how do different theories inform policy development ( a level criminology )

informing policy develoment 

policy is a set of ideas or plans of what to do in particular sitatuions ( how to prevent and stop crime ) agreed officially by a group of people/instutuion and or government 

informal policy making - eg community meetings to set out how to control crime, establishment or neighborhood groups such as youth groups 

formal policy making - this includes society using crime control policies to reduce or prevent crime or punishment policies to punish offenders agreed upon by insututions such as prisons and or government 

biological theories inform policy development

criminality is a result of physiological or genetic factors

chemical castration - 

criminals are given chemicals in order to reduce the production of testosterone in their bodies this is usuall put into action in sexual offenders such as rapists who are said to have high levels of it. this reduction of testosterone reduces their sexual drive. introduced in 2007. in uk it is volentary but in some countries such as poland and south korea it may be given by force. 

it is a crime control in areas where it is volentary but a state punishment where it is involentary. 

• chemical castration has evidence for its effectivness - less than 10% of 626 chemically castrated patients had committed sexual offences years after treatement compared to the normal reoffending rate wich was 65% 
• however, it may cause long term effects, namely - heart disease, reduced muscle mass, behavioural problems etc. 

the death penalty (capital punishment) - 

due to the innate, deterministic nature of the biological theories they suggest there is little you can do to stop a behaviour from reoccuring in an offender. suggesting criminals have little choice in their behaviour as it is determined by their biology. thus suggesting capital punishment  as a biological policy. this involves ending a criminals life as a result of an offense they have committed, this is a government-sanctioned practice. some countries/states still use the death penalty such as florida and china but is no longer used by the UK. the most common method is lethal injection. 

this is considered a state punishment

• this policy is effective as it puts a stop to crime without a doubt as the offender will no longer be alive. eliminating the risk of re-offending.
• however, the wrong person could be put to death for a crime they did not do for example timothy evans who was falsy convicted and hanged for the murder of his wife and young daughter, during trial timothy had accused his downstairs neighbor john christie, three years after evans hanging christie was found to be serial killer who had killed more than just evans wife and daughter.

john christie 

• this is also a permanent method, it cannot be reversed once done. if the wrong person is convicted and killed by the state there is nothing that can be done. much like evans situation. 
• this method is also expensive, Cases without the death penalty cost $740,000, while cases where the death penalty is sought cost $1.26 million.…