Criminology Mock Examination with answers
Unit 4
A* Answers
Scenario: Poppy and Ellie were best friends who were both studying Law. Poppy did
very little work towards her qualification and relied on Ellie to help her in the weeks
leading up to their final assessment. However, in this assessment, Poppy achieved a
significantly higher mark than Ellie. Angry with Poppy, whom she blamed for
distracting her from her own work, Ellie broke into Poppy’s house and caused damage
to Poppy’s belongings. CCTV captured her actions, and she was prosecuted. She was
convicted of burglary and has been ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work in
the community.
2(a) Identify four features of the parliamentary law-making process.
Before a bill enters parliament, its proposed to the public as a green paper, and properly
drafted as a white paper. Then the bill goes through the reading and committee stages,
which it looked through by the House of Commons, then the Lords. If they agree, its passed
on, if not, its exchanged back and forth until agreed upon. Once it’s passed the 3 rd reading,
the bill is to be approved by the Monarch, which once approved becomes an Act of
Parliament. (4 marks.)
2(b) Discuss the aims of the community order imposed on Ellie.
Community service can be a form of rehabilitation for Ellie, as she may have to work with
certain people within the community to help her, such as anger management classes. This
sentence can also be seen as a deterrence as it will prevent Ellie from committing a crime as
she won’t want to complete community service again. It can also act as a general deterrent
for people who see Ellie serving the sentence, as they won’t want to be in the same
situation. This community order can also be seen as retribution, as it’s the maximum hours
possible to receive for community service, therefore its worthy for the crime. Finally, it acts
as protection for the public, mainly being Poppy, as Ellie is receiving punishment for her
crime, with further threat to Poppy leading to a possible prison sentence. (6 marks.)
, 2(c) Describe the contribution of environmental measures such as CCTV in achieving
social control.
CCTV is a huge factor within modern society, with almost every public area being monitored.
CCTV enables social control, as it’s imposed a deterrence as people don’t want to commit
crime out of fear of being caught on camera. It also enables public protection, as it monitors
people to ensure crime is caught, and justice is brought to the victims. CCTV was significant
within the murder of James Bulger, as it captured Venables and Thompson leading him out
of the shopping centre. Covert surveillance is also an environmental measure, which was
used to catch the killers of Stephen Lawrence, after they was recorded using prejudice
language. This achieves social control as it prevents people from offending, out of fear
they’re being monitored and will be caught. It also ensures the public is protected, and
crimes are rightfully punished. (6 marks.)
2(d) Discuss the role of social control agencies involved in bringing Ellie to justice.
The first agency involved would be the police, who would have been called by poppy to
attend the scene, they would have protected the crime scene, arrested, detained and
questioned Ellie, whilst recording her answers, in case they are necessary for evidence in
court. The next social control agency is the courts and the CPS. The CPS works with police to
give advice on their investigation, therefore ensures Ellie is brought to justice in the most
efficient way. As only 5% of cases go to a crown court, Ellies case would go to a magistrate’s
court, as its minor. Therefore, lay magistrates, the judge, and others attending court, will
listen to the evidence presented and decide an appropriate sentence for Ellie. In this
scenario, Ellies sentence was 300 hours of community service, which is the maximum she
could receive. This means that the probation agencies will be involved in bringing Ellie to
justice. This will be through Ellie having a probation officer who will monitor her to ensure
she is completing the 300 hours correctly. Furthermore, if Ellie fails to comply to her
community service, her probation officer will contact the police, leading to a further arrest
and sentencing form the courts. (9 marks.)
Scenario: Increase Mobile Phone Sentences (IMPS) is a local community group
campaigning for harsher sentences for those who use a mobile telephone while
driving. IMPS is demanding a minimum sentence of 12 months imprisonment and/or
£5000 fine for those convicted of this offence. It is holding a series of marches across
the country in order to raise awareness of its campaign.
3(a.i) Identify three features of the crime control model of justice.
The crime control model can be linked to right realism, as it focuses on zero tolerance and
the repression of crime. The criminal justice system works as a conveyer belt, quickly going
