Sample criminology Essay Questions

• Write a report to the senior solicitor, Mr Jaffa, advising him on the likely value of your client, Mr Rudds case (see assessment criteria (). Assume that you have discussed the case with solicitors representing Ms Whalleys insurers who are unwilling to make any offer of settlement. Your report should indicate that to take matters further it will be necessary to issue proceedings in the County Court. Giving reasons give your opinion about the likely value of Mr Rudds claim (see assessment criteria (b)) and his chances of succeeding in proving liability (see assessment criteria (). Your report must be sufficient to enable Mr Jaffa to decide whether to proceed in issuing proceedings on Mr Rudds behalf.
• A case study based on newspaper, TV or film representation in the following area, a crime or anti-social behaviour where relations of class or gender or sexuality are significant issues the case study will be centred on the student protest at the headquarters of the Conservative party at mill-bank tower on Wednesday November 10Th 2010.
• By analysing various legal instruments in which access to justice is mentioned, would you consider access to justice a self-standing individual right or rather a procedural guarantee that exists only to the extent that there is a substantive right to enforce? 750 words.
• Critically discuss the contention that certain people are more likely to be victims of crime than others and an appropriate response may not be punishment of the offender.
• Critically evaluate the suggestion that problems of overcrowding, bullying and poor conditions have always been, and will continue to be, of concern to penal reformers.
• Develop and justify a proposal for a crime prevention project (i.e., choose overall approach; locate the theoretical anchor; review prior developments with this type of programme; outline the nature of the intervention and briefly propose a method for evaluating implementation and results).
• Discuss the view that the move towards restorative principles within youth justice policy and practice in England and Wales has successfully achieved the predicted shift from exclusionary to inclusionary treatment of young offenders.
• Examine and assess the following example of evaluation research:
• From Durkheim to Agnew Strain Theory and Institutional Anomie Theory. Produce an up to date critical systematic review on this particular theoretical perspective incorporating studies and essays from the international literature?.
• How does Marxs view of crime differ from later Critical Criminology?
• How does the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalitions Big Society differ from New Labours active communities?
• Much of the literature on crime prevention draws a distinction between the situational and social crime prevention approaches. However, in practice, the boundaries between the two are becoming increasingly blurred as the development of successful crime prevention remedies often requires security and risk managers to draw on both situational and social principles and strategies, particularly in complex environments. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
• Teresa May (Home sec 2010) argued that it is time to move beyond the ASBO, and that they were never the promised silver bullet and had too often put young people on a conveyor belt to prison. Critically analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of the topic.
• The distinction between situational and social approaches to criminal behaviour is misleading, as the co-operation increasingly required between the agencies and personnel responsible for the provision of security and risk solutions in complex environments requires any successful policy to be both situational and social. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
• What does the Hurricane Katrina disaster tell us about the spread of environmental risks? To what extent did ace affect the risk management process
• Issues in criminal justice history.
• Provide sophisticated analysis and critical discussion of the control of crime.
• 'A modernist belief in science embodied in programmes of rehabilitation and welfare informed criminal justice policy for much of the twentieth century.
• Are spending cuts to the intelligence, counter-terror police and UK Border Agency budgets realistic and sustainable given that bombs were found on a cargo plane at a UK airport in October 2010?
• Assess the extent to which the development of an effective crime prevention plan depends upon a thorough understanding of the criminological theories that underpin the situational and social approaches to crime prevention.
• Briefly explain classicism and positivism in criminology and describe and discuss the differences between them. Finally, with reference to contemporary theories show how classicism and positivism influence our thinking about crime today.
• Critically consider the characteristics of murders, murderers, and murder victims in England and Wales in the 21st Century.
• Critically evaluate the suggestion that problems of overcrowding, bullying and poor conditions have always been, and will continue to be, of concern to penal reformers.
• Critically examine the impact of both Left Realism AND New Right perspectives on the criminal justice system in England & Wales since 1997.
• Discuss the extent to which Bill may be liable under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 and for non-fatal offences against the person.
• Discuss with reference to the theory of ecology, the significance of offence area location to the study of criminality.
• Drawing on competing theories critically discuss the benefits and limitations of Positivist Victimology.
• Environmental Criminology: vandalism case study.
• Exactly what 'crime prevention' or 'community safety' mean...is neither self-evident nor uncontested (Crawford, 1998:1).
• Explain the assumptions made in positivist criminology about crime and the criminal, and examine the extend to which these assumptions are still a potent force in modern criminological writings.
• How fair is this criticism of the Casey Report Engaging Communities in Fighting Crime (Casey, 2008), in the context of the Criminal Justice System as it is currently operating?
• In the recent speech to the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies, Ken Clarke, the Lord Chancellor in the Ministry of Justice for the U.K. Coalition Government stated that: ''too often has provided a costly and ineffectual approach that fails to turn criminals into law-abiding citizens.'
• Is there such a thing as a criminal gene?
• Outline and explain the main theories that explain crime by reference to deviant subcultures. Critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of the different theories. How useful are these theories in explaining 'gang crime' in Britain today?
• Table identifying research questions and methods for researching a topic. It is anticipated that this table will use about a quarter of your word-count.
• Tackling domestic burglary. Choose and read the design exercise example so that you understand clearly what is required.
• 'The Effects of Imprisonment on prisoners are well understood'. Critically discuss this statement.
• This is for a case study based around Hegemonic Masculinity on American mafia boss John Gotti.
• What key ideas of Karl Marx have proved the most fruitful for the development of Critical Criminology?

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