criminology unit 2

sociological theories

Durkheim’s functionalism, Merton’s strain, Marxism, Left realism, right realism, Becker’s labelling

Durkheim’s functionalist main ideas

Crime is inevitable and has positive functions

Boundary maintenance

Re affirms whats right and wrong by making an example of those who break the law

social change

For society to progress existing norms and values must be challenged

social cohesion

After any horrific crime, society pulls together as a community

Merton’s strain theory main ideas

certain strains or stressors increase the likelihood of crime, strains lead to negative emotions, crime is a possible response

structural factors

society’s unequal opportunities structure

cultural factors

The strong emphasis on success goals and the weaker emphasis on using legitimate means to achieve them

Marxism main ideas

capitalism causes crime, the rich upper class and the working class are in conflict

crimogenic capitalism

capitalism encourages us to value material goods and those that cannot afford that turn to crime to obtain them

explain how capitalism promotes greed

middle class are frustrated so commit crimes such as vandalism. Laws are made by the upper class and so they protect the upper class with laws being more leniant to the upper class

left realism causes of crime

marginalisation, relative deprivation, subcultures

marginalisation

People on the margins of society are not represented

relative deprivation

people recognise that they are less well off than others and so commit crimes to close the gap

subcultures

Those who cannot achieve in mainstream society will turn to a subculture

solutions to left realism

Multi agency approach to policing and tackling structural causes

right realism causes of crime

rational choice, inadequate socialisation, biological differences

rational choice

deciding to commit a crime based on a rational calculation of the consequences

inadequate socialisation

Effective socialisation reduces the chances of engaging in crime

biological differences

personality differences e.g anger and low IQ lead to offending

solutions of right realism

zero tolerance policy and target hardening

Becker’s labelling theory ideas

The act done by a person is not deviant rather that the labelling caused it to be viewed as such

primary deviance

acts that have been labelled as deviant

secondary deviance

results from labelling once someone has been labelled deviant further deviance is likely

self fulfilling prophecy

Once a label is given, the person who has been labelled will live up to the label

cicourel

argues that justice is negotiated

Individualistic theories

Eyesnck’s personality, Freud’s psychodynamic, Differential association, operant learning, social learning

Eysenck’s personality main ideas

Certain personality types are more likely to commit crime. Extravert’s, neurotic’s and psychotic’s are more likely to commit crimes.

Freud’s psychodynamic theory main ideas

Personality contains active forces that cause us to act as we do, id, ego and super ego

What is the id

controls our selfish urges

what is the ego

seeks rational and sensible control

what is superego

moral conscience, there needs to be a balance between the three

Sutherland’s differential association main ideas

individuals learn criminal behaviour through their links with others, particularly peers and family.

Operant learning theory

If a particular behaviour results in a reward it is likely to be repeated. The cause of someones behaviour lies in the reinforcements and punishments to shape it

Bandura’s SLT

Aggression can be learned from watching others behave in an aggressive manner. Bobo doll experiment

Genetic theories

XYY, Adoption studies, Biochemical, Brain injury, Twin studies

Jacob’s XYY main ideas

Some males are born with an extra y chromosome, these males are thought to be moe aggressive and more likely to be violent. XYY men are over represented in prisons

Adoption studies main ideas

Hutchings and Mednick studied 14,000 adopted children and found a high proportion of boys who had committed crimes had biological parents with criminal records suggesting crime may be gemetoc

Biochemical

The chemistry of the brain is influenced by many things including diet. Having low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin is linked to being more aggressive than others. People who take large amounts of steroids can become extremely biolent

Brain injury

Damage to prefrontal cortex might cause individuals to have a change in behaviour. They might become more immature and lose their self control.

Who was phineus gage

Man who got a pole through his pre frontal cortex who’s personality changed

Twin studies main ideas

A heritable trait might increase the risk for criminal behaviour. When both twins share a characteristic there is said to be a concordance rate. Concordance rates are higher in identical twins that non identical twins

Physiological theories

Lombroso’s theory, Sheldon’s theory

Lombroso’s theory main ideas

Criminals have physiological indicators that link to different types of crime. These are biologically determined atavistic characteristics.

What characteristics do criminals have in lombrosos theory

High cheekbones, strong jaw, facial asymmetry, bloodshot eyes

Sheldon’s theory main ideas

Someone’s criminal behaviour is linked to their physical form. Ectomorph, endomorph, mesomorph. Mesomorphs are most likely to commit crime

Evaluation of functionalism

Durheim argues that a certain amount of crime/ deviance is healthy for society but does not indicate how much is the right amount

evaluation of marxism

Ignores non class inequalities such as gender or ethnicity

evaluation of left realism

Theory is too soft on the criminal as it doesnt explain how the criminals should be dealt with

evaluation of right realism

They are overly concerned with street crime and ignore corporate or white collar crimes which may be more costly and harmful to society

evaluation of interactionalism

It tends to be deterministic not every one accepts their labels

evaluation of strain theory

strain theory only really explains economic crime, it doesnt really explain violent crime

evaluation of psychodynamic

It van be very difficult to prove or disprove. Freud said criminality is part of the unconscious which is impossible to research

evaluation of personality theory

Measuring personality using a questionnaire is a flawed research method. Respondants might get fed up during the test and just put an answer without reading the question

Evaluation of SLT

Doesnt explain why people from crime-ridden backgrounds don’t go on to commit crime

Evaluation of XYY

This theory focuses too heavy on genetic and ignores the environmental causes of someone’s behaviour

Evaluation of Twin studies/ adoption studies

The small sample sizes involved in twin studies dont represent the general population and therefore we can’t generalise the findings

Evaluation of biochemical

Doesnt explain non violent crimes such as fraud that are committed by people who aren’t on steroids

evaluation of lombroso’s theory

Not everyone with atavistic features is a criminal and not all criminals have atavistic features. This means there must be another factor involved in determining whether someone is a criminal

evaluation of Sheldon’s theory

Ignores the fact that ectomorphs and endomorphs can and do commit crimes

Evaluation of Brain injury theory

Ignores the fact that people without damage to their pre frontal cortex also commit crimes

name 3 biological theories

3 of: twin/adoption studies, neurochemical, brain abnormality, jacob’s XYY, sheldon’s somatotypes.

name 3 individualistic theories

3 of: Bandura’s SLT, Sutherland’s differential association, Freud’s psychoanalysis, Eysenck’s personality, Bowlby’s theory

name 3 sociological theories

3 of: Marxism, Merton’s strain, Interactionalist/ labelling, Right realism, Left realism

What system is used in behaviour modification and how does it work

Token economy: Rewards for good behaviour

What is psychoanalysis treatment

patient verbalises their thoughts

give one biological criminological theory used to inform policy development

1 of: neurochemical, eugenics or death penalty

give one sociological theory used in policy development

1 of: SCP, zero tolerance, restorative justice, multi agency approach

One social change that led to policy development and explain how briefly

smoking - studies found that proved it is harmful, campaigns, legislation such as tobacco advertisement act 2002

give 2 of the 3 social changes

2 of: public perceptions of crime, demographic changes, cultural changes

give 1 newspaper campaign

1 of: sarah’s law, bradford telegraph

give 1 individual campaign

1 of: bobby turnbull anti gun, Clares law( domestic abuse)

give 1 pressure group campaign

1 of: British lung foundation, Howard league for penal reform

What did the British lung foundation do

aimed to prevent lung disease by campaigning. Raised awareness. Helped change views. Passed legislaton such as children and families act 2014 banning smoking in cars with childre.

give 1 example of how laws change in different places

Possession of cannabis: illegal in england and wales, legal in Columbia and uruguay

one example of how laws change over time

homosexuality: legalised due to campaigns and changed views and culture

one example of how laws are applied differently due to circumstances

criminal responsibility: age is 10 in the uk but is 12 in canada and 16 in china

What part of the brain is damaged for a brain abnormality

pre frontal cortex

what was used to try to prove brain abnormality in criminals

Raine et al used PET scans to study criminals brains and found damage to the pre frontal cortex

what effects brain chemisty in the neurochemical theory

Diet, pollution, blood sugar levels, low levels of seratonin, steroids

give 1 example of a learning theory

SLT

what three parts of the mind did freud develop

id, ego, superego

4 personality types by Eysenck

Extraversion, Intraversion, Neuroticism, psychoticism

why is Durkheims functionalist theory different

believes that crime is functional and only becomes dysfunctional when the rate is too high or too low

What is Anomie in mertons strain theory

loss of shared principles or norms

What is reatrism

Rejecting society’s prescribed goals and the conventional means of attaining them

Bowlby’s theory of attachment main ideas

maternal deprivation, unstable home environment can lead to criminality, no guilt