The purpose of this unit is for you to develop skills in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the process of social control in delivering policy in practice.

Why do most of us tend to obey the law even when to do so is against our own interests?

What social institutions have we developed to ensure that people do obey laws?

What happens to those who violate our legal system?

Why do we punish people?

How do we punish people?

What organisations do we have in our society to control criminality or those who will not abide by the social rules that most of us follow?

We spend a great deal of taxpayers' money on social control, so how effective are these organisations in dealing with criminality?

Most people in our society are law-abiding and unwilling to break laws. Law-breaking is frequently of the petty variety, so serious crime and repeat offending is often restricted to a few people who cannot or will not abide by the rules that most of us consider to be so important. Society has had to develop a complex system of mechanisms, processes and organisations to ensure that people do not break the law. If they do commit crime, society needs to be protected from their behaviour.

These social institutions each have different mechanisms, ideologies and policies. You will learn something of their variety, how they work and their effectiveness in preventing and protecting us from criminality.

Through this unit, you will learn about the criminal justice system in England and Wales and how it operates to achieve social control. You will have gained an understanding of the organisations which are part of our system of social control and their effectiveness in achieving their objectives. As such, you will be able to evaluate the effectiveness of the process of social control in delivering policy in different contexts.