Criminology In The News | Mental Health and Violent Crime

In the aftermath of the death of a 14-year-old boy in London last month, the Mayor Of London, Sadiq Khan has warned of the dangers of cutting provision to mental health services and how it is leading to an increase in violent crimes.

The suspect in the murder is said to have been triggered by a history of mental health issues and comes shortly after the murder of two students in Nottingham by Valdo Calocane, who attacked and murdered Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, and was said to be suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.

Calling for an increase in funding for mental health provision, Khan criticised cuts to NHS mental health services during the past 14 years and pledged to invest in a pilot scheme of introducing counsellors and mental health first aiders in schools.

Find out more by looking at the article below from the Guardian (1/5/2024) and answer the questions below.

https://www.theguardian.com/so...

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS!

1. Which criminological theories would suggest that mental health issues might lead to increased criminality?
2. Sadiq Khan mentions cuts to mental health services as being partially responsible for the rise in violent crimes. Identify one way that access to mental health services might have prevented these crimes
3. How might interactionists react to the link Khan has made between mental health and violent crime
4. Khan also highlights the impacts of poverty as an increased cause of crime. Which criminological approaches might agree with this point?
5. Khan proposes an increase in spending on local services to combat the impacts of poor mental health. In mentioning the role of schools, what type of approach is he taking to crime prevention?