Crime and deviance Flashcards
(93 cards)
1
Q
what is crime?
A
usually associated with behaviour that breaks the formal written laws given to society
- punishment id likely to be serious controlled by laws
2
Q
what is deviance?
A
- to move away from a set of standards in society, more general than crime, not legally controlled
- not necessarily negative
3
Q
what is dominant ideologies?
A
- this is mainstream ideology that are held by society in which people set as standard
4
Q
what is the meaning of social construction?
A
- norms are the products of social construction
- behaviour can be labelled as normal/abnormal depending on the time or situation
5
Q
what can deviance be socially defined by?
A
- time
- culture
- place
- social situation
6
Q
what is an absolutist
A
deviance is inherent in the individual
7
Q
what is a relavitist
A
deviance is a social construct
8
Q
what do functionalists believe about crime
A
functionalists believe crime is needed in society
9
Q
what are the functionalist explanations for crime
A
- inadequate socialisation
- inequality
10
Q
how does inadequate socialisation explain crime
A
not effectively socialised (dont have the dominant norms and values in society)
- this is a result of inequality and meritocracy
11
Q
how does inequality explain crime
A
- inequality between classes, genders, ethnicities etc.
means that people may commit crime that is ‘necessary’ - e.g. theft as a w/c person
12
Q
what does Durkheim believe the positive functions of crime are?
A
- boundary maintenance
- adaptation and change
- social cohesion
13
Q
how is boundary maintenance a function of crime
A
- crime produces a reaction which strengthens the existing norms and values often through punishment/ridicule
14
Q
how is adaptation and crime a function of crime
A
- for society to have norms and values that change, a deviant act must take place, this act may be criminal but may progress society
15
Q
how is social cohesion a function of crime
A
- when horrific crimes have been committed it draws society closer, through their shared outrage
16
Q
what is anomie?
A
- occurs when there are periods of social change and a societies morals are unclear
- chaos
17
Q
what is egoism?
A
- collective conscience becomes too weak to restrain selfish desires of people. If people aren’t socialised to accept rules = selfishness = crime
18
Q
how do we criticise inadequate socialisation and inequality as explanations of crime
A
- drugs and alcohol are probably bigger triggers for crime
- people in modern society know that racism and violence is wrong
- doesn’t explain violent crime and fails to explain why wealthy commit crime
19
Q
Explain Merton’s strain theory?
A
- Merton believes that the american dream places more emphasis on the goals legitimising the means of gaining them, leading to crime
- when someone is unable to achieve it causes strain
- 5 groups of adaptation
20
Q
What are the 5 adaptation groups
A
- Conformity
- Innovation
- Ritualism
- Retreatism
- Rebellion
21
Q
What are the evaluations of Merton’s theory
A
- marxsists say ignores the way laws criminalise the poor and not the rich
- it assumes value consensus
- it only explains utilitarian and not violent and other crimes
- ignores the role that ‘groups’ may play in crime and focuses too much on individuals
22
Q
Cohen - status frustration (1955)
A
- focuses on w/c boys who fail to succeed in m/c environments and end up at the bottom of the social hierarchy
- believes its a result of failures, meaning students are likely to join delinquent subcultures which turn m/c values upside down
- so when they end up in society, they try to succeed within a subculture to rise in the social hierarchy
23
Q
Evaluate Cohen - status frustration
A
- explains why people commit non-utilitarian crimes
- deterministic
- ignores girls (gender bias)
24
Q
Cloward and Ohlin - three subcultures
A
Criminal subcultures
- provide apprenticeships for utilitarian crimes
- exist where there are stable criminal cultures = professional criminals
Retreatist subcultures
- formed of people who fail in legitimate and illegitimate means and may turn to drug use
Conflict subcultures
- exist on areas of high population
- social disorganisation and only loosely organised groups
25
Critiques of status frustration and subcultural theory
- Matza and Sykes - argue no distinct set of subcultural values but actually subterranean values
- Seduction of crimes - Katz (1988) argues crime is seductive and male criminals like thrill
- gangs and subcultures - 6.9% claimed to belong to a gang & 2% carry a knife or have (2008)
- Marshall (2005) identified 3 types of gangs:
- peer group or crew
- gangs
- organised criminal groups
26
what are labelling theorists interested in?
- in how and why certain acts come to be defined or labelled as criminals
- no act is inherently criminal or deviant in itself - in all situations + times
- it only comes to be so when others label it as such
- its not the nature of the act that makes it deviant, but societies reaction
27
AO2 for crime is a social construct
- alcohol is illegal in arabic countries but cannibas is legal
- Beastiality is legal in germany
- Mozambique has a criminal age of responsibility of 16, UK is 10
28
what is primary deviance?
- acts that have not been publicly labelled as a criminal
29
what is secondary deviance?
- deviant acts and individuals that are labelled - once labelled may only see as master status, this may lead to a deviant career
30
What are folk devils?
- sometimes whole groups can be seen as dangerous or evil
- members demonised by the media are called 'folk devils'
- causes a moral panic - labels are applied by authorities to the group which then makes them more deviant
31
what are officer typification's?
- (stereotypes) of the typical criminals lead them to concentrate on types of people that are more likely to offend
- e.g. patrolling w/c areas
32
What is reintegrative and disintegrative shaming (Braithwaite)?
- one is punishment which isolates the individual
- the other punishes them in a way that strengthens their bonds with society
33
How can labelling be evaluated?
- ignores that labelling could be based of a serious offence
- labelling will actually lead to deviance
- lacks validity
- doesn't explain deviant careers
34
what do marxsists believe about crime
- that crime is inevitable
35
what are the marxsist views of crime
- criminogenic capitalism
- selective enforcement
- ideological functions of the law
- law making
36
criminogenic capitalism
- crime is inevitable in society as capitalism is criminogenic
- capitalism endorses the unequal divide
- commiting crime is the only way people can live their desired life
37
what does criminogenic mean
- this means it causes crime by its nature
38
selective enforcement
- within the criminal justice system there is a seleted bias when applying the law
- police are more likely to target w/c areas
SNIDER
- capitalist state is reluctant the activities of buisnesses
- Banking crisis 2008
- tax havens of rich - loss of 250 billion - tax avoidence costs 20x more than benefits
39
ideological functions of law
Pearce
- laws give capitalism a 'caring' force and creates a false class consciousness
- state enforces laws selectively, crime appears to be largely a w/c phenomenon
- divides w/c as it gets workers to blame criminals
40
law making
Chambliss
- laws to protect private property are the cornerstone of the capitalist economy
- r/c have the power to prevent the introduction of laws that would threaten their interests
41
Evaluate the marxsist view of crime
- ignores the relationship between crime and other social factors
- too deterministic in assuming all working class people commit crime
- if capitalism was criminogenic, why does it occur it communist societies
- not all capitalist societies have high crime rates
- the criminal justice system do sometimes act against the interest of the ruling class by punishing corporate crime
42
How do neo-marxsists view crime.
- capitalist societies are based on exploitation and class conflict
- capitalism should be replaced by a classless society
- the state makes and enforces laws in the interest of capitalism
43
Taylor et al - neo marxism
- criticise marxsists for economic determinism - see crime as meaningful action and a conscious choice
- they believe crime often has a political motive
- criminals are not passive puppets whose behaviour is shaped by capitalism
44
What is the fully social theory of deviance?
1) the wider origins of the deviant act - unequal distribution of wealth & power
2) immediate origins of the deviant act - context
3) the act itself - meaning for actor
4) immediate origins of social reactions - reactions of witnesses
5) the wider origins of social reactions - wider society, police etc.
6) the effects of labelling - how does it effect future actions
45
How do left realists evaluate the neo-marxist view of crime?
- neo-marxists don't take crime seriously
- neo-marxists romanticise w/c criminals
- neo-marxism is too general to explain crime and too idealistic to tackle crime
46
What is Sutherlands definition of white collar crime?
- white collar crime is a crime committed by a person if respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation
47
What are the two types of white collar crime?
- occupational crime
- corporate crime
48
what is occupational crime?
crime is committed by employees for their own personal gain, which is often against the organisation
49
what is a corporate crime?
crime committed by the employees for their organisation, in pursuit of its goals
50
Give some examples of white collar crime
- financial crime
- crimes against consumers
- crimes against employees
- crimes against the environment
- state-corporate crime
51
AO2 for white collar crime
- corporate crime - deepwater horizon oil spill case
- 1890-1969 less than 5% of corporate offences were given a prison sentence
- 2013-2014 there were 142 fatal injuries, 629000 injuries, 2538 deaths from exposure to asbestos - 547 prosecuted
- Thalidomide
- MPs expenses scandal - 4 imprisoned
52
Explain why corporate crime goes unnoticed/unpunished?
- lack of will to tackle it
- the media = limited coverage
- under-reporting
- de-labelling = corporate crime is filtered out from criminisation
- complexity
53
what are the explanations of corporate crime
- strain theory - Box
- differential association - Sutherland
- labelling theory - Nelken
- marxism
54
What is the right realist view?
- closely linked to the new right and conservatives
- significant shift in thinking from the search for the cause of crime to a search for solutions and crime control measures
- control crime through control and punishment rather than rehabilitation
55
Why do the right realists criticise other perspectives
- fail to provide practical solutions to the problems of raising crime rates
- other theories are too sympathetic to criminals and too hostile to laws
- less concerned with the causes and more focused on realistic solutions
56
Rational choice - Clarke
- decision to commit crime is based on a rational calculation of consequences
- if the percieved reward of crime outweighed the cost - offending is more likely
57
Biological factors - Herrnstein and Wilson
- biological differences between individuals make some individuals more predisposed to crime
58
Inadequate socialisation - Murray
- crime is increasing due to the mounting underclass (below w/c) who are defined by deviant behaviour
- increase in single parenthood and over generous welfare state led to reliance on others and encouragement of welfare dependency
59
AO3 for the rational choice theory
- over emphasises offenders rationality
- doesn't explain non-utilitarian crimes
60
AO3 for biological factors
- doesn't explain non-utilitarian crime
- marxist - fails to explain other contributing factors
61
AO3 for inadequate socialisation
- deterministic to assume all people in the 'underclass' are inadequately socialised
- deterministic to assume inadequately socialised
62
Broken window theory - Wilson and Kelling (1982)
- essential to maintain local areas to prevent crime taking place
- advocate zero tolerance towards undesirable behaviour
- the role of the police should be focused on controlling the streets
- crime prevention should reduce the rewards of crime and increase the costs to the offender
63
Evaluation of broken windows theory
- created in NYC - there was a 40% drop in all crime
- policy coincided with economic growth = less poverty
- control without justice
- broken windows theory impacted BAME groups the most
64
What is the left realist view of crime?
- crime is a real problem which affects disadvantaged groups mainly
65
Relative deprivation - Lea and Young
- relative deprivation leads to crime because more people who are deprived resent others for having more material goods
- resorting to illegitimate means
66
Subcultures
- a subculture is a group with collective solution to relative deprivation
- criminal subcultures still subscribe to the goals of society - where legitimate avenues are blocked
67
Marginalisation
- these groups lack clear goals and organisations to represent their interests
- unemployed are marginalised - frustrated and resentment = expressed through crime
68
evaluate relative deprivation
- many people who are materially deprived are law-abiding
- many wealthy turn to crime
69
evaluate subculture
- people who are not part of subcultures turn to crime
- not all subcultures are criminal
70
evaluate marginalisation
- no explanation for why crime is an outlet for their frustration
71
what do left realists view as the methods of tackling crime
- policing and control
- tackling structural causes
- left realism and government policy
72
how can policing and control tackle crime
- policing must be made accountable to local communities and need to improve their relationship with the community
- involving the community in making policing policies
73
How can tackling structural causes tackle crime
- tackle structural causes of poverty by reducing inequality of opportunity and discrimination
74
How can left realism and government policy help to tackle crime
- strong influence
- strong similarities for new labour
- new labour have a firmer approach to hate crime, sexual assault etc.
- new deal for unemployed youth attempts to reserve the exclusion of groups at a greater risk of crime
75
Evaluate the left realist view of tackling crime
- Henry and Milocanovic (1996) ignores the more harmful corporate crime
- interactionists they can't explain motives of offenders
- subcultural theory indicates that there isn't a value consensus and crime only occurs when this breaks down
- relative deprivation can not fully explain crime
76
What are the four main sources that crime stats are derived from
- police records
- victim surveys
- self-report studies
- court and prison records
77
How is crime a social construct?
- its difficult to measure
- theres a wide agreement of what constitutes a crime
- there is fundamental differences between cultures as to what crime is
- developmental pattern in relation to the concept of crime
- theres disagreement as to what crime is within a culture
78
What are the gender differences in offending rates
- men are 3x more likely to be taken to court and arrested and are 11x more likely to be sent to prison
- 96% of the UK's prison population are male
- among 10-25 yr olds 17% of females and 26% of males admitted to one of the core offences
79
Gender differences and victimisation
- 3.3% of males and 2.9% of females were victim to personal crime
- females experiencing domestic abuse was 7.3% vs. 3.3% of males
80
What are the theories to explain female criminality
- unreported and unnoticed
- the chivalry thesis - Pollak
- functionalist sex role theory - Parsons
- the liberation theses - Alder
- biological explanations
- patriarchal control - Heidensohn
81
Unreported and unnoticed
- typically female crimes are less likely to be reported or noticed compared to sexual or violent crimes
82
The chivalry thesis - Pollak
- the idea that women are more leiniently treated by police and courts - they are mainly male + men have been socialised to be chilvarous to women
- leads to women being underestimated in stats
83
Evaluate the chivalry thesis - Pollak
- the police would argue that they are professionals and don't treat genders differently
84
Functionalist sex role theory - Parsons
- due to biology and socialisation, women are nurturing and mature so are incapable of committing crime
- delinquency in males is due to a lack of male role models
85
Farrington - risk factors for women committing crime
- erratic home lives
- little praise from parents
- being in care
- alcohol and drugs
- formed from a longitudinal study
86
Evaluate the functionalist sex role theory
- out-dated
- sexist
- no evidence to suggest women are inferior to motive
87
The liberation thesis - Alder
- women are now becoming much more equal in society = now commit crime
- Westwood - constantly reconstructed the concept of female identity
- Heidensohn - found offenders score highly on psychological tests of feminine identity - haven't taken on male roles & due to w/c status
88
Biological explanations
- innately women are different to men - more caring and nuturing
- Dalton - menstrual and hormonal factors influence a minority to commit crime
89
Evaluate the biological explanations of why women commit crime
- fails to explain crime rates in other countries
- Newburn - women commit every type of crime so it isn't a result of nature
90
Patriarchal control - Heidensohn
- women have at least 1 male figure that doesn't want them to commit crime
- control @ home - childcare and housework = less likely to commit crime
- control in public - choose not to go to public places - fear of rape or sexism = limited freedom
- control @ work - managers are male - sexual harassesment might stop them from asserting themeselves
- low levels of female asian crimes - social control - Honor & shame
91
Evaluate patriarchal control
- many women who commit crime have a male figure
92
AO2 for patriarchal control
- 1/3 of women have had their careers affected by sexual harassment
- 71% of 1000 women were sexually harassed in public
93
Globalisation - Winlow
- globalisation has led to a decline in traditional manual labour in which many w/c males could express masculinity
- increase in night-time leisure economy which provides a combination of legal employment + criminal oppurtunity
