1.3 Patterns of crime: Age

What is the peak age of offending?

17- 15{G} 18 {B}

Which word is used to describe youth offending?

Delinquency

Despite only making up 10% of the population, what percentage of arrests are young people?

13%

What does ASBO stand for?

Anti-Social Behaviour Order

Name 3 alternatives to prison sentence used for young people

- Reprimands and warnings from police
- On the spot fines
- Triage schemes e.g community service

How many more young people were found carrying offensive weapons since 2012?

11%

What percentage of young people over the past 10 years went on to reoffend?

42%

What percentage of young offenders came from lone-parent families?

70%

What percentage of young people in custody are BAME compared to only 18% of pop? (MoJ 2014)

45%

How many times more likely are black people to be stopped and searched? (MoJ 2018)

9

Explain Cohen’s Subcultural theory

* He states that for young men who are unable to achieve status in conventional ways they gain status frustration
* In reaction to this lack of status they form a subculture where criminal actions are they way to gain status
* The values of these subcultures invert the norm so crime is seen as desirable and everyone in the group feed into the negative behaviour

Explain Lemert’s theory of primary and secondary deviance

* The label applied in this case would be ‘delinquent’ as it’s applied after a singular deviant action


* This label casts them to the outside of society, they are marginalised
* In reaction to this negative treatment and marginalisation they act in ways which encourage the application of the label
* They become more and more deviant and are pushed further and further out of society

Explain Paul Gilroy’s theory of Institutional racism

* Within the police force there is an under-rep of black officers meaning the police officers tend to only have interaction with POC when arresting them
* The nature of policing is dangerous, anti-social and stressful
* Canteen culture develops where police talk about who they arrest and there is a disproportion of POC leading to newer officers feeding into this ideology
* Due to expected criminality police target POC causing them to discover more

Explain Charles Murry’s theory of the cycle of deviance

* He states that feckless behaviour is taught to the young boy due to the mother failing to provide effective socialisation
* Due to a lack of father they boy lacks any good male role model and in turn don’t understand their place
* The community they grow up in (benefit dependant) further teaches them to be feckless and dependant
* These values encourage them to commit crime as they don’t believe that they are responsible for their own actions