Describe, in detail, the sentencing powers of at least 2 Scottish courts.
The High Court is used for the most severe cases such as murder and rape. The High Court has the power to give an unlimited fine, meaning the accused has to give money to pay for what they did. The High Court has the power to give life imprisonment. This must be given if a person is found guilty of murder. If a person’s crime is due to addiction to drugs, they may issue them with a Drug Treatment and testing order. This helps the criminal get treatment for drug use, with regular testing to get them off drugs and reduce likelihood of committing crime.
The justice of the peace is used for more minor offences such as going through a red light or theft. The maximum prison sentence which they can give is 60 days. They can also issue fines to an accused up to £2500. This court may also issue non custodial sentences such as community payback. This is when an accused needs to do unpaid work for the good of the community as punishment for their crime. For example this might be cleaning graffiti or creating a community garden.
Describe, in detail, Scottish laws regarding road traffic and alcohol offences.
In Scotland there are age restrictions on purchasing alcohol. You must be over 18 to purchase alcohol in a shop, it is therefore an offence to attempt to buy it when you are less than 18. You also need to be able to prove that you are over 18, most shops run a Challenge 25 scheme which means if a person looks under 25 they will be asked to provide ID to prove their age. It is also an offence for a person over 18 to buy alcohol in order to give it to somebody who is less than 18. If you do this you risk a prison sentence of 3 months.
In Scotland, the minimum price per unit of alcohol has been set at 50p. This is to try to stop people abusing alcohol by buying cheap drink. For example, the cheapest bottle of wine will be £4.69.
It is against the law to drive once you have consumed a certain amount of alcohol. In Scotland you will be charged if you have over 50mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood. This means a small glass of wine for a lady. If you are caught you risk losing your licence.
Speeding is a common road traffic offence. It is against the law to go above 70mph on the motorway. It is an offence to drive without insurance. However this can be very expensive, especially for young drivers, so many young people break the law by driving without insurance.
Describe, in detail, the impact of crime on individuals and communities
Crime can have a long term impact on the criminal as if they are caught they get a criminal record. This can make it harder to get a job or a mortgage as it has to be disclosed when they apply for jobs and many people do not want to employ former criminals. It can be hard to get a visa to travel to the USA with a criminal record. If a person goes to prison for committing a crime, they can enter the revolving door of prison. Which means in prison they may learn more ways of committing crime and then go on to reoffend when they are released.
Being a victim of crime can have a financial impact. Victims of crime may feel unsafe in their homes and pay for extra security such as burglar alarms or security lighting. They may choose to pay for taxis to get home if they are scared of being attacked or mugged when walking home. E.g. reimburse for London riots 2011.
Communities which have high levels of crime can get given a bad name. For example Ferguslie in Paisley is a deprived area with a large amount of anti-social behaviour and crime. This may put off businesses from opening there for fear of losing money. The community spirit of an area can also be broken if people are too scared to go out and socialise in their area because of crime.
Describe, in detail, the methods used by the police to tackle crime
The police launch initiatives which target specific types of crime in order to reduce them. These are highly publicised in the press, posters, radio and even by police coming into schools and youth clubs. For example the No Knives Better Lives works with young people and schools to stop people carrying knives to reduce knife crime. At Christmas time with an increased risk of drink driving they launch initiatives to reduce this. For example with tv broadcasts and more police presence to stop drivers at night or the next morning.
Community policing is used to reduce crime. This is when police officers work closely with a community and are a known visible presence. This helps them become aware of criminal activities more easily. They will spend time in schools, for example PC Bradley visits CDHS at lunchtimes and spends time talking with pupils and young people. The hope is that this will build good relations with young people and they can be turned away from crime.
The police use CCTV to tackle crime. These are cameras which are usually placed at areas where crime can occur such as in car parks or built up areas. The sight of these cameras can deter criminals because they know that their image will be caught and used as evidence against them.
Explain in detail why some people oppose the use of custodial sentences
One reason people are against prison sentences is that it is very expensive. It can cost over £20,000 per year for one person to be in prison. These costs are increased if they need more secure treatment or if their children need to be looked after as well. Many people feel this money could be spent on the NHS or education instead. Another reason is that prisons are already overcroweded, so by giving more prison sentences this becomes worse. This creates problems as if there are too many people there are lots of fights, and there is not enough time for each prisoner to rehabilitate and take part in education courses. People are against them as they are known as univeristies of crime. Once inside, you mix with other prisoners and learn how to commit other crime. So people leave knowing more about crime than when the went in. Finally prisons simply don’t work as reoffending is high. At least 60% of prisoners reoffend in 2 years. ( Split up Families – good bits about cpo)
Explain, in detail the importance of the country you have studied as a world power.
I have studied the USA. This is an important world power because its influence in the world has spread leading to an Americanisation of culture in other countries including Britain. This means in Britain, lots of the tv, films and social media we use such as Game of Thrones, the Simpsons, Avatar, google and facebook all come from America. In Britain we have even adopted American customs such as the Black Friday sale after Thanksgiving.
America in one of the leading economic countries in the world. This makes her very important because trade with America helps support many countries, including Britain who has 25% of trade with the USA. American firms also create many jobs in Britain, such as in Asda, the wallmart firm, nike and mcDonalds. Because America’s economy affects Britain, if she has any problems they also affect Britain. For example, the collapse of Fannie Mae led to the recent economic recession. She is a member of the G20, the most economic advanced countries, and affects other countries by working with this group to tackle economic problems, such as the current depression.
America is important because she is one of the strongest military countries in the world. This is important as she uses this strength to get involved in conflicts and to play the role of peace maker. For example the US is a leading member of NATO. She also uses her military strength to fight terror or to help people being oppressed, for example by launching an attack on Osama Bin Laden. She also has had recent military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most recently she has been involved in air strikes against Islamic state.
Explain, in detail, why social and economic inequalities continue to exist in the world power you have studied.
In the USA there are inequalities in wealth and many people are poor. One reason for this is poor English. Most immigrants to the USA come from Mexico and speak Spanish. This means that they can only do unskilled work such as cleaning or fruit picking. These jobs are very poorly paid and can put the workers into poverty. Other people are poor because they are forced to do low paid jobs because they lack a high school diploma which could bring a higher salary. Many people, mainly African Americans and Hispanics have a very high drop out rate from high school. Hispanics often have to help look after their family or work to support it. Finally many people are poor because they are born into the poverty cycle, such as into a poor family in Highland Park in Detroit. Living in a poor family, in a poor area with poor school means it is almost impossible to break out of this poverty cycle.
There are health inequalities in the USA. Some people have better health than others. This is because there is no NHS in America. Medical care needs to be paid for through private insurance firms such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield. This can cost over $20,000 per year for a family and as a result many people can not afford it and as a result are unable to get treatment. In 2010 there were over 50 million people without health insurance. Very poor people rely on Medicaid and elderly people can get medicare from the government, however these are very poorly funded and give only basic care.
In the USA there are inequalities in education, not all children get good quality schooling.Children attending inner city schools get a poorer education. In the USA schools are funded from the Federal Government and also from money raised from taxes from housing sales. In poor inner city areas less money is raised and so these schools remain under funded.
Describe, in detail, the steps taken by the world power you have studied to tackle social and economic issues.
To tackle the health inequalities which exist the USA govt has introduced the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. This is tackling the issue of lack of health insurance as it makes it compulsory to have health insurance and if you don’t you will be fined. They are supporting poorer people so that they can afford it. This act is also tackling the insurance firms and are making it illegal to deny children with pre-existing conditions or to give a cap on how much treatment a person can get.
To tackle inequalities in education the government has introduced the No Child Left Behind policy. All schools have to give children tests each year and have to show improvements in test scores in order to receive funding. This is to push better quality teaching, especially in inner cities.
To tackle poverty the government introduced the American Recovery and Reinvestment act to tackle the depression. Through this it has introduced TANF temporary assistance for needy families. This helps poor families by providing money for families to pay for child care so that they can work or study to try to get a better paid jobs. It has increased funding for SNAP by $20 billion. These are food stamps which poor people can use in certain shops to buy food to avoid going hungry.
Describe, in detail, the role of at least 2 government institutions in the world power you have studied.
The judicial branch of the US government is the Supreme Court. It acts as the highest court in the land as a court of appeal. For example a girl in Texas who didn’t get into university took Texas Uni to the Supreme Court arguing that affirmative action had prevented her from getting a place. The supreme court makes sure that laws passed by congress do not break the US constitution. For example it passed Obamacare.
The legisastive branch is made up from House of Representatives and the Senate, known as congress.. It is their job to debate and pass laws introduced by the president. The H of R is in charge of finance, for example in 2013 there was a 16 day govt shut down when they refused to pass Obama’s budget. Recent actions approved include sanctions on Russia because of her actions in the Ukraine.
The executive branch is run by the President and the White house. The Presdient is commander in chief of the armed forces. Their job is to execute ( put into practice) laws which have been approved by congress. For example the American recovery and reinvestment act which is to help the US economy,.