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TOPIC A01 (KNOWLEDGE) A02/3 (EVIDENCE+EVAL)
BLOODY CODE - It was known as the Bloody Code because of the huge
- 17th century: 50 capital offences. 18th century: 160. 19th century: 288. numbers of crimes for which the death penalty could be
HISTORY OF - Britain’s Bloody Code: English legal system between late 17th & early 19th century which imposed.
PUNISHMENT & made more than 200 offences.
- Why were there so many capital offences? (associated w/ social problems) >>>> - 1560-1630: population growth & pressure at social base.
CRIME CONTROL - Magistrates and judges were drawn from the upper social classes. Laws reflected the - 1780-1850: population growth, industrialization &
(term one)
concerns of these classes & became v punitive of crimes related to property. urbanization.
- Penal reformers like Bacara & Howard (1726-90) argued for a more rational penal - “Between 1770 And 1830, well over 7000 people were
system. publicly hanged in England for small crimes as well as large.”
- Revisionist view: continue w/ capital crime but change place they occurred as it disrupted (Gatrell, 1994).
business & trade. - Early 19th century MP sir Romliy succeeded in repealing the
- (1868) executions took place in Newgate, where another strategy was implemented death penalty for minor crimes & ended the use of
which was the breaking of neck from a long drop. Considered less painful than strangling. disembowelling criminals while alive.
- Liberal MP William brought bills which abolished hanging in
TRANSPORTATION chains in 1834 & capital crime for other minor offences
- An alternative for capital convicts pardoned from death . They would travel overseas to (1837).
British colonies and this remained standard form of punishment for over 200 years.
- The transportation act (1718) granted judges the authority to sentence offenders to = By 1861, no. of
transportation directly. In 1787-1868 aprx 160,000 people were sent to Australia. capital offences
- Enabled countries to profit from limited term labour that had little- no cost to state. were down to
- Conditions on the ship were terrible, half of convicts died from typhoid & cholera. five.
- Anderson (2016) argues that transportation was used as an alt form of coerced labour = Transportation
to private enterprise. (Decline in no. of slaves but increase in transportation). was ended.
= Prison system
was established.
= Police were
established.
, THE CHANGING FACE OF MEDIA (MEDIA TODAY) - Ryner (1997):
= 1830s: print media, 1920s: sound (radio) media, 1930s: visual media, 1980s: new = crime is glamourized and made to look exciting.
THE MEDIA & media (the internet + tv, radio etc.) = media is used as a form of social control.
CRIME = Media representations influence the impression of certain groups. (race, class, etc) - Media’s influence on the CJS eg. : Sarah’s law, campaign
= News stories often distort/exaggerate reality. for the govt to allow controlled access of the sex offender
HOW CRIME BECOMES NEWS registry.
- Commercial constraints: Newspapers experience decline in circulation (due to the
internet). Stories with an obvious hook (eg. knife crime) - Ryner (2015): “The risk of victimization is portrayed as
- Main source: CJ agencies/press agencies being far higher than official stats indicate”
Newsworthiness: - Media plays a crucial role in the social construction of crime
CHIBNALL (1977) JEWKES (2015) and offender(s). Distorts and exaggerates their actions.
Group is labelled, more media coverage is shown of them.
Immediacy (speed/the present) Threshold (importance/dramatic)
Dramatisation Predictability, individualism - STAGES OF A MORAL PANIC:
Personalisation Conservative ideology (breach of social = Exaggeration & distortion: numbers, damaged caused,
norms) violence
Simplification Simplification = Prediction: incites fear
Titillation (sex, celebs, etc) Sex, Celebrity = Symbolisation: symbols of particular groups are then
Novelty Violence negatively associated w/ deviance.
Conventionalism Visual spectacle (use of images)
CRIME NEWS EFFECTS
CONCEPTS OF MEDIA & COVERAGE OF CRIME - We receive most of our info on crime from the media.
- MORAL PANICS: overreaction by society to a perceived problem. Leads to hostility - Government policy change: in 1993, only 10 CCTV systems
towards group that is covered within media. (Seen as a threat). Leads to public outcry. in Britain. By 2005, 4mil installed. As a result of the Jamie
- CAUTIONARY TALES: Attribute responsibility (usually to a female victim). Marginalise Bugler (1993) case of his abduction. Public wanted more
behaviour of victim. Emphasize the needs for self-regulation. CCTV.
- CRIME LEGENDS: spread of word by mouth (nowadays, through internet). Local levels - Crime news may agree with long-held beliefs we have
of crime talk, not news level. already.
- CULTUTRAL TRAUMA: Changes a group’s identity. E.g. 9/11. Separates the groups.
, - Official Statistics: collated by police forces about crime that has been reported to them. POLAR VIEWS
- Victimisation Surveys: crime survey for England & Wales. - Realist view: official record of the state of crime in society.
CRIME Reflects the extent of crime patterns & trends. Crime stats
STATISTICS NINE GENERAL OFFENCE CATEGORIES provide the gov ability to develop strategies to manage it.
- Theft & handling stolen goods - Burglary (domestic) - Robbery (use fear & force) - Constructionist perspective: Argues that statistics are social
- Criminal damage (dwelling/building/vehicle) - Violence against a person constructs.
-Fraud/forgery - Sexual offences - Drug offences - Other offences
- Deconstructing crime stats: what type of crime is being
- Attrition: crime takes place but the CJS process filters the record out. No prosecution reported and what is being excluded.
and conviction. This is known as the ‘justice gap’ - Police records don’t include less serious crimes (‘summary
- Crime Survey: uncover the hidden ‘dark’ figure of crime. Provides more detail about offences’)
crime and support to victims. - Statistics don’t tell us why the crime happened, its impact
Data analysis: Descriptive statistics: Mean, mode, median. Range (the spread of data). and the specifics of the crime.
Interquartile range (measure of variability)
DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS & VICTIMISATION (March 2020) - Property crime (Theft): Police recorded (PR): 92,271
- Gender identity: Trans individuals were more likely to be a victim of a crime. 28% of offences CSEW: 525,000. Risk increased for women &
CRIME trans had experienced crime. students
PATTERNS & - Ethnicity: 15% of Asians & 20% (1 in 5) of mixed/multiple ethnic backgrounds - Vandalism: PR: 806,720 (domestic & non). CSEW 2,769,00
experienced crime. (domestic). Risk increased for physically deprived area/ high
ANALYSIS - Age: Chance of victimization is highest for young ppl (18% of 16-24yrs) disorder.
- Sexual orientation: 21% of gay/lesbian individuals (compared to 14% straight) - Violence: PR: 401,743 (violence w/ injury). 482,836
(violence w/ no injury). CSEW:2,086 violence, 1,065,000 no
WHO ARE THE FEARFUL IN SOCIETY? injury. Risk increased for young men (13.3%). 44% of
- Women: hidden victimization. Perception of vulnerability. violence against men is stranger violence.
- Age: as age increases there is more worry about crime.
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Graphs: provide reader w/ visual overview of data. Identify source of data in a footnote,
clear heading, x&y labelled.
Histogram: Bars always together, continuous variable (numeric value eg. age, income)
Bar charts: used to compare variables, plot categorical data. Called nominal.
Central tendency: Mean, median & mode. Dispersion: range & standard deviation
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