Criminology Unit 4 - Crime and Punishment

Houses:

• House of Commons - elected politicians.
• House of Lords - unelected professionals in each field.

Bill Process:

• First Reading - name and aim is announced. Formal vote is taken.
• Second Reading - the main debate takes place. Vote is taken.
• Committe Stage - a group reads and critiques the bill.
• Report Stage - the group reports back and then a vote is taken on any changes.
• Third Reading- the final vote is taken.

All stages are then taken through the other house until the bill is agreed on.

• Royal Assent - the monarch signs the bill. It is then an official Act of Parliment.

Jucidial Law making is a law made by judges in court.

Examples:

Donughue v Stephenson (1932)

• Drank a bottle of Ginger Beer and found a decomposing snail in it.
• The women fell ill and sued the manufacturer.
• The court decided the duty of care was the manufacturers.

Daniels v White (1938)

• Claimant bought a bottle of lemonade and drank it.
• He then had a reaction to it, lemonade had corrosive metal in it.
• The case of Donoghue v Stevenson was used when suing, as it had set a precedent.

Judges need to make sure the law is fair and consistent.

Precedents will be followed, unless it is deemed neccesary.

Statutory Interpretation is when judges in Superior Courts have to interpret wording of laws.

They have various rules and aids to help them do this, they can interpret it how they see fit.

Example:

Whiteley v Chappell (1968)

• The defendant was charged with an offence of impersonating any person entitled to vote. 
• The defendant had impersonated a dead person on the voter list.
• The court held the defendant was not guilty since a dead person is not 'entitled to vote'.

Police

• Work with the courts, bring defendants to courts and give evidence in court.
• Work with probation in the management of an offender.
• Work closely with the CPS in charging and prosecution of offenders.

Ministry of Justice

• Oversees work of HM Courts and Tribunals Service, probation services and prison systems.

HM Courts and Tribunals Services

• Contributes, by the judiciary, to law creation through judicial precedent and statutory interpretation.
• Liaison with the police/indepent security firms and prisons to ensure safe delivery of prisoners to court.
• Arrangements of video links if a prisoner is not to attend court for a hearing.
• Prisoners held in court cells pending their court hearing and return to prison.

CPS

• Advise the police on charging.
• appear in courts to conduct the advocacy of a case.

HM Prison Service

• Lawyers may seek vistits to prisons for legal consultations.
• It is the judge who sets a term of imprisonment including the length and type.
• Defendants who have been denied bail by the police or courts will remain in prison.
• Work with Probation Services.

National Probation Service

• Police will arrest a prisoner recalled while on probation.
• Liason and preparation between agencies when prisoners are released.
• Overseeing a prisoner once on licence or parole.
• Liason with Police should there be any issues and recall to prison if needed.
• Overseeing all prisoners who have served a sentence of up to 2 years.

Sentencing Council

• Works with the judicairy and other legal prfessionals to produce guidelines on sentencing.

Campaigns for Change

• Can liase with various agencies for support to enable change to be effective.
• Sarahs Law: worked with the police on child sex offender disclosure sceme.
• Bobby Turnbull's campaign for a change in gun licensing laws with police.
• The PRT works with prisons and other agencies to improve the penal system.

The crime control model seeks a quick/efficent disposal of criminal cases (like a conveyor belt).

The aim is to punish criminals and stop them committing further crime.

Links to zero tolerance approach in right realism.

Examples:

• Allows the introduction of 'bad character' evidence and previous convictions information for the courts to consider.
• Removed the 'double jeopardy' rule.
• Extended pre-charge detention time for terroism offences.

Case Study:

Colin Stagg, Barry George and Gareth Hughes,  all cases provocked strong public reactions and a demand to be solved. Police felt sure that suspect was guilty and used all measures.

The opposite of crime control.

It focusses on the presumptions of innocence and the necessity of producing fairness by protecting the defendants rights.

Examples:

• The acknowledgement of the need for police procedural safeguards by the introduction of the Police and Criminal Evidemce Act (PACE) 1984.
• All interviews are now recorded and supects have the right to legal representation.
• The Human Rights Act 1998 allows for criminal justice practices to be thoroughly looked at.

Case Studys:

• Siôn Jenkins
• Garry Weddell
• Thompson v UK
• Venables v UK

Internal - conscience

Rational Ideology - idea or belief, your conscience.

Tradition - traditions, customs, beliefs and religion.

Internalisation of Social Roles- working out what is right or wrong based upon social norms.

Primary Socialisation - Socialisation before five years of age, usually from family. Learns norms and values.

Secondary Socialisation - Socialisation within school, outer society. Learns laws and further social norms.

External - outside factors

• Examples - parents, policing, government etc.

Coercion

• Physical: injury, imprisonment and death penalty.
• Non-physical: strike, boycott and non co-operation.

Fear of Punishment

Individual Deterrence: deter the individual criminal.

General Deterrence -

• 'Mandatory Minimums' - Life sentence for murder, 7 years for a 3rd drug offence and three years for a 3rd burglary.
• 'Three strikes and you're out' - third conviction for a violent crime likely to be life sentence (the USA).

Explains why people do not commit crimes.

Support the view that people require nurturing in order to develop attachments and bondsthat are key in producing internal controls.

s42 of the CJA 2003

a. the punishment of offenders.

b. the reduction of crime (including by deterrence).

c. the reform and rehabilition of offenders.

d. the protection of the public.

e. the making of repartion by offenders to persons affected by their offences.

Retribution

• Offender deserves punishment.

Rehabilation

• Aims to reform the individual.

Deterrence

• Individual or General.

Public Protection

• Serves a useful purpose in protecting society from dangerous criminals.

Reparation

• Compensates the victim.

Life sentence is the most serious sentence in the UK.

Protects Public.

Rehabilitation:

• Aims to rehabilitate.
• Rehabilitation is low.

• 1000 people recalled in feb 2015.
• 6554 people recalled in march 2017

Community Setencing

• Up to 300 hours of unpaid work.
• Aims to punish and rehabilitate.
• 9% of all sentences.
• 8.3% less reoffending in 1 year than imprisonment.

Financial Penalities

• Deterrence and Punishment.
• 2015- 61% were written off.

Discharges

• If no further offending occurs, no punishment,
• Individual deterrence.

Aims and Objectives

• arrest
• detention
• search
• interview

PACE 1984

Government Funded

Specialists:

• Anti-terroism.
• firearms/drugs.
• dog handlers.
• mounted police etc.

Aims and Objectives

• decide cases.
• determine the approprite charges.
• prepare cases and present them at court.
• 'independent and fair'
• 'honest and open'
• 'treat everyone with respect'

Government funded - £500 million

Working Practices

Evidential test - 'Is there enough evidence against the defendant?'

The public interest test - 'Is it in the public interesnt for the CPS to bring the case to court?'

Superior Judges - those working in the high court and above.

Inferior Judges - those working in lower courts.

Aims and Objectives

Judges make decisions in court and advise jury.

Government Funded

Independent from the government.

Aims and Objectives

Keeps criminals in custody.

Government Funded

Categories:

• A: High risk/maximum security.
• B: High risk to others.
• C: Lower risk but not to be trusted in open conditions.
• D: Very low risk to others.

Token Prison Society

Aims and Objectives

• Superises high risk offenders released into the community.

Government Funded

Offenders serving over 12 months, get probation.

The Prison Reform Trust

• Charity formed in1981
• Creates a just, humane and effective penal system.

Aims and Objectives

• Reducing unnecessary imprisonmnt and promting community solutions.
• Improving treatment and conditions for prisoners and their families.
• Promoting equality and human rights in the justice system.

Howard League for Penal Reform

• Oldest penal reform charity in the UK.
• Child arrests fell by 58% between 2010 and 2015.

Enviromental design is how a neighbourhood looks and how it is designed to reduce crime.

CPTED - Crime Prevention Through Enviromental Design

• based on the simple idea that crime results partly from the opportunities presented by the physical enviroment.

Crime is reduced by:

• Open spaces with strong lighting - providing visbility.
• Lack of hiding places - ables to people see clearly around corners and blindspots.
• Low level bushes - allows a clear and visible sight line.

Closed stairwells result in low level visibility and easy access and escape. 

Case Study:

• Damilola Taylor died in a concrete stairwell in a condemned housing estate.

STRENGTHS

• Provides a sense of ownership with school exteriors covered in art work and resident tended gardens. - Related to the Functionalist view of crime.
• Brown and Altman (1981) - found physical modifications suggested resident care and watchfulness help to promote safer residential settings.
• Research shows a higher crime rate in cities with high rise blocks than those with low level ones.

WEAKNESSES

• Its principles suggest criminals operate in hidden places, yet this is not always true. For example - graffiti often takes place in very visible locations.

Traditional Prison Design

• Panopticon - concept of the design is to allow and observor to view all prisoners without the prisoners being able to tell that they are being watched.
• The building has a tower at the centre from which it is possible to see each cell in which the prisoner is kept.
• The design ensures a sense of permanent visibility that ensures the functioning of power.

The American Supermax Jail

• These are the most secure level of custody.
• The objective is to provide long term segregated housing for high risk prisoners.

HMP Berwyn - North Wales

• The countries biggest - holding 2,106 prisoners.
• Accomodation is divided into smaller units for easier management of inmates,

Alternative Prison Design

• Bastoy in Norway - human ecological prison.
• Critics suggest the design is like a holiday camp.
• Prisoners in houses in a self sustaining village.
• Left Realist approach to criminality that produces low offending rates of 20%, compared to 60% in the UK.

These are gates that are installed at the entrance to rear alleys in order to deter burgulars or other criminals from using them to gain lawful access from the rear of houses.

They came into force on the 1st April 2006.

A gated lane scheme in Preston, Lancashire has proved popular with residents, giving them a feeling they can reclaim their streets. However others have suggested that at approximately £4000 to provide 1 gate at either end of an alley. It is too costly to justify.

These are tactics used by agencies to change a persons behaviour to make them more socially compliant.

ASBO's

• Were introduced in 1998 to limit and correct low level and anti social behaviour, which often involved swearing and drinking.
• However critics suggested that persistant offenders viewed them as desirable and as a badge of honor.
• According to the civil rights group Liberty, 56% of ASBO's were breached in 2009. Therefore such orders were eventually replaced, by CBO's.

Token Economies

• Based on the psychological concept of behaviour modifications which means rewarding postive behaviour and punishing negative behaviour.
• In a typical token economy program, a list of behaviours are drawn upon, this happens in prisons in an attempt to control behaviour.

A desired behaviour may lead to:

• Follow all rules.
• Keep clean.
• Keep cell clean.
• No fighting.
• No intimidation.
• No further criminal activities.
• Be industrious.
• Seek a job.

In exchange for good behaviour, rewards such as visiting time will be given.

STRENGTHS

Token economy can be seen to be an effective form of social control, as research shows that it is deemed to be effective on a long-term rather than a short-term scale (Hobbs and Holt 1979). 

LIMITATIONS

When the offender gets out of prison, they will not have the token economy implemented in their regular day-to-day life. The offender could then not want to behave positively in society beacuse they know they are not going to b rewarded if they do so.

There are institutions that have their own methods or tactics of controlling undesired behaviour. Prison must impose rules to keep control and prevent further crime occuring. The following are examples of rules that must be followed in prison:

• Behaving in a way that could offend, threaten or hurt someone else.
• Stopping prison staff from doing their jobs.
• Causing damage to prison.
• Not doing what prison staff tell you.

The following are examples of punishments if prison rules are broken:

• You could get a caution.
• Your privileges (such as having a TV in your cell) could be taken away from you for up to 42 days.
• Up to 48 days' worth of any money you earn could be stopped.
• 35 days, this is called celluar confinement. 

• Repeat offenders/recidivism rates. - 46% of adults reconvicted within 1 year.

  - Those serving less than 12 months - 60%.

  - 7 in 10 children sent to prison are reconvicted within a year.

• Civil liberties and legal barriers. - Freedom of Speech, association, movement, relgious worship.

• Access to resources and support. - Prison rehabilitation resources/ finance / accomodation.

• Finance - Budget Cuts/ Privatisation
• Local and national policies - prioritisation 
• Enviroment - home enviroment/education/work.
• Crime committed by those with moral imperitives. - terrorism/ assisted suicide

STRENGTHS

• Work in community. 
• Specialist Units
• Quick response times -  The 2017 London Bridge Attack (3 June 2017)

WEAKNESSES

Ineffective Policing- Racism, Funding, Crime statistics rising.

• Stephen Lawrence.
• The puppy farm murder.
• Disorder in Cromer.

STRENGTHS

• Independant
• Works with police.

WEAKNESSES

• Funding.
• Too close to police.
• Ineffective.

• Lord Janner

• Lack of effectiveness.
• Unduly Leniant.
• Court of Appeal having to increase sentencing.

141 prison terms were increased in 2016. 17% rise.

41 on these were sex offenders.

Prison

• Rehabilitation rates are low. - 44% reconvicted -78% of women reoffend after 11 previous custodial sentences.
• Drug and Alcohol in prisons.
• Violence within prisons.
• Probation relationship is awful.

Probation

• Part Privitisation.
• Bias.
• Low/Middle rate offenders ignored - 1 call every 6 weeks - CRC
• High risk offenders - okay -NPS
• Dont sort accommodation and jobs for prisoners.
• 1 of 98 had a mentor.

The Prison Reform Trust-

• Some success.
• Backing of high profile groups.
• Only can pressure government, not force or make decisions.

The Prince's Trust- 

• Helped 825,000 young people across the UK.
• 3/4 people good outcome.

The Howard League for Penal Reform-

• Less crime/safer communities.
• Successful - 'Books for Prisoners'
• Won a charity award in 2015.
• Close with police.
• Child Arrests falling by 58% between 2010-15.