Assignment 2: Issues in Crime
Write a 1500 word essay on one of the following:
- How are prison conditions influenced by beliefs about the purpose of punishment? Which of the rationales for punishment do you think should have most influence on prison life and why?
Examples of areas to cover:
- Different justifications for punishment
- Debates about the purpose of prison
- Examples of prison conditions – positive and negative
- Impact on wider society (e.g. after prisoners are released)
- Discuss the trends in data on ‘hate crime’ and explore how effective the criminal justice system is at dealing with the problem.
Examples of areas to cover:
- Definitions of hate crime
- Data – extent of different types of hate crime, patterns (increasing/decreasing), who are the perpetrators?
- Examples of different approaches to reducing hate crime
- Research and evidence so far on effectiveness of these measures.
- To what extent has technology changed the way crime is committed and detected?
Discuss the implications of this with examples to illustrate your answer.
Examples of areas to cover:
- Influence of technology on factors such as who commits crime, what types of crime are committed, when/where/how crimes are committed.
- Influence of technology on how crime is detected, analysed and prosecuted. ‘Technology’ is a broad term and allows you to refer to different topics.
- Areas for discussion: how significant are these changes? Are there really new types of crime or are they just traditional offences committed in a new way? How effective is technology in detecting and solving crime?
- How significant a problem is gun and knife crime in the UK and what do you think are the most effective strategies for responding to it? Give examples to support your answer.
Examples of areas to cover:
- Different data sources; recent trends; accuracy of the data
- Reasons behind recent patterns in use of weapons
- Examples of different approaches to reducing gun and knife crime
- Research and evidence so far on effectiveness
Bibliography
- Use at least 4 different academic references
- Harvard Style Referencing
Word Count: 1800-1900
No. of Pages: 8