WJEC Criminology Exam Questions and Answers 2023

Internal social control - Answer- Controls that come from within ourselves, from personalities and values, that lead us to conform to the rules of society. Moral conscience (superego) - Answer- Forms through early socialisation. Forms part of our personality, telling us right from wrong and inflicts feelings of guilt. Restrains the selfish 'animal' urges of the Id and allows us to exercise self-control. Traditions and cultures - Answer- We accept traditions and religions of the family that form part of our identity. Eg, Muslim tradition of fasting during Ramadan. Conforming to these is an important way of confirming one's identity. Internalising social rules - Answer- We internalise social rules and traditions through the process of socialisation in the family or wider social groups. Society's rules and moral codes then become our own personal rules. We use them to tell us what is right from wrong, and so we keep within the law (rational ideology). External social control - Answer- Agencies that aim to ensure we conform to its expectations and keep to its rules. Agencies - Answer- Organisations or institutions that impose rules on us to make us behave in particular ways. May include parents, peer groups, teachers, who give us positive sanctions to those conforming and negative ones to those who aren't. Echos Skinner's operant learning theory, as punishments deter undesirable behaviour and rewards encourage acceptable behaviour. Criminal justice system - Answer- Police have the power to stop and search, arrest, detain and question. CPS can charge a suspect and prosecute them in court. Judges and magistrates have powers to bail the accused or remand them in custody, and sentence the guilty. Prison service can detain prisoners against their will for the duration of their sentence and punish their misbehaviour. Coercion - Answer- Use of threat or force in order to make someone do, or stop doing, something. May involve physical or psychological violence or the threat to do it. Fear of punishment - Answer- Form of coercion that makes people conform to laws. If you commit a crime, you will be arrested, charged, convicted and even jailed against your will. Deterrence is the fear of being caught, makes people continue to obey the law. Fear of punishment acts as a deterrent for committing crime. Retribution - Answer- Offender pays back for their wrongful behaviour. Offender deserves to be punished ('just deserts') and society is morally entitled to get 'revenge'. Punishment should be proportional to the crime committed - 'an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth'. Retribution - theory - Answer- Right Realism - rational choice theory. Offenders are rational actors who consciously choose to commit crime, so they are responsible for their actions. They should suffer societal outrage for their behaviour. Functionalists - Durkheim. Performs the function of boundary maintenance. Punishing an offender reminds everyone of the difference between right and wrong. Retribution - criticisms - Answer- Offenders may deserve forgiveness, mercy or a chance to make amends, not just be punished. How do we decide was is a proportionate penalty or 'just desert' for each crime. It is subjective. Rehabilitation - Answer- Punishment is used to reform an offender, so they go on to live a crime-free life. Uses treatment programmes to address issues that led to offending (anger management, homelessness, drug abuse, education programmes). Require the offender to want to change, as well as support from specialist personnel. Rehabilitation - theory - Answer- Cognitive - favours CBT to correct cognitive biases and errors leading to criminality Eysench's personality - favours aversion therapy to deter offending. Operant learning - favours the use of token economy to encourage prisoners to produce more acceptable behaviours. Left Realism - favours