Sociology AQA A Level Crime and Deviance

Crime

Any act that breaks the laws of society.

Deviance

Behaviour that differs from the norms of a particular group or society.

How is crime relative/a social construction

changes depending on place, time, gender etc

For example, the death penalty is illegal in UK but legal in USA, homosexuality used to be illegal.

Criminal justice system - courts

weigh up the evidence to decide if someone is guilty or not

Police and crown prosecution service - Get the evidence to give to the correct people and enforce the law (build the cases)

Criminal justice system - Rehabilitation Schemes

rehabilitate criminals to avoid recommitting

Criminal justice system - Prison and probation service

carry out the punishments and reintegration into society

Criminal justice system - magistrates

deal with 97% of criminal cases, no jury, unpaid volunteers with no formal training

AO3 of criminal justice system juries

people who have more time e.g. older people, retired, middle class are likely to volunteer

Functions of punishment - deterrence

Deter people from committing the crime or recommitting

Functions of punishment -Incapacitation

- Taking away criminals freedom

Functions of punishment - retribution

justice for the victims

Functions of punishment - protection

Protect society from criminals

Functions of punishment - rehabilitation

Reform criminals to prevent rehabilitation

Durkheim view on punishment

reinforce boundaries of acceptable behaviour and maintain social order.

Functionalist view on punishment

Old view: retributive justice - desire for revenge against the wrongdoers

New view: restitutive justice - form of compensation for the damage caused

Marxist view on punishment

Laws are created and enforced in ways to benefit the ruling class. For example, it is more of an offence to drive without insurance than to drink drive.

Other laws criminalise working class behaviour which makes it easier for ruling class to control them.

Laws created based on capitalist principles. For example, imprisonment creates a financial punishment as you can no longer earn money, leading to lose of house, job etc.

New right view on punishment

all crime is a rational choice. If the punishment outweighs the benefits, the crime won't take place.

All punishments for crime should be harsh.

AO3 of rational choice theory/new right view on punishment

What if people don't think rationally? Drunk, mental health.

Post modern view on punishment

Foucault - theorised perfect prison where prisoners are all watched by one guard but they have no idea when they're being watched

In the 20th century, there is control over all aspects of society and all people through surveillance (disciplinary power).

Control takes place in non-criminal areas all the time.

Panoptican

prison where prisoners are all watched by one guard but they have no idea when they're being watched

post modern view on punishment similar to CCTV

This is similar to CCTV, if people believe they're always being watched they will behave well. This is 'reform' however they haven't changed their norms and values.

How prisons have changed

Previously, it was a holding place before the punishment whereas now prison has become the punishment.

Role of the prison is to act as the punishment in today's society

David Garland: serves an ideological function to decrease unemployment in society

30%-40% are unemployed in jail

Transcarceration: a cycle of agencies e.g. care ➞ juvenile ➞ prison

Alternatives to prison: welfare, treatment, non-custodial sentencing, electronic tagging

King's cross example': situational crime prevention

- Kings Cross: security cameras ↑ near King's Cross as the eurotunnel now came into King's cross = ↑ tourism. People were less likely to commit crime in these areas however, displacement of crime occurred to places such as Camden

Conflict style policing

Imposing M/C values on W/C and ethnic minorities

Higher levels of patrol rates

Imposes laws which reflect ruling class interests

Link to Chambliss - The RDU

Crime is prevented by coercion rather than working as a community

Them vs Us

Consensus style policing

close relationship between the area and the police

Represents the interests of majority

Police come from the community

individuals are caught as a result of complaints from the community

Positivist victimology

Aims to identify the patterns of victimisation

Aims to identify victims that have contributed to their own victimisation

Attempts to identify victim proneness: potential victims are different to non-victims making crime more likely against them

AO3 of positivist victimology

Ignores the structural causes that may contribute to crime e.g. poverty

Can tip into victim blaming

Can't account for victimless crimes e.g. vandalism

Critical criminology

Structural factors that place poor or powerless people at the bottom of society means they are at greater risk of being victims

The state has the power to apply/deny the label of victims

For example, teenage girls joining ISIS

Criminal label: they decided to join ISIS

Victim Label: victims of grooming

Judge Dewar

Rape victims are blamed for the attack: Judge Dewar

Had to resign after he let a rapist go free because 'sex was in the air'

Patterns of victimisation

The average chance of someone being a victim is 1:4 but the risk isn't evenly spread

Indirect victims - Pynoos

Friends, relatives and witnesses to crimes taking place e.g. stress

Secondary victimisation

as well as a victim of crime, they can also be a victim of injustice in CJS

Fear of victimisation

Surveys show this can be irrational e.g. women are more likely to be scared of being attacked but men are more likely statistically

Durkheim view on crime and punishment (functionalist)

Argued norms, custom and laws define acceptable behaviour and have coercive power over people.

The rules for conformist behaviour are passed on from one generation by socialisation e.g. media, family, education.

Values become internalised into everyone's mind as collective conscious (collective idea of what is wrong/right)

When we deviate/commit crime, our behaviour will attract a range of negative sanctions from agents of socialisation (social control).

Society of saints (functionalist)

if everyone is expected to behave perfectly, any sign of behaviour that is seen as 'different' or 'not normal' would be classed as deviant.

Crime is inevitable (functionalist)

'society of saints' - if everyone is expected to behave perfectly, any sign of behaviour that is seen as 'different' or 'not normal' would be classed as deviant.

Unsuccessful socialisation - not socialised into the same norms/values as as everyone else has, may not fit in the social cohesion and may commit crime due to different values

Crime as a result of social change (functionalist)

Can perform a positive function to allow society to recognise that it's 'unwell' and can adjust/change in order to maintain an equilibrium.

Social change means individuals may become unsure of the norms and values of society

Therefore, they are consequently breaking them creating a weaker collective conscious.

Durkheim saw anomie expressed through crime and suicide, marital breakdown etc.

AO3 of society with no crime

Society with no crime = no social change e.g. North Korea - people are too scared to commit crime due to social control and dictatorship.

Anomie

When there has been a collapse of the collective conscious so people begin to act in their own self interest because they aren't sure/can't relate to the shared norms and values

Crime is beneficial and functional (Functionalist)

If crime occurs, it can alert social problems that can then be fixed

AO3 of crime being functional and beneficial

- Ignores white collar crime (financial crime)

Some groups see prison as a status symbol, not a punishment

Ignores the social structure in creating crime e.g. poverty

Ignores the victim saying that crime is beneficial

Modern functionalist view on crime - Ned Polsky

Pornography is good for the family, prevents sexual violence and adultery as males are less likely to carry it out.

AO3 of Ned Polsky

watching sexual violence in porn can normalise it.

Modern functionalist view on crime - Kingsley Davies

Prostitution is good for nuclear families as it prevents divorce and family break. It allows the man to release sexual frustration

AO3 of Kingsley Davies

ignores the wife and prostitute

Robert Merton - Strain theories

In a capitalist society, the dominant goal that most people aim for is monetary success, material goods etc.

Most people become so concerned with this goal, the means of attaining the goal becomes irrelevant.

Not all social groups have the same change of achieving the goals set by society (black/minority ethnic, working class)

This causes a strain between the goals and the means of achieving them, this can lead to crime.

Merton - what happens when strain occurs?

Innovators: accept the goals, reject the legitimate means of achieving them and gain material wealth illegally (theft)

Retreatists: Withdraw from society and give up on the goals and the means of achieving it (alcoholism, drug abuse)

AO3 of merton

No such thing as common goals that everyone strives for, different goals due to age, ethnicity, class, gender etc.

Doesn't explain crimes of passion - unrational crimes that happen due to anger/jealousy

Institutional anomie theory - Messner and Rosenfeld

America crime rate higher than most other developed countries

The 'institutionalised' obsession with individual success in capitalist society creates a 'winner takes all/anything goes' attitude (doesn't matter how you get the goal as long as you do)

Societies that lacks a good welfare state makes crime inevitable - relative deprivation e.g. if someone gets ill in USA with no health insurance, they need to find the money somehow and may turn to crime.

Economic goals take priority over all other goals e.g. family, love, fun.

Functionalist sociologists

Merton

Durkheim

Strain theorists

Merton

Messner and Rosenfeld

Cohen - status frustration

Agrees with Merton that we share the same goals

Many working class youths experience status frustration as they fail at school, can't get good jobs or be economically successful so they suffer in status

'Delinquent subcultures' take norms from the larger culture but turn them upside down e.g. values = spite, hatred, resentment

Crime is committed in/by groups

Commit non utilitarian crime, instead of working hard they commit vandalism etc. to gain respect

Non utilitarian crimes

Crimes that don't aim to gain profit

Cloward and Ohlin subcultures

Criminal subcultures: Criminal activity in itself prove goals i.e. organised crime, criminals have a career path (hierarchy and status)

Conflict subcultures: Territorial/respect driven violence as they're interested in looking 'hard', have territory etc.

Retreatists subcultures: Drug use and theft to fund their habits as they give up on goals and go to other illegal crimes

Cloward and Ohlin - illegitimate opportunity structures

Similar to Cohen and Merton as they blame crime on how society is structured around the shared goal of economic success

Working class denied legitimate opportunities to achieve economic success

Parallel set of illegitimate opportunity structures develop where legitimate ones don't exist

Criminal subcultures: Criminal activity in itself prove goals i.e. organised crime, criminals have a career path (hierarchy and status)

Conflict subcultures: Territorial/respect driven violence as they're interested in looking 'hard', have territory etc.

Retreatists subcultures: Drug use and theft to fund their habits as they give up on goals and go to other illegal crimes

Walter B.Miller

Differ from the others has he believes working class youth don't share the same goals.

They have different ones shared by working class males.

Argues there is a working class subculture which compensates for the boring types of manual jobs they do

'Focal concerns' (features) of the subculture and how they relate to crime

Smartness - Conning

Toughness - Violence

Excitement - Alcohol

Examples of focal concerns

Smartness - Conning

Toughness - Violence

Excitement - Alcohol

AO3 - Marxist criticisms of subcultural theories

Gordon: Crime is an inevitable product of capitalism

Capitalism encourages criminogenic values e.g. greed, materialism

Can explain non-economic crimes e.g. rape, vandalism - lack of control over lives can lead to frustration/anger which can come out via crimes.

Subcultural theorists

Cohen

Cloward and Ohlin

Miller

Matza - subterranean values

Delinquents aren't different from non delinquents and there is no such thing as a distinctive subculture.

All young people drift in and out of crime and deviance and not all working class youths turn to crime/deviance

Subterranean values: values everyone has but are controlled e.g. sexuality, greed, aggression

Delinquents are more likely to give into subterranean values

We use techniques of neutralisation to justify to ourselves and others why we might act deviantly

Recent strain theories

Young people aren't interested in money as they're with parents who can financially support them

Independence, popularity, boys wanting to be treated like 'real men' etc. are often more common goals.

Gaining these goals can be done by deviance

Independence - rebelling

Popularity - stealing material goods

Real men - violence

e.g. school shootings are often carried out by men who were lonely with not many friends

AO3 of recent strain theories

Not just applicable to working class, recent strain theories can explain middle class crime.

David Matza - Drift

Youth are more delinquent due to life stages e.g. physical changes, social position (child - adulthood), economic changes

Social control is loosened e.g. leaving home

Committing delinquent acts may be someone trying to be in control

4 elements of the Marxist approach

Manipulation of values - ideological control to ensure support for working class

Law creation - reflects the interests of ruling class

Law enforcement - applied differently to different groups of people

Individual motivation - criminogenic capitalism = explains how crime is a response to capitalism.

Manipulation of values - Louis Althessur

Ruling class control the values in 2 ways:

Socialisation - people are persuaded of the 'rightness' of capitalism by agencies such as schools, media

Threat (coercive control) - occurs if socialisation fails and groups present a threat to social order then the formal agents of control are deployed e.g. police

The socialisation process creates an impression that most criminals are working class e.g. media, biased policing

Law creation

Marxists argue that laws reflect the interest of the ruling class

By setting the agenda: about what laws need to be passed that are sympathetic to the ruling class.

Chambliss - the state pass laws that protect property not people

Frank Pearce - Crimes of the powerful suggest laws benefit all but really only ruling class

Law enforcement

Certain crimes are more likely to be dealt with rigorously e.g. street crime vs white collar crime

Certain groups are more likely to be on the receiving end of law enforcement e.g. working class targeted and dealt with in a confrontational way

Imprisonment neutralises opposition

Defining criminals as 'animals' justifies locking them away

Bhopal gas explosion

50,000 people died by toxic gas and chemicals, no safety systems working,

tried to blame workers, no one went to jail and company still running.

Laureen Snider

losses from corporate crime are 20x greater than street crimes

Individual motivation

Cause of crime lies in nature of capitalist society (emphasis on competition and wealth)

The inability of some groups to achieve these goals leads to crime

AO3 of individual motivation - marxist view on crime

similar to strain theory

Criminogenic capitalism - people want to compete and have most wealth so may result in crime

Frank pearce

came up with the term 'Crimes of the powerful'

State crimes

crimes committed by state institutions, private businesses e.g. illegal war, genocide

Society see the state as protection so denial that state is run by criminals

David Whyte - crimes of the powerful

Crimes committed by the state and corporations kill more, rip and steal from more people than crimes committed by individuals

(262 million killed, not including wars)

Rendition program

allowed US government to kidnap people suspected of terrorism to interrogate, abuse and torture

State crime hard to investigate

Difficulty with researcher gaining access

Too complex e.g. who is in charge/responsible

Difficult to determine the responsibilities

Researchers get funding easier for conventional crimes

Corporate crimes

the illegal and harmful activity that is carried out by corporations to maximise benefits and minimise losses.

Can be committed against:

Workers = industrial manslaughter

Customer = false advertisement, dangerous consumer goods

Local communities = pollution, dumping of hazardous waste

Government = Corruption or tax evasion

Sutherland - Crimes of the powerful

introduced the idea of white collar crimes and found that most corporations were repeat offenders

Qatar 2022 case study

FIFA bribed executive workers £1.5 million so they can vote for Qatar to hold the world cup

Kafarla Laws - laws that benefit employers not employees

Low health and safety laws

Workers came from neighbouring countries e.g. Nepal, Pakistan

Globalisation and crimes of the powerful

international trade/economic interdependence - complex financial laws and loopholes

technology - allows people to communicate

It makes it easier to exploit migrant/illegal workers

More opportunities for corruption at state level

importing goods from developing countries with low wages and poor health and safety records

Subcultural theories applied to middle class crime

Deviant people have similar norms and values about crime e.g. greed/competitiveness

Create a criminal subculture with people with these similar norms and values

Work together to gain increase profit

All the employees benefit from achieving these goals

Strain theories applied to middle class crime

M/C people also feel strain due to relative deprivation

Others have more than them e.g. better car and they want this goal

Commit crimes e.g. occupational crimes to gain the material

Rational choice applied to middle class crime

People make a rational decision to commit a crime

White collar crime often goes undetected so they know the consequence is ↓

therefore, commit the crime

Stuart Hall : Black Muggers

Moral panic developed about mugging in 70s, street crime is a survival strategy for those at bottom of class system

Conscious of racism, black youths didn't accept the inequality of their situation

Small minority started muggings

Media portrayed against black muggers

State focused on black muggers as it symbolised a threat to social order

Targeting of black youths, ↑stop start searches on black groups

Gramsci: crisis of hegemony

Gramsci capitalism has hegemonic dominance - single dominant economic system that most accept as being the best system

Aim of the state is to manage capitalism when it is suffering a crisis of masculinity

Diverts attention away from the 'real' problems of capitalism by finding a scapegoat

For example, recession occurs, ↑ unemployment and unethical banking, state developed scapegoat to distract us by blaming powerless groups in society

Fully social theory stages 1-6

The wider origins of the act

The immediate origins of the deviant act

The act itself

The immediate origins of the societal reactions

The wider origins of deviant reaction

The outcome of the societal reaction

Wider Origins of the Act

The capitalist system = wider origins of the act

The economic structure of society is the root of all action in that society

In capitalist society, wealth is distributed unequally

We are all socialised into desire of material wealth

The Immediate Origins of the Deviant Act

The context in which an individual chose to act criminally

The actual causes that are at the heart of an individual choosing to commit a specific crime e.g. poverty

The Act Itself

Why should the person choose to commit that particular crime?

What does the crime mean to the individual?

The Immediate Origins of the Societal Reactions

The reactions of those around the deviant e.g. police, family, community

The wider origins of deviant reaction

This is about the wider background to law creation/enforcement

Who has the power to label act as deviant and stereotype a group?

Why are some groups treated more harshly?

The outcome of the societal reaction on deviant's further actions

Understand how the labelling criminals/deviant group responds to the labelling

Known as 'self concept/master status'

How the neo marxist view on crime agrees with the traditional marxist view

The state defines certain acts as criminal

This criminalises certain groups e.g. working class

Capitalism causes extreme inequalities in wealth and is the key to understand crimes

How neo-marxists disagreed with traditional marxists

critical of traditional marxists for being too deterministic as they don't believe workers commit crime out of economic necessity

Reject other explanations for crime such as anomie and subcultures

G20 protest

international forum for the government and central bank governors of 20 major economies

increase opportunities for free trade

manipulation of values: police brutality not picked up on by media

law creation: created the laws where you can't take pictures of the police

law enforcement: police officers who killed a man by pushing him not guilty of manslaughter him not guilty of manslaughter

Interactionist approach to labelling

Nothing intrinsically deviant about any acts/behaviour.

It is only deviant when it is seen and labelled as deviant

They are not concerned with why people commit crime but who is responsible for labelling and the impact of this

Becker and Labelling

police/elite have the power to label what is seen as deviant

Deviance is therefore the outcome of a successful label

Pol Pot - Mass genocide in Cambodia

Khmer Rouge under leadership of Pol Pot = overworked, starved and executed groups who had the potential to undermine the state, including people who had stereotypical signs of learning even people who wore glasses.

Pol pot creating the deviance by making the rules

Lemert's study of Inuits

Primary deviance: the initial act of breaking behaviour

Secondary deviance: the result of the consequence of being labelled

This is significant as Lemert argues labelling and rule enforcement makes the acts worse.

e.g. Inuits value public speaking: primary deviance: young has a slight stutter, secondary deviance: community reacts to this in a negative way. This ↑deviance by making the stutter work

Moral panic

result of the way the media reacts to the perceived deviant behaviour.

The deviants are seen as 'folk devils' and their behaviour is seen as a threat to law and order

The agents of social control responds and are called upon to do something so a moral panic occurs.

Moral panics act as an agent of social control trying to correct perceived deviant behaviour.