AQA Crime and Deviance - Sociology

Functionalist - Durkheim

He believes that crime happens because modern societies have complex and sophisticated division of labour, which leads to individuals becoming gradually more different from each other. He therefore argued that a weakening of shared values (also known as a "collective conscience") leads to the likelihood of more deviant acts being committed. (ANOMIE)

Functionalist - Davis

Argued that prostitution acts as a safety valve for the release of androcentric sexual frustrations, without threatening the structure of the monogamous nuclear family.

Functionalist - Polsky

Argued that pornography safely channels sexual desires away from such things as adultery and therefore ensures that the structure of the family remains intact.

Functionalist - A Cohen

He believes that deviance can help us to identify the areas of society that need work to make them better. For example: high levels of truancy may indicate that there is a problem with the education system. This then enables the problems to be fixed as something is obviously wrong.

Functionalist Merton's strain theory

Tries to explain why crime occurs in the first place by suggesting that social order is based on consensus view of social goals and an approved means of achieving them. For example: most people share an idea of what success means, this is normally being wealthy and having their own home with high value material possessions. People also agree on the ways of achieving this goal, this usually takes the form of education. As by attending school and getting good grades leads to higher education and eventually into a well paying job. therefore that are achieving the goal.

Functionalist Cohen

Came up with the idea of "status frustration", by which working class boys are left behind by society because the means for achieving the prescribed goals do not work for them. They the commit crime because it is a way for them to vent their frustrations and make themselves feel better. The means that society accepts to be able to reach the goals are not taught and valued in their culture and therefore they are a t a distinct disadvantage.

Marxist Willis

He concluded that the working class boys often did not share the same definition of "status" as the middle class boys. He found that they defined educational failure as success because the factory jobs they were aspiring for did not require any exam results to get the jobs they want. Compared to the middle class jobs that do require good exam results.

Functionalist Miller

Argues that crime occurs because the working class simply exaggerate the mainstream values of the working class subculture. He also states that the working class subculture has developed "focal concerns", which gives meaning to the working class's lives when they are not working.

Six focal concerns:

Fatalism- accepting an attitude of failure

Excitement- seeking immediate gratification, doing things because you get an adrenaline rush

Autonomy- self sufficiency/independence

Smartness- relates to street smarts and not intelligence.

Trouble- getting into trouble for the sake of it.?

Toughness- valuing physical toughness to solve problems by fighting rather than diplomatically.

He suggests that the deviancy of the working class was directly related to their culture, which goes against the norms and values of mainstream culture.

Marxist Box

Pointed out that the beliefs identified by Miller could quite easily apply to all males right across the class structure.

Functionalist Cloward and ohlin

Argue that the type of crime committed by young people depends on the type of illegitimate opportunity structure that is available to them. The identify three types of illegitimate opportunity structures and argue that they create three different types of subculture.

Criminal careers:

This describes how in some areas of society there are established patterns of crime. This may include organised crime where members of a criminal organisation almost mirror the roles of a professional business. This includes employees having specific jobs and being able to be promoted into higher and more important roles. This creates an organised criminal subculture.

Conflict:

In some inner city areas that tend to be mainly working class members of society engage in highly masculinized territorial or respect driven violence. This creates a conflict subculture.

Failure to gain access:

If young people fail to gain access to either the criminal or conflict subcultures they often turn to activities such as drug use and burglary, in order to fund the drug habit. This is called a retreatist subculture.

Functionalist Matza

Most working class people experience status frustration but do not become delinquents.

Only a minority of youth become delinquents.

Some people drift in and out of deviancy but grow out of it by adulthood.

When trying to justify and or give a reason for behaving in a deviant way young people rarely mention the subculture, therefore suggesting that it isn't the main reason for their behaviour.

Sub-cultural theories generally neglect the roles of the police, who may target young working class people as potentially criminal, leading to them being stopped and searched more frequently than people of a higher class. This leads to the percentage of working class people being arrested being dramatically higher than that of the middle or upper class.

Marxist Gordon

Under Marxism the dominant class use society to benefit themselves and their own interests, this is usually at the expense of the marginalised class.

Marxist - Althusser

The law is just another tool that the dominant classes use to achieve their aims and maintain inequality.

Marxist - Box

Argues that when an employer cause the death of an employee through negligence it is considered a civil rather than a criminal issue. This explains that the law is on the side of the ruling classes because the people that make the laws also belong to the ruling classes, therefore they are going to pass laws to benefit them and keep the poor in their place.

Marxist - Reiman

The more likely a crime is to be committed by the ruling classes the less likely it is to be seen as traditionally criminal, for example he argues that white collar crime is under policed and under punished (purse snatching vs. fraudulent bank practices).

Marxist - Slapper and Tombs

Argue that corporate crime is under policed and rarely punished.

Marxist - Althusser

Argues that the law is part of an ideological state apparatus. It is used by the ruling classes as a way to control and maintain behaviour.

Marxist - Pearce

Even the laws that seem to benefit the working class, like the workplace health and safety laws, actually benefit the ruling classes because they maintain a fit workforce.

Marxist - Croall

Defines white collar crime as "crime committed in the course of illegitimate employment, which involves the abuse of an occupational role".

She suggests that this type of crime is far less likely to be punished for the following reasons:

These offences are very hard to detect as they happen in private settings and not in public.

They are often victimless or do not directly affect the victim.

Responsibility for the crime is often spread through the company, rather than being linked to one individual.

Many of the groups who are supposed to regulate these offences often only warn the offenders about their behaviour rather than punishing them for it.

These crimes include very complex processes in which it is uncertain whether some actions were made within the boundaries or not. This means that it is very hard to define whether they are criminal or not.

Left Realist - Taylor, Walton and Young

These sociologists are referred to as the key thinkers of neo-marxism, also known as "new criminology".

They believed in a fully social model of crime with six key factors that are considered when examining any sort of criminal or deviant act. They are:

Wider origins:

Immediate origins:

The act:

Immediate origins of social reaction:

Wider origins of social reaction:

The effects of labeling:

Marxist - Gilroy

His studies surround mostly young, black men. He suggests that crime is committed because they are reacting to the historical poor treatment of their culture. He argues that individuals turn to crime in order to speak and lash out against unjust systems.

Neo Marxist - Hall et al.

Focuses on the social side of crime, and stated that the police cherry picked statistics (1970's) in order to create a moral panic about black people being more likely to be muggers.

New Right - Murray

Talked a lot about the so called "underclass" and he believed that labeling was not the main source of criminal behavior, but rather socialization. He described how children of the underclass would learn criminal behaviour from their parents and their culture during primary and secondary socialization. This suggests that a vicious cycle is the main cause of crime rather than the external labels associated with individuals.

Neo-Marxism

believes that crime is a response to poor treatment, therefore criminal behaviour has nothing to do with the labeling of an individual, but rather their past experiences that they feel are dire enough to retaliate against.

Feminist - Adler

Argued that women were now less likely to be controlled by the patriarchy and that this liberation meant that they had greater opportunities to engage in criminal behaviour.

Feminist -Carlen

Argued that women suffer double deviance in the judicial system, being judged not only based on their crime but on their inability to adhere to the sociological norms and values attached to gender.

Feminist -Carlen

Argues that women commit crime because of a failure within society to uphold either:

1. The gender deal - Patriarchy offers women emotional and social rewards in return for adhering to gendered roles.

2. The class ideal - Women who work will be offered material rewards, such as a decent standard of living and pay.

Masculinity - Messerschmidt

Argued that men were socialized into "hegemonic masculinity", which encouraged them to partake in aggressive behaviours.

Feminist - Heidensohn

Argued that women were less likely to commit crime as they were controlled to a greater extent within society. therefore there were fewer opportunities for them to commit crime.

Postmodernist - Katz

Suggested that young males engage in criminal behaviour because of the associated risks and the thrill of getting caught and testing social boundaries.

Feminist - Pollack

Chivalry Thesis: suggested that women were more leniently treated in the penal system due to the chivalry effect (sympathy like lenience as women more likely to be seen as sad, rather than bad).

Masculinity - Connell

The idea of multiple masculinities and that not all men buy into the idea of hegemonic masculinity. this creates a marginalized masculinity as not all men can fit the ideals, Eg: Homosexuals, not physically strong and well built men.

This argues against the idea of all men committing more crime.

Feminist - Smart and Oakley

Suggest that males are more likely to be socialized into aggressive, self-seeking and individualistic behaviour that may make them more inclined to take risks and commit criminal behaviours.

Feminist -McRobbie and Garber

Found that teenage girls lives revolve around what is known as "bedroom culture", they are more likely than boys to socialize with friends at home rather than in the streets. consequently, as most crime happens in public places, girls are less likely to commit a criminal offence.

Left Realism - Lea and Young (1984)

Developed left realism as a response to Traditional and Neo-Marxism. they accuse Marxist theories of:

1. Not taking working class crimes seriously and romanticizing them as Robin Hood characters.

2. Failing to take victimization seriously, most victims are poor and deprived.

3. Trad and Neo-Marxism has not practical policies to reduce crime.

left realism

Crime is a problem, especially in inner city areas. the sort of crime that worries people is street crime, Eg: Mugging, Violence and Robbery. Those who are at the greatest risk of becoming victims are the poor, who also have the biggest fear of crime. Most people don't care about white collar crime as it does not directly effect them.

Relative deprivation

People compare themselves to others, which causes discontent as they see themselves as materially deficient compared to others. therefore they may turn to crime to fulfill the desire to be better or equal to others.

Marginalization

Some groups of people find themselves on the edge of society, economically, socially and politically. they face social exclusion through factors such as poor educational achievement, unemployment and a lack of involvement. Crime can become the only was to express their feelings.

Subculture

Deviant working class subcultures emerge as group solutions to the problems of relative deprivation and marginalization, which all starts with social inequality.

Left Realist Young (1999, 2003)

Argues that modernization is media saturated, everyone even the poorest are drawn into middle class consumer culture. This is done through constant exposure to advertising of material items and media generated lifestyles. People at the bottom of the class structure cannot afford to live the lifestyles that consumer culture wants them to, therefore they may turn to crime to meet this expectation.

Bulimic society (young)

The working class gorge themselves on middle class consumerism (Eg: New trainers and a new phone), but because of the social disadvantage they face they are statistically more like,y to re-offend or commit crime, consequently losing their consumerist items they worked for. they "throw up" middle class culture, once they've lost it because of prison sentences, Ect..

Right realist Wilson

developed Right realism in the 70's and 80's. This theory was to have a big impact on social policy, but it is not interested in tackling the causes of crime. they see crime as a real problem and not a social construct, they want practical solutions to crime and deviance.

Social Bond: Attachment

People are less likely to commit crime because they are committed to the needs and feelings of others.

Functionalist Hirschi

four social bonds - Commitment, Attachment, Belief, Involvement. - mean people are less likely to commit crime

Social Bond: Commitment

People do not commit crime because they have something to lose (a job or family) and they do not want to jeopardize these things.

Social Bond: Belief

People do not commit crime because they have a share moral code that condemns such actions.

Social Bond: Involvement

People do not commit crime because they are a part of a team in society, they don't want their actions to potentially harm another person in that team.

Right realist - Wilson and Herrnstein (1985)

Put forward a Bio-Social theory of criminal behaviour. Crimes are caused by both biological and social factors.

Right realist - Herrnstein and Murray

Argue that the main cause of crime is low intelligence, which they also see as biologically determined.

Feminist Oakley

Suggested that gender role socialisation, especially in working class culture, might result in boys and men subscribing to values that promote criminality and criminal behaviour.

Masculinity Messerschmidt

Argued that boys in the UK are socialised into hegemonic masculine values system that stresses a difference from female values. There are particular masculine values that need to be achieved to be classed as a "real man":

1. Respect from other men

2. Power

3. Objectification of women

4. Toughness

5. Territorial loyalty

6. Emotionally "hard"

7. Risk taking behaviour

8. Seeking thrills