Crime and Deviance Flashcards
(76 cards)
1
Q
Durkheim’s 2 positive functions of crime:
A
- Boundary maintenance –> consequences of crime reaffirms society’s shared rules.
- Reinforces social solidarity –> brings people together. - Adaptation and change –> new ideas and values must challenge existing norms.
- If suppressed = society will stagnate/changes won’t be made.
2
Q
What did Cohen suggest about crime?
A
Crime acts as a ‘warning’ –> institution not doing functioning properly.
e.g. high truancy = problems with the education system.
3
Q
What is another positive function of crime? (other than Cohen and Durkheim)
A
- Deviance is managed and regulated through carnivals and youth.
At other times –> crime but on these days = offer way of coping.
4
Q
What is the cause of crime from a functionalist perspective?
A
Durkheim
Result of anomie (normlessness) during periods of rapid change like London Riots 2010.
5
Q
Evaluate the functionalist perspective.
A
- Not clear (-) how much crime is required?
- Over-romantices (-) society doesn’t create crime to perform these functions.
- Crime may do opposite of social solidarity (-) may force people to stay home and scared.
6
Q
What did Merton suggest?
A
Crimes committed when you’re unable to achieve socially approved goals through legitimate means.
7
Q
What are Merton’s two factors?
A
- Structural –> no equal opportunities.
- Cultural –> strong emphasis on success, less on legitimate methods.
Goals failed + no legitimate means = crime or drug/alcohol abuse.
8
Q
What is the American Dream?
A
Belief that America is a land full of opportunities, open and available to everyone.
Like meritocracy –> myth. Poor don’t get same chances.
9
Q
What are the 5 responses to strain - Merton?
A
- Conformity –> accept means and goals. M.C.
- Innovation –> accept goals but use illegitimate means. Youtubers.
- Ritualism –> give up on goals but accept legitimate means.
- Retreatism –> rejects goals and means. Dropouts and drug users.
5.Rebellion –> reject existing goals and means. Replace with new ones for new society.
10
Q
Evaluate Merton’s strain theory.
A
- Ignores M.C./ white-collar crime (-).
- Not all W.C. commit crime or not all experiencing strain commit crime (-).
- Assumes everyone wants financial success (-).
- Ignores non-utilitarian crime (-)
11
Q
What is the main proposal of subcultural strain theories?
A
Crime is because subcultures have different values from mainstream + often offers illegitimate means.
12
Q
What did Cohen (1955) find?
A
W.C. boys
No cultural capital –> fail in school –> low status –> frustration –> seeks alternative way –> anti-school subculture = respect through deviance.
13
Q
What is an alternative status hierarchy?
A
Subcultures that reject the mainstream values and inverts it.
Offer illegitimate opportunity structure for pupils to gain status as they failed legitimate opportunity structure.
14
Q
Evaluate Cohen’s subcultural strain theory.
A
- Offers an explanation for non-utilitarian crime through frustration and value inversion (+).
- Assumes W.C boys start off sharing M.C. values –> possible that they don’t’ share from first place = don’t see themselves as failures (-)
15
Q
What did Cloward and Ohlin propose?
A
Agrees with Cohen BUT subcultures react differently as a lack of illegitimate opportunity structures.
Some are given easier access.
16
Q
Name the 3 different types of deviant subcultures? Cloward and Ohlin
A
- Criminal subcultures
- Conflict subcultures
- Retreatist subcultures
17
Q
What is a criminal subculture?
A
Provides youth with apprenticeship for career in utilitarian crime.
- Stable, long standing criminal cultured neighbourhoods with established hierarchy.
18
Q
What is a conflict subculture?
A
Illegitimate opportunities only available in loosely organised gangs.
- Violence as relief of frustration at blocked means.
- Alternative status is to win ‘turf’ from rival gangs.
19
Q
What is a retreatist subculture?
A
Any neighbourhood where not everyone succeeds at crime.
- Double failures : turn to drug/alcohol abuse as a result of fatalistic attitude.
20
Q
Evaluate Cloward and Ohlin.
A
- Ignores M.C. crime (-)
- Provides explanations on the type of W.C deviance (+)
- Assumes everyone shares same goals (-).
- Miller –> W.C. have own values and culture (-)
Different to mainstream = don’t value success in the first place.
Not frustrated by failure –> instead deviance is to achieve their own goals, not society’s goals. - Too exclusive subcultures (-) some crime fall under two like drug dealing can be criminal and conflict.
21
Q
What is the main proposal from interactionism?
A
Focus on social construction of crime.
Act is only deviant when labelled as one through social reactions.
Some acts labelled more as it’s selectively enforced against certain groups.
22
Q
What does Becker suggest?
A
Social groups create deviance by creating the rules.
When broken –> applying label to specific people and labelling them as ‘outsiders’.
23
Q
What are labelling theorists interested in?
A
‘Moral Crusaders’ –> those trying to have rules and laws changed.
e.g. oil protests
24
Q
Creation of new laws, have 2 results. What are they?
A
- Creates new group of outsiders.
- Increase of a social control agency like police or court to enforce new laws.
25
Why do different groups get labelled differently?
Phil Vin and Brian
1. Appearance (suit vs tattoo)
2. Background (articulate, job)
Manner and dress used to judge character.
26
What did Cicourel suggest for negotiation of justice?
Typifications --> stereotypes the police had to concentrate on types of people.
e.g. patrolling W.C. areas or youth.
27
What was Cicourel's opinion on the use of official statistics?
Never used as a resource of facts.
Use it to look into the processes used to make these statistics.
- Activities of police and how different groups are labelled.
28
What was Lemert's 2 types of deviance?
1. Primary --> deviant acts that have not been publicly labelled as criminal.
2. Secondary --> deviant acts and individual is labelled publicly = master status.
29
What is a master status?
When a criminal is defined by their deviant act --> may lead to deviant careers as they struggle to find employment.
30
What is the deviance amplification spiral?
Attempt to control deviance = more deviance = more control = more deviance.
31
What was Cohen's folk devils vs dark figure?
Press exaggerated delinquency of 'mods and rockers' --> more public concern and harsher penalties.
- Further marginalised mods and rockers = more deviant behaviours.
32
What are folk devils - Cohen?
Over-labelled or over-exposed to public.
- Draws attention away from detecting dark figure of crime.
33
What is the dark figure of crime?
The 'real' rate of crime.
We don't know for sure how much goes undetected, unreported or unrecorded.
34
What are the positive effects of labelling - Braithwaite?
Types of shaming. Which is better
1. Disintegrative shaming --> crime and criminal labelled = excluded from society.
2. Reintegrative shaming --> labels action but not criminal.
Avoids stigmatising offender as evil = easier to re-admit back into society. Avoids secondary deviance.
Reintegrative is better as crime rate are lower in societies where it dominantly takes place.
35
What did Douglas suggest about the meaning of suicide?
Official statistics are a social construct.
Perhaps they didn't commit crime or they did but their families are hiding for truth.
- Offers no explanation on causes of suicide.
36
What did Atkinson say about Coroner's common sense?
Found that coroners hold views of a 'typical suicide'.
- Certain methods, location, life history.
THUS all interpretations, cannot be certain.
37
Evaluate Atkinson.
Goes against himself.
If all there is interpretations, his account is also an interpretation.
38
What do sociologists say about mental illness?
Socially constructed on psychiatrists.
Paranoia as a self-fulfilling prophecy.
39
What did Lemert find for mental illness?
1. Some individuals don't fit into groups easily.
2. Primary deviance --> labelled as odd.
3. Responds with secondary deviance --> giving social audience, a further reason to exclude person.
4. Audience discuss strategies --> confirm person's suspicions of conspiring = confirms audience's fear.
THUS labelled as a mental patient - master status.
40
What study supports Lemert's view? (think psych)
Rosenhan
41
What is Goffman's study?
Institutionalisation
On admission --> patient undergoes mortification of self - old identity killed and replaced with inmate.
- Done through degradation like confiscation.
institutionalised --> unable to re-adjust to outside world with new identity = stay at hospital.
42
Evaluate the labelling theory.
1. Deterministic (-) implies once labelled = deviant career.
2. Emphasis on negative effects of labelling (-) gives criminal a victim status. Realists say it ignores real victims.
3. Fails to explain primary deviance (-) why commit before labelled.
43
What is Marxists main proposal on crime and deviance?
Agrees with labelling theorists --> W.C. enforced by law but by capitalism.
Capitalist class shapes institutions like law and Criminal Justice System.
44
Name the 3 main elements of Marxism on crime and deviance.
1. Criminogenic Capitalism
2. State and law-making
3. Ideological functions of crime
45
What is criminogenic capitalism?
What does Gordon say?
Capitalism's nature causes crime.
Exploitation of W.C.:
- Lack of control over lives = frustration and aggression.
- Poverty = crime for survival.
Ruthless competition between capitalists = white-collar crime like tax fraud.
Gordon --> crime = response to capitalist system by all classes.
46
Explain the state and law-making.
Only serves interest of the capitalist class.
Chambliss --> laws to protect private property help capitalist economy.
e.g. enforcing tax on countries Britain colonised.
Sinder --> power to prevent laws that threaten profit.
47
Explain ideological functions of crime.
Laws made to look more beneficial for W.C
Pearce --> health/safety and minimum wage benefits capitalist class by giving caring look for false consciousness among workers.
+ media portrays criminals as disturbed individuals = concealing capitalism nature.
48
Evaluate marxism.
1. Ignores gender and ethnicity (-)
2. Deterministic (-) over-predicts amount of W.C crime
- not all commit despite poverty.
3. Not all capitalist societies have high crime rates (-) Switzerland and Japan homicide rates are 1/5 of USA.
49
Neo-Marxist
Taylor et al. --> Anti-determinism explain
Marxism is deterministic.
Taylor has voluntaristic view --> we have free will. Criminals make conscious choice.
50
Evaluate Taylor et al.
1. Left Realists --> romanticises W.C criminals as 'Robin Hood' - who take from rich to give out. Reality is that they take from poor (-)
51
What is white-collar crime?
Sunderland
Crime committed by a person of respectability and high status in their occupation.
52
What did Sunderland fail to explain? 2 types.
1. Occupational crime --> committed by employee for their own personal gain.
2. Corporate Crime: for organisation's goals.
53
How does Pearce and Tombs define white collar crime?
Any illegal act or omission.
54
What is omission?
Failure to act
e.g. old school bus
crash = crime
no crash = not crime
55
What are the types of corporate crime?
1. Crimes against consumers
2. Financial crimes
3. Crimes against employees
4. Crimes against environment
5. State-corporate crime
56
What is abuse of trust?
Carrabine et al.
High status professionals have jobs with high respect and trust.
We trust them with health, money.
Gives them position to break and abuse trust.
57
List the reasons for the invisibility of corporate crime.
1. Media
2. Lack of political will
3. De-labelling
4. Under-reporting
58
Explain media for the invisibility of corporate crime.
Gives little attention and reinforces W.C as criminals phenomenon.
+ corporate crime described with technical terms = not seen as a 'real crime'.
59
Explain lack of political will for the invisibility of corporate crime.
Politicians rhetoric on 'being tough on crime' is only focused on street crime.
60
Explain de-labelling for the invisibility of corporate crime.
Can be given and afford fines than jail sentences.
61
Explain under-reporting for the invisibility of corporate crime.
Individuals may not be aware that they have been victimised or feel powerless against big organisations.
62
List the explanations for corporate crime.
1. Strain theory
2. Differential Association
3. Labelling
4. Marxism
63
Explain strain theory as an explanation for corporate crime.
Box --> company cannot maximise profit = illegal means.
Clinard and Yeager --> found law violations increase if profit decreases.
64
Explain differential association as an explanation for corporate crime.
Sutherland
Less associated with lawful people = more deviance.
- Those with aggressive personalities more likely to be successful at crime.
65
Explain labelling theory as an explanation for corporate crime.
Nelken
De-labelling --> businesses and professionals can hire lawyers and avoid charges.
+ inability of law enforcement to investigate and prosecute.
66
Explain marxism as an explanation for corporate crime.
Box --> mystification - ideology that it is less harmful than W.C. crime.
Pearce --> corporate crime is just 'tip of iceberg'.
Companies produce products in developing countries where effective control is lacking.
Minimum wage = more profit.
67
Evaluate the explanations of corporate crime.
1. Strain and marxism over-estimate. Not all companies offend, even if facing lower profit (-)
2. Doesn't explain non-profit crimes like against the environment or health (-).
3. Law abiding sometimes more profitable than law breaking (-).
68
What's the difference between right and left realists?
Right Realists --> crime = big problem. Serious control.
Left Realists --> liberal view, change people.
69
What do right realists believe are the causes of crime? (3)
1. Biological differences --> Wilson and Herrnstein
Aggression, risk-taking, low intelligence.
2. Socialisation and the underclass --> if effective = decrease in aggression and self-control.
- Murray: underclass increasing = fail to socialise. Lone mother ineffective role models and disciple.
3. Rational choice theory --> free will and power of reasoning.
Clarke argues choice of commiting crime is based on rational thinking. Perceived costs of crime are low = more crime.
70
Evaluate right realists' explanation for crime.
1. Ignores wider structural causes like poverty (-)
2. View on rational choice conflicts biology and socialisation (-) contradicting.
71
What is zero tolerance - right realists?
Wilson and Kelling
Needed for undesirable behaviour (prostitution, begging)
Focus on controlling streets so law-abiding people feel safe.
72
Is zero tolerance a myth?
First introduced in New York in 1994.
Young --> success was a myth = politicians and police took credit for falling crime rate.
Needed to justify police's existence.
73
Evaluate zero tolerance.
1. Ignores corporate/M.C. crime (-)
2. Gives police free rein to discriminate against minorities and youth (-).
3. Target hardening --> greater control = displacement and crime to other areas (-).
74
What do left realists believe causes crime (3)
Lee and Young
1. Relative deprivation --> more media and adverts = higher materialistic expectations.
Deprived resent others = illegitimate means.
2. Subculture: solution to relative deprivation.
Young --> criminal subcultures help each other and encourage to achieve shared goals.
3. Marginalisation --> marginalised groups like unemployed youth lack clear goals and organisations to represent them.
Frustration = express through crime as they're powerless to improve position.
75
How do left realists tackle crime (3) ?
1. Policing and control --> Kinsey, Lee and Young
Military policing - on public info. but less given by youth and E.M.
Swamps on areas and random stop and search = locals fearful = less trust = less info and more military policing.
SO police relationships with local communities must improve.
2. Tackling structural causes --> reduces unequal structures. Deal with inequality of opportunities, discrimination.
3. Left realism and government policy: L.R. have most influence on government policy.
e.g. New labour stance 1997-2010 --> tough on causes of crime.
76
Evaluate the left realist approach.
1. Marxists --> that it fails to explain corporate crime (-).
2. Henry and Milovanovic --> accepts authorities' definitions of street crime (-).
Instead of how powerful groups do harm to the poor.
3. Relative deprivation only offers partial explanation (-) not all criminals experience this.
