Based On Families Of Why People Commit Crimes Essay, Research Paper
Make some brief notes on the explanations based on
families of why people commit crimes.Farringtons claim (social psychological
researcher) as to why people commit crimes looks at problem families.1st claim:?????????? criminal offenders have a syndrome, a
collection of anti social dispositions.2nd claim:????????? early signs of criminal offending
predicts a long and potentially serious criminal career. Eg. Badly behaved
infant ® bullying ® shoplifting ® assault ® robbery ® child abuse ® alcohol abuse, unemployment. early anti social behaviour = underlying
criminal behaviourStudies by Farrington found a strong correlation
(relationship) between criminals & certain family experiences·?
Criminals exhibit socially unacceptable behaviour from a young age
within their ???? families. ·?
Criminals may also possess a range of cognitive defects eg. Poor
reasoning ??? abilities. ·?
Criminals tend to have a troubled family life, eg. Alcohol/drug abuse,
violence ??? within the family, experience poor parenting, failed education,
unemployment, ??? social problems. criminal careers originate in specific types
of: ???? personality ???? families ???? socialization processProblem children ® problem adults ® more problem children SUMMARY a)
Criminal
careers stem from anti-personality syndrome b)
The
syndrome is transmitted by problem families who exhibit poor parenting c)
Poor
parenting is passed from one generation to the next.Describe what is meant by the term ?moral panic?, using
your own words as far as possible. Cite at least one example of moral panic.Moral
panic can be simply defined as an episode in which a person or group of persons
emerges and becomes defined, by the media in a stereotypical way, as a threat
to societal values and interests. (Cohen, 1973)The
combination of the fear and fascination of crime is the key element in the
moulding of moral panic. The fascination being an interest in watching and
reading media interpretations of an event or situation. The fear being the
emotive response the media portrayal of the event or situation creates. The
fear also being a society frightened by a media portrayal of a society
suffering from demoralisation and fragmentation, ultimately a decline in the
solidity of the social structure and moral values. Moral
panic can be initiated by a small outburst of abnormal behaviour , which
generates enormous media re
abnormal behaviour via? front-page
headlines, primetime news broadcasts etc. The media select specific emotive aspects
of the event to portray, which inevitably determines how the general public
interpret and ultimately react to the broadcast. As
a result of the publics reaction the police may intervene more strongly in
subsequent outbreaks or disturbances. This is in turn increases the number
arrested leading to a spiral of increased police activity and mass public
concern, which is defined as a deviancy amplification spiral. This can be
interpreted as a self fulfilling prophecy i.e. Media reporting mass moral panic
leads to even greater mass moral panic.The
consequences of selective knowledge of criminal/abnormal behaviour is fear
amongst the general public, less tolerance towards targeted situations/people,
calls for crackdowns and heavy preventative measures to be implemented.One
example of this is the reporting of released paedophiles into the
community.? Taylors (1995) model
explains the moral panic process. This starts with the identification of a
problem e.g. Paedophiles this is then identified as a subversive minority i.e.
Paedophiles being released into the community. The cause is simplified e.g.
Poor parenting, lack of moral standards, following this those involved are
stigmatised by the media by using highly emotive and disparaging language for
example ?sick individuals? ?animals?. This in turn creates a stirring of public
indignation for example media campaigns to get the public to sign petitions to
remove paedophiles from the community. This leads to government responses to
public demand e.g. harder sentences, public listings of whereabouts of
paedophiles. This ultimately leads to more police intervention. Sometimes
moral panic can be created by certain individuals or groups. An example of this
is youth culture. Moral panic is provoked to gain media attention. This type of
panic is novel. Each generation of youth culture has generated media attention
condemning the state of British youth and demanding a revolution of discipline
and control.Ironically
negative press coverage acted as a crucial spur of youth culture as
disapproving tabloid stories legitimate and authenticate youth cultures.
Without tabloid intervention it is hard to imagine a widespread, uniform youth
culture.Moral
panic is socially constructed and has a real impact on the whole of society.