This is a 11 page revision PDF I made for the entirety of WJEC Criminology Unit 4 Crime and Punishment. It induces a detailed summary/model answer of everything you need to know for the exam for each AC. This PDF does not contain "AC2.3 - Do forms of punishment meet their aims?" due to formatting i...
A public consultation takes place in the form of a green paper. The firm proposal for the bill is then outlined in a
white paper. The bill enters through the House of Commons and the House of Lords where a series of votes and
debates take place in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd reading. After the 2nd reading a committee of MPs are tasked to make the
final revisions of the bill in preparation for the final vote in the 3rd reading. The bill is then sent to the monarch for
the Royal Assent. The bill is then effective.
Judicial process
Laws can be made either through judicial precent or statutory interpretation. Judicial precent is where past judges
make decisions in court for future judges to follow in similar cases. This allows for consistency in sentencing and
becomes common law. Due to court hierarchy, higher courts can overturn the decisions of lower courts due to the
distinguishing rule. An example of this is Donoghue v Stevenson. Statutory interpretation is where judges interpret
the law. They use guidelines to help them such as the golden rule, literal rule and the mischief rule. An example of
statutory interpretation is Whitechapel v Daniels.
Models of the criminal justice system
Crime Control Model
The CCM is a right realism and backwards looking approach to crime. It believes that the police should have more
powers and less restrictions when dealing with crime. It trusts the police to correctly identify the presumably guilty.
It seeks to process suspects through the CJS as quickly as possible in a conveyor belt system. It focuses on the
protection of society and the rights of the victims and therefore believes that a few innocent people in prison is the
price to pay to protect society.
Examples of CCM in our CJS can be seen in bad character evidence, stop and search laws and offender profiling.
Due Process Model
The DDP is a left realism, forward looking approach to crime. It focuses on the rights of the suspect and believes that
powers of the police should be restricted. It works from the presumption of innocence and does not trust the police
to correctly identify the guilty, therefore believes that an obstacle course is needed to ensure a fair investigation and
trial takes place. It sees the state and its agencies as oppressive and believes in the right to be tried by peers. It
believes that a few guilty going free is the price to pay to ensure no miscarriages of justice occur.
Examples of DPM in our CJS can be seen in the right to be tried by peers, the PACE act 1984, rights of a suspect and a
small number of appeals against convictions.
,
, Forms of Social Control
Internal social control
Internal social control is the process of the internalisation of social rules. This happens through socialisation where
external influences, rules and regulations become our own and inform the way we interact with the world, its how
we get our own individual internal set of moral principles. This sets our rational ideology. Through our tradition,
religion, upbringing and culture, we learn the norms, values and accepted behaviours of the communities or society
we are apart of and these set our own internal self-control. Religion provides moral codes and set ways to live life
and people make conscious decisions to follow these rules. This can be seen in the Christian and Muslim 10
commandments and the Buddhist and Hindu ahimsa. Our upbringing informs our internal social control by our
parents. Primary socialisation sets the ground rules for all other forms of social control.
External Social Control
Coercion is used to manipulate someone into conforming. This can be physical which can be seen in the form of
prisons as they remove an individuals liberty as a punishment for not conforming to the rules and laws of society.
They can also be psychologically which can be seen in the general fear of punishment such as being arrested,
detained or imprisoned. Fear of punishment also acts as a deterrent to crime. There are two types of deterrence:
individual and general. Individual deterrence is imposed on the offenders themselves to stop them from reoffending.
This can be seen in suspended sentences as there is an ongoing threat of loss of liberty General deterrence is what
deters the rest of wider society. It is usually due to fear of being sentenced to the same fate as offenders to serve
lengthy prison sentences or heavy financial penalties. It can be seen in the mandatory minimum sentences or life
murder charges.
Aims of punishment
Retribution
Retribution is a revenge concept that means payback. It is a way for society or the victim to get justice or
compensation from the offender. Retribution focuses on punishing the offender, it does not seek to change the
offenders behaviour. Retribution can be linked to the right realism concept of rational choice theory which sees
individuals as rational actors who consciously choose to commit crimes.
Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation aims to change an offenders behaviour and to stop them from reoffending so they can be
reintegrated back into normal society. It sees the offender as capable of change and learning. It requires the joining
of many agencies in the CJS. It can be linked to Skinner’s operant conditioning theory where behaviour can be
changed especially if there is reward at the end.
Deterrence
Deterrence’s aim is to put people off from committing crimes. It can either be individual deterrence which is where
the individual themselves is deterred from re offending usually due to fear of punishment, which can be seen in
suspended sentences. Or general deterrence which is where punishments given to another person deters others
from committing crimes, usually when offender are given harsh or lengthy sentences. This links to Bandura’s SLT
where punishment given to one individual act as a deterrent to everyone else.
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