Victimology, Crime & Social Groups

Positive Victimology (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

• Miers - certain factors make individuals/groups more likely to be victims (the homeless most vulnerable as lack of resources & power)

• Miers determines some victims provoke behaviour that would lead to their own victimisation

  • m/c displaying their wealth, encourages thef

  • w/c provoking threats, encourages violent crimes against them

• Criticised for victim blaming

Critical Victimology (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

• Mawby & Walklate: Victimisation = structural powerlessness; patriarchy & poverty put women & poor at higher risk.

• Toms & Whyte: ‘Victim’ is socially constructed; CJS labels some as victims and ignores others → ideological function of de-labelling.

• Effect: Hides true extent of victimisation and crimes of the powerful.

UN Definition of Victim (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

“those who have suffered harm through acts or omissions that violates the laws of the state”

Why is it important to study victims? (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

• Victims provide evidence & witness testimony in the CJS.

• Victimologists study patterns of victimisation, focusing on why some groups (e.g., women, poor) are more at risk.

What are 3 Features of Positivist Victimology? (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

• Identifies patterns in victimisation & factors making some people more likely victims.

• Focuses on interpersonal crimes of violence.

• Studies victims who may have contributed to their own victimisation.

Victim Proneness & Von Hentig - Positivist Victimology (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

• Victim proneness: Social & psychological traits making someone more vulnerable than non-victims.

• Von Hentig’s 13 characteristics: Young, elderly, female, mentally ill, disabled, immigrants, minorities, naïve, depressed, greedy, lonely, mutually abused, marginalised.

Wolfgang & Victim Precipitation - Positivist Victimology (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

• Wolfgang (1958): 588 homicides in Philadelphia → 26% involved victim precipitation (victim triggered events, e.g., first to use violence).

• Victim precipitation = victim’s actions contributed to the crime.

Modern Positivist Victim Studies (CSEW) (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

• Poor & homeless → repeat victimisation.

• Older → less likely to be victims.

• Young males → 2× more likely to face violence.

• Ethnic minorities → more victimised but less likely to report.

• Women → more domestic violence, rape, stalking.

• Poor households → more burglaries.

• Most murder victims are male (70%).

• Overall, average person’s chance of victimisation is low.

Criticisms of Positivist Victimology (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

• Ignores structural causes (poverty, patriarchy, capitalism).

• Can encourage victim blaming.

• Overlooks unaware or unreported victims.

• Doesn’t account for victims unable to speak or recognise their victimisation.

Critical Victimology Features (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

• Positivist victimology conceals true causes & extent of victimisation.

• Victimhood is socially constructed; power structures determine who is labelled a victim.

• Focus on powerless groups (women, poor) → victimisation = structural powerlessness (Mawby & Walklate).

Critical Victimology’s Connection to Conflict Theories (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

• Based on Marxism & Feminism.

• Structural factors: patriarchy & poverty increase risk.

• State power: applies or withholds the label of victim.

Tombs & Whyte Concepts - Critical Victimology (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

• Safety Crimes: employer law violations causing injury/death, blamed on “accident-prone” workers.

• Ideological Function of De-labelling: denying victim status hides true extent & crimes of the powerful.

Social Construction of Victimisation - Critical Victimology (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

• Media: Only some cases considered newsworthy (e.g., Madeleine McCann).

• Police: Domestic violence & rape often underreported or ignored; 66% of female rape victims never report (Lees, 1994).

• State: Controls legal recognition of victims; e.g., Hillsborough victims fully recognised only in 2016.

Criticisms of Critical Victimology (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

• Ignores victims’ role in their own victimisation (Positivist critique).

• New Right: some victims may be responsible if they fail to prevent crime (e.g., target hardening).

Official Crime Statistics (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

• Statistical measure of crime in society.

• Includes all police-recorded crime in England & Wales (separate for Scotland/N.I.).

• Collected by 43 police forces + British Transport Police → Home Office → ONS.

• Used by sociologists as secondary data.

Strengths + Weaknesses of Official Crime Statistics (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

Strengths:

• Easy access, already compiled.

• Up-to-date, standardised → reliable.

• Covers whole population, historical data → representative, identifies patterns.

• No ethical issues.

Weaknesses:

• Doesn’t explain reasons → low validity.

• Dark figure of crime → unreported crimes missing.

• Incomplete details per crime → lacks full representativeness.

• Accuracy varies by area; public perception & law changes affect comparability.

Theoretical Perspectives on Crime Stats (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

• Support: Functionalists, Right Realists/New Right, Left Realists (supplemented by surveys), some Feminists.

• Criticism: Marxists (tool of oppression), Interactionists (socially constructed), some Feminists (underreport male crime against women).

Self-Report Studies (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

• Ask participants which crimes they committed → often youth/minor offences.

• E.g. The Cambridge Study - followed the criminal careers of 411 South London boys aged 8-32 years old

• Strengths: uncovers hidden/unreported crime, qualitative insights, longitudinal data.

• Weaknesses: social desirability, lying, low response/representativeness, ethical issues if serious crimes confessed.

Victim Surveys (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

• Survey population about experiences as victims (often uncovers unreported crime).

• Example: Crime Survey for England & Wales (CSEW) – 35,000 adults, 3,000 children.

• Strengths: checks accuracy of police stats, shows crime higher than recorded, trends comparable.

• Weaknesses: dark figure still exists, victimless or corporate crimes missed, 25% non-response → representativeness issues.

Local Crime Observations (Police UK Example) (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

• Crimes last month: 45 → highest: sexual offences (Nov 2025).

• Hotspots: high street near TESCO, dark streets off high street.

• Top 3 recorded crimes: Violence/sexual offences, Public order, Anti-social behaviour.

• Trends: vehicle crime ↓ (CCTV, gated drives).

• 35% of crimes → no action by police (investigation complete, no suspect).

• Data method: secondary quantitative (official stats).

Surveillance (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

Surveillance = Monitoring behaviour to control crime. Modern methods = CCTV, biometric scans, databases

Foucault – Types of Power (Michel Foucault)

Sovereign power:
• Monarch had absolute control
• Visible, brutal public punishment
• Focus on controlling the body

Disciplinary power (19thC →):
• Control through surveillance
• Governs mind + behaviour
• Leads to self-discipline

Panopticon:
Prison design where inmates may be watched at any time → self-surveillance.

Punishment (Topic 9 - Control, Punishment & Victims)

Reduction (prevents future crime):

• Deterrence - punishment discourages future offending (individual + others).

• Rehabilitation - reforms offender so they stop offending (education, anger management)

Retribution:
• Offender deserves punishment.
• Society has the right to take revenge (“just deserts”).

Why do women commit less crime than men? (Topic 5 - Gender & Crime)

• Patriarchal Control Theory (Heidensohn) - women controlled in the home, in the workplace and in society through The Male Gaze

• Functionalist Sex Role Theory (Parsons) - due to biology, women are nurturing by nature and incapable of committing crime

Functionalist Sex Role Theory (Topic 5 - Gender & Crime)

Parsons (1955):

• Girls → expressive role, boys → instrumental role

• Men use compensatory compulsory masculinity → may lead to deviance

Cohen (1955):

• Father’s absence = harder socialisation for boys

• Boys join all-male gangs for masculine identity

• Women commit less crime due to functional roles

Patriarchal Control Theory (Topic 5 - Gender & Crime)

Heidensohn (patriarchal control):

• Women = generally conformist; commit fewer/less serious crimes

• Home: dual/triple shift limits time & movement → less opportunity

  • Dobash & Dobash: domestic violence enforces conformity

  • McRobbie & Garber: bedroom culture

• Work: sexual harassment + glass ceiling → less opportunity for serious crime

• Public: fear of male violence → avoid going out

  • Lees: sexual double standards

  • Heidensohn: media reporting of rape increases fear

Carlen (w/c women & rewards):

• Courts judge women on roles as wives/mothers/daughters, not crime severity

• Deals that encourage conformity:

  1. Class deal → work → material rewards

  2. Gender deal → family → material/emotional rewards

• Lack of deals → higher chance of offending

Women Committing Crime (Topic 5 - Gender & Crime)

Chivalry Thesis (Pollak):

• Men are protective → more lenient

• Women’s crimes less likely to appear in official stats

• e.g., speeding → more likely “let off”

Liberation Thesis (Adler):

• Women gaining equality with men → crime rates rise

Class & Gender Deals (Carlen):

• Class deal: work hard → financial rewards

• Gender deal: be a good mother/wife → treated well

• Both deals fail → women more likely to offend

Chivalry Thesis (Topic 5 - Gender & Crime)

Chivalry Thesis (Pollak, 1950)

• Most CJ agents (police, magistrates, judges) are men → socialised to be chivalrous toward women

• CJS more lenient with women → crimes less likely in official stats → exaggerates gender differences

Evidence:

• Flood-Page et al: 1 in 11 female self-report offenders cautioned vs 1 in 7 males

• Ministry of Justice 2007: 49% females cautioned vs 30% males

• Hood (1993): women more likely to get bail/community sentence, less likely prison, shorter sentences

Key Idea:
Female offenders treated more leniently → CJS bias exaggerates gender differences in crime

Liberation Thesis (Topic 5 - Gender & Crime)

Liberation Theory (Adler)

• As women gain equality, their crime rates rise

• Women take on male roles in legitimate & illegitimate activities

• Commit traditionally “male” crimes, not just “female” crimes

• Official stats show increase in female violent crime

Evidence:

• Klein (1995): female gang members commit as violent acts as males

• Peach & Pitts (2011): ~12,500 young women/girls involved in gangs

Class & Genders Deals (Topic 5 - Gender & Crime)

• Studied 39 working-class women (15–45) convicted of various crimes

• Women conform due to two “deals”:

  1. Class deal: work → material rewards (living standard, leisure)

  2. Gender deal: conform to family/domestic roles → material & emotional rewards

• If deals fail → crime more likely

  • Many couldn’t earn a living legitimately → theft

  • Family life offered few rewards → patriarchal norms not met

• Women concluded: “crime was the only route to a decent life”

Why men commit more crime than women (Topic 5 - Gender & Crime)

Masculinity (Messerschmidt):

• Masculinity = socially accomplished, not fixed

• Hegemonic masculinity: dominant/prestigious form men aim for

• Crime & deviance = a resource to achieve masculinity

Globalisation (Winlow):

• Decline in traditional manual jobs → fewer legal ways for working-class men to express masculinity

• Rise of night-time leisure economy → combines legal work & criminal opportunities to display masculinity

Labelling Theory (Becker):

• Boys more likely to be labelled as deviant = self fulfilling prophecy

Labelling Theory (Topic 5 - Gender & Crime)

Becker:

• Boys more likely to be labelled deviant → self-fulfilling prophecy

• Leads to: changed self-concept, deviant career, master status

• Moral entrepreneurs: push for action against boys

Cicourel:

• Police use typifications → biased by class & gender

• Middle-class criminals can negotiate justice

• Example: Lavinia Woodward – upper-class female spared jail → gender/class bias

Assertion of Masculinity (Topic 5 - Gender & Crime)

Messerschmidt:

• Postmodern “crisis of masculinity” due to:
  • De-industrialisation
  • Growth of service sector
  • Gig economy & unstable work
  • Increased unemployment

• Men lacking resources → use crime as a resource to achieve masculinity

Parsons (1955):

• Boys → instrumental role

• To avoid femininity → compensatory compulsory masculinity

Globalisation (Topic 5 - Gender & Crime)

Winlow – Postmodernity, Masculinity & Crime

• De-industrialisation: loss of manual jobs; rise of service/night-time economy (pubs, bars)

• Study: bouncers in Sunderland → paid work + illegal opportunities (drugs, alcohol) + chance to demonstrate masculinity via violence

• Violent subculture: ‘hard men’ gain status through violence

• Little professional criminal subculture → limited organised crime careers

Why do black people appear more criminal? (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

Lea & Young:

• Differences in crime stats reflect wider societal discrimination

• Utilitarian crime: response to material deprivation

• Non-utilitarian crime: response to frustration

• Police racism not main cause (90% of crimes reported by public)

Gilroy:

• BME do not commit more crime

• Crime is a response to racist policing & stereotypes

• Resistance to oppression criminalised (from former colonies → Britain)

Hall et al (1970s):

• Moral panic: black people & “mugging”

• Used by capitalism in crisis to shift blame

• Result → black people more likely to be unemployed → crime

Why are black people more criminal? (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

Education:

• Black Caribbean pupils perform poorly → hard to get legitimate jobs → may turn to crime or illegal work (e.g., drugs)

• Linked to relative deprivation

Family (Functionalist):

• High lone-parent rate → inadequate socialisation → norms/values not taught → higher chance of offending

Media:

• Stereotypes of black criminality → self-fulfilling prophecy → may increase offending

Functionalist Subcultural Explanations of Crime/Ethnicity Link (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

• Ethnic minorities more likely to experience status frustration → seek alternative status hierarchies

• Cohen: W/C boys suffer status frustration → form deviant subcultures → value inversion → deviance = climb alternative hierarchy

• Cloward & Ohlin: W/C boys lack legitimate ways to achieve financial success → deviance depends on illegitimate opportunity structures: criminal, conflict, retreatist subcultures

  • E.g. Nightingale: Black boys in Philadelphia → want mainstream culture (consumerism) but excluded → join violent gangs → “culturally included, economically excluded”

Evaluation:

• Most ethnic minorities conform at school despite failure

• Cohen ignores female delinquency

• Ignores role of agents of social control in constructing delinquency

The New Right & Right Realism (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

Murray:

• Underclass isolation → deviant values → crime

• Claimed low IQ correlated with criminality

• Controversially linked Black people to lower IQ & higher crime

Sewell:

• Many Black Caribbean lone-mother families

• Black boys lack fatherly discipline/role models

• Adopt ‘hyper-masculine’ identities from rap/drill → peer status via deviance

Clarke:

• Crime is a rational choice: weigh rewards vs. costs

• Poor socialisation → higher chance of miscalculating & offending

Ethnic Minorities & Crime – Marxist/Neo-Marxist Explanations (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

• Taylor: Crime = political act; theft redistributes wealth; consider capitalism, context, meaning, reactions, labelling.

• Hebdige: Youth join subcultures (e.g., Rastafarians) to resist racist capitalism.

• Hall: ‘Mugging’ panic (1970) distracts from economic problems.

• Gilroy: Brixton riots framed as resistance.

Evaluation: Romanticises crime; focuses on male criminals; ignores intra-ethnic crime

Ethnic Minorities & Deviant Subcultures (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

• Relative deprivation & marginalisation → formation of deviant subcultures

• Racism → economic exclusion: unemployment, poverty, poor housing

• Media consumerism → material goals unattainable → frustration

• Response: delinquent subcultures (esp. young Black males) → utilitarian crime (stealing) + non-utilitarian crime (riots/protest)

Philips & Bowling:

• Robbery linked to poverty & social exclusion

• Crime can give peer status & powerful Black identity

Evaluation:

• Romanticises “Robin Hood” image

• Much crime is intra-ethnic

• Not all subcultures are deprived (e.g., Bullingdon Club)

• Not all deviant subcultures are criminal

Institutional Racism in the CJS (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

Definition: Unequal treatment via established systems disadvantaging minorities

Policing: Phillips & Bowling – oppressive since 1970s

Stop & Search: Black 7x, Asian 2x (BCS); Young Black males 19x (UCL 2020)

Arrests/Cautions: Black arrests 3x whites; minorities less likely cautioned (CSEW)

Prosecution/Trial: CPS cases weaker/stereotyped → more jury trials (Phillips & Bowling)

Convictions/Sentencing: Black +3%, Asian +5% imprisoned; Black men 5% more likely custodial, +3 months (Hood 1992)

PSRs: Asian offenders judged less remorseful (Hudson & Bramhall 2005)

Prison: 25% minorities vs 18% population; less likely bail

Examples of Institutional Racism (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

Stephen Lawrence (1993, UK)

• 18yo Black student murdered in racist attack, Eltham, London

• Police arrested friend, ignored racial motives, mishandled evidence, disrespected family

Mark Duggan (2011, UK)

• 29yo mixed-race man shot by police in Tottenham

• Alleged gun planted; family mistreated

George Floyd (2020, US)

• 46yo Black man killed by officer kneeling on neck for 9m29s over alleged counterfeit $20

• Captured on video → global protests

The Secret Policeman (2004) – Evidence of Institutional Racism (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

Evidence:

• Officers admitted using racial profiling (“stopping people because of race”)

• Multiple uses of racial slurs in the force

• One ex-social worker joined police attracted by institutional racism

Problems as evidence:

• Ethics: filmed without consent

• Generalisability: small sample

• Outdated: 2004 vs current policing

• Method bias: officers drunk → may exaggerate

Support:

• Hall (1982): racist policing + media portrayal → over-representation of ethnic minorities in crime stats

Ethnicity & Victimisation (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

• Definition: Targeted due to race/religion; highlighted by Stephen Lawrence (1993) & Macpherson Report (1999)

  Extent/Risk:

  • 2014/15: 54k police-recorded incidents, 89k CSEW estimate

  • Risk: Mixed 27.9%, Black 18%, Asian 15.8%, White 15.7%

  • 2025: 82,490 crimes; Black & Asian 41/10k

  Sampson & Phillips: Repeated abuse + occasional violence → psychological + physical harm

  Responses: Community prevention (fireproof doors, self-defence); police often fail to act

Functionalism - w/c crime theories (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

• Crime = anomie/strain; W/C lack legitimate means to achieve goals

• Hirschi: bonds of attachment (commitment, involvement, belief)

• Merton: Strain theory – Conformity, Innovation, Ritualism, Retreatism, Rebellion

Subcultural Functionalism - w/c crime theories (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

• W/C boys → status frustration → delinquent subcultures

• Crime often non-utilitarian (vandalism, fighting)

• Cohen: alternative status hierarchies

• Cloward & Ohlin: Criminal, Conflict, Retreatist subcultures

Interactionism - w/c crime theories (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

• W/C more likely labelled criminal → self-fulfilling prophecy / secondary deviance

• Becker: labelling & moral entrepreneurs

• Cicourel: typifications, negotiation of justice

Marxism - w/c crime theories (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

• Capitalism encourages greed; class inequality → W/C crime

• CJS protects ruling class; W/C punished more

• Gordon: rational response to capitalism

• Snider: white-collar/corporate crime ignored

• Chambliss: W/C crime observed, R/C hidden

Neo-Marxism - w/c crime theories (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

Neo-Marxism

• W/C crime = political resistance; criminals as rebels

• Challenges capitalist system, can romanticise crime

• Taylor: deliberate challenge to capitalism

• CCCS: exaggerated W/C youth subcultures (skinheads, punks, teddy boys)

New Right / Right Realism - w/c crime theories (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

• W/C crime = poor socialisation, absent fathers, welfare dependency

• Crime = rational choice if rewards > risks

• Murray: underclass, low IQ, parenting orders

• Wilson & Kelling: Broken Windows

• Clarke: Rational Choice; Felson & Clarke: Routine Activity

Left Realism - w/c crime theories (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

• W/C crime due to relative deprivation, marginalisation, subcultures

• W/C also main victims

• Lea & Young: marginalisation, relative deprivation, subcultures

• Solutions: democratic policing, multi-agency, social/community crime prevention

Crimes of the Powerful - Strain Theory(Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

Strain Theory – Merton:

• American Dream → if legal means fail, businesses may “innovate” illegally to maximise profit

• Law violations rise when profits squeezed

Sutherland – Differential Association:

• Crime learned from others in social context (socialisation)

• More contact with deviant attitudes → more likely to offend

Deviant Subcultures / Techniques of Neutralisation:

• Employees may adopt deviant means to achieve corporate goals

• Neutralisation: justifying behaviour to avoid guilt

Crimes of the Powerful - Interactionism (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

Cicourel:

• Middle class can negotiate non-criminal labels for misbehaviour

Nelken:

• Business/professionals can avoid labels (de-labelling)

• CJS often reluctant or unable to investigate/prosecute → W/C crime overrepresented in official stats

Crimes of the Powerful - Marxism (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

Gordon:

• Corporate crime = normal in capitalism; profit-maximising → inevitable harm

• Capitalism creates mystification: ruling-class ideology downplays corporate crime vs. W/C crime

Explaining Youth Crime - Age Patterns (Topic 6 - Ethnicity & Crime)

Functionalism – Eisenstadt (1956):

• Youth = confusing transition; lack initiation ceremonies → unclear roles/status

• Peer groups share crisis → delinquent subcultures

Subcultural Theory:

• Cohen: Status frustration → alternative hierarchies (esp. failing school)

• Cloward & Ohlin: Illegitimate opportunity structures (Criminal, Conflict, Retreatist)

• Miller: W/C focal concerns: toughness, smartness, trouble, excitement, autonomy, fatalism

Neo-Marxism – Taylor & CCCS:

• Youth resist low status in capitalism; deliberate challenge to inequalities

• CCCS/Hebdige: Subcultures & punk style = political protest, response to de-industrialisation & consumerism

New Right – Wilson & Herrnstein:

• Teenagers: more energy, less opportunity, less delayed gratification

• Peer influence & independence from adult control → crime

Interactionism – Becker:

• Moral entrepreneurs label low-status youth → internalised master status

• Negative labelling by teachers, police, media reinforces deviance

Outline three reasons why white-collar and corporate crime may have low prosecution rates:

• Complexity of crime – Corporate crimes are often complicated and require expert knowledge to investigate, making prosecution difficult.

• Lack of resources or priority – The CJS may focus more on working-class crime, as it is easier to detect and prosecute, meaning white-collar offences are often overlooked.

• Power and influence of offenders – Corporations and professionals can use legal teams, lobbying, or influence to avoid prosecution, and sometimes crimes are hidden or under-reported.

The Media as a Cause of Crime (Topic 7 - Media & Crime)

• Imitation – Copying deviant role models in media

• Arousal – Violent/sexual content increases excitement

• Desensitisation – Repeated violence reduces shock

• Transmission – Learning criminal techniques

• Desire stimulation – Ads create want for unaffordable goods

• Glamourising – Media makes crime look attractive

The Distorted Image of Crime (Topic 7 - Media & Crime)

• Overrepresentation of sexual and violent crime​

• Exaggerates police success​

• Exaggerates the risk of victimisation​

• Overplay extraordinary crimes

Fictional Representations of Crime (Topic 7 - Media & Crime)

Surrette:

• Fictional reps of crime follow ‘law of opposites’ (opposite to official statistics)

• Property crime = underrepresented

• Violence, sex and drug crimes = overrepresented

• Fictional sex crimes caused by psychopathic strangers (reality = acquaintances)

• Fictional villains are higher-status, middle-aged, white males

• Fictional police usually catch criminals

Moral Panics (Topic 7 - Media & Crime)

Moral Panics – Stanley Cohen (Mods & Rockers)

• Studied media reaction to Mods and Rockers clashes (1960s)

• Disorder was minor but media exaggerated it

• Led to deviance amplification spiral

Media techniques:

• Exaggeration & distortion – Overstated numbers & violence

• Prediction – Forecast more trouble

• Symbolisation – Labels & symbols defined groups

Modern examples: media panics over acid attacks & terrorism

News Values (Topic 7 - Media & Crime)

News Values – Stanley Cohen & Jock Young

• News is manufactured, not discovered

• News values = criteria for what’s newsworthy

Key News Values:

• Immediacy – “Breaking news”

• Dramatisation – Action/excitement

• Personalisation – Focus on individuals

• Higher status – Celebrities/elite

• Simplification – Black & white narratives

• Risk – Fear & vulnerability

• Violence – Conflict & harm

Media, Relative Deprivation & Crime (Topic 7 - Media & Crime)

• Media promotes a materialistic “good life” as the norm

• Those unable to afford it feel relative deprivation

• Leads to marginalisation

• Can increase likelihood of crime

Globalisation & Crime (Topic 8 - Globalisation, Green Crime & State Crime)

Global Criminal Economy – Manuel Castells

• Globalisation → criminal economy > £1 trillion/year
  Key crimes:

• Trafficking: arms, people, body parts, cultural artefacts, nuclear materials, endangered species

• Smuggling illegal immigrants & legal goods

• Sex tourism

• Cyber-crimes

• Green crimes

• International terrorism

• Drugs trade

Globalisation & Crime (Topic 8 - Globalisation, Green Crime & State Crime)

Jock Taylor

• Globalisation creates crime at both ends of the spectrum

• TNCs move production → job insecurity, unemployment, poverty

• Inequality → resentment & material deprivation → higher crime

Misha Glenny – McMafia

• Post-Soviet Russia → rise of transnational organised crime

• Linked to breakup of USSR & deregulation of global markets

Green Crime (Topic 8 - Globalisation, Green Crime & State Crime)

Types of Criminology:

• Traditional – Focuses on crimes defined by law

• Green – Focuses on any action harming the environment, humans, or animals

Types of Harm:

• Anthropocentric – Human-centered; nature exists for human use

• Ecocentric – Humans & nature are interdependent; both can be exploited

Green Crime (Topic 8 - Globalisation, Green Crime & State Crime)

Green Crime – Nigel South

Primary Green Crimes – direct harm to the environment:

• Air pollution

• Deforestation

• Species decline & animal abuse

• Water pollution

Secondary Green Crimes – breaking rules meant to prevent/regulate harm:

• State violence against oppositional groups

• Hazardous waste & organised crime

• Environmental discrimination

State Crime - McLaughlin(Topic 8 - Globalisation, Green Crime & State Crime)

Types of State Crime:

• Political – Corruption, censorship

• Security/Police – Genocide, torture, disappearances

• Economic – Violating health & safety laws

• Social/Cultural – Institutional racism

Control & Prevention RR (Topic 9 - Crime, Punishment & Victims)

Situational Crime Prevention (RR)

Ronald Clarke

• SCP = pre-emptive, reduces opportunities for crime, doesn’t focus on wider society

Displacement – SCP moves crime elsewhere

• Spatial – different location (locked house → another house)

• Temporal – different time (day vs night)

• Target – different victim (kidnap another child)

• Tactical – different method (limits on paracetamol)

• Functional – different type of crime

Control & Prevention LR (Topic 9 - Crime, Punishment & Victims)

Environmental Crime Prevention – Wilson & Kelling

• Broken Windows Thesis – disorderly neighborhoods arise when formal (police) and informal (community) control is absent

• Zero Tolerance Policing – tackle all forms of disorder (e.g., graffiti) to prevent serious crime

Social & Community Crime Prevention

• Focus on offenders’ social context

• Perry Preschool Project – disadvantaged children given 2-year enrichment program → fewer lifetime arrests, higher employment by age 40

Sutherland (1949) (Topic 10 - Social Class, Age, Crime & Justice)

• Crime is more common in lower socio-economic classes and less common in u/c

• However, UK data on offenders’ social class is limited. Existing evidence suggests frequent offenders often come from disorganised, deprived backgrounds.

The Social Exclusion Unit (2002) (Topic 10 - Social Class, Age, Crime & Justice)

• Reported that many prisoners experienced social exclusion, including care, poverty, and family criminality

• Before imprisonment, 67% were unemployed (vs. 5% general population) and 32% were homeless (vs. 0.9%)

Williams et al (2012) (Topic 10 - Social Class, Age, Crime & Justice)

• Found that prisoners more often had histories of running away, family violence or substance misuse, truancy, school exclusion, and lack of qualifications, with literacy and numeracy levels well below the general population

Ministry of Justice (2018) (Topic 10 - Social Class, Age, Crime & Justice)

• 24% stated they had been in care at some point during their childhood

• 29% had experienced abuse, and 41% had observed abuse in the home as a child

• 37% of prisoners reported having family members who had been convicted of a non-motoring criminal offence. Of whom, 84% had been in prison or a young offender’s institution

• 59% of prisoners stated they had regularly played truant from school and 42% had been permanently excluded