CRIMINOLOGY UNIT 2 AC 4.1
INFORMING POLICY DEVELOPMENT
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
EXAM SERIES 2025
If we can understand how/why people engage in criminal behaviour, it follows that strategies can be
developed to prevent and/or reduce crime. Knowledge around crime has led to a range of policies. -
-----------ANSWERS --------------- Policies can be:
Formal- (think of formal sanctions) given by official bodies like police and courts e.g fine, custodial
sentence
Informal- given by people around them/they have a choice to engage with it e.g psychoanalysis
Crime control- to reduce the amount of crime
State punishment- punishment! loss of freedom etc prison
Diet - -----------ANSWERS ---------------- Research has shown diet can be modified to try to change
anti-social behaviour.
-Artificial colourings such as tartrazine are known to encourage hyperactivity which can lead to
offending, removing these from a diet can help to reduce criminal offences in children.
-All prisons in the UK attempt to embrace the balance of the good health model by providing
nutritionally balanced and healthy diets.
*It is a crime control policy as it is aiming to reduce the amount of crime and can be formal since
prisons serve balanced food and you get what you are given.
, Diet- supporting evidence- - -----------ANSWERS ---------------- Virkkunen et al 1987 found violent
offenders had a lower than average serotonin turnover. It can be treated by having a diet with foods
that contain serotonin such as salmon and fresh tuna. Serotonin helps to stabilise mood and
therefore reduces aggression in offenders.
-Gesch et al 2002 studied a volunteer sample of 231 young, adult, male prisoners. They took either a
daily vitamin, mineral or a placebo. Psychological tests of violent behaviour and the number of
reports of disciplinary action were recorded. The findings showed the number of disciplinary
incidents for those taking supplements dropped by 35% compared to a reduction of only 10.1% in
the placebo group.
-Raine also did research where a group of 3 year olds from Mauritius were given enriched diets of
fish, exercise and cognitive stimulation and by 23 findings show they were 64% less likely than a
control group not on the programme to have criminal records. (EEG scans used to measure brain
activity).
Assess the effectiveness of diet in informing policy development - -----------ANSWERS--------
There is evidence to suggest that modifying a prisoners diet is effective in treating violent anti-social
behaviour, Gesch et all 2002 studied a volunteer sample of 231 male prisoners and found those
taking supplements had a 35% reduction in disciplinary actions compared to a placebo control group
whose violent behaviour only dropped by 10%
On the other hand there are limitations to how useful this policy is, as there may be other factors
that determine what people can eat, for example people in poverty may not be able to afford fresh
fish. Alongside this people may have allergies and this may restrict what they can eat. Lastly not
everyone with a poor diet commits crimes which suggest other factors are needed alongside diet
changes.
Drug treatments- how it works? - -----------ANSWERS------- ..............are sometimes used to
treat/control criminal or anti-social behaviours. The drugs work by altering biochemical processes in
the body (increasing/decreasing specific chemicals and hormones).
INFORMING POLICY DEVELOPMENT
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
EXAM SERIES 2025
If we can understand how/why people engage in criminal behaviour, it follows that strategies can be
developed to prevent and/or reduce crime. Knowledge around crime has led to a range of policies. -
-----------ANSWERS --------------- Policies can be:
Formal- (think of formal sanctions) given by official bodies like police and courts e.g fine, custodial
sentence
Informal- given by people around them/they have a choice to engage with it e.g psychoanalysis
Crime control- to reduce the amount of crime
State punishment- punishment! loss of freedom etc prison
Diet - -----------ANSWERS ---------------- Research has shown diet can be modified to try to change
anti-social behaviour.
-Artificial colourings such as tartrazine are known to encourage hyperactivity which can lead to
offending, removing these from a diet can help to reduce criminal offences in children.
-All prisons in the UK attempt to embrace the balance of the good health model by providing
nutritionally balanced and healthy diets.
*It is a crime control policy as it is aiming to reduce the amount of crime and can be formal since
prisons serve balanced food and you get what you are given.
, Diet- supporting evidence- - -----------ANSWERS ---------------- Virkkunen et al 1987 found violent
offenders had a lower than average serotonin turnover. It can be treated by having a diet with foods
that contain serotonin such as salmon and fresh tuna. Serotonin helps to stabilise mood and
therefore reduces aggression in offenders.
-Gesch et al 2002 studied a volunteer sample of 231 young, adult, male prisoners. They took either a
daily vitamin, mineral or a placebo. Psychological tests of violent behaviour and the number of
reports of disciplinary action were recorded. The findings showed the number of disciplinary
incidents for those taking supplements dropped by 35% compared to a reduction of only 10.1% in
the placebo group.
-Raine also did research where a group of 3 year olds from Mauritius were given enriched diets of
fish, exercise and cognitive stimulation and by 23 findings show they were 64% less likely than a
control group not on the programme to have criminal records. (EEG scans used to measure brain
activity).
Assess the effectiveness of diet in informing policy development - -----------ANSWERS--------
There is evidence to suggest that modifying a prisoners diet is effective in treating violent anti-social
behaviour, Gesch et all 2002 studied a volunteer sample of 231 male prisoners and found those
taking supplements had a 35% reduction in disciplinary actions compared to a placebo control group
whose violent behaviour only dropped by 10%
On the other hand there are limitations to how useful this policy is, as there may be other factors
that determine what people can eat, for example people in poverty may not be able to afford fresh
fish. Alongside this people may have allergies and this may restrict what they can eat. Lastly not
everyone with a poor diet commits crimes which suggest other factors are needed alongside diet
changes.
Drug treatments- how it works? - -----------ANSWERS------- ..............are sometimes used to
treat/control criminal or anti-social behaviours. The drugs work by altering biochemical processes in
the body (increasing/decreasing specific chemicals and hormones).
