Sociology · Oct / Nov 2025 · Paper 22 · Question 3
0495
As printed in the paper
Show the answer and mark scheme
3(a)(i)[2]
Define the term unrecorded crime. Award one mark for a partial definition, e.g. crimes not known about/crimes not reported to the police;
Award two marks for a clear definition, e.g. crimes reported to the police but not officially noted by them OR crimes not featured in the official crime statistics. Accept any other reasonable response.
3(a)(ii)[2]
Define the term expressive crime. Award one mark for a partial definition, e.g. an example such as vandalism;
Award two marks for a clear definition, e.g. offences involving emotions (e.g. anger, frustration, enjoyment) which are usually unplanned. Accept any other reasonable response.
3(b)[2]
State two aims of punishment. Award one mark for each correct example (up to a maximum of two). Possible responses:
protection of citizens;deterrence;rehabilitation;safety of the public;prevention of crime;retribution;incapacitation;any other reasonable response.3(c)[6]
Describe three features of strain theory. Award one mark for each point correctly identified (up to a maximum of three). Award one mark for each point that is developed (up to a maximum of three). Possible responses:
media pressure – the media shows material success as the norm and therefore puts pressure on individuals to achieve this – if they can’t do so legitimately then they may turn to crime;consumer society – the 1930’s American Dream requires us to ‘show off’ our success through the products and brands we buy – if we can’t afford to do this then we may turn to crime (relative deprivation idea);hard work and study – this is at the core of the American Dream but even when we do this we will not all achieve material success as not everyone is equally able to achieve it (myth of meritocracy), therefore some individuals will turn to crime;modes of adaptation – Merton believed the mismatch between the goals of the American Dream and the legal means of obtaining them causes deviant behaviour. There may be five possible responses to the situation: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism or rebellion;full explanation – strain theory can be used to explain both crime and deviance as well as both materially motivated and more expressive crimes such as drug-taking;innovators – they find new, non-legal, ways to achieve society’s goals of material success through deviant means e.g. drug dealing, fraud, theft etc;retreatists – as they realise they cannot achieve the material success they desire, they retreat from society and commit criminal and deviant behaviour in the process e.g. drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes etc;rebels – when they can’t achieve the societal goal of material success they develop alternative goals instead to strive for – so making them deviant e.g. cults, protests, terrorists, environmental warriors etc;any other reasonable response.3(d)[6]
Explain three reasons why crimes are not always reported to the police. Award one mark for each point correctly identified (up to a maximum of three). Award one mark for each point that is developed (up to a maximum of three). Possible responses:
trivial crimes – petty crimes are often not reported to the police as they are perceived as unimportant and people do not believe the police can do anything to help;only reported if it benefits the person – for example, if a stolen item is insured the victim is likely to report the theft but if it is not then they are less likely to report it as they know it is unlikely they will get it back;private matters – some crimes are seen as private matters to be dealt with by a family or community and the police should not be involved e.g. domestic abuse, honour killings;embarrassment – some victims are too embarrassed to report a crime as they are fearful about future shame or stigma in their community e.g. sexual offences;don’t want to get involved – witnesses sometimes do not report a crime because they do not want to have to get involved and give statements/go to court etc;fear of reprisals – victims and witnesses may be concerned about their safety if they report a crime e.g. they may be threatened/harmed by the criminal/gang;distrust of the police – some communities distrust the police and may be reluctant to have any contact with them based on prior experiences/media representations e.g. some ethnic minorities, prostitutes etc;difficulties of access – in some communities reporting a crime to the police is difficult to do e.g. lack of internet, living a long way from the police station and therefore they don‘t report it for practical reasons;relationship to offender – some victims may not report a crime because they do not want to get the criminal into trouble or see him/her punished e.g. a family member, partner or friend;any other reasonable response.3(e)[8]
Discuss the view that moral panics lead to crime. Use Table A to mark answers to this question. Possible responses:
media labelling – a stereotype is created in the media of a group of people that are said to be committing crime. They negatively label them as ‘criminals’, ‘trouble’ etc and so the law enforcement agencies over- react to their, often, petty deviance which can then lead to further crime being committed;exaggeration – the behaviour of the group in question is reported to be worse than it is, using exaggerated and sensationalist language and, e.g. a small fight is portrayed as a large-scale riot. This can lead to crime through imitation/copycat;prediction – the media often predict that the crime and deviance they report on will happen again. This acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy which leads to crime;symbolisation – the media shows how folk devils can be recognised, e.g. by their appearance or clothing. This makes them a target for the public and the police which may lead to increased rates of stop and search that will frustrate and anger the recipient, so leading to further crime being committed through resistance;Cohen’s mods and rockers study – the clashes between the two groups were, in reality, fairly minor but the media reported them as a major cause for concern for the public and the authorities which led to calls for tougher policing. This resulted in more young people being arrested as well as more laws being introduced to criminalise young people;folk devils – they are represented by the media in a moral panic as being totally different to the rest of the ‘normal’ population. It therefore becomes easy for the public to become scared of them and demand action and harsher policing. Policies such as ‘three strikes’ and ‘zero tolerance’ means behaviour by the ‘bad’ people is not tolerated and they become stigmatised as criminal. This can become a master status and make it likely that they become part of a deviant subculture, so increasing levels of crime;deviancy amplification – the media coverage (as in Cohen’s case) encouraged some young people to go to the places where the media predicted that fights and violence would take place. They became involved in the fights themselves whereas without the moral panic being created they would not have been involved in crime. The media response leads to more crime;any other reasonable response.3(f)[14]
Evaluate the view that policing strategies are effective at preventing crime. Use Table B to mark answers to this question. Possible responses for:
targeting and stop and search – by focusing on a particular area or group of people the police can prevent crime through high arrest rates, their visible presence and the idea of deterrence;surveillance – new technologies have led to surveillance becoming widespread. It can focus on individuals suspected of crimes and so prevent them offending or it can be more general in terms of keeping everybody under surveillance e.g. CCTV, drones, tracking etc and be preventative in this way;undercover officers – in some countries the police monitor protest groups, terrorist groups or criminal gangs by undercover police officers joining these groups under false identities and becoming deeply involved in their activities – this infiltration can thus prevent crimes occurring;zero tolerance policing – the ‘broken windows’ theory saw the police acting against minor acts of crime and deviance to give the message to criminals that the law would always be enforced and that more serious crime would not be tolerated. This was seen to be successful as in cities where this approach was taken the crime rate fell i.e. the police strategy prevented crime e.g. New York City in the 1990’s;community policing – the police are a visible presence, patrolling the streets and talking to people, building up good community relationships. This builds trust in the police and makes the public more likely to report crimes and to share information that can catch criminals – so preventing crime;military policing – the police are armed, use force and weaponry to stop and/or prevent crime. They are often sent out to events or areas e.g. riots, protests etc;police cautions and fines – the police are able to issue these to deviants and criminals to exercise their authority and to prevent crime through warnings and financial penalties;in some countries the police run prisons – police may help to rehabilitate criminals/lock them up as punishment for their crimes;any other reasonable response. Possible responses against:crime rates remain high indicating that the police strategies are not particularly effective at preventing crime but perhaps are more of a measure of social control;Marxism – the police are part of the repressive state apparatus and are used by the ruling class to protect themselves from the working class and to maintain their privileged position in society – they do not prevent crime, they simply mask white-collar crime and criminalise the working class;feminism – the police do not prevent crime as they are part of the patriarchal society that marginalises the victimisation of women and sometimes do not take women’s allegations of wrongdoings seriously enough e.g. high rates of domestic violence, high rates of sexual offences etc;military style policing – policing works best when it has the support of the community and this style of policing can seem like an unwanted invasion which can turn people against the police and so reduce their effectiveness;resistance – some communities and local groups have lost trust in the police and therefore they are not effective at preventing crime in such areas. Ethnic minority communities are a good example e.g. BLM protests, inner-city riots, high rates of stop and search, police targeting etc;global crimes – different countries have different laws and disagree on how crimes should be dealt with and investigated;with many crimes now happening on a global rather than a national/local level this makes policing less effective at preventing crime;
cybercrimes – the police are not typically cyber experts and therefore the hackers and the fraudsters can successfully avoid detection and arrest illustrating that the police are not effective at preventing such crimes;harsh punishment – some believe that if we want to prevent crime we need to move away from agencies of formal social control and look at harsh sentencing/punishment instead e.g. death penalty, incarceration;informal agencies of social control – some believe that the best way to prevent crime is through socialisation and informal social control, carried out by the family, education, peer groups, religion and the media;any other reasonable response.
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