Crime and deviance

What is crime?

actions which are considered bad enough to be formally punished

What is deviance?

behaviours which transgress what is considered normal in society

What are the ways that crime are recorded?

official police stats , British crime survey, self report studies

What are official crime stats?

crimes recorded by police and criminal justice system

What are the positives of using official stats?

can show trends in criminality and victimisation, used to make decisions on funding, can compare with other years

What are the problems with officials statistics?

not all offences are reported or recorded, may be mis-recorded as something else, some crimes may not be investigated, some stats may be manipulated

According to HMNICFRS how many crimes are unreported?

285,000

What are crime surveys?

When people are asked about the crimes committed against them

What is the biggest crime survey?

England and wales crime survey, studies 50,000 households

What are the problems with crime surveys?

peoples don’t always know a crime was committed against them, crimes could be recorded incorrectly, relies on people’s memories of the past 12 months

What are self report studies?

a focus where peoples are asked about the crimes they have committed

Why can crime be considered a social construct?

people’s definition of crime varies between time period, culture and age

What does Durkheim believe about crime?

it is inevitable and a certain amount if necessary for a healthy society

Why is crime inevitable according to Durkheim?

not everyone is socialised into shared norms and values effectively, some subcultures have different norms and values

What are the 4 positive impacts that crime can have?

adaption and change, boundary maintenance, warning light, prevents more serious crimes

What is boundary maintenance?

when a crime produces condemnation from society which promotes social cohesion and shared norms and values

What is adaption and change?

when changes to norms and values starts as a result of deviance

What is the warning light?

shows where problems might be in society

How can minor deviance prevent more serious crime?

allows that person to feel some satisfaction without committing more serious offences

What are some criticisms of Durkheim’s theory about crime?

ignores the impact of crime on the victim, doesn’t specify how much crime is needed, Marxists argue that it only focuses on the crimes of the W.C., doesn’t promote social solidarity for the criminals

What is Merton’s strain theory?

strain is caused when people are not able to achieve their goal of the american dream because they are disadvantaged by their background

What are the responses to strain according to Merton?

Conformity, Ritualism, Innovation, Retreatism, Rebellion

What is conformity?

when someone achieves the american dream through legitimate means usually the middle class

What is Innovation?

when someone uses illegitimate means to reach the american dream, usually the working class

What is Ritualism?

when a person has given up on the american dream but has internalised legitimate means so continues in a low paying job

What is Retreatism?

when individuals reject the goals and values of the american dream and reject legitimate means

What is Rebellion?

when someone rejects societies goals and instead strives for revolutionary change including political radicals and counter culture

What are the positives of strain theory?

explains why W.C. people more likely to commit crimes

What are the negatives of strain theory?

Underestimates white collar and middle class crimes, deterministic, only talks about utilitarian crime,Marxists think it ignores the power of the ruling class, takes crime stats at face value

What did Cohen theorise as the reason for deviance?

status frustration

What is status frustration?

when the working class is prevented from reaching the american dream so they become frustrated

What does Cohen view crime as compared to Merton?

a group activity

What do working class boys face in middle class schools?

anomie

What is the result of working class anomie?

forming delinquent subcultures with opposite norms and values to mainstream culture which allows them to gain status through breaking the rules

What is the strength of Cohen’s explanation of deviance?

explains non-utilitarian crime

What is the weakness of Cohen’s explanation of deviance?

assumes W.C. boys start with the same values and goals as the middle class

How does Miller criticise Cohen’s theory?

the lower classes have their own goals and values

What is Cloward and Ohlin’s explanation for deviance?

different subcultures have different reactions to lack of opportunities there are 3 main subcultures: criminal, conflict, retreatist

What is a criminal subculture?

offers a career in utilitarian crime with a hierarchy and criminal network and opportunity to climb the ladder 

What is a conflict subculture?

in areas with high population turnover, and social disorganisation so no criminal network but disorganised gangs that use violence to release frustration and gain status from their territory

What is a retreatist subculture?

those who fail and illegitimate and legitimate means of success turn to illegal drug use

What are the strengths of Cloward and Ohlin’s theory?

explains the different kinds of subculture and that not all areas provide same opportunities for illegitimate success

What are the weaknesses of Cloward and Ohlin’s theory?

ignores the crimes of the wealthy, over-predicts amount of W.C. crime, draws too strict boundaries between the types of crime

How does Matza criticise Cloawrd and Ohlin’s theory?

delinquents are not strongly committed to a subculture or type of crime

What is recent strain theory?

people pursue goals other than money which can lead them to delinquency

What is institutional anomie theory?

Messner and Rosenfeild argue that people are encouraged to do anything to become wealthy under capitalism so crime is inevitable

What does Becker argue about crime?

that nothing is a crime until other people say it is

Who is a deviant according to labelling theory?

people who have been labelled so

Why are crime stats constructed?

those who are labelled as criminal are over policed leading to more arrests skewing crime stats to confirm bias

What do moral entrepreneurs do?

cause moral panic and encourage laws to be changed in order to ‘crackdown’

What leads to new or expanded social control agencies?

efforts to control people marginalised and demonised by moral panic

Who has the ability to change the law in order to fit with their morality?

powerful and rich

What is negotiation of justice according to Cicourel?

when people who don’t fit the stereotypes of criminals giving them the ability to negotiate their punishment which others wouldn’t be able to get away with 

What is typifications?

when police officers have stereotypes or ideas about how criminals will be leading to them targeting those people leading to more arrests confirming their bias

What is primary deviance according to Lemert?

when a minor crime is committed and no body witness’s it so the person is not labelled a criminal

What is secondary deviance according to Lemert?

when deviance is witnessed and so the person is labelled as a criminal

What is master status?

someones defining feature according to society( if they have committed a crime, criminal will be their master status)

How can the self fulfilling prophecy lead to criminal behaviour?

someone will be labelled as a criminal and they will be treated as much leading to them reacting and acting as a criminal

What is the deviant amplification spiral?

when attempts to control deviance results in more deviance leading to a spiral

What are folk devils?

people who are demonised in a moral panic and treated as the enemy and marginalised from society

How is a moral panic created and what is the result?

press exaggerates and distorts events leading to moral entrepreneurs call for a ‘crackdown’ so the police respond and arrest more people leading to the groups reacting and becoming more extreme

What is criminogenic?

when something causes crime

What is the Marxist explanation for criminal behaviour?

capitalism is criminogenic and the W.C. can feel powerless and alienated so they commit crime for an alternative source of power, or it is a rational response to poverty caused by capitalism

Which peoples do the law and agencies benefit?

ruling class

What does Box say about the ruling class?

they engage in activities which cause death or serious harm but they are protected through laws such as health and safety

What does Snider say about governments?

they don’t want to pass laws that will restrict business or profit as this could affect their donations

What does Chambliss say about the law and the rich?

laws are shaped to protect property and profit and that the are part of a crime syndicate

What does Gordon day about crime?

it is a rational response to crime as the values of capitalism are greed, profit, competition and materialism

What does Reiman say about the ruling class?

they are more likely to commit crime but less likely to be treated as a criminal

What does Pearce say about laws passed to protect the W.C. ?

they really have loop holes and are rarely prosecuted

What are the weaknesses of the Marxist explanation for crime?

deterministic viewpoint, crime exists in communist nations, victimises criminals,male-stream - alpha bias, not all laws passed benefit the ruling class

What are the strengths of the Marxist explanation for crime?

explains why working class and ruling class commits crime, explains why crime rates increase when people get poorer

What do Taylor, Walton and Young agree with trad. Marxism about?

exploitation of capitalism key to understanding crime, state creates rules which benefit capitalism and criminalises the W.C., capitalism should be replaced

What view of trad. Marxism does Taylor criticise?

crime is committed out of economic necessity and caused by external factors

What is Taylor et al explanation for crime?

takes a voluntaristic view that crime is a conscious choice often with political motives

What perspectives does Taylor et al aim to combine?

Marxism and labelling theory

What must a complete theory of deviance include?

wider origins of the act, immediate origins of act, the act, immediate origins of social reaction, wider origins of social reaction, effects of labelling

What is the evaluation of Neo-Marxist theory about crime?

‘gender blind’, romanticises criminals as ‘robin hoods’, to general and idealistic to explain crime or be used to tackle crime