Crime and Deviance

What are the 3 sociologists who name a positive function of crime

Cohen - warning sign

Davis - Safety Valve

Durkheim - Boundary maintenance and adaption

How does crime perform the function of boundary maintenance

crime reinforces societies shared rules through punishment, creating social solidarity

• Cohen ‘dramatisation of evil’ through folk devils

How does crime perform the function of adaptation and change

social deviance provokes progress, without society will become stagnant

• for example science challenging religion

How does crime act as a warning sign

It shows that something is not functioning as it should

How does crime act as a safety valve

Minor crimes can prevent more serious Ines for example pornography can prevent sexual assault

Evaluation of functionalist perspective of crime

1. ignores the role of the powerful in shaping what is criminal

2. ignores the impact of crime on individual victims

3. doesn’t quantify how much crime is beneficial to society

What is strain theory and what are the 5 different types of strain

Merton argues crime is a response to the strain placed on people to achieve the goals and values of society

1. conformity - accepting goals and the means to achieve them

2. innovation - accepting goals but not the means

3. ritualism - following the means but believing you will never achieve them

4. rebellion - rejecting goals and means and replacing

5. retreats - rejecting goals and the means but not replacing

what is an evaluation point for strain theory

doesn’t explain non utilitarian crime

What are the 2 subcultural theories

Status frustration - Cohen

Illegitimate opportunity structures - Cloward and Ohlin

What is it meant by status frustration and what is an evaluation of this

WC boys get frustrated as they can’t achieve societies goals due to cultural deprivation so they commit crimes to gain status

EV - Willis argues that WC boys don’t even start of sharing the same goals as MC boys

How do Cloward and Ohlin present a different view to Merton

there is also unequal access to illegitimate opportunity structures

• criminal subcultures - neighbourhoods with long-lasting criminal culture

• conflict subcultures - high population some access to crime

• retreatist subcultures - fail in career in legitimate and illegitimate opportunity structures

What is an evaluation of Cloward and Ohlin

Over predicts the amount of WC crime

What is the institutional anomie theory

Obsession with money and the ‘winner takes all mentality’ creates crime by encouraging a ‘anomic cultural environment’ - people take a ‘anything goes’ mentality in pursuit of wealth

• undermines all other institutions - eg schools focused on the labour market

How does Platt prove crime is a social construction

the idea of ‘juvenile' delinquency’ was created by UC Victorian moral entrepreneurs aimed at protecting young people at risk

How does Cicourel claim officers decicions to arrest are influenced by

typification - common sense theories of what the typical delinquent is

• for example probation officers were less likely to support non-custodial sentences for youths who were from poverty and broken homes

• shows that justice is not fixed but negotiable

What do interactionalist argue about crime statistics

they are a social construction and they only tell us about the actives of the police and the prosecutors

What does primary and secondary deviance refer to

Primary - deviant acts that have not been publicly labelled and have little significance for an individuals self concept

Secondary - deviant acts which have been publicly labelled and result in the label becoming the individuals master status + cause a deviant career

How does Young support secondary deviance

prosecution of marijuana users in Notting Hill led to drugs becoming their central activity

What is the deviance amplification spiral

the attempt to control deviance leading to more deviance through labeling

What is reintergrative and disintergrative shaming

reintergrative - labelling the act but not the actor

disintergrative - labelling the actor and the act

How does functionalism explain class differences in crime

WC has established their own independent subculture in which their norms clash with mainstream culture - leads to conflict with the law eg: toughness

How does strain theory explain class differences in crime

WC opportunities to achieve in legitimate ways are blocked eg educational achievement leading to ‘innovation’

How do subcultural theories explain class differences in crime

Cohen - form delinquent subculture to cope with the idea they cannot legitimately achieve mainstream goals

Cloward + Ohlin - illegitimate opportunity structures

How do labelling theories explain class differences in crime

focus on whether WC actually committ more crime or it is just crime statistics which potray this idea

In what 3 ways do Marxists explain crime

1. criminogenic capitalism

2. the state and law making

3. ideological functions of crime and law

How does criminogenic capitalism explain crime

crime is inevitable in capitalism because it causes crime

• poverty

• desire for consumer goods

• alienation leading to frustration

• profit motive for corporate crime

How does the state and law making explain crime

laws to protect private property, preventing laws which threaten their interests, selective enforcement

• eg: limited laws to protect the distribution of wealth

What are the ideological functions of crime and law

laws are passed to appear to be for the benefit of the WC but exist to give capitalism a caring face, these laws are rarely enforced

• eg 2007 law against corporate homicide only only prosecution in 8 years of a UK company

Evaluation of marxist explanation of crime

1. deterministic

2. not all capitalist societies have high crime rates

3. ignores relationship between gender and crime and ethnicity

what is white collar crime

crime committed by a person of high social status within their occupation

what is the distinction between corporate crime and occupational crime

corporate - committed by employees for their firm in pursuit of its goals

occupational - committed by employees for their personal gain

what are financial crimes

tax evasion, money laundering… victims include shareholders, tax payers and governments

what are crimes against consumers and what is an example

false labelling and selling unfit goods

• Poly implant Prothese sold breast implants filled with dangerous cheap silicone

what are crimes against the government and what is an example

illegal pollution of land, air or water

• Volkswagen installed software that allowed engines to emit levels 40x above the legal limit

what are crimes against employees and what is evidence

sexual discrimination, wage law violations, health and safety

• Tombs concludes that 1100 work related deaths a year involve employers breaking the law

what are state corporate crimes

when government institutions and private corporations cooperate to pursue goals and commit a crime

why are corporate crimes invisible

the media, lack of political will, complexity, de-labelling, under reporting

why might corporate crime have partial visibility

neoliberal policies of marketisation and privatisation mean that large corporations are much more involved in peoples lives, making them more exposed to public scrutiny

how does strain theory explain corperate crime

Box

if a company cannot achieve its goal of maximising profit by legal means, it may employ illegal ones instead (this means that when buisness conditions worsen crime increases)

• Clinard and Yeager found that law violations increased when their peformance worsened showing an increase in willingness to ‘innovate’

how does differential association explain corporate crime

Sutherland

Sees crime as behaviour learned from others in a social context. This means that if a companies culture justfies committing crimes employees will be socialised into this criminality

• Geis found that individuals joining companies where illegal price fixing was practiced were more likely to use it in the future

how does differential association link to techniques of neutralization

individuals deviate more easily if they can produce justifications to neautralise moral objections to their misbehavior

how does labelling theory explain corporate crime

firms experience de labelling through being able to hire expensive lawyers and accountants to help them avoid being labelled as a criminal

how do marxists explain corporate crime

capitalism is criminogenic - capitalism causes crime through creating the pressure to maximise profits

• Box - capitalism has creates a mystification through spreading the idea that corporate crime is less harmful than working class crime

what is an evaluation of strain theory and marxism’s explanation of corporate crime

they over predict the amount of firms who would commit crimes if it wasnt for the fear of punishment

what is evidence corporate crime is not always committed for profit maximization

law abiding may be more profitable - eg study shows that US pharmaceutical companies that complied with FDA regulations were able to acess markets in poorer countries

what do right realists claim crime is caused by

• biological differences

• socialization

• rational choice theory

how do biological differences cause crime

Wilson and Herrnstein

personality traits such as agressivness, low impulsive control and risk taking

• the main cause is low intelligence

how does socialisation cause crime

Murray

crime is a result of welfare dependancy - ‘generous revolution’ leads to an increase in lone parent families where boys are not socialised adequetly

what is an evaluation of murrays ideas

no evidence

how does rational choice theory explain crime

crime is a rational choice made after weighing up the costs and benefits. From this it is clear punishments are not harsh enough

evaluations of right realist ideas on the cause of crime

• ignores wider structural causes eg poverty

• overstates rationality

• 2002 study shows that IQ differences account for a 3% difference in offending

how do right realists propose to tackle crime

punishment, control and containment

• zero tolerence - any undesirable behaviours eg begging

how sucessful was zero tolerence

new york it ‘worked’ but crime was already falling for 9 years b4 the policy was implemented

what does Young argue the purpose of zero tolerence was

for police to justify their existence

what are other criticisms of zero tolerence

• ignores corporate crime

• gives the police free will to discriminate

how do left realists differ from right realists

still claim crime is a real issue but it effects the disadvantaged disproportionately

what is Young’s aetiological crisis

a crisis in explanation

the increase in crime from the 1950’s was explained by an increase in reporting however it was real

what do left realists claim crime is caused by

• relative deprivation

• subculture

• marginalization

how does relative deprivation cause crime

as living standards have increased, people now feel more deprived compared to others creating resentment and subsequently commit more rime

how does Young use relative deprivation to explain crime

claims that it is relative deprivation coupled up with individualism which weakens families and communities, eradicating the informal control which once prevented crime

how does subculture cause crime

crime is a collective reaction from groups who cannot achieve mainstream goals

• different groups produce different subcultures (some may seek to close the ‘deprivation gap’ whereas some may turn to religion - ‘theodicy of dis privilege’ Weber

how does marginalization caused crime

these groups have no organization or clear goals to represent their interests (eg unemployed youth who just have frustration) leading to violence and rioting

how does Young argue that late modernity has cause crime

we are now past the ‘golden age’ of capitalism leading to higher insecurity and exclusion through industrialization which increases unemployment and destabilizes the family

how does Young argue that relative deprivation has increased in late modernity

greater inequality and free market values encourage individualism and therefore relative deprivation

• media promoting consumerism

• emphasis on leisure

why does Young argue that crime is becoming increasingly present throughout the whole social structure

relative deprivation exists throughout each social class - MC resent WC for being lazy, resentment at high earners eg footballers,

how does Young argue that response to crime is changing in late modernity

less public consensus on what is right and wrong blurring the boundary and making people more intolerant. Post modernity is a high crime society with low tolerance for crime

what does Young say the problem is with a falling crime rate

causes another aetiological crisis - the theories explain how crime has increased from 1950’s to 1990’s however crime has fallen after the 1990’s suggesting crime is no longer a threat

Young - argues that because crime is a social construction it may still be seen as a problem

how does Young explain why anti social behaviours have increased

governments increasing focus on deviance through ASBO’s have created more crime through their subjectivity, flexibility and ‘blurring the boundaries of crime’

how do left realists claim crime should be tackled

• policing and control

• structural causes

how does policing and control tackle crime

the public should have more control about determining the policies priorities and style of policing

• military policing - dependency on the public to provide them information about the crime, this declined in effectiveness due to the public’s decline in tolerance for the police

hence why police need to improve their relationship with communities through spending more time investigating crime

how does tackling the structural causes tackle crime

as the causes of crime lie in inequality within society we must solve this to eliminate crime eg poverty, employment…

how have left realists influenced government policy

new labours ASBO’s, hate crimes… to protect vulnerable groups from crime

• critisised by Young for attempting to recreate the golden age of the 1950’s, rather than tackling causes they focused on the symptoms

evaluation of left realism

• ignores corporate crime

• don’t explain motives due to use of quantitative data

• not everyone who is relatively deprived commits crime

what stat shows that men commit more crime than males

3 out of 4 convicted offenders in England and Wales are male

why are women less likely to be reported for crime

the chivalry thesis

most criminal agents are men and men are socialised to act in a chivalrous way towards women

what is evidence to support the chivalry thesis

self report studies shows that men were 2.33x more likely to offend wheras offical stats show that men are 4x more likely

what is evidence against the chivalry thesis

many male crimes do not get reported eg: domestic violence and sexual assault

how do feminist argue the criminal justice system is biased against women

courts treat women more harshly when they deviate from gender norms eg motherhood

what did carlen find about women and scottish courts

women were more likely to be jailed if their child was in care

how does the functionalist sex role theory explain gender differences in crime

Parsons

expressive and instrumental roles mean that boys do not always have a present male role model, they reject feminine models of behaviour and engage in ‘compensatory compulsory masculinity’ through aggression and anti social behaviour

critisism of parsons view on gender differences in crime

it is based on untested biological assumptions on sex differences

how does heidensohn’s patriarchal control explain gender differences in crime

patriarchal society imposes greater control over women reducing opportunities to offend

• control at home - expressive role confines them to the house

• daughters - ‘bedroom culture’

• control at work - subordinate position

how does carlen explain gender differences in crime

humans act rationally and are controlled by being offered a deal of rewards in return for conforming to their gender roles, WC women do not think these rewards are worth it

what are the deals carlen refers to and why are these rewards not suitable for working class women

the gender deal - material and emotional rewards for being a housewife (WC women had been abused or spent time in care)

the class deal - material rewards for working (cant find a legitimate way of finding it)

what is evidence to support carlens argument

32 out of 39 of the women had always been in poverty

what is an evaluation for carlen and hidensohn’s study

• assumes women are controlled by external forces and dont have free will

• Carlen’s sample was small

how does the liberation thesis explain gender differences in crime

if women are liberated from patriarchy crimes will become as frequent as men, hence feminism has lead to a new female criminal through adopting male roles in legitimate and illegitimate activity eg fraud

what is evidence to support the liberation thesis

the rate of female offending increased in the second half of the 20th century

what is a criticism of the liberation thesis

the female crime rate started rising in the 1950’s wheras the womens liberation movement was in the 1960’s

what explains womens increased presence in crime within stats

net widening - no change in womens involvement, justice systems have just widened the net (self report studies dont show an increase)

who is more likely to be a victim of crime, men or women

men are more likely to be a victim of violence overall however 5x more women than men report to having been sexually assulted

how does masculinity explain the gender difference in crime

masculinity is an accomplishment - men have to constantly work at presenting it to others, some achieve hegemonic masculinity through crime

• white WC youths - less chance at educational success hence constructing masculinity around being tough

what are criticisms of the idea that hegemonic masculinity causes gender difference in crime

masculinity may not actually be an explanation of crime but instead a description of male offenders

how does Winlow explain the gender difference in crime

deindustrialisation leads to a decline in male jobs and an increase in jobs like bartending or clubs allowing men to express their masculinity in ways that promote crime

how does Winlow use the idea of bodily capital to explain his theory

an organized professional criminal subculture has emerged under postmodern conditions through the nighttime economy, men must use their bodily capital too maintain their employable eg through being a bouncer

what stat shows the difference between black population and prison population

black people make up 3% of the population but 13% of the prison population

what are the problems with victim surveys

they rely on memory and only cover personal crimes

how is racism ingrained into stop and search

black people were 9x more likely to be stopped and searched than white people

why is racism ingrained into stop and search

• police racism

• ethnic differences in offending

• demographic factors (more likely to be unemployed and manual workers)

how is racism ingrained into arrests and cautions

lack people are 3x more likely to be arrested - could be due to them exercising their right to legal advice