Control

How can society try to control crime through formal and informal agents?

1. The police are a formal agent of social control, responsible for enforcing the law.

2. Other formal agents include Parliament, which passes laws to say what behaviour is criminal, the Crown Prosecution Service, which decides who should be taken to court for a particular crime, the courts, which determine any punishment, and the Prison Service, which imposes custodial punishments (e g- prison sentences).

3. There are also agents of informal social control. These include the family unit, the education system, religion and the media. All these channels help to reinforce a general sense of what behaviour is considered non-deviant.

What are examples of institutional racism and sexism?

• The Macphence Report (1949) said that the police showed clear signs of racism.

• Black men are more likely to be stopped and searched than white people see

• Graef (1989) said the police have a ‘canteen culture'. He thought the majority of police officers, who tend to be white males, adopt racist and sexist attitudes as a way of fitting in.

What are the functionalists view on the purpose and importance of punishment?

They argue that punishment keeps society going. If crimes went unpunished the result would be anarchy and society would collapse — the public needs to see that there is retribution for the crime. Durkheim said that the public punishment of criminals was good for society. He thought it helped create unity and consensus as people came together to condemn the criminal - in other words, a public hanging was good for society

What are the marxists view on the purpose and importance of punishment?

They say punishment serves the needs of capitalism by keeping the workers under control. They argue that the police are used to enforce social control in poorer areas whilst the rich get away with crime unchallenged

What do sociologists see as a deterrent?

The interventionist camp sees prison as a deterrent - the very fact it exists should put people off committing crimes. The evidence suggests that this theory does not work in practice

Why do some sociologists see punishments as a way to rehabilitate criminals?

They reform criminals so that they can become respectable members of society when they are released. Rehabilitation involves things like education

Why do some sociologists argue that the role of prisons are changing?

1. Prison can be a way of removing criminals from the streets so they cannot commit any more crimes. However, David Garland (2001) argued that zero-tolerance attitudes and policies that crack down on crime have led to maximum incarceration since the 1970s, and the number of people in prison in the UK and USA has increased dramatically.

2. Bodies that are associated with criminal justice and welfare are increasingly working together. Prisons are taking on more of a welfare role than they have before.

3. However, this can lead to more ‘transcreation’, where vulnerable individuals are constantly moved between different kinds of institutions (e.g. prisons, mental institutions, young offender facilities) that combine their lives. Today's prison system has arguably become part of this network of institutions.