B: EXPLANATIONS FOR CRIME Flashcards
(117 cards)
1
Q
Durkheim
A
Saw crime as a healthy part of society
2
Q
‘Boundary maintenance’
A
Testing the boundaries of what is right and wrong
3
Q
‘society of saints’
A
If we didn’t have any crime
4
Q
‘public temper’
A
Functionalist- promote social solidarity
5
Q
‘Collective conscience’
A
Func- set of norms and values society holds
6
Q
Role of public condemnation
A
Now taken by radio, TV and Twitter
7
Q
Durkheim- anomie
A
A small amount of crime and deviance can prevent anomie as long as its punished
8
Q
Who talks about safety valve?
A
Davis
9
Q
Deviancy as a safety valve
A
‘let off steam’ to prevent worse deviance, eg prostitution
10
Q
Cohen
A
‘status frustration’
11
Q
Cloward and Ohlin
A
‘blocked opportunities’
12
Q
Miller
A
‘focal concerns’
13
Q
Ferrell (1999)
A
Crime is not rational decision making, but a result of humiliation, excitement and fear
14
Q
Five modes of adaption
A
Conformity Innovation Ritualism Retreatism Rebellion
15
Q
Albert Cohen (1955)
A
Says young deviance is non-utilitarian, but for short-term hedonism
16
Q
Katz
A
Sociological explanations which focus on gender age etc fail to explain why people are drawn into crime
17
Q
Young
A
Youth deviance is about rebellion and risk
Bulimic society, intensity of exclusion
18
Q
Lyng
A
Edgework to refer to the exploring of boundaries
Can lead to intense emotions
Sense of control
19
Q
Katz and Jackson-Jacobs
A
Social mobility leaves those at the bottom with a sense of failure- gangs enable them to achieve this status
20
Q
Becker
A
Deviance is socially constructed- labelling creates master status which leads to self fulfilling prophecy
21
Q
Plummer
A
‘deviant career’
Argues that the internalisation of the label can result in a deviant career
22
Q
Malinowski
A
Study of Trobriand Islands- deviance is shaped by public reaction
23
Q
Who spoke about public shaming shaping deviance ?
A
Malinowski
24
Q
Lemert
A
Believes society’s reaction is more significant than the behaviour itself
Primary and secondary deviance
25
Who spoke about primary and secondary deviance ?
Lemert
26
Matza
Youths face pressure to pursue 'subterranean values' in spite of a moral obligation to the law
'Techniques of neutralisation'
27
Who spoke about 'techniques of neutralisation'?
Matza
28
Give an example of a technique of neutralisation
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Denial of responsibility
Denial of injury
Denial of victim
Condemnation of condemners
Appeal to higher loyalties
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29
Young
Powerful groups saw alienated, drug taking youths as a threat- deviancy amplification which leads to self fulfilling prophecy
30
Cicourel
Justice is negotiated, based on manner, appearance etc
| Crime rates fluctuate depending on media publicity and public concern
31
Capitalist ideology
Seen as a fact, brainwashing
32
Althusser
RSA and ISA used to maintain control
33
RSA
Repressive state control, eg police, courts
34
ISA
Ideological state control, eg socialisation. Divides us
35
Box
Avoidable killing- explains how crime is socially constructed
36
Bonger
Crime is caused by poverty and capitalism- creates competition which leads to materialism, violence and racism
37
Gordon
More attention focused on violent crimes than white collar crimes- 91% of people in the USA have committed a crime
38
What % of people in the USA have committed a crime (via Gordon)?
91%
39
Chambliss
Capitalism creates the desire to consume but also the inability to earn- leads to crime
40
Marx (2)
Crime keeps the proletariat off the streets
| Employment in the CJS reduces unemployment
41
Who spoke about RSA and ISA?
Althusser
42
Who spoke about avoidable killings?
Box
43
Marxists argue crime is a...
rational response to capitalism
44
Criticisms of the Marxist view on crime
Overestimates WC crime
Japan-low crime rates
Ignores other factors
Laws protect all, eg murder
45
'New Criminology' Taylor, Walton and Young
Believes that deviance needs to be studied in relation to capitalism
46
Chambliss
Saints and Roughnecks study
47
Neo-Marxist sociologists
Chambliss, Gilroy, Hall
48
'Full social theory of deviance'
Power distribution must consider
1. Circumstance
2. Meaning
3. Effect
49
Gilroy
Ethnic minorities turn to crime to defend themselves
50
Hall
'Policing the crisis'- looked at social and economic conditions for explaining labelling and deviance
51
'mugging'
First used by British media in 1972. Associated with black males
52
Control theory
Travis Hirschi- strong family ties and bonds prevent us from committing crime
Attachment, Commitment, involvement and beliefs
53
Travis Hirschi
Control theory
54
Murray and Herrnstein
Impact of cognitive ability or intelligence- link between low IQ and crime
55
Right wing view on crime
Blame the individual, argue the answer is stricter controls
56
Left wing view on crime
Argue that people are victims of their circumstance, blame the system rather than the individual
57
Right realist sociologists
Wilson, Wilson and Kelly, Wilson and Herrnstein
58
Wilson
Long term trends in crime can be accounted for by
1. Young males are most likely to commit crime- aggressive and have short term prospects
2. Changes in benefits- cost of crime
3. Social and cultural changes
Largely uncontrollable
59
Wilson and Kelling
'broken windows'- community changes its behaviour in response to disorder
Development of 'urban decay'
60
Wilson and Herrnstein
Emphasise the role of biology- 'criminal traits' heightened if poor socialisation occurs
Nuclear family- best socialisation
61
Left realist sociologists
Matthews and Young, Young
62
Matthews and Young
The square of crime
63
The square of crime (Matthews and Young)
CJS, offender, general public, victim
64
Young
Relative deprivation, exclusion leads to breakdown- increase in crime- scapegoating
65
Sociologists who argue for biological explanations for crime
Pollack, Lombroso, Thomas
66
Pollack
Argues that women are more biologically deviant- can conceal menstruation and fake orgasms
'chivalry' in the CJS- more lenient treatment
67
Lombroso (2)
Criminals are biological
| Argues that women do commit less crime than men- they do not have the intellectual capacity to break the law
68
Thomas
Women require more approval and affection than men
| Poor women are not socialised properly- use their sexuality for emotional gain
69
What do functionalists believe about gender and crime?
Sex role theory- boys and girls are clearly socialised differently
70
Sutherland
Girls are supervised and more strictly socialised than boys
| Female deviance can be explained by poor socialisation
71
Parsons
Men take on the 'instrumental' role, whilst women take on the 'expressive' role
Girls have more access to their role model- can leave boys with 'status anxiety'
72
Smart
Girls have stricter socialisation which prevents them from committing less crime- 'prisoners in their own home'
73
For men, crime is '____ __________', while for women is it '____ _________'
'role expressive' for men, 'role distorting' for women
74
Carlen
Women who commit crime are usually those where the crime does not outweigh the benefits of women- they do not conform
75
Feminist sociologists on gender and crime
Smart, Carlen
76
Functionalist sociologists on gender and crime
Parsons, Sutherland
77
Liberation theory
The idea that, as women become more liberated, they are out in the public sphere more
78
Liberation sociologists
Freda Adler, Chesney-Lind, Gelsthorpe, James and Thornton
79
Freda Adler
Rise in 'laddish' behaviour among women
80
Chesney-Lind
Argues that poor women are more likely to be criminals than 'liberated' middle class women, therefore suggesting that crime is more down to economic or social situations than liberation
81
James and Thornton
Found that women prisoners are more likely to come from poverty
82
Gelsthorpe
The increase in women prisoners could be down to a shift in sentencing policy and a decline in 'chivalry'
83
Myra Hindley
Labelled 'the most evil woman in Britain' as she showed no remorse in her trial, going against stereotypes
84
What did Jean Ritchie suggest?
If Hindley had played her part in the original trial, she may have been treated less harshly by the CJS and the media
85
Chivalry thesis sociologists (3)
Speed and Burrows, Carlen, Hedderman and Gunby
86
Speed and Burrows
Found that in shoplifting cases, male offenders are 2x as likely to receive a sentence than women (30% to 15%)
87
Carlen
Argues that a female's role as a mother is considered more than a male's role as a father
88
Hedderman and Gunby
Interviewed judges and magistrates and found that they were conscious of complex issues surrounding female offending, eg domestic abuse, and single parenthood
89
Chesney-Lind
Female deviance tends to be sexualised
90
Sociologists who challenge chivalry thesis (2)
Klein, Heidensohn
91
Klein
Chivalry thesis is classist and racist- only applies to middle class white women
92
Heidensohn
It is only applicable to women who conform to maternal behaviour, and those who do not are punished more severely
93
Messerschmidt
Hegemonic masculinity- young males commit crime to show masculinity
94
Mosher
'hypermasculinity' to refer to the jobless and unemployed- exposed to this at a young age with their fathers
95
Mac an Ghaill
'crisis in masculinity' - decline in industrial jobs can lead to violence + crime
96
Winlow
Studied working class males in Sunderland- found that unemployment made men more violent
97
Box on white collar crime
The way society defines crime is focused on working class
98
Tombs
Found that the scale of unlawful workplace deaths outweighed the number of recorded homocides- ignored
99
Goldstraw-White
Found that those who were convicted of white collar crimes often do not see themselves as criminals (semi-structured interview)
100
Friedrichs
Risk plays a large part in white collar crime- the gamble can be a part of the appeal
101
Who says that risk plays a role in white collar crime?
Friedrichs
102
Who found that convicted white collar criminals did not see themselves as criminals?
Goldstraw-White
103
Chivalry thesis is only applicable to middle class white women
Heidensohn
104
Chivalry thesis is classist and racist
Klein
105
Judges and magistrates are aware of the complex issues surrounding female offending
Hedderman and Gunby
106
A female's role as a mother is considered more than a male's role as a father
Carlen
107
Male offenders 2x as likely to recieve a sentence for shoplifting
Speed and Burrows
108
Female prisoners more likely to come from poverty
James and Thornton
109
Poor women are more likely to become criminals than 'liberated' middle class women
Chesney-Lind
110
Female deviance can be explained by poor socialisation
Sutherland
111
Women require more approval and affection
Thomas
112
Women do commit less crime- they do not have the intellectual capacity to break the law
Lombroso
113
Criminal traits are heightened if poor socialisation occurs
Wilson and Herrnstein
114
'Broken windows'
Wilson and Kelling
115
Ethnic minorities turn to crime to defend themselves
Gilroy
116
Crime is caused by poverty and capitalism
Bonger
117
Powerful groups saw alienated groups as a threat- deviancy amp to self fulfilling prophecy
Young
