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CRIMINOLOGY UNIT 2 AC 4.1 INFORMING POLICY
DEVELOPMENT (2025/2026) EXAM AND ANSWERS
If we can understand how/why people engage in criminal behaviour, it follows
that strategies can be developed to prevent and/or reduce crime. Knowledge
around crime has led to a range of policies. - (answer)Policies can be:
Formal- (think of formal sanctions) given by official bodies like police and courts
e.g fine, custodial sentence
Informal- given by people around them/they have a choice to engage with it e.g
psychoanalysis
Crime control- to reduce the amount of crime
State punishment- punishment! loss of freedom etc prison
Diet - (answer)-Research has shown diet can be modified to try to change anti-
social behaviour.
-Artificial colourings such as tartrazine are known to encourage hyperactivity
which can lead to offending, removing these from a diet can help to reduce
criminal offences in children.
-All prisons in the UK attempt to embrace the balance of the good health model
by providing nutritionally balanced and healthy diets.
*It is a crime control policy as it is aiming to reduce the amount of crime and can
be formal since prisons serve balanced food and you get what you are given.
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Diet- supporting evidence- - (answer)-Virkkunen et al 1987 found violent
offenders had a lower than average serotonin turnover. It can be treated by
having a diet with foods that contain serotonin such as salmon and fresh tuna.
Serotonin helps to stabilise mood and therefore reduces aggression in offenders.
-Gesch et al 2002 studied a volunteer sample of 231 young, adult, male prisoners.
They took either a daily vitamin, mineral or a placebo. Psychological tests of
violent behaviour and the number of reports of disciplinary action were recorded.
The findings showed the number of disciplinary incidents for those taking
supplements dropped by 35% compared to a reduction of only 10.1% in the
placebo group.
-Raine also did research where a group of 3 year olds from Mauritius were given
enriched diets of fish, exercise and cognitive stimulation and by 23 findings show
they were 64% less likely than a control group not on the programme to have
criminal records. (EEG scans used to measure brain activity).
Assess the effectiveness of diet in informing policy development - (answer)There
is evidence to suggest that modifying a prisoners diet is effective in treating
violent anti-social behaviour, Gesch et all 2002 studied a volunteer sample of 231
male prisoners and found those taking supplements had a 35% reduction in
disciplinary actions compared to a placebo control group whose violent behaviour
only dropped by 10%
On the other hand there are limitations to how useful this policy is, as there may
be other factors that determine what people can eat, for example people in
poverty may not be able to afford fresh fish. Alongside this people may have
allergies and this may restrict what they can eat. Lastly not everyone with a poor
CRIMINOLOGY UNIT 2 AC 4.1 INFORMING POLICY
DEVELOPMENT (2025/2026) EXAM AND ANSWERS
If we can understand how/why people engage in criminal behaviour, it follows
that strategies can be developed to prevent and/or reduce crime. Knowledge
around crime has led to a range of policies. - (answer)Policies can be:
Formal- (think of formal sanctions) given by official bodies like police and courts
e.g fine, custodial sentence
Informal- given by people around them/they have a choice to engage with it e.g
psychoanalysis
Crime control- to reduce the amount of crime
State punishment- punishment! loss of freedom etc prison
Diet - (answer)-Research has shown diet can be modified to try to change anti-
social behaviour.
-Artificial colourings such as tartrazine are known to encourage hyperactivity
which can lead to offending, removing these from a diet can help to reduce
criminal offences in children.
-All prisons in the UK attempt to embrace the balance of the good health model
by providing nutritionally balanced and healthy diets.
*It is a crime control policy as it is aiming to reduce the amount of crime and can
be formal since prisons serve balanced food and you get what you are given.
, 2|Page
Diet- supporting evidence- - (answer)-Virkkunen et al 1987 found violent
offenders had a lower than average serotonin turnover. It can be treated by
having a diet with foods that contain serotonin such as salmon and fresh tuna.
Serotonin helps to stabilise mood and therefore reduces aggression in offenders.
-Gesch et al 2002 studied a volunteer sample of 231 young, adult, male prisoners.
They took either a daily vitamin, mineral or a placebo. Psychological tests of
violent behaviour and the number of reports of disciplinary action were recorded.
The findings showed the number of disciplinary incidents for those taking
supplements dropped by 35% compared to a reduction of only 10.1% in the
placebo group.
-Raine also did research where a group of 3 year olds from Mauritius were given
enriched diets of fish, exercise and cognitive stimulation and by 23 findings show
they were 64% less likely than a control group not on the programme to have
criminal records. (EEG scans used to measure brain activity).
Assess the effectiveness of diet in informing policy development - (answer)There
is evidence to suggest that modifying a prisoners diet is effective in treating
violent anti-social behaviour, Gesch et all 2002 studied a volunteer sample of 231
male prisoners and found those taking supplements had a 35% reduction in
disciplinary actions compared to a placebo control group whose violent behaviour
only dropped by 10%
On the other hand there are limitations to how useful this policy is, as there may
be other factors that determine what people can eat, for example people in
poverty may not be able to afford fresh fish. Alongside this people may have
allergies and this may restrict what they can eat. Lastly not everyone with a poor
