation (positivist victimology)

Question 30

What are the patterns in victimisation?

Answer 30

Class-poor more likely to be victims e.g crime rate higher in areas of unemployement Age-Young people more vulnerable to assault,theft and abuse at home. Risk of victimisation declines with age Elderly are also at risk of abuse e.g in nursing homes but less visible victimisation Gender-Males at greater risk of violent attcks, women at greater risk of domestic violence,SA, stalking Ethnicity-EM at greater risk than whites. As well as racially motivated crimes Repeat victimisation-Once you are a victim once, you are likely to be one agaim

Question 31

What are the impacts of victimisation?

Answer 31

-May have serious physical and emotional impacts on victims e.g helplessness -May also have indirect victims e,g friends,relatives and witnesses -Hate crimes may affect the community more widely than just one victim Can lead to secondary victimisation in which you become a victim again by CJs e.g rape victims -My lead to fear of victimisation e.g girls fear going out late due to fear of attacks although men more likely to be victims of violent crimes