crime and deviance Flashcards
(26 cards)
Explain Durkheim’s view on crime
- crime is inevitable due to poor socialisation and societal inequality
- different norms and values cause crime to emerge
Explain Durkheim’s view on the positive functions of crime
Boundary Maintenance: punishing crime reinforces societal norms and strengthens social bonds
Explain Davis’ view on the positive functions of crime
prostitution allows men to express sexual frustration without harming the nuclear family
Explain Durkheims view on adaption and change
some crime is necessary for social change and the evolution of norms and values
Explain Merton’s strain theory
crime is caused by the inability to achieve the American Dream through legitimate means
What are Mertons 5 responses to strain
Conformism -> accept goals and use legitimate means
Innovation -> accept goals and use illegitimate means
Ritualism -> reject goals and conform to means
Retreating -> reject goals and illegitimate means
Rebellion -> reject the goal and the means
Explain Cohen’s status frustration theory
- working class boys fail in middle class environments
- form delinquent subcultures opposing middle class norms
- success is defined by gaining status within the subculture
What are the 3 types of subcultures according to Cohen
- Criminal subcultures: stable areas with organised crime
- Conflict Subcultures: areas with high population turnover
- Retreating Subcultures: those who fail in both legitimate and criminal worlds often turn to drug use
Becker - Social construction of crime
- deviance is defined by society
- a deviant is someone successfully labelled
Cicourel - Police and Stereotyping
- police focus on stereotypes of the typical criminal
- leads to targeting of working class areas
Lemert - primary and secondary deviance
- primary deviance: unlabelled, often unnoticed deviant acts
- secondary deviance: acts that are labelled and become master status, affecting life chances
Braithwaite - Types of shaming
- reintegrative shaming: punishment strengthens societal bonds
- disintegrative shaming: punishment isolates and increases deviance
Marxism - Criminogenic Capitalism
- capitalism causes crime through poverty and consumerism
- crime may seem necessary for survival
Marxism - the state and law making
- chambliss: laws protect private property - essential for capitalism
- snider: capitalist states avoid regulating businesses to protect profits
Marxism - selective enforcement
- all classes commit crime, but working class crime is heavily punished
- crimes of the powerful are often ignored
Marxism - ideological functions of law
Pearce: laws give capitalism a “caring face”, creating false class consciousness
Crime appears as a mainly working class issue
Neo-Marxism - Taylor et al: Fully social theory of deviance
- wider origins: capitalist inequality
- immediate origins: individual circumstances
- the act: its meaning for the actor
- immediate social reaction: power to label and define deviance
-effects of labelling: impact on future behaviour
White collar and Corporate Crimes (reimagined and leighton)
Higher class crimes are less likely to be treated as criminal
Invisibility of corporate crime
- media: focus on working class crime
- political will: tough on street crime
- complexity: corporate crime is hard to police
- delabelling: corporate crime often escapes criminalisation
- underreported: some people may be unaware they’ve been victimised
Right Realism - biological factors
Hernstein and Wilson - personality traits
Right Realism - poor socialisation
Murray - the growing underclass it’s deviant behaviour causes rising crime rates
Right Realism - Rational Choice Theory
Clarke - crime results in rational calculation - if rewards outweighs risks, people offend
Left Realism - Relative Deprivation
Lea and Young - feeling deprived compared to others can lead to crime to match material standards
