understanding measures in social control

Philosophy of the CPS

Independence and fairness- prosecuting without bias and always seeking to deliver justice

Aims and objectives of CPS

Advises police on their investigations about lines of inquiry and evidence needed to build a case

Independently assesses evidence submitted by police and keeps cases under continuous review

It decides whether to prosecute and what charges to bring

It prepares and presents prosecution case in court

Assists, informs and supports victims and prosecution witnesses

Funding of CPS

Most of the CPS’ income comes from the government with a budget of £728 million per year

The cps also recover some of its costs when the courts award costs against defendants

From 2026 to increasing funding by 10% (96million). This will reduce delays ensure more prosecutors who can charge cases

Working practices (types of criminality/offender plus reach)

Except for some very minor offences the CPS deal with a full range of offences and criminals. It takes responsibility for all serious cases

A national body throughout England and wales with 14 regional area teams prosecuting cases locally. Cps direct is an online 24/7 cps service providing charging decisions to police nation wide

Strengths of cps achieving social control

Evidence of success through conviction rates. In 2024/25 83% of defendants that the cps prosecuted were convicted which shows that they accurately advise police during investigations meaning they achieve social control

Independent body- the cps is an independent service which ensures impartial fact based decisions free from political pressure or undue influence by the use of the full code test. This is an objective and reliable measure used across investigations increasing public confidence in justice and reduces risk of miscarriages of justice

Consistency and fairness in decision making. The cps uses the full code test which includes evidential and public interest test. This reduced arbitrary decisions making and helps ensure similar cases are treated in similar ways reinforcing fairness and legitimacy.

Weaknesses of cps in achieving social control

Impact of budget cuts 2010-18. Suffered budget cuts of 25% and lost 1/3 of its staff causing many delays in criminal investigations e.g. it took 600hrs to analyse the content of one phone. Leads to issues around disclosure of evidence.

Case example- damilola taylor. Ten year old boy found bleading to death in the stairwell of a block. A girl names Bromley claimed she had witnessed the attack and was made the lead prosecution witness without proper questioning. The cps sent the case to court however it fell apart after it was revealed that witness Bromley was lying.

Handling of rape cases. In 2018 prosecutors had been advised to drop a number of supposedly weak cases that were harder to convict to improve conviction rates. As of late 2024 fewer than 3% of rapes recorded by police resulted in someone being charged. The number of rape cases prosecuted has fallen but number of reports has risen. This means justice isn’t being prevailed

philosophy of the probation service

believe in rehabilitation of offenders and re integrating them back into society

are an anti discrimination service as the doo not judge for previous offences but focus more on how to help the future of offenders - forward looking approach

probation service and privatisation

in 2014/2015 the NPS was privatised and was split into 21 community rehabilitation companies (CRCs). they provided probation services for low and medium risk offenders

however, CRCs failed and so the privatisation of the probation service was abolished. instead the government took over the probation service and brought back the NPS

Working practices of the probation service

prepare a pre sentence report for the judge which is used to guide an appropriate sentence, manage and monitor offenders on bail probation or a community sentence, will initiate a recall if an offender breaks conditions, attend MAPPA meetings, help to set conditions of license before release, support victims of serious crimes and priorities their wellbeing

supervises two types of offenders; offenders serving a community order and offenders who have been released on license from prison

at any one time 250,000 offenders are on probation

reach of the probation service

nps is a national service working to the same standards across the country

however, also has local reach as the probation service has been split up into 7 divisional areas

aims and objectives of the probation service

its a statutory criminal justice service that supervises high risk offenders released into the community and provides statutory support to victims of serious sexual or violent crimes

its priority is to protect the public by rehabilitating offenders by tackling the causes of their offending and enabling them to turn their lives around

funding of the probation service

they have received a 45% increase of up to £700 million aimed at expanding capacity enhancing surveillance recruit over 1000 new probation officers and improve technology to reduce workload

effects of the budget cuts in 2010-18 on the probation service

25% budget cuts led to significant loss of senior management and experienced officers

these cuts led to a broken system

wrongly classified offenders e.g. high risk as medium risk

high case loads

strengths of the probation service

academically qualified and highly experiences in managing offenders

community orders overseen by probation service can be much more effective than other punishment

probation service can assist offenders in accessing treatment for drug and alcohol addiction

manages approved premises to provide offenders with accommodation as they try to settle back into community

positive comments from HM inspectorate reports; the quality of work undertaken by the NPS was ‘good and leadership was strong’

weaknesses of the probation service

case example; Damian Bendall- when released on probation he killed his ex partner and 3 children. at every stage the probation service was inadequate when handling bendall. e.g. incorrectly assessed him as low/medium risk instead of high risk, failed domestic abuse checks, no enquiries carried out as to the address he put down, pre sentence report did not include his history of DV charges

failings of privatisation and CRCs- only out of the 21 CRCs, 19 failed to meet their targets in terms of rehabilitation. the NPS have been more successful in achieving social control

findings from HM incorporate reports- staff are focused on paperwork and targets at the expense of prisoners, too many prisoners have been released not knowing where they would sleep at night, in too many cases prisoners’ risk to public was inadequately assessed, only 1 prisoner out of a sample of 98 who had been mentored.

philosophy of the police

to prevent crime and disorder

the police are just citizens in uniform

police are servants to the public and the law

police rely on cooperation with the public and use minimal force

aims and objectives of the police

protect life and property

keep peace and maintain order

prevent detect and investigate crime

bring offenders to justice

legislation that ensure police meet their aims and objectives

Police and criminal evidence act 1984- gives police the powers of arrest, stop and search, and interview/ interrogate people

funding of the police

their funding comes from two main sources; 2/3 from the govt, 1/3 from local council tax budgets

in 2025/26 police funding will be up to £19.5 billion which is a an increase of up to £1 billion from previous years

working practices of the police (reach, types of offender, duties)

there are 43 regional police forces in England and Wales offering local reach and focus on local priorities. there are also specialist police organisations with uk wide reach such as the British transport police and the border force

police deal with virtually all types off offenders/offences

patrol the streets, respond to calls, stop and search, work with local communities, secure crime scenes, detaining offenders, interviewing offenders/victims

specialist policing

mounted police(horses)

dog handlers

CID

riot police

transport police

PCSO- police community support officers

strengths of police

specialist units allow for particular crimes to be targeted. this range of specialist departments help to investigate more serious or complex crimes. for example, some of these include the Major Investigation team for serious complex cases like murder or the drugs squad for drug related crimes. this therefore allows for criminal investigations to be conducted effectively and thoroughly meaning police can achieve social control

police work within their local communities. this enhances public trust but also improves social control as policing relies on cooperation with citizens.

weaknesses of the police

racism and bias- black minority groups usually have less positive relationship with the police meaning the police are failing to achieve the aim of keeping peace and protecting the public. the Casey report has also found that the MET police is still institutionally racist misogynistic and homophobic. this leads to a lack of public trust

the police have been criticised for high levels of unrecorded crime. around 5% of crimes go unrecorded by the police. therefore this limits social control as these crimes are then not being tackled by police and so are failing to protect the public and tackle crime and deviance

loss of experienced officers- even though the number of police officers has risen, many experienced officers have now left. for example, the number of inspectors is down by 14% and Curren try 1/3 of all police officers have fewer than 5 years of experience. therefore, this lack of experienced police officers means mistakes are much more likely to be made.

philosophy of prisons

rehabilitation balanced with public protection- preventing victims by changing lives of offenders

aims and objectives of prisons

protect the public from harm

help rehabilitate offenders

hold prisoners securely- physical incapacitation

funding of prisons

funded by the government through general taxations

budget for prisons is over £5 billion, it costs an average £53,000 to keep a prisoner per year

have received £7billion extra which will be used to create 14,000 prison places. helps endure dangerous offenders are incapacitated

prisons reach

the prison service is nationally organised with prisons situated throughout the uk

Prisons working practices

When sentenced to prison the offender will be allocated to a prison in their local area

They are then classified based on a risk assessment and categorised into A B C or D

A- high security prison for highly dangerous criminals e.g. Wakefield or Manchester

B- do not require maximum security but escape still needs to be difficult e.g. Pentonville

C- cannot be trusted in open conditions but unlikely to try and escape e.g. Birmingham

D- open prison e.g. Ford, Kirkham

Most prisoners are categorised into B or C

Prisons use IEP scheme (incentives and earned privileges) based on token economy. There are 3 levels: basic standard enhances. On entry prisoners are placed on the standard level, poor behaviour will move you to the basic levels whereas good behaviour on the enhanced

Strengths of prisons

Aims to achieve social control by punishing and rehabilitating offenders. For example prisons provide purposeful activity such as education training, employment skills, drug and alcohol suppport to reintegrate people back into society and provide them with useful skills that they need for a crime free life after prison.

Social control is also achieved within the prison e.g. via the IEP scheme. This scheme changes the offenders mindset (describe in real exam)

Weaknesses of prisons in achieving social control

Prison has high reoffending rates- 42% of adults are reconvicted within a year of release

Staff cuts during era of austerity limits social control (number of prison officers fell by 15%). As a result the prisoner to staff ratio widened and now 41% of officers have less than 3 years experience.

Last year 260 prisoners were mistakenly released from prison

Social control is not maintained properly inside prisons. There has been a significant rise in prison disturbances e.g. riots. For example in 2016 a 12-15 hour riot occurred in HMP Birmingham involving up to 600 inmates. It was triggered by staff shortages and inmate dissatisfaction. Resulted in over 240 inmates being removed, injuries, required sep is list tornado units to regain control

Case example: usman khan. Committed London Bridge attacks after completing many rehab programmes/anti terrroist programmes in prisons

Philosophy of the judiciary

Independent from the state

Impartiality- don’t show favour to one side or the other

Integrity- being honest and with strong moral principles

Ensuring equal treatment

(Judges swear two oaths on appointment: the oath of allegiance to the king and his successor and the judicial oath to treat people equally with impartiality)

aims and objectives of the judiciary

to interpret and apply the law to cases that come before it in court

in the crown court- judges must ensure fairness to all parties, explain any legal issues and procedures to jury, sum up the evidence and pass a sentence

in the appeal court- judges are involved in creating precedents

funding of the judiciary

recent £247 million additional funding to increase court capacity and support for ‘blitz’ courts targeting specific offences

Judges are usually payed a salary of £90k- £300k. this is decided by the senior salaries review body which is an independent organisation

working practices of the judiciary

security of tenure- judges cannot be removed from office by any government official they can only be removed by a petition passed to the king by both houses of parliament

guaranteed salary- judges have a guaranteed salary protected by the law ensuring judicial independence

types of criminality and offender- judges deal with all types of offence and offender except for least serious cases

national and local reach- at the most senior level the Supreme Court has nationwide jurisdiction and settles points of law of national importance. judges working in the lower courts e.g. in the 90 or so crown court venues around the country handle local cases

strengths of the judiciary

low number of applications to the unduly lenient sentencing scheme. in 2021 there were only 155 cases referred. this suggests judges decisions and sentences are accurate and appropriate which achieves social control.

judges can impose any type of sentence e.g. custodial community fines etc. this flexibility allows them to match the sentence to the seriousness of the offence and the needs of the offender. effective sentencing can both deter offending and rehabilitate individuals contributing to social control.

judges are separate from the government meaning decisions are free from political pressure, this builds public trust and ensures that justice is based on law rather than political opinion. independence supports fair trials which is essential for social control. people are more likely to obey a system they believe is impartial

weaknesses of the judiciary

unrepresentative and biased- pale male and stale. 68% of judges are male, more than half over 50 and only 7% are of a black or asian minority ethnic group. this may mean judges are biased towards people from similar backgrounds to themselves

gender bias. in 1989 judge James pickles sentenced a man to probation after the sexual assault of a 6 year old girl, but jailed a woman for contempt of court for refusing to give evidence against heir ex who assaulted her. he also sentenced a 19 year old single mother with a ten week old baby to six months on a charge of theft

class bias. Lavinia Woodward case. received a 10 month suspended sentence after stabbing her boyfriend with a bread knife. the judge described her as an extraordinary able young lady and said a custodial sentence would damage her promising medical career

definition of a charity and pressure group

charity- provide services to specific groups of people such as ex prisoners

pressure groups- campaign for changes to government policies to benefit those whose interest they serve

two examples of a charity/pressure group

prison reform trust and NACRO

What is the prison reform trust and what is its philosophy

a charity established in 1981 which works to create a just humane and effective penal system

philosophy; independence from the govt, rehabilitation/refrom in prisons, just humane system

aims and objectives of prison reform trust

reduce unnecessary imprisonment and promote community solutions to crime

improve treatment and conditions for prisoners and their families

promote equality and humane rights in the justice system

reduce number of short term prison sentences

funding of the prison reform trust

does not receive any funding from the govt and is entirely dependent on voluntary donations to carry out its work and national lottery, membership, subscriptions

working practices of prison reform trust

campaigns to improve the penal system e.g. out of trouble campaign which sought to reduce the number of young people in prison. highly successful as over 45% reduction in child custody

bromley briefings released each year- highlights systematic issues and helps drive reform

next gen leadership- aims to support the next generation of prison service leaders to improve life in prison for all that live and work there

types of criminality and reach of prison reform trust

specifically focused on prisoners but projects will be aimed at specific groups e.g. young people, women, indeterminate prisoners

national reach as can influence government policy such as the out of trouble campaign, also played a big role in the abolishment of indeterminate sentences

local reach by working with individual prisons on issues they may have

aims and objectives of NACRO

to break the cycle of crime and disadvantage. believe everyone deserves a good education a safe secure place to live and chance to start again

philosophy and funding of nacro

rehabilitation- needed for an effective justice system

funding mainly comes from voluntary donations or gifts left in wills

reach and working practices of nacro

work with people at every stage of the CJS. they can lobby MPs in parliament as part of their campaigning

national reach e.g. ending Friday release campaign for prisoners vulnerable to addiction, mental health issues and homelessness

types of criminality and offender of nacro

support anyone but in particular young people, homeless, care leavers, those with addiction problems. support offenders with rehoming after prison and support those with addiciton

strengths of charities and pressure groups

examples of successful projects e.gf. out of trouble campaign which dropped custody of young offenders by nearly a half. therefore, achieves long term social control

strong commitment; people who work for charities are highly motivated. these people help to drive reform. go the extra mile compared to govt agencies

weaknesses of charities and pressure groups

funding. struggle to generate public. su[port as public may not see offenders as deserving or important. can get govt funding but only if it is a political priority

can only put pressure on the govt. ultimately they cannot force change. if govt disagree or do not see as a priority projects will not be implemented

media reporting. the media demonise criminals as sexual deviants who are inherently evil. this gives the public a very stereotypical view of offenders reducing sympathy. prison is also portrayed as too easy, soft touch. these two factors make public support less likely so no social control