Sociology Crime

Outline two ways in which crime may benefit society.

1. Boundary maintenance

Crime and its punishment reminds people where the boundaries of acceptable behaviour are. Durkheim argues that public condemnation of criminals reinforces the collective conscience and strengthens social solidarity.

2. Social change

Deviance can challenge existing norms and allow society to develop. Durkheim argues that all social change begins with some form of deviance.

Outline two reasons why punishment may not be effective in controlling crime.

1. Harsh punishment can create further deviance

Braithwaite argues that disintegrative punishment can isolate offenders from society, encouraging them to form deviant subcultures and increasing reoffending.

2. Punishment may fail to reintegrate offenders

If offenders are simply punished rather than reintegrated, they may develop a lasting criminal identity. Reintegrative shaming is more effective because it condemns the behaviour while maintaining the person's bonds with society.

Outline two ways that the nature of capitalism may cause people to commit crime.

1. Poverty and survival

Marxists argue capitalism creates class inequality and poverty, meaning some working-class people may turn to crime because legitimate opportunities are limited.

2. Consumerism

Capitalism encourages people to want consumer goods through advertising. Those who cannot afford them may turn to utilitarian crime such as theft to obtain them.

Outline two reasons why deviant subcultures exist.

Status frustration

1.Cohen argues that working-class boys may fail in middle-class schools and experience status frustration. They form delinquent subcultures where mainstream values are turned upside down and they can gain status.

2. Unequal opportunities

Cloward and Ohlin argue that people have unequal access not only to legitimate opportunities but also to illegitimate opportunity structures, encouraging different types of deviant subculture.

Outline three functions that crime and deviance may perform.

1. Boundary maintenance

Punishing criminals reinforces society's collective conscience.

2. Social change

Deviance challenges existing norms and allows society to adapt and progress.

3. Warning device

High levels of deviance can show that an institution is not working properly, warning society that something needs to change.

Outline three criticisms of the labelling theory of crime and deviance.

1. Too deterministic

It can make people appear controlled by labels and ignore individual choice and agency.

2. Doesn't explain the original deviance

Labelling explains what happens after someone is labelled but doesn't fully explain why they committed the initial deviant act.

3. Doesn't explain where stereotypes come from

Labelling theory explains how labels are applied but is weaker at explaining why particular stereotypes develop.

Outline three ways in which the media may contribute to an increase in crime rates.

1. Moral panics

The media can exaggerate deviance and create a moral panic, making a particular group appear threatening.

2. Deviancy amplification

Exaggerated reporting can produce increased social control. This can cause the group to become more hostile towards society, increasing deviance and creating a deviancy amplification spiral.

3. Crime as entertainment

Repeated and sensational coverage can make crime appear normal, exciting or widespread, potentially encouraging copycat behaviour.

Outline three reasons for ethnic differences in patterns of crime.

1. Labelling and stereotyping

Becker/Cicourel: police may use stereotypes of the “typical criminal”, resulting in some ethnic groups being more heavily policed.

2. Selective enforcement

Marxists argue that law enforcement can disproportionately target ethnic minorities and working-class communities, affecting official statistics.

3. Institutional discrimination

Ethnic minorities may experience unequal treatment within the criminal justice system, meaning differences in official crime statistics may partly reflect patterns of policing and prosecution, rather than actual offending.

Outline three reasons for social class differences in patterns of offending.

1. Poverty

Working-class people may experience economic deprivation, creating pressure to commit survival crime.

2. Consumerism

Capitalism creates pressure to consume. People who cannot legitimately afford consumer goods may commit theft.

3. Unequal opportunities

Merton argues that society encourages people to pursue success but does not provide everyone with equal legitimate means of achieving it. This creates strain and can lead to innovation.

Analyse two reasons why the role of the criminal justice system may not always result in reduced crime.

Labelling can create further offending

The criminal justice system may label someone as a criminal. Becker argues that deviance is created through the application of labels. Once labelled, an individual may be treated according to their master status, rather than as a whole person. This can restrict employment and social opportunities, pushing them towards a deviant career. Therefore, the criminal justice system can unintentionally increase rather than reduce crime.

Punishment can encourage deviant subcultures

Harsh punishment can isolate offenders from mainstream society. Braithwaite argues that disintegrative punishment may encourage offenders to associate with other offenders and develop deviant subcultures. Reintegrative shaming is therefore potentially more effective because it maintains social bonds.

Evaluate Marxist explanations of crime.

Argument FOR Marxism

Marxists argue that capitalism is criminogenic because inequality, poverty and consumerism create pressures towards crime. Capitalism also produces crime among the ruling class because businesses face pressure to maximise profit.

Snider argues that the capitalist state is reluctant to introduce laws that threaten business profitability.

Pearce argues that laws can give capitalism a “caring” face, creating false class consciousness and distracting workers from exploitation.

Argument AGAINST

Marxism can be too deterministic because not everyone experiencing poverty commits crime.

It can also be criticised for being gender and ethnicity blind, because traditional Marxism focuses heavily on class.

Neo-Marxist improvement

Taylor, Walton and Young reject economic determinism. They see crime as a conscious, meaningful and political choice, rather than simply something people are forced into by capitalism.

evaluation

Left Realists argue that Neo-Marxists can romanticise working-class criminals as “Robin Hoods”, while ignoring the real harm crime causes to working-class victims.

Judgement

Overall, Marxism is valuable because it explains why some crimes are more likely to be criminalised and why crimes of the powerful can be hidden, but it cannot explain all crime because gender, ethnicity, individual choice and differences between capitalist societies also matter.

Analyse two reasons for social class differences in official crime statistics.

Reason 1: Selective policing

Cicourel argues that police use typifications or stereotypes of the “typical criminal”. This can lead police to concentrate on working-class areas, increasing the likelihood that working-class people are stopped, arrested and recorded.

STEREOTYPE → TARGETED POLICING → MORE ARRESTS → HIGHER OFFICIAL STATISTICS

Reason 2: Corporate crime is less visible

Corporate crime may be committed by wealthy people but is often under-reported, receives limited media attention and may be dealt with through civil penalties rather than criminal prosecution.

Therefore, official statistics can make working-class crime appear much larger than it actually is.

Analyse two ways that punishment may help to maintain social order.

Reason 1: It reinforces boundaries

Durkheim argues that punishing criminals reminds society about the difference between right and wrong. Public condemnation reinforces the collective conscience and creates social solidarity.

Reason 2: It can reintegrate offenders

Braithwaite's reintegrative shaming allows society to condemn the behaviour while maintaining the offender's social bonds. This can reduce reoffending and prevent the development of criminal subcultures.

Analyse two reasons for social class differences in becoming a victim of crime.

Reason 1: Working-class areas may experience greater exposure to street crime

Social and economic deprivation can concentrate certain types of crime in poorer communities. Working-class people may therefore experience greater exposure to crimes such as theft and violence.

Reason 2: Corporate crime can affect everyone but is less visible

Corporate crime can cause major financial, physical and environmental harm. However, it is often less visible and under-reported because victims may not recognise themselves as victims.

Analyse two reasons that crime reduction strategies may not always be successful.

Reason 1: Labelling can produce deviance amplification

Crime reduction strategies involving intense policing or social control may cause certain groups to become heavily labelled. This can produce a self-fulfilling prophecy and deviance amplification.

Reason 2: Punishment may produce reoffending

If punishment isolates offenders rather than reintegrating them, offenders may form deviant subcultures and develop stronger criminal identities.

Evaluate the view that crime and deviance are inevitable and beneficial for individuals and for society as a whole.

FOR: Durkheim — crime is inevitable

Crime is inevitable because:

1. Inadequate socialisation
Not everyone is socialised equally into society's norms and values.

2. Subcultural diversity
Different groups have different norms, so behaviour considered normal by one group may be considered deviant by another.

🟢 FOR: Crime can benefit society

Boundary maintenance:
Punishing criminals reinforces the collective conscience.

Social change:
Deviance challenges existing norms and allows society to progress.

Safety valve:
Crime/deviance can release social tension.

Warning device:
High levels of deviance can indicate that an institution is failing.

🔴 AGAINST: Too much crime threatens society

Durkheim does not argue that unlimited crime is beneficial. Excessive crime can weaken social order and undermine social solidarity.

🔴 Marxist criticism

Marxists argue that crime is not simply inevitable because of human/social diversity. It is strongly connected to capitalism and class inequality.

Capitalism creates:

poverty + consumerism + competition → crime

🔴 Labelling criticism

Labelling theorists argue that crime is socially constructed. An act becomes deviant when society labels it as such.

Therefore, crime may not be an inevitable objective feature of behaviour; definitions of crime change between societies, cultures and situations.

🏆 Judgement

The strongest conclusion is:

Crime is inevitable in the sense that some form of deviance exists in every society, but it is not necessarily beneficial for everyone.

Crime can strengthen social solidarity and encourage change, but excessive crime harms victims and social order.

What does Durkheim say about crime?

Crime is inevitable and universal because of inadequate socialisation and subcultural diversity.

What are Durkheim's two main functions of crime?

Boundary maintenance + social change.

What does Merton say causes crime?

A strain between cultural goals and legitimate means.

What is Merton's key criminal response?

Innovation = accepting society's goals but using illegitimate means to achieve them.

What does Cohen explain?

Status frustration among working-class boys who fail within the middle-class education system.

What do Cloward and Ohlin add?

People have unequal access to illegitimate opportunity structures as well as legitimate ones.

What does Marxism say about capitalism and crime?

Capitalism is criminogenic: its inequality, consumerism and competition generate crime.

What does Snider say?

The capitalist state is reluctant to introduce laws that threaten business profitability.

What does Pearce say?

Laws can give capitalism a “caring face” and create false consciousness.

What do Taylor, Walton and Young argue?

Crime is a conscious, meaningful and political choice, not simply something workers are forced into.

What does Becker say?

Deviance is created through labelling. No act is inherently deviant in every society or situation.

What does Cicourel say?

Police use typifications/stereotypes of the typical criminal, influencing who gets targeted.

What does Lemert say?

Primary deviance occurs before labelling; secondary deviance occurs after labelling.

What does Braithwaite say about punishment?

Reintegrative shaming maintains social bonds, while disintegrative shaming isolates offenders.

WHO DO I USE?

Question mentions…	Think…

Crime is inevitable

Durkheim

Crime benefits society

Durkheim

Social change

Durkheim

Strain / goals and means

Merton

Working-class boys

Cohen

Status frustration

Cohen

Illegitimate opportunities

Cloward & Ohlin

Capitalism causes crime

Marx

Laws favour businesses

Snider

Caring face of capitalism

Pearce

Crime as conscious choice

Taylor et al

Labelling

Becker

Police stereotypes

Cicourel

Primary/secondary deviance

Lemert

Punishment/reintegration

Braithwaite

Corporate crime

Sutherland

Crime learned through others

Sutherland

Techniques of neutralisation

Sykes & Matza