'What if any is the relationship between ethnicity and social exclusion in the UK?'

'What if any is the relationship between ethnicity and social exclusion in the UK?' Introduction Within this assignment I am going to be look at social exclusion in relation to ethnicity, I will start by defining what the terms ethnicity and social exclusion mean and then go on to talk about what social exclusion is and how it effects ethnic people in relation to housing, education and employment. What is ethnicity? Ethnicity is a social structure it can be defined as a group who share common cultural traits such as language, religion, and dress and are an identifiable minority within the larger nation-state. The House of Lords defininition is that 'an 'ethnic group' is a group that regards itself, or is regarded by others, as a distinct community by virtue of certain characteristics that will help to distinguish the group from the surrounding community.'(www.cre.gov.uk) it states that there are vital characteristics in which they posses which are: * A history, of which the group is aware of as it distinguish it from other groups * A cultural tradition of its own which including family and social customs and manners, often but not necessarily associated with religious celebration Other significant characteristics may very well include common biological origin or ancestry for example a common language, a common religion and the status of either a minority or a

  • Word count: 1898
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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Fibre evidence results and discussion

Section A . The evidence shows that there is 2-way transfer. Fibres matching the victims clothing (except the halter-top) were found on the suspects clothing and in the car. Also the victim had a pill of fibres from the suspects underpants in her knickers. The victim had fibres from the vehicle seats on her clothing. Even though there were small amounts of fibres found on suspect/victim/vehicle these are significant. It doesn't mention how long later the suspect (and his car) was arrested, and the first hour is the most important where over 50% of the initial fibres transferred is lost. So finding 22 on the suspect and 33 on the passenger seat is quite good. There were no fibres found from the victim's halter-top - due to her shirt being worn over the top, which if fastened explains why no transfer as no contact. It was unusual that no fibres were found from the suspects T-shirt - could have been taken off or covered with another item of clothing. There was a very small amount of transfer from the suspect to the victim. The pill of purple cotton fibres found from the suspect's underwear was the only transfer from the suspect, which I would have expected more. There were 7 vehicle fibres transferred to the victims clothing which isn't a lot compared to the amount of fibres found on the passenger seat. Polyester fibres from the vehicle seat must have been transferred at low

  • Word count: 2590
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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Discuss the Classical School of thought on criminology.

In the mid 18th Century, the Classical School of criminology was developed and based on utilitarian philosophy. Cesare Beccaria, Jeremy Bentham, and other classical school philosophers argued that people have free will to choose how to act. In the late 19th century Cesare Lombroso was one of the largest contributors to the Positivist School. Their concept is that criminal behaviour is caused by internal and external factors outside of the individual's control. The scientific method was introduced and applied to study human behavior, for example phrenology, suggesting that the problem lay in the propensities of individual offenders who were biologically distinguishable from law-abiding citizens. Throughout the early twentieth century, the Chicago School emerged, Sociologisits such as Robert Ezra Park and Ernest Burgess adopted a social ecology approach to studying cities, and assumed that urban neighborhoods with high levels of poverty often experience breakdown in the social structure and institutions such as family and schools. During the 1980's and 1990's New Right Thinkers influenced government political agenda's, particularly the Conservative party led by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980's. Thatcher's intention was to create an economy that was efficient and effective. Promoting individual self-help and meeting social needs required minimal state intervention in the

  • Word count: 1500
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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Why do young people begin using illicit substances? Is drugs education successful in its attempts to reduce drug taking activity?

Why do young people begin using illicit substances? Is drugs education successful n its attempts to reduce drug taking activity? SUCCESS OF DRUG EDUCATION The major problem facing young people in almost every corner of the world is the problem of drug abuse. It is a widely held belief that young people are at increased risk of drug abuse. There also exist considerable debates on the influence of drug abuse patterns and how young people acquire the habit of abusing drugs. Much of the influence has been attributed to the family, its values, beliefs and behaviour of the parents with regard to substance use and abuse. As such, the involvement of young people with drugs can be largely attributed to parental influence. On a broader perspective, the main determining factor has been culture which even the parents are a slave to. Culture sets the norms and expectancies around drug use, defining what, when, whether, how and how much drugs young people should use. For instance, the use of drugs such as alcohol and cannabis is deeply rooted in culture. Experiences with drugs, especially alcohol and cannabis, are prevalent among the young people than with other groups. In many cultures, drug use, especially drinking, is highly discouraged before adulthood. However, the popular culture has led to young people being introduced to drugs at an earlier age, probably within the family in

  • Word count: 3106
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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What are the strengths and weaknesses of realist criminologies?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of realist criminologies? To answer this question, I begin by exploring how right and left realisms emerged as criminological theories in response to radical criminologies. I examine fundamental realism principles, including consideration of commonalities and differences, eg, how they view the cause of crime, their policy implications, etc. From here, I move on to explore their strengths and weaknesses, including what they overlook. Finally, I evaluate how right and left realisms measure up as paradigm examples of theory when compared to the criminologies they superseded. Realist criminologies emerged in the 1980s as a reaction to radical criminologies of previous decades. The latter shifted the focus of criminology from classicism, with its principles of rational choice and free will (Muncie and McLaughlin, 2004, p7), and from positivism, which propounded that individuals are not responsible for their own actions for biological, psychological and sociological reasons (Muncie and McLaughlin, 2004, p9). In broad terms, radical criminologies such as interactionism, labelling, Marxism and critical criminology concentrate on processes of criminalisation (Muncie and McLaughlin, 2004, p34). These theories study structural factors such as societal relationships and power dynamics, claiming that these perpetuate criminal/deviant behaviour -

  • Word count: 2712
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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Creation of Profesional Police

The creation of the professional police, just like that of the prison, has been surrounded by many controversial debates. We all take a concept of the police for granted; after all, the origins of the office of constable date back to a Saxon and Norman era, and it would be difficult to imagine today's Britain without the police. However, when we contemplate the emergence of the organised police force, there is no universal truth behind it. This paper aims to reveal, and analyse the mechanism that, potentially, led to the birth of, what came to be known as the "New Police". It would not be possible to fully comprehend the mechanism that led to the development of professional police forces without briefly discussing the social context. It is worth to notice that although from the fifteenth century to the 'Glorious Revolution' in 1688 England was a country of the massive political instability, the changes that occurred did not involve any standing army or police force. Criminal law enforcement had, to some degree, been left to the justices of peace, who on many occasions, used their influence in the neighbourhood, and managed to settle disputes between citizens without invoking law1. The justices of the peace were appointed by the Crown and they exercised authority over the parish constables. Whilst they enjoyed quite a favourable attention, the same cannot be said about

  • Word count: 1867
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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Examine the key debates surrounding the relationship between crime and inequality

Examine the key debates surrounding the relationship between crime and inequality Inequality is a topic which can polarise opinion. Karl Marx (Marx & Engels, 2005) asserted that the history of society is based on class struggles and that the state should strive to create an equal society. Whereas people such as Robert Nozick (1974) have argued that the state should have minimal interference in people's lives and that equality should not be an aim. Within modern society there exist many different forms of inequality, some of which can be suggested as being linked with crime. Examples can include economic inequality, related to unemployment and income, racial and gender based inequality and social inequality which can be related to education, housing and healthcare. Within this essay I will examine some of the different sources of inequality, whether they can be linked with crime and, if so, I will also try to explain why they are linked with crime. Unemployment is often one of the first sources of inequality to be linked with crime which may be because people assume those who are unable to get a job will instantly turn to crime to try and make ends meet. In 2002, the Social Exclusion Unit released a report (p. 22) which stated that 67% of the UK prison population had been unemployed in the four weeks before their imprisonment, compared with just 5% of the general population.

  • Word count: 2195
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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In what ways does crime reporting give us a distorted impression of crime and society? What are the social consequences of that distortion?

In what ways does crime reporting give us a distorted impression of crime and society? What are the social consequences of that distortion? The debate over crime reporting in the media has become a controversial issue as the pattern of such reporting has itself changed over the last 30 years. Not only because there is an over-reported coverage with a lack of depth in its contents, but also because of its symbolic representation of class, race, gender and patriarchy, which results in a social inequality, stereotype and public anxiety. Some sociologists even argue that crime reporting encourages further crimes by providing information to those potential criminals. In the 1970s, crime reporting was mainly concerned with murder, jewel thefts, and petty crime, but since the late 1980s, an increasingly competitive market that pushed news media to win readers has generated revised editorial ambitions. News media have increasingly become part of the entertainment industry instead of providing a forum for informed debate of key issues of public concern. That is to say, journalists are more concerned about reporting stories which will interest the public than stories that are in the public interest. This results in people nowadays finding they are surrounded by a net of news covering drugs, terrorism, child abuse, rape, muggings, fraud, and football hooliganism. Bob Franklin's

  • Word count: 2869
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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Does being a victim of crime affect the academic life? Off-shoots of this question are how does crime affect studies on the course, the effect of crime on the emotional state of the victims and how do they cope with it.

INTRODUCTION United Kingdom is regarded as one of the best country when it comes to education. People from all over the world come here to study because the education system over here is very nice and it is useful to them when they go back to their country, but are they safe over here. Can they walk on the streets without any fear or threat? As they use to do in their country, leave the house in the middle of the night in order to get some food. International students face a lot of problems over here when it comes to this. They do not feel safe over here. They cannot roam around the streets freely because they do not know whether it is safe or not and especially in Wolverhampton. The students over here are very scared to walk on the streets at night or even go to a pub with friends cause they do not know whether they would come back home or not. According to statistics revealed by the West Midlands Police Department (2004), the crime rate has been increasing a lot in Wolverhampton. The main victims in this are students. Statistics show about one third of students have become a victim of crime while at university. Car theft, burglary, having a purse, wallet or bag stolen continue to be the most common crimes affecting students. Being an international student myself and not used to living in such unsafe environments, I am emotionally affected by this insecurity and as such

  • Word count: 5637
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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Corrections in the 21st Century - 3 Strikes, Boot Camps and Female Prison Officers in the US Correctional System.

Midterm Essay Examination By Willie Sellers Corrections in the 21st Century CJ322 Dr. Lydia Long 02 October 2010 Midterm Essay . What consequences do three-strikes laws have for the criminal justice system and for the corrections subsystem? Many states have adopted sentence enhancements, usually the mandating of longer prison terms for violent offenders with records of serious crimes. Mandatory sentence enhancements aim to deter known and potentially violent offenders and to incapacitate persistent criminals through long-term incarceration.30 these sentence enhancements have come to be known as three-strike laws. Felony convictions must serve a minimum of 25 years. The law also doubles prison terms for offenders convicted of a second violent felony. (Schmalleger, Frank) Problems with the three strikes law is the price of overcrowded prisons. Minor crimes, such as petty theft and burglary received 25 year long sentences. Another flaw with the three-strikes-law is it takes away the power from judges. Judges have the power to sentence convicted criminals, but the three strikes law takes away that power by forcing judges to mandatory sentences. 2. Do boot camps have a future in United States corrections? Boot camp programs have the potential to reduce institutional crowding and costs, provided they are large enough. This assumes they target offenders who would

  • Word count: 1027
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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