Criminology - Causes of the 2011 London Riots

This essay will introduce two competing perspectives of policing, they are the orthodox and revisionist perspectives. This essay will then relate the orthodox and revisionist perspectives to the themes of lack of structure, industrialisation and finally hostility. It will then discuss whether the creation of the Metropolitan Police by Sir Robert Peel in 1829 was an effective solution to the changes within society as well as the challenges brought about through crime and disorder. The orthodox view is that the Metropolitan Police were, in fact, a rational decision made to adapt to the needs of the society. They argue that the establishment of the ‘new’ police was inevitable. The revisionist view would state that the ‘new’ police were not a rational decision. They believed that crime and disorder were not increasing, it was just that the ways of counting crime were largely different to previously. The revisionists also believe that the new system was in part beneficial for which to tackle issues that may have occasioned due to the new ‘dangerous class’ (Monkkonen, 1981, p147). In this essay, there will be reference made to the Brixton Riots in 1981 with a clear explanation as to how the orthodox and revisionist perspectives relate to modern policing activities.

A 'riot' is commonly defined as a disorderly behaviour, which often involve violence and the destruction of property (Andrews, 2014, p. 292). Riots can be viewed from a Conservative point of view and from a Radical point of view. Conservatism and Radicalism are both political ideologies. Although ideologies are 'explanatory frameworks that help to make sense of society' (Andrews, 2014, p. 306), conservatism and radicalism contrast in many ways. Conservatism is associated with wisdom, limited politics, and natural hierarchy, legitimising the existing order. Radicalism is linked to progress, universal rights and popular sovereignty, suggesting alternative to the existing order (The Open University, 2016b).

Every crime has a correlation with a theory in criminology. These theories explain why crime happens and some even go to the extent to come up with a solution to prevent or stop crime. This paper will explore how certain theories of criminology connect with the riots that happened in Ferguson, Missouri. Facts from different articles will be used to back up the theory. The theories will explain why rioters committed the crimes did. The paper will take the actions of the protestors and explain why they did what they did.

The concept of ‘crime’ is something that depends on time, place, and other influences. For this reason, researchers have been trying to get criminologists to rethink their definitions of ‘crime’ and consider the idea of ‘social harm’ which could help better explain the causes of human suffering and the definitions of ‘crime’ and ‘criminals’ and broaden the application of criminal justice. What this rethinking can do for criminologists broadly is give them a broader picture of human psychology as well as the range of harms that individuals, communities, or whole societies experience. In this context this can include crime in the sense of activities of individuals as well as government and institutions.

This essay will investigate how different environments of crime impact upon the policing of crime. It will examine urban and rural crime, and as well the global north and south. Firstly it will look at rural and urban crime with a focus on England, but as well other countries in the world. It will give a brief history overview over urban and rural police forces in England, this for the reason that it will provide a good background before telling about urban and rural policing as of now and as well because the first modern police department was established in London. This essay will then examine how the global north and global south effects on policing. It will examine the differences and how policing might affect differently in either the global north or the global south. This essay will as well go into organisations like Interpol, customs and different types of crime as corruption, white-collar etc. and how this affects the policing in the countries. In the end this essay will give a short overview over the main points in the essay.

Criminological theories interpret the competing paradigms of Human Nature, Social Order, Definition of Crime, Extent and Distribution of Crime, Causes of Crime, and Policy, differently. Even though these theories have added to societies understanding of criminal behaviour, all have been unable to explain why punishment or treatment of offenders is unable to prevent deviancy, and thus are ineffective methods of control. The new penology is a contemporary response that favours the management of criminals by predicting future harm on society. However, all criminological theories are linked as they are a product of the historical time and place, and because of their contextual history, they will continue to reappear depending on the current

Garland & Sparks (2000) ‘Criminology& Social Theory & the Challenge of Our Times’. The British Journal of Criminology, 40(2), 189-204.

The purpose of this essay is to discuss the meaning and validity of the label criminology has as a ‘rendezvous discipline’. To do this, this essay illuminates where criminology originates from and what its primary focus is. The Chicago School, Lombrosian Theory, Positivist and Classical criminology, are discussed. Other disciplines namely Sociology, Psychology, and the Criminal Justice Sector are examined and applied to the broad subject of criminology, to show the network of how this subject came to be recognised as such a discipline. Exposed are main issues that occur for the likes of criminologists and other

This report aims to explain how the CRQ was answered. It will also critically analyse four pieces of literature used to help with the primary research and how the British crime survey (BCS) was used in comparison with the primary data.

Many researches have raised concern over racism and police indulging in other criminal activities, especially corruption the United Kingdom, but contemporary research has been more specific when dealing with race matter, the scope has been so wide in that various scholars have found it important to explore it more to fight its prevalence. The racism in the police is a not matter which should be kept in secret; the prejudice is very visible in the public domain (Benson, 2010). The police approach to an issue is purely biased, the way police officers approach to white people is different from the way they tackle the same to a black person, minority ethnics and Asian person (Weitzer, 2008). The society has been socialized in a manner that the level of prejudice is used to define characters of a different race. These definitions in most cases amount to hatred actions. The issue of concern is where to run for justice now that police are part of this society. Due to this, many violence ends up unreported, In 2013/2014, the number of defendants who were referred by the police to Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for a charging decision for racially and racially aggravated crimes rose by 14.17% from the previous year to 12,184, and out of

Crimes have been prevalent in societies since the beginning of mankind. Sociological theorist Emile Durkheim said crime is normal and is necessary in a society (Tibbetts & Hemmens, 2010). The basic goal of theory is to explain a fact or phenomena and shines a light on a topic. A theory is tested and used to make predictions. Many criminological theorist have been creating theories to explain the criminological behaviours in a society, reasons why crimes are committed, and how to control crime (Barlow & Kauzlarich, 2010). In this paper I am going to discuss about Robert Merton’s Theory of Anomie and his five adaptations to strain. I will relate his theory to the issue of disadvantage neighbourhoods relating it to areas of Regent Park and Rexdale.

Critical criminology is an adaptation of interactionist criminology, however critical criminology focuses on the political aspects. It similarly suggests that individuals engage in meaningful activity, which can be defined as criminal by other outside members (Burke 2009). These outside members are usually those with political status. However, it is definitive on the idea that every individual is responsible for their own actions (Lawson and Heaton 1998). Left realism similarly focus on the determined human nature of the working class as a result of relative deprivation (Young 2002) however, they reject the idea that offenders are victims of society (Jones 2006). Ultimately the focus of left realists is how human nature is affected by the real fear of crime (Burke, 2009).

This was sought through Cesar Lombroso, the ‘father of criminology’ born in Italy November 6, 1935 – October 19, 1909 (McCabe, 2011). Merton could combine both sociology and criminology to come up with his theory of anomie as it relates to criminology. As an “American Dream” there are some discrepancies among cultural promises and structural realities that may undermine social support. Many actors in society may be frustrated in the actor environmental conditions and as members of society, forced to adapt to deviant behavior (McCabed,

Official crime statistics refer to statistical data which are compiled by official agencies such as the police and courts, and are published by the state. National statistics about crime in England and Wales have been collected and published by the Home Office annually since 1857. These figures are compiled by putting together the offences recorded by the police in each of the forty-three police areas in England and Wales. The statistics contained in these volumes are of great significance, not only for those who study crime or work in the criminal justice system, but also for politicians, the mass media and the general public, for whom these are the major source of authorized information about the extent and trends in crime. These figures give an indication of whether crime is increasing or decreasing and allow geographical areas to be compared, they also give a good indication of police workload. However, official statistics on crime arguably have serious deficiencies. Whether official crime statistics are an accurate measure of the extent and seriousness of crime can be questioned for a number of reasons, which will be discussed in the following essay. Alternative methods of measuring crime such as self-report studies and victim surveys, which may be a more accurate measure of the extent and seriousness of crime will also be discussed.

“Criminology” is the study of crime from a social perspective by researching the nature and management of crime and the social impact of crime on society involving the causes and consequences behind the matter. This is a generalised explanation of what “Criminology” involves as it is too difficult to create an exact definition because the topic is so complex from continuous growing historical roots and evolving theories which will be explored within the main body of this essay. It is said by Sutherland (1939), that Criminology is made up by “three great tributaries: The study of crime, the study of those who commit crime and the study of the criminal justice and penal systems”. Criminologists study this topic in an attempt to gain a