Crime in Ireland: Exam Revision Notes

Measuring the Level of Crime- Colin King: Public Concern About Crime:​ ○​ Crime is a major concern, with official statistics used for public and political discussion.​ ○​ "Crime is today a recognised social problem... its magnitude a subject of public...

Measuring the Level of Crime- Colin King: Public Concern About Crime:​ ○​ Crime is a major concern, with official statistics used for public and political discussion.​ ○​ "Crime is today a recognised social problem... its magnitude a subject of public concern." (Rottman, 1980)​ ​ Official Statistics:​ ○​ Garda statistics (now published by CSO) offer a general view of crime in Ireland.​ ○​ “The official statistics give a general indication of the level and nature of crime in Ireland.”​ ​ Limitations of Official Statistics:​ ○​ They don’t account for unreported crimes (the "dark figure") and non-prosecuted crimes.​ ○​ Statistics can be manipulated to evaluate police performance or justify budgets.​ ○​ “The 'real' level of crime in Ireland is unknown.”​ ​ Alternatives to Official Stats:​ ○​ Crime surveys (like the Garda Public Attitude Survey) are useful to measure fear of crime, not captured by official stats.​ ○​ “Crime surveys are a useful complement to the official Garda statistics.”​ ​ Interpreting Crime Stats:​ ○​ Changes in crime rates may reflect procedural changes, not real changes in crime.​  ○​ Public trust in Gardaí might lead to higher crime reporting, inflating figures.​ ○​ “A change in the level of crime may be merely artificial due to procedural changes.”​ ​ Uses of Crime Statistics:​ ○​ Help in crime prevention, resource allocation in the criminal justice system.​ ○​ Identify areas with high/low crime levels.​ ○​ Measure the economic and social costs of crime.​ ​ Critical Mindset:​ ○​ Official stats should be viewed critically; they reveal much but have inherent flaws.​ ○​ “Such statistics tell us a great deal, so long as we approach them in a critical manner.”​ ​ Garda Public Attitude Survey:​ ○​ Conducted annually to assess public fear of crime.​ ○​ “The benefits of such surveys have been recognised by the Gardaí.”​ Conclusion: ​ Official crime statistics provide valuable insights but must be combined with other data (e.g., surveys) for a fuller picture.​ ​ “Crime surveys allow us to analyse the public fear of crime... something which cannot be discerned from official statistics alone.”​ BACK TO EXPLANATIONS- Ciaran McCullagh, Crime in Ireland (1996): Key Points: ​ Five Key Features of Crime in Ireland:​ ○​ Rising crime rates since the 1960s​ ○​ Property crime by young working-class males​ ○​ Occupational and corporate crime by middle-class men​ ○​ Low participation rates of women in crime​ ○​ Relatively low violent crime despite recent increases​ ○​ Urban concentration of crime, especially in Dublin​ ​ Limitations of Existing Explanations:​ ○​ Existing theories focus mostly on working-class male crime, neglecting crimes committed by other social groups.​ ○​ McCullagh contends that explanations must incorporate social changes since the late 1950s and early 1960s.​ ​ Development and Crime:​ ○​ Crime increases due to social changes—especially in property crimes linked to development processes.​ ○​ Rottman (1980): "The increase in crime was one offshoot of the adjustments being made to deep-seated structural change."​ ○​ These social changes must be seen within the context of development theory, particularly dependent development.​ ​ Modernisation vs Dependent Development:​  ○​ Modernisation theory: Development leads to severe social disruption and high crime rates due to rapid industrialisation and urbanisation.​ ○​ Dependent development: Focuses on how peripheral countries like Ireland adapt to the needs of the developed world, often leading to marginalisation of the working class.​ ​ Corporate Crime:​ ○​ Middle-class crime often goes unregulated and unpunished due to their marginalisation from state control.​ ○​ Crime in the middle class is not stigmatized as heavily as in lower classes.​ ​ Marginalisation of the Working Class:​ ○​ Working-class males face marginality as traditional jobs disappear, and new rural-based work requires skills they lack.​ ○​ Young working-class men turn to crime as an adaptation to this marginality.​ ○​ For young working-class women, marginality exists but with broader social roles, such as premature parenthood, to cope with it.​ ​ The Role of the State:​ ○​ The failure of the state to address marginality contributes to the increasing crime and the reproduction of marginality in a second generation of urban working-class individuals.​ ​ Empirical Research Needed:​ ○​ McCullagh suggests comparative research in other countries with dependent development to see if similar marginality and crime patterns exist.​ ○​ Research into ethnographic community-based studies and middle-class crime would help substantiate the theory.​ ○​ McCullagh stresses the importance of large-scale research to challenge official crime definitions.​  ​ Conclusion:​ ○​ The theory proposes that dependent development in Ireland created 'double marginalisation': 1) Corporate élites being free from regulation; 2) Working-class people becoming alienated from economic progress.​ ○​ The combination of these forms of marginalisation contributes to the increasing crime, especially in the urban working class.​ Key Quotes: ​ "The increase in crime was one offshoot of the adjustments being made to deep-seated structural change." (Rottman, 1980)​ ​ "Crime in Ireland can best be understood within the perspective provided by arguments about dependent development."​ ​ "Crime becomes a form of adaptation to marginality and an attempt to overcome it."​ ​ "Marginality is being reproduced by the failure of the state to deal with the development strategies that are creating it."​ ​ "What is being advanced here is an argument which draws on and utilises available empirical data but which has not itself been the subject of empirical investigation." Punishing Poverty and Personal Adversity PAUL O'MAHONY: Prisons reflect society's true values:​ ​ ​ "The mood and temper of the public in regard to the treatment of crime and criminals is one of the most unfailing tests of the civilisation of any country." — Winston Churchill​ ​ Punishment shows human rights progress:​ ​ ​ "What we do with our prisons... is one of the best indicators of the extent to which the culture of human rights has truly penetrated our society." — Bishop Dermot O'Mahony​ ​ Importance of rule of law:​ ​ Punishment must avoid "arbitrariness, injustice, brutality and dehumanisation."​ Historical shift in punishment (1850, Mountjoy):​ ​ Move from medieval cruelty to regulated, humane punishment based on Enlightenment ideas (Beccaria).​ ​ Punishment became "more principled and more humane."​ Beccaria’s key ideas:​ ​ Punishment should be proportional, minimal, based on tested guilt, and equal before the law.​ Modern prison system:​ ​ Mixed approaches coexist uneasily ("contradictions largely unspoken").​ ​ Rehabilitation models (religious, medical, psychological) faded quickly.​ Current public mood:​  ​ Rising crime and failed rehabilitation = "atmosphere of disillusion and defeatism."​ ​ Some demand a return to harsh, deterrence-based punishment.​ Warning against forgetting civil liberties:​ ​ "Collective amnesia about the long struggle to gain civil liberties."​ Poverty and disadvantage link to crime:​ ​ ​ "As long as crime continues to be correlated with social and economic deprivation, we must seriously doubt the justice of the pre-existing order." — Riordan​ ​ Mountjoy prisoner profile:​ ​ Overwhelmingly from poor, deprived areas (56% from 6 low-income Dublin districts).​ ​ Only 1 in 5 from owner-occupied homes (vs national average of 70%).​ Indicators of prisoner adversity:​ ​ 79% from large families (4+ children)​ ​ 91% left school by age 15​ ​ 53% had chronically unemployed father​ ​ 61% had no parent working or only mother working​ ​ 37% lost a parent before 15​ ​ 29% illiterate​ ​ 66% heroin users​  ​ 30% had attempted suicide​ ​ 40% hepatitis/HIV positive​ Conclusion:​ ​ Personal problems involve some free choice but are rooted in "fundamental socio-economic disadvantage." Drugs, Crime, and Prohibitionist Theory, Tim Murphy: Demonisation of drugs:​ Drugs portrayed as "intrinsically and completely evil"; no serious analysis of prohibition's failures.​ Policy failure ignored:​ Any rise in drug misuse is blamed on the "evil power of the drugs," not the impact of prohibition.​ Assumed drug-crime link:​ "The notion of a definite causal connection between drugs and crime is assumed rather than examined."​ Severe legal measures justified:​ Harsh criminal laws against drugs are socially accepted due to fear-based narratives.​ Moral panic shift (Szasz):​ "No longer are men, women, and children tempted, corrupted, and ruined by the pleasures of sex... instead by drugs."​ Irish prohibitionist rhetoric:​ ​ Grainne Kenny: Cannabis users threaten to "destabilise democracy" and reform equals "chemical warfare on our most vulnerable citizens."​ ​ Peter Charleton: Without drug enforcement, society would be "engulfed by evil."​ Simplification of complex issues:​ Nuanced drug policy debate is reduced to moral panic.​ Two prohibitionist models:​ ​ Medical model: Addiction as a disease (UK tradition).​ ​ Moral-legal model: Drug use as immoral and criminal (US tradition).​ Irish drug laws:​ ​ Misuse of Drugs Acts 1977, 1984, Regulations 1988:​ Created "controlled drugs" category; criminalized possession, supply, cultivation (e.g., cannabis, opium).​ ​ Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Acts 1996, 1999:​ Continued tough enforcement.​ Global context:​ Drug policy part of new global order post-Cold War; legitimizes expanded state coercion.​ Van der Veen: "The two worlds of criminal entrepreneurs and coercive agencies of states are not separated by geographical boundaries."​ Drug use vs. crime reality:​ ​ Charleton claims "80% of serious street crime is caused by drug addiction"—yet mistakes usage laws.​ ​ In Ireland, using drugs (except heroin) is not criminalized; possession is.​ ​ Sweden example: criminalizing drug use led to violations of bodily integrity.​ Economic roots of drug-related crime:​ Prohibition drives drug markets underground, raising prices and incentivizing crime.​ Nadelmann: "[If drugs were] significantly cheaper — which would be the case if they were legalized — the number of [drug-related crimes] would decrease." Selling fear? The changing face of crime reporting in Ireland: Mark O'Brien: Bullet Points: ​ Myth of a Safe Past:​ ○​ Irish media often suggests crime is a new problem, but crime existed historically.​ ○​ Lower historical crime rates were due to mass emigration and under-reporting, not greater safety.​ ​ Under-reporting Factors:​ ○​ Victims feared shame, blamed themselves, or distrusted authorities.​ ○​ Reporting was discouraged socially and legally (e.g., rape trials highlighted women's sexual history).​ ​ Censorship and Media Control:​ ○​ Post-independence, political and clerical authorities pressured media to maintain a "virtuous" image.​ ○​ Censorship of Publications Act (1929) still restricts "obscene" reporting, including on crime.​ ​ Changes in Crime Reporting and Statistics:​ ○​ Pre-2000: Crimes classified as indictable (serious) or non-indictable (minor).​ ○​ Post-2000: New system divides into "headline" and "non-headline" crimes, allowing selective focus.​ ○​ Media disproportionately covers "headline" crimes, feeding public fear.​ ​ Misleading Use of Statistics:​ ○​ Statistics only capture reported crime, missing context like population growth.​  ○​ Irish crime rates remain relatively low compared to other European countries.​ ​ Sexual Crime and Taboo Topics:​ ○​ Sexual abuse and assault were heavily under-reported.​ ○​ Garda Commissioner O’Duffy acknowledged in the 1920s that few cases were reported compared to reality.​ ​ Overall Argument:​ ○​ The increase in crime reporting — not crime itself — has created public fear.​ ○​ Media shifted from suppressing crime to selling fear for commercial purposes.​ Key Quotes: ​ On the myth of a safe past:​ ​ ​ "The idea that Ireland has moved from a safe, law-abiding past into a dangerous and crime-ridden present is a myth."​ ​ ​ On censorship:​ ​ ​ "The Censorship of Publications Act, 1929, which remains in force, restricted media reporting on crimes of a sexual nature."​ ​ ​ On under-reporting:​ ​ ​ "Victims were reluctant to come forward due to fears of shame, self-blame, or distrust of the authorities."​ ​  ​ On crime statistics:​ ​ ​ "Crime statistics measure only those crimes reported to and recorded by the Gardaí."​ ​ ​ On changes in media focus:​ ​ ​ "Newspapers that focused excessively on crime risked being banned."​ ​ ​ On public perception:​ ​ ​ "It is not a case of a sudden emergence of crime, but a sudden emergence of crime reporting." The Court of Public Opinion MARK O'BRIEN, Chapter 13: ​ Wayne O'Donoghue's release (2008): Media swarmed the Midlands Prison despite traditional norms of leaving released prisoners alone.​ ​ Media spectacle: Coverage sought exclusives, exaggerating events like claiming O'Donoghue was "spirited out" when he actually made a public apology.​ ​ Public fatigue: After four years of intense coverage, the public lost interest despite media efforts.​ ​ Crime as media content: Crime reporting fills gaps in the news cycle because it’s dramatic, unpredictable, and emotionally charged.​ ​ News values (Galtung and Ruge): Crime fits media criteria like frequency, amplitude, clarity, meaningfulness, unexpectedness, negativity, continuity, and personification better than politics, sport, or economics.​ ​ Trial coverage: The media’s qualified privilege allows them to report court proceedings without risking libel — balancing public right to know vs.  defendant’s rights.​ ​ TV trials vs. real trials: Real-life trials are too slow and detailed for modern TV audiences used to dramatized fictional portrayals.​ ​ Problems with televising trials: Authenticity and public patience are major issues; real trials lack the dramatization needed to hold attention.​ ​ Justice vs. media: Courts seek justice for society's good; media often stokes emotional anger for profit, risking fairness.​ ​ Victim impact statements: Their rise has led to more emotional storytelling by the media, reinforcing the idea that justice is about victims' feelings rather than societal good.​ Key Quotes: ​ On the media spectacle:​ ​ ​ "This time it was different. It seemed O'Donoghue's release was a natural extension of a story that had created sensational headlines for several years."​ ​ ​ On public fatigue:​ ​ ​ "There was a sense of public fatigue with media coverage of the case: it had been reported on almost continuously for nearly four years."​ ​ ​ On crime as news material:​ ​ ​ "Crime, in all its elements, therefore satisfies the demand by media outlets for new events or new developments to report on when other news may be relatively scarce."​ ​ ​ On news values:​ ​  ​ "Crime satisfies all these news values in a more consistent and dependable way than politics, sport or economics."​ ​ ​ On trial media coverage:​ ​ ​ "Without qualified privilege, the media would not be able to publish both sides of the story without the risk of being sued for libel."​ ​ ​ On televising real trials:​ ​ ​ "In the real world, criminal trials, for the most part, are not exciting and tend to involve a lot of minute detail."​ ​ ​ On the clash between justice and media:​ ​ ​ "Certain media outlets take on the roles of prosecutor, judge and jury and seek retribution for the victim rather than considering the greater good of society."​ ​ ​ On emotional exploitation:​ ​ ​ "Emotionally charged anger and grief sells; unemotive legal logic does not." ​