Exam 3 CCJ 230

sociological theories

social arrangements and inequality can produce crime

social structure

how society is organized. The social and economic conditions affect behavior and attitudes, as well as arrangements, as causes of crime. social ecology- the study of humans in their environment

social process

sociological pathology

crime is a symptom of social “Sickness”. Emile Durkheim

simple societies

modern industrial ones results in two structural conditions, egoism and anomie

Egoism

lack of social integration

anomie

lack of moral regulation, normlessness

social disorganization

structure of cities, neighborhoods, communities. Crime is caused by breakdown of social bonds and social control and confusion about how to behave

Park and burgess

Mapping concentric zones

Shaw and McKay

Delinquency with inner-city changing racial groups.

social disorganization: the revival

crime is higher when there is low participation in voluntary organizations, few community ties, low levels of collective efficacy, high degrees of residential mobility, population density, single parent homes, dilapidated housing, more poverty.

social disorganization and social economy strengths and limitations

structural analysis, addressing its methodological issues, although some remain, says place and people both make a difference, social disorganization is “natural to modern society, " and race issues.

Anomie and strain theory

frustration resulting from failing to achieve goals; strain → anger→ crime (tension between culture and structure)

Robert Merton

social structure and anomie- adaptations typology. Societies have cultural goals and prescribed means to achieve goals. Ex→ capitalistic societies, goal is weath “Get rich or die trying”

Robert Merton’s adaptation typology part of strain theory

Conformity→ accept institutionalized means, accept cultural goals

Innovation→ reject institutionalised means, accept cultural goals

Ritualism→ accept institutionalized means, reject cultural means

Retreatism→ Reject institutionalized means, reject cultural means

Rebellion→new means, new goals

Issue with merton’s strain theory

economic motivation assumption

Agnew and general strain theory

considers economic and non-economic strain. Strain is caused by removing positive stimuli and introducing negative stimuli. increases the likelihood of criminal coping.

general strain theory and terrorism

terrorists often justify their movements in strain.

Subcultural theories

there are subcultural environments through which adolescents adopt pro-deviant norms. influenced by merton and addresses his limitations. subcultures rooted in economic and other types of strain

Strengths and weaknesses of subcultural theory

addresses how social group norms affect crime(Gangs, juveniles, etc.) Doesn’t account for upper or middle-class crime or how people adopt pro-deviant norms.

sociological theories: focus on process

learning, control, lifecourse all contribute to social process

socialiization

learning of social norms, values, and attitudes. can learn to reject both mainstream social norms and delinquent ones over your lifetime

social learning theories

Behavior and attitudes are learned through interactions with others. criminality as the result of socialization process, influenced by consensus theory. people can be socialized into deviance.

What is the agent of socialization that criminologists focus on?

before school age- Parents, once in school- Peers

Edwin Sutherland

arguably the most famous criminologist and learning theory: differential association. Why do people in high crime neighborhoods turn to crime and others no? association with deviant peers found to increase likelihood of delinquency. extended to white collar crime.

Differential association

criminal behavior is learned, through process of communication, principally in intimate personal groups, (1) techniques and (2) deviant attitudes, (un)favorability of laws, favorability of violating law def.s > unfavorability of violating law def.s, variation, same learning process as in other areas, motivations not sufficient enough to explain crime.

Learning theories

addressing sutherland: how do people adopt deviant attitudes through differential association. differential id theory, social learning theory, differential reinforcement theory

Differential ID theory

you look to reference groups (someone you look up to)

Social learning theory

Aggressive tendencies learned through conditioning and modeling

Diff reinforcement theory

criminal behavior learned when reinforcements from others

applications of learning theories

jail and prisons, boston marathon bombers.

criminogenic media

media that is hypothesised to be a direct cause of crime. Hypothesis that individuals especially young people may imitate crimes they see in media. no causal link found between violent media and violent behavior. Media may inspire offenders.

Learning theory strengths and weaknesses

great empirical support, “watershed in criminology”, casualty criticism: peers→crime or crime→peers, not all crime influenced by peer groups, difficulty to study and measure acceptance of unfavorable def.s, difficult to study and measure acceptance of unfavorable def.s, where did the values come from in the first place.

Travis Hirschi

social bond theory, social institutions keep us from breaking laws: attachment,belief, commitment, involvement.

control theory

asks why do people not become criminals? assumes human nature=selfish, antisocial, capable of crime. Society controls our behavior. 2 types of control: social (External), self-control (Internal).

self-control theory

In childhood, individuals develop self-control, which keeps people from engaging in crime/deviant/risky behaviors

control theories strengths and limitations

great acclaim, empirical support, overstating the issue, casualty: some weak relationships, focus on minor deviance, chicken or the egg: social bonds/control

life course perspectives

emphasises progression through a series of age-linked social roles embedded in social institutions. includes biological aging, social age grading, historical events

socialization and social ties

help society restrain from chaotic aspirations that would lead to a more deviant society.

social integration

the amount of social ties a person has. a person with weak social ties have less support

social ecological theories, anomie strain theories, subcultural theories

good chart

Social pathology

crime originates from a social sickness, coined by emile durkheim

theories of neutralization

the reasons criminals come up with to deal with the shame and guilt of crime

relative deprivation

a perceived discrepancy between what an individual or group has and what they believe they should have, leading to feelings of discontent and potential criminal behavior.

broken windows theory

a criminological theory that suggests visible signs of disorder and neglect cause an increase in crime. It emphasizes maintaining urban environments to prevent crime.

subculture of violence

explains the high level of violence in certain communities, where violent behavior is normalized and accepted as part of the culture.