Tag: criminology
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The dumping of plastic waste – a green crime?
Only an estimated 9% of the world’s plastic waste is recycled. A further 12% is burnt and the rest, 79% is buried in land fill or just dumped. China used to be the main dumping ground for the world’s rubbish, but it banned the import of plastic waste in 2017, which then lead to a…
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Green Criminology and Green Crime – Revision Notes
Introduction – Getting your head around green crime! Green Crime – A simple definition of Green Crime is ‘crimes committed against the environment’. Types of Green Crime – Nigel South (2008) classifies green crimes into two distinct types, primary and secondary. Primary green crimes are those crimes which constitute harm inflicted on the environment (and,…
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Why is Crime Increasing Again?
The latest crime figures show an increase in the overall number of crimes committed in England and Wales, for the year ending March 2018. The overall numbers of crimes have increased from approximately 5.8 million in 2016-17 to 6 million crimes in 2017-18 (excluding ‘computer misuse’). While this may seem like a relatively small increase,…
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Zero Tolerance Policing – An Evaluation
A brief evaluation of Zero Tolerance Policing Zero Tolerance Policing involves the police strictly clamping down on minor criminal activities such as littering, begging, graffiti and other forms of antisocial behaviour. Clamping down might take the form of on the spot fines, or mandatory jail sentences, as with the ‘three-strikes’ rule in California. The best…
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Key Concepts for A Level Sociology – Crime and Deviance
definitions of key concepts for A-level sociology students
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Synoptic Surveillance and Crime Control
Thomas Mathiesen (1997) argues that control through surveillance has developed beyond Foucault’s panopticon model. The panopticon allows the few to monitor the many, but today the media increasingly allow the many to monitor the few. Mathiesen argues that in late modernity, there is a significant increase in surveillance from below, which he calls the ‘synopticon’…
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Public Space Protection Orders and Criminal Behaviour Orders
ASBOs are one of the best known crime control methods in the UK – the problem is they don’t exist anymore, they’ve been replaced by Public Space Protection Orders and Criminal Behaviour Orders. Public Space Protection Orders Public Space Protection Orders – are a geographically defined version of ASBOs that could severely restrict people’s freedoms…
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Evaluating Broken Windows Theory
Broken Windows Theory suggests that high levels of physical disorder such as litter, graffiti, vandalism, or people engaged in Anti-Social Behaviour will result in higher crime rates. Broken Windows Theory is one aspect of the Right Realist approach to criminology The evidence supporting Broken Windows Theory is somewhat mixed This 2008 ‘£5 Note Theft and…
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ASBOs – Arguments For and Against
ASBOs are a form of Zero Tolerance crime control and have been in use in the UK since 1999 – below are a few examples of how they’re used. Read them through and consider the arguments for and against using them in each case… An ASBO for shop lifting In 2013 jobless single mother Jade…
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Cultural Criminology – Crime as ‘Edgework’
Cultural Criminologists argue the exact opposite of Right Realism who focus on the ordinary motivations and repetitiveness of much crime. Instead, they stress the highly emotional nature of crime – instead of what the criminals will gain, these researchers are interested in how committing the crime actually makes people feel. The focus of cultural criminologists…