Sociology paper 3: Crime and deviance

What is Crime?

Term used to describe behaviour which is against criminal law, law breaking behaviour

What is deviance?

Refers to rule breaking behaviour of some kind which fails to conform to the norms and expectations of a particular society.

Anthony Giddens

Social changes have made distance and national borders for less important as barriers between social groups.

What happens in one society has a ripple effect and can quickly influence other societies anywhere in the world.

Post modernists argue globalisation is a significant feature of contemporary society. This process has a significant impact on crime. Crime itself is becoming increasingly global. Effects of globalisation can have knock-on effects on criminality.

Castells

There is now a global criminal economy worth over £1 trillion.

Human trafficing, organ trafficing, cyber crimes, green crimes, international terrorism, drugs trade.

Transnational crimes

Criminals are operating in different countries and fleeing which makes it harder for the police to moniter.

Global risk consciousness (Beck)

Much of our knowledge about risk comes from the media, which often gives an exadurated view of the dangers we face. For example, negitive coverage of immigrants portrayed as terrorists or scroungers has led to hate crimes against minorities in several european countries.

Globalisation creates new insecurities and produces a new mentality of ‘risk consciousness’ in which risk is seen as global rather than tied to a particular location. For example the increased movement of people, as economic migrants seeking work or asylum seekers fleeing persecution, has given rise to anxieties among western countries about the risks of crime and disorder and the need to protect their borders.

Misha Glenny

Glenny uses the term McMafia to describe the way that organised global crime networks operate in the same way as legtitimate buisness. ie there are ‘zones of production’ ie heroin in afganistan. These criminal gangs also have zones of distribution ie herion enters the uk via an established route. These criminal gangs know who their consumer market is - zones of consumption. ie services such as prosititution are consumed in western countries

Global crime affecting local crime

Global crime networks often serve and feed off established criminal networks in western countries. Crime is increasingly ‘glocal’ in charachter (Hobbs and Dunningham) This means that crime is still locally based but is now more likely to have global connections.

Illegal drugs trade - local prices and profit for drug dealers in the uk are determined by the availablity and price of drugs around the world. It also depends how efficient drug gangs can move drugs around the world.

Prostitution - Girls on street corners or being abused in the uk have been trafficked by an eastern european gang

Smuggling - Ie cigarettes and alchahol to avoid paying tax. Glenny estimated that the uk lose about £6 billion a year in lost taxes from cigarette smuggling

The impact of globalisation on crime

It has created new oppotunities for carrying out crime ie cyber crime, darkweb and trafficking.

Globalisation has reinforced consumerism- the concsumption of products. The inability to achieve the status and goals marketed by capitalism leads to rising crime in western socieities- think mertons strain theory and marxists who claim capitalism is crimonogenic

What is cybe crime?

Illegal activities carried out via computers and networks (eg the internet)

It is mostly infomational: aimed at acsessing or stealing data

It uses digital tech eg mobiles, pcs or consoles

non-local perpatrators and victims often in different countries

Examples of cyber crime

Identity and data theft: Data breaches, dark web sale, phishing follow-ups

Internet fraud/scams: covid-19, romance. ‘microsoft tech support’

Hacking: Kevin Poulson (APRNET, pentagon)

3D printed illegal products: guns drugs ect

Cyberwarfare: State level attacks, alleged operations by russia

What is state crime?

‘Illegal or deviant activities perpetrated by or with the complicity of state agencies.

They are commited by or on behalf of states and governments in order to further their policies or best intrests

Chambliss

Marxist- crimes of the powerful

Sociologist should investigate ‘state organised crime’ as well as crimes of capitalism

Examples of state crimes

Genocide, torture, imprisoned without trial, war crimes (an act carried out during the conduct of a war that violates accepted international rules of war)

McLaughlin

4 categories of state crime

1. political crimes - corruption/censorship

2. Crimes by security/police forces - genocide, torture, disappearance of dissidents

3. Economic crimes - official violations of health and safety rules

4. Social and cultural crimes - institutional racism

Herman and Schwendinger

We should define crime in terms of the violation of basic human rights not law breaking. States that deny individuals human rights are criminal

British case studies of state crime

Hillsborough disaster

Grenfell tower

Post office scandal

Why is state crime so serious

1. the sheer scale of it, huge numbers of victims are powerless to the state and state crimes are often large scale

2. states can escape punishment - they are powerful and corrupt. They can create their own laws. They can hide and escape punishment. Lack of justice

3. Its very difficult for other countries or external authorities to intervene because of boundries and global political ramifications

4. Many countries simply ignore or dont accept some human rights

Durkheims views on crime

Durkheim recognised that crime was inevitable and exists in all cultures

It is inevitable because people are socialised differently - not everyone understands, learns or accepts social norms and so they become deviant. Life styles are now complex and diverse so subcultures emerge which have their specific norms and values that conflict with mainstream

Durkheims positive functions of crime

1. Boundary maintenace - there is a boundry between good (law abiding citizens) and bad (Rule breaking citizens). society will regularly reinforce good behaviour and when someone commits a crime and they are punished this means that this line is maintained

2. Adaot and change - A law has been broken but it leads to eventual adaption/change in law and societal norms and values. Persistant breaking of a certain norm is a warning sign that the criminal justic system or social institution is not fit for purpose

3. Sanctioned rule breaking as a safety valve - Some low-level criminal behaviour may be accepted if it means the person is ‘letting off some steam’ and may be appropriate in context

4. Social cohesion - Horrific crimes such as terrorism or murders often bring communities closer and create public outrage. A reaction to an awful event can strengthen social bonds between communities against the deviant.

Kingsley Davis

Watching pornography has a positive function as it can help a mans sexual urges so he can still maintain a monogomous and loyal relationship

Matza

Criticises cohen

• Delinquents do care about crime and they are equally as enraged about it

• They often excuse their behaviour with childhood trauma or ‘everybody does it’ rather than a specific loyalty to the gang or gaining status

• Only a small minority of working class youths get into trouble and they will eventually grow out of it- the boys may drift in and out of criminal subcultures.

• All members of society are prone to some devianr behaviours - not just teenage boys

Cloward and Ohlin

They differentiated between the LOS and the IOS

What is the LOS?

Legitimate Oppotunity Structure

What is the IOS?

Illigitmate Oppotunity Structure

Not everybody who fails legitimately sucseseeds illigitmately - even within the criminal world there is a heirarchy

• Built upon cohens theory by trying to further explain why there were different types of subculture that emerge in different regions

• There are Criminal subcultures - Organised crimes ‘buisness like models’ criminal networks, chain of command and recruitment/grooming

• Conflict subcultures - Urban areas may be dominated by street gangs and fight over territory/status

• Retreatist subcultures - The ‘double failures’ as they cannot sucseed at being criminals! They fail to gain acsess to these criminal and conflict subcultures so they often retreat and resort to drug use

What is rhe american dream

The pursuit of happiness and sucsess - material goods such as cars, homes and holidays

anyone who works hard and has some talent can achieve this (Meritocratic)

For many americans the goal can be achieved legitimately

Merton

Strain theory -

Strain theory argues that people enguage in deviant behaviour when they are unable to achieve social approved goals bu legitimate means

He argued that strain causes crime and deviance, Unlike other functionalists Merton did acknowledge that some people in society have unequal oppotunity. this leads to strain which then leads to anomie - a feeling of confussion, uncertainty normlessness - people dont follow societies norms and values thus commiting a crime

Different reactions and adaptions to the american dream goal

• Conformity - Majority of american society, Accept social norms and values, they choose to work hard to achieve the dream and undertake legitimate means to get there

• Innovation - The legitimate means are blocked/too many barriers so people resort to deviant solutions to achieve the dream Ie fraud. They reject the socially accepted means to get the finer things in life- they will creatively find other ways to get the dream

• Ritualism - Accept they are unlikely to achieve the dream and arent intrested or have a desire to get any material goals but are content to partake in social norms and values. Habitual/routine lifestyle

• Retreatism - Reject social norms and values. They retreat or drop out of mainstream society. might abuse drugs and alchol and involve in petty crime

• Rebellion - Challenge and rebel against the american dream. They have an alternative vision of the goal and will not accept social norms and values

Albbert Cohen’s delinquent boys

Builds upon and criticses Mertons strain theory

Focuses on Juvenille delinquency - crime commited by adolescents

Cohen argued that strain doesnt just cause individuals to commit crime - groupings of people with shared norms will form or join a subculture and commit crime as a response to not achieving societal goals and aspirations

Working class youth suffer strain in the form of status frustration - a form of anomie as they are frustrated at the lack of status they have in society - their cultural goal is to attain respect and status

They cant gain status legitmately so they gain status elsewhere

The w/c boys create an alternative status hierarchy - they can earn status through deviant and delinquent behaviours

It is anti-conformative- what mainstream society praisies, the subculture punishes. They boys get their status via alternative means

It builds upon Mertons theorys as it now explains why some working class boys commit crimes and why some people commit non - utilitarian crimes (crimes without a profit)

Criminogenic capotalism

David Gordon

The very culture and values that underpin capitalism cause criminal behaviour. Capitalist values such as competition, individualism, and money as a measure of sucsess means thats people become greedy and consequently turn to crime to get richer

Marxist views on crime

Capitalism causes crime - criminogenic crime

Increase in factory work means people lose their creativity and status - leads to

Labelling theory and crime

1. Authorities with a specific intrest define an act as deviant

2. Public accept what authorities say and respond in a negative way to a specific group

3. Group is deemed to be a threat to society and is therefore publically labelled as deviant 

4. authorities are then forced to act and do something about this group eg- arrest more people

5. Society then marginalises this group

6. This means the group is excluded from many areas of society and is then left with limited options of how to continue 

7. The label that the group has been goven becomes the persons ‘master status’ 

8. This reinforces a deviant lifestyle and can result in the emergance of subcultures (Self fufilling prophecy takes place)

Howard Becker

He stated it was all a matter of interpretation- it depends on the circumstance and wether society labels it as criminal or deviant

Becker argues that no act is inherantly criminal or deviant. it becomes criminal only when it is interprited as such by others - he calls this societal reaction

Labelling an act as deviant can be a political act

Crime is socially constructed - all crime is relitive to historical, situational, cultural and age context

Edwin Lemert

To be labelled, must mean someone witnessed you do it

Primary deviance - if the deviant act was not witnessed by others than there is no label attatched to the indivdual

Secondary deviance - If the deviant action was witnessed by others then there is a label attatched to the individual and that then will have consequences

Cicourel

The middles class can negotiate out of being classed as criminal

• Middle class might be more educated on law and their rights

• Middle class can afford a good lawyer/family might have social network connections

• Middle class parents more able to convince agents of social control that they, as parents will monitor their child closely and stay out of trouble

• Middle class might argue it was completly out of character - they had no criminal intent

• Middle class may argue that it will affect their life chances

Stan cohen

Mods and rockers - In the 1960s seaside resorts of britain, there was a percieved clash between two different youth subcultures, the mods and rockers. 

Cohen observed how the media had responded to these fights - The media caused a moral panic that caused the public to worry. the teenagers that were either labelled as a mod or rocker were now the villian, self fufilling prophecy they started to internalise this label 

Society panics which leads to an increased police presense, further tension and arrests. This is deviancy amplification

Braitwaite

Reintragative shaming - Criminal is publically shamed, feels remorse and is then accepted back into society. The criminal has learnt their mistake and society is giving them a second chance because they condem the action not the person

ALSO restorative justice - making amends with thoes who were affected by the criminal behaviour

What is realism?

They recognise that crime needs to be tackled with practical solutions - not just theory and concepts,

Real crime is happening and increasing, real victims are being impacted, realistic solutions answers and policies are needed

Underclass theory

Murray and Marsland

they argue that most crime is commited by a highly deviant, immoral and work shy culture called the underclass

underclass = problem and broken families (Often headed by single mothers) living in inner city areas such as coucil estates that socialises their children into being dependant on welfare state benefits.

Children lack father figures and are influenced by negitive role models

The new right argues that the main reason that the underclass has grown in the last 30years is the welfare state

Rational choice theory

Corinish and Clarke

they argue that criminals act freely and chose to commit crime

choice to commit crime is based upon a risk - benefit model. Small risk and big benefit = commit crime. high risk and low benefit = dont commit crime

The criminal is always weighing up the potential costs of their punishment- being caught, fines, prison ect

Right realists argue that criminals percieve the costs/risks/punishment as being minimal hence they commit crime as there is more to gain

Felson

Crime is too easy to commit nowadays

Quality of policing has deteriorated and criminals know the chance of being caught is slim

Members of the public/victims dont want to cooperate with police and are too afraid. community control is weak and criminals know this and take advantage

Punishments are too leniant and not a detterance

Broken windows theory

Decline of community in inner city areas

wilson and kelling

If a community allows its physical enviroment to decline (Broken windows, graffitti ect) then criminals will assume that local, social and community controls are not in place- they will take advantage of this and use it as an excuse to commit crime

Solution 1 - maintain the orderly character and appearance of a neighbourhood to prevent crime. this will be a detterant 

Solution 2 - Wilson and kelling also held a zero tolerance policy towards crime- undesirable behaviour such as prostitution, begging and drunk and disorderly behaviour

Issues with zero tolerance policing

Led to overpopulated prisions and relitively minor criminals being punished

crime rate in new york has already started decreasing nine years before policy was introduced

police have free reign and could discriminate- gives them much more power

doesnt tackle the cause of crime

crime just got displaced to another area

evaluation of right realism

• too agressive on minor offences such as littering, homelessness, graffitti rather than more major crimes such as murder and rape

• right realists are criticsed by marxists and left realists for ignoring the underlying issues of crime such as poverty or the criminogenic nature of capitalism

• Charles Murray is critised by labelling theorists- unfair to talk about the underclassand make assumptions- what about middle class people and white collar crime

• Right realists are criticsed by Katz who argued that crime isnt always rational, can be heat of the moment, spontaneous and irrational- more oppotunistic

• a zero tolerance policy may lead to increased police discrimination against groups such as BME and youth. Increase stop and search powers- possible hostility towards police

Left realism

Disagrees with right realist theories and argues that their view on punishements are wrong/misguided

They say they offer a solution based response to Marxist and neo-marxist theories of crime who had analysed reasons from street crime being commited by youngsters in urban areas

Lea and Young very critical of the neo-marxist perspective for ‘romanticsing’ criminals as robin hood like figures - remeber the victim in all of this

Left realists point out that working class people in inner-city areas are most likely to be victims of crime and also the criminal - want to sort this out