see actuarial justice as a new form of surveillance. It uses ar analysis' (statistical calculations of risk) to predict the likelihood of people offending
1 of 6
What does it focus on?
it focuses on groups, not individuals; it is not interested in rehabilitating offenders, but simply in preventing them from offending
2 of 6
Individuals can be profiled using known offender 'risk factors'
(e.g. their age, sex, ethnicity, religion etc), giving each person a risk score. Anyone scoring above a given level can be stopped, questioned etc
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Lyon
the purpose of this 'social sorting' is to categorise people so they can be treated differently according to the level of risk they pose.
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However...
offender profiles are often compiled using official statistics, which show certain groups as more likely to offend (e.g. young black males). Profiling leads to police targeting these groups, who are thus more likely to be caught and convicted
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Norris and Armstrong found that CCTV operators target young black males based on racist stereotypes
This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy: criminalisation of black youths is increased because their offences are revealed, while criminalisation of others is lessened because theirs are ignored
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
What does it focus on?
Back
it focuses on groups, not individuals; it is not interested in rehabilitating offenders, but simply in preventing them from offending
Card 3
Front
Individuals can be profiled using known offender 'risk factors'
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