Social Policies (bio) Flashcards
(10 cards)
3 reasons that crime control policies are put in place.
Crime control policies refer to the laws, regulations and other governmental actions that are designed to reduce criminal acts - they are instruments of social control.
These policies are put into place to prevent crime, prevent recidivism (reoffending) and to punish and/or rehabilitate offenders.
Two policies that could reduce recidivism if offending has physiological or neurochemical causes.
Physiological: in the 1970’s several experimental programmes were started that offered facial reconstruction surgery to unattractive inmates in some prisons. A study was done of over 400 that compared men who received the surgery, counselling, both, or neither. Some positive results were found with certain kinda of offenders who received the surgeries, but not all.
Neurochemical: gesch et. Al (2002) found that providing vitamin supplements to convicted criminals reduced disciplinary incidents in a prison by 35%.
What policies has the UK government put into place to reduce aggressive behaviour linked to lead poisoning – a neurochemical cause?
Research has linked early years exposure to the metal lead in paints and fuels to behavioural problems such as aggressive behaviour, impulsivity and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), all of
which have been identified as risk factors for offending behaviour.
UK laws have removed lead from petrol and from paints used on children’s items.
What is EUGENICS – How would it prevent crime if there is a biological (genetic) cause?
Eugenics is the study of how to improve the genetic quality of the human population- Francis Galton
Arguments for the death penalty.
Gives closure to the victims’ families, The ultimate deterrent (?)
Forensics are now much more advanced so wrongful execution is avoided
If a prisoner is not euthanised they could escape prison and go on to kill again + It alleviates the problem of prison overcrowding.
Arguments against the death penalty.
Financial costs to taxpayers of capital punishment is several times that of keeping someone in prison for life.
The endless appeals clog up the CJS.
‘Eye for an eye’ policies don’t show that society has advanced.
It is traumatic for the family as well as the defendant.
Mentally ill inmates may be put to death.
Counterproductive – it creates sympathy for perpetrators of heinous crimes.
It doesn’t bring the victim back to life.
What if the decision is wrong?
What is CHEMICAL CASTRATION? – and how would it prevent crime and recidivism?
Chemical castration is a term used to describe treatment with a common birth control pill DepoProvera that, when given to men, acts on the brain to inhibit hormones that stimulate the testicles to
produce testosterone.
The progesterone in the drug counteracts biological tendencies that lead men to rape. By lowering testosterone, it reduces sex drive ‘.
How effective is CHEMICAL CASTRATION?
It has less deterrent value with convicts in many countries opting for castration to come out of jail. Besides, it does not prevent convicts for participating in gang rapes and abetting rapes, crimes against women. Does not prevent convicts from taking revenge and release from jail hurts the morale of victims.
What are the drawbacks of CHEMICAL CASTRATION?
Hormone therapy is reversible.
Unless injections are mandatory and monitored, criminals may not be fully “cured” of their sexual aggression. Involves invasive medication which, if not voluntary, could raise human rights issues.
Physical castration too has severe side effects.
