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Unit 2 A.C. 4.1- Assess the use of criminological theories in informing…
Unit 2 A.C. 4.1- Assess the use of criminological theories in informing policy development
Policies- plan/ course of action adopted by government/ institution/ individual
Formal policy- linked to official ideas to prevent crime such as prison sentences/ community orders; implemented as laws/ rules by government
custodial sentences, community orders/ probation, fines, cognitive behaviour treatment
Informal policy- linked to non-official ideas to prevent crime; may be followed but are not compulsory
detention in school, curfews, withholding pocket money, grounding by parents
Individualistic theories are linked to the way an individual learns and reacts to life experiences- from this, crime control policies and measures have developed to prevent/ reduce criminality
Psychoanalysis
based on Freud's theory/ personality- highlights the unconscious conflicts between the id and superego; based on the idea that a weak superego is the cause of criminality, since individual lacks moral force to curb selfish instincts-> can result from inadequate socialisation of child
as a treatment, it aims to make unconscious conscious as they repressed thoughts believed to lead to criminal activity; once conscious, repressed thoughts can be dealt with- free association, Freudian slips, dream analysis
Aichhorn applied psychoanalysis ideas to policies for treating young offenders at institution he supervised- uncaring/ absent parents-> failed to develop loving relationships; normal socialisation had not taken place- not developed superego;
rejected the harsh environments of young offenders institutions at the time+ treated children by providing happy/ pleasant environment that would make development of superego possible
least favored theory in contemporary approaches to working with offenders- very costly+ time-consuming and is unlikely to provide quick answers; never been used on a large scale for treating criminals
Blackburn (1993) points out there are few positive evaluations of classic psychoanalysis as a treatment method with offenders; +Andrews (1990) argues traditional psychodynamic therapies should be avoided within general samples of offenders.
Eysenck found only 44% of psychoanalysis patients treated for neurosis showed improvement compared to 72% of patients treated by hospitals or GPs; if it doesn’t work for neurosis, then its unlikely to work for criminals
nature of therapeutic relationship creates power imbalance between therapist and patient- raise ethical issues; gives analyst power to define if its abnormal/ normal.
patient could remember things that could cause great distress to them, there's a reason the memory was repressed
study in 2010 concluded that it works as well as other psychotherapy treatments such as CBT
Behaviour modification- Token Economy Program
according to operant conditioning, criminal behaviour learned through reinforcement+ punishment; reinforcement strengthens behaviour punishment weakens behaviour-> learned in the first place, it can therefore be unlearned; behaviour modification focuses on techniques to extinguish undesirable behaviours +promote desirable ones
token economy= behaviour modification program used in some prisons +referred to as the ‘Incentives and Earned Privileges Scheme’
institution draws up list of desirable behaviours, e.g. obeying rules, interacting positively with staff-> offender behaves in desired way= receive token; accumulated+ may be exchanged for privileges/ rewards;
through selective reinforcement, good behaviour becomes more likely, undesirable behaviour less likely
delayed gratification