Crime And Deviance Flashcards
(136 cards)
1
Q
Functionalist
A
View society as meritocratic
2
Q
Durkheim
A
Functionalist
Individuals are exposed to differed influences and circumstances so not everyone can be equally exposed to the shared norms and values
Deviance benefits society as it acts like a safety valve releasing stress
Other functionalists say that Durkheim doesn’t consider why some individuals/groups in society commit crimes and others do not
3
Q
Merton
A
Functionalist
Strain theory
He focuses on individual responses and doesn’t recognise social pattern of crime and deviance affecting whole groups
He doesn’t explain why most people who face strain theory don’t turn to crime and deviance
4
Q
Strain theory
A
Merton
Explains why deviance arises in the first place
Exposure all the time is setting up unrealistic goals
In an unequal society not all individuals have the same opportunity
5
Q
Cloward and Ohlin
A
Functionalist
They identify an alternative ‘illegitimate opportunity structure’ which was available through gang membership
Three subcultures - criminal, conflict and retreatist
They exaggerate the differences between the three types of subcultures
Does not explain white collar crime
6
Q
A.K Cohen
A
Functionalist
An anti school subculture will change the mainstream leading to gangs
Not doing crime for money
Getting status through each other’s ideas by turning socially deviant acts into ones that are praiseworthy
Post modernists argue crime comes out of boredom or seeking ‘buzz’
Status frustration - does not materially benefit them
7
Q
Marxists
A
See crime as a natural product of capitalism
Bourgeoisie control ideological state apparatus to further their own interest
Tend to argue that crime is widespread in all social strata - but point out how street crime is prioritised by law enforcement agencies, leaving corporate crime to flourish
8
Q
William Chambliss
A
Marxists
Greed and hostility generated by the capitalist system motivates crime at all levels of society
Celebrity pays a vast amount to hire a nightclub for his daughter whilst people are starving to death
Such behaviour is justified by ruling class ideology such as ‘they earned their money; they have a right to spend it as they see fit’
9
Q
Gordon 1976
A
Marxists
Crime is a rational response to the competitiveness and inequality of life in capitalist society
Dog eat dog society individuals fend for themselves in order to survive
Capitalism creating the crime because it is never enough
10
Q
Laureen Snider 1993
A
Marxists
Capitalist state is often reluctant to pass laws
Looks like they are protecting majority instead of minority
Laws framed in the national interest way usually benefits the ruling class
11
Q
Frank Pearce 1976
A
Marxists
Factory legislation related to health and safety appears to benefit the subject class, who through believing capitalists values them are further bound to a system which exploits them
In reality it also benefits the ruling class
12
Q
Chambliss study
A
1962-1972 outdated
Crime in Seattle over 10 years
70% of arrests were for public drunkenness rather than upper corporate crime
Courts and jails were filled with the poor and powerless
Crime occurs throughout all social strata the difference being the types of crime committed by different groups and the nature of low enforcement
13
Q
Interactionists
A
People do not become criminals because of their social background but that crime emerges because of labelling by authorities
14
Q
Becker
A
Crime is the product of social interactions
In a low income neighbourhood a fight is more likely to be defined by the police as evidence of delinquency
In a wealthy area a fight would be seen as evidence of high spirits
Meanings given to them by the audience differ, those who have the power to make the label stick therefore create deviants or criminals
15
Q
Cicourel
A
Meanings held by police officers and juvenile officers that explain why most delinquents come from working class backgrounds Middle class delinquents are less likely to be changed because they do not fit the picture of a ‘typical delinquent’ More likely to be defined as ill rather than criminal whilst having accidentally strayed from the path
16
Q
Lemert
A
Developed the concepts of primary and secondary deviance to emphasise the fact that everyone engages in deviant acts, but only some people are caught being deviant and labelled as deviant
17
Q
Labelling theory
A
Becker
No such thing as a deviant act. An act only becomes deviant others perceive and define it as such
E.g. man streaks across cricket field —> ‘bit of a lad’
Exposing themselves in a crowd —> perv
18
Q
Evaluation of interactionists
A
Law enforcement is often discriminatory
Cannot trust crime statistics
Law changes overtime
Attempts to control crime can backfire and may make the situation worse
19
Q
Criticisms of interactionists
A
Deterministic
Not everyone accepts their labels
Doesn’t recognise the role of personal choice in committing crime
Ignores the actual victims of crime
There are deeper, structural explanations of crime, it isn’t all just a product of labelling and interactions
Assumes offenders are just passive
20
Q
Right realism
A
Not on the same page as Marxists or the left realists
Too sympathetic to criminals and hostile to criminal justice system
Believe they know what is best for society and try to enforce their ideas
21
Q
Biology
A
Cause of crime
Right realism
22
Q
Wilson and Hernstein
A
Individuals are predisposed to their criminality by traits such as aggressiveness, extroversion and risk taking
23
Q
Murray IQ
A
Inherited low IQ
White collar crime
24
Q
Socialisation
A
Murray
Inadequate
Cause of crime
Right realism
Lone parenting - absence of male role models
Welfare state is a threat to the nuclear family and societal cohesion
25
Postmodernism
We take care in choosing out identity
26
Perry pre school
Half those who had additional support were not half as criminal as those who did not receive support
27
Choice
Right realism
Cause of crime
Rational choice to offend
28
Ron Clarke
Free will
Criminal behaviour has more perceived rewards than non criminal behaviour (perceived costs were low)
Criminal justice system is too lenient
29
Zero tolerance
Tackling crime
| Right realism
30
Wilson and Kelling
```
Undesirable behaviour dealt with immediately to prevent crime taking hold
Usually seen as working class behaviour whereas now middle class are recognised as doing this as well
```
31
Target hardening
Tackling crime
Right realism
Maximise deterrent potential of prison by quick and harsher sentencing
32
ASBOS
Anti social behaviour of a person
| Right realism
33
Criticisms of right realism
Wider structural causes such as poverty, cannot deal with crime driven by emotions
IQ differences account for less than 3% differences in offending
Ignores white collar and corporate crime focus on underclass street crime
Zero tolerance leads to displacement moving the problem which failed to stop crime rate rising
34
Evaluation of right realism
Marcus Felson
Crime requires a motivated offender, a viable target and the absence of a suitable guardian
‘It takes a community to raise a child’
35
Florida 1982
Right realism
Crime went down when neighbourhoods organised patrols to prevent looting in the wake of a hurricane
No one knows or trusts their neighbours anymore
36
Left realism
Thought that traditional Marxist were waiting for the right time for a revolution that wasn’t going to come
37
Relative deprivation
Expectations for a high lifestyle
Young - getting rid of shoes that aren’t done in yet
Nowadays realising the true costs
38
Subculture
Influenced by concepts of blocked opportunity and failure to achieve mainstream goals could be positive and based on conformity
God comforts through hardship
American dream - young 2002
Turning to crime to get these items
39
Marginalisation
Frustration and resentment vented not through political means but criminal violence and rioting
An open system means that if someone threatens you then there is somewhere you can go as people are looking out for you
40
Social change
```
Lea and young
Economic down turns
High unemployment
Failing wages
Human behaviour has become measured in terms of personal gain
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41
Lea and young
Social change and the problem of crime
Increasing levels of crime in society
Uncertainty and instability
42
Young
Individualism, self interest at the expense of others
American dream
Advocates a multi agency approach
43
Improving policing
Decrease in the relationship between public and police
Having to resort to stopping and searching or using surveillance
Public confidence in the police has declined
44
Social inequalities
Creating jobs with prospects
Poor wages
Income inequalities need reducing
Improving public housing particularly in inner cities
Improving the leisure facilities for young people
Young 1992 advocates a ‘multi agency’ approach
45
Evaluation of left realism
Marxists argue that these policies may tackle deprivation but they do not tackle the underlying structural inequalities in the capitalist system which are the root cause
Such approaches target working class, inner city communities and do not tackle elite crime
46
Hall
Marxist
Examined moral panic over mugging in the 1970s as there was an increase in mugging particularly among young black men in London
Halls research showed that it was actually growing more slowly than in the previous decade
‘Black youths out of control’ being the headlines rather than ‘capitalism in crisis’ therefore he wrote a book called ‘policing the crisis’ of capitalism
47
Evaluation of Hall
Explains black crime through marginalisation and is on the rise however it is exaggerated
He does not take into account the significance of the media and how spreading of particular information can cause ‘moral panic’
The association between criminality and black youth has continued since the economic crisis in the 1900s so its not clear that this is the ultimate cause of ‘moral panic’
48
Gilroy
Myth of black criminality (crime by black ethnic groups is a result of struggle against white dominance)
He sees most crime by black ethnic groups as essentially political and as part of the general resistance to white rule
When early migrants came to Britain they forced discrimination and hostility and drew upon the tradition of anti colonial struggle to develop cultures of resistance against white dominated authorities and police forces
49
Evaluation of Gilroy
Criticised by Lea and Young as most crime is against people of the same ethnic groups so cannot be racism and criticise him for romanticising the criminals as shame
Most crime is reported to the police but not uncovered by them so it is difficult to suggest racism within the police itself
Asian crime rates are similar or lower than whites which would mean the police were only racist towards the black which is unlikely
50
Bowling and Philips
Ethnic minority cases are more likely to be dropped than white cases and blacks and Asians are less likely to be found guilty than whites
Say there is never enough evidence to prosecute as it is mainly revolved around racially stereotyping
Studies suggest that the crown prosecution system is more likely to drop cases against ethnic minorities
2002 argue the evidence presented to the CPS by the police is often weaker and based on stereotyping ethnic minorities as criminals
51
Statistics for ethnicity and crime
Black people were five times more likely to be put in prison than whites 2007
2019 figures for stop and search black and Asian more likely arrests 46,000 Asians
Black and Asian offenders are more likely than whites to be serving longer sentences
52
Pollak
The chivalry thesis
Most in the criminal justice are men as men have been socialised to be ‘chivalrous’ to women (to be protective and considerate)
Police force in US 2014 women 11.9% and men 88.1%
Nowadays women do not get as much sympathy but are still able to ‘get away’
At each stage in the system officers and juries do not like to arrests females or find them guilty
53
Evaluation of chivalry thesis
Ignores that many male crimes do not get reported
Crimes of powerful are under represented in self report and victim surveys
Under reporting of male crimes against women
In 2012 only 8% of females who had been victims of serious sexual assault reported it to the police
54
Buckle and Faringdon 1984
Observational study of shoplifting in a department store witnessed twice
Numbers are equal in ordinance survey are equal suggesting that women are more likely to be prosecuted than their male counterparts
55
Heidensohn
Argues a lot of the reason why women are less involved in crime is to do with the way crime is gendered as a male activity
Suggests that control theory can be applied to gender and crime and can explain why so few women get involved in crime
56
Gelsthorpe and Louck 1997
Conducted 197 interviews with part time magistrates
Found that they were more inclined to take account of family circumstances in cases involving women and women were more likely than men to be treated with leniency
Magistrates tended to distinguish between ‘troubled’ and ‘troublesome’ women, a distinction which wasn’t made with male offenders
57
Carlen
Feminist
Work hard for money they then use for consumer goods
Very exploitative deals
They do domestic labour and companionship in exchange for financial support
When these deals break down the working class women are then more likely to commit crimes as a rational choice
58
Castell
Globalisation has created transnational networks of organised crime which operate in many countries
These ploy millions of people and work in collusion with corrupt state officials and legitimate businesses
59
Glenny
Term McMafia
Transnational organised crime mirrors the activities of legal transnational corporations like McDonalds who seek to provide and sell the same products across the world but instead of fast food they provide drugs, sex, guns, body organs, pornography and opportunities for illegal immigration
Illegal drug trade is worth $360 billion
60
Hobbs and Dunningham
Glocal to describe the inter connectivity between the local and global
Global criminal networks work within global contexts as interdependent local units since existing local criminals need to connect to the global networks to continue their activities
61
Taylor
Transnational lay operating has led to fewer job opportunities and more job insecurity, an increase in unemployment and more part time jobs, in developed countries, and has intensified exploitation of the labour force in developing countries
62
Held
The increasing interconnectedness of crime across national borders, and the spread of transnational organised crime
Globalisation creates new opportunities for crime, new means of committing crime and new offences
63
Lash and Urry
Disorganised capitalism
| Globalisation has been accompanied by less regulation and fewer state controls over business and finance
64
Evaluation of globalisation and crime
It’s secretive and complex so difficult area for sociologists to investigate
Research may be dangerous
Easy to exaggerate
Due to globalisation, law enforcement across the world have come together to try to stop it meaning that it has progressively become harder for criminals doing transnational organised crime
65
Beck 1992
Points out global warming and the way they pose a risk to the whole world
Many threats to out ecosystems are manufactured risks and are the result of massive demand for consumer goods and the technology that underpins it
66
White 2008
Anthropocentric - harms to the environment from the perspective of humanity e.g. pollution damages human water supply or causes diseases that are expensive to overcome
Ecocentric- does not distinguish between humans and the rest of the ecosystem, sees harm to any aspect of the environment as harm to all of it therefore crimes like animal cruelty are green crimes regardless of whether or not there is any specific human cost
67
South 2008
Primary green crime - committed directly against the environment e.g. pollution, animal cruelty and deforestation
Secondary green crime - breaking existing laws and regulations e.g. violence against environment groups and bribery/organisations crime to avoid environmental regulations
68
Evaluation of green crime
Difficulty of categorisation
Question of whether harm has been caused becomes one of political and moral judgement rather than empirical and value
Free research
Marxists and feminists have correctly exposed problems in perceiving crime purely in terms of breaking laws, it at least provides a limit to what can and should be studied
69
McLaughlin 2001
Four categories of state crime:
Political corruption
Security and police (genocide, torture)
Economic (violations of health and safety laws)
Social and cultural (institutional racism)
70
Schwendinger 1970
We should define crime in terms of the violation of basic human rights rather than the breaking of legal rules
States that deny individuals human rights must be regarded as criminal
71
Cohen 1996
Spiral of denial that states use when accused of human right abuses
Such as economic exploitation, are not self evidently criminal, even if we find them morally unacceptable
72
Example of state crime
2019 bridge in Italy collapsed which killed 43 and left 600 homeless an investigation into this showed that it was poorly built in order for the government to save money
73
Example of human rights crime
2017 Canadian government sterilised girls who they told they were taking their appendix out and didn’t realise until later on in life which ended up costing the government a lot of money in compensation
74
Taylor, Walton and Young 1975
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Working class deliberately choose to commit crime as a political response to their perceived exploitation
Street crime is therefore a political act aimed at redistributing wealth from rich to poor
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75
Functionalist view of crime
Sees the law as a reflection of society’s shared values, not everyone is equally socialised into these values, crime and deviance is the product of inadequate socialisation or the result of sub cultural membership
76
Miller
Functionalist
The lower class has developed an independent subculture, with distinctive norms and values
Conforming to norms on toughness and the pursuit of excitement can lead to conflict with the law and the goals of mainstream culture
77
Merton
```
USA society’s class structure denies working class people the opportunity to achieve the ‘money success’ that American culture values so highly
Strain theory argues that people engage in deviant behaviour when their opportunities to achieve in legitimate ways are blocked
This explains why the working class has a higher rate of utilitarian crime than middle class
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78
Cohen
```
Sees working class youths as culturally deprived. They have not been socialised into the mainstream middle class culture
Their failure leaves them at the bottom of the status hierarchy and leads to status frustration. Therefore delinquent subcultures offer a solution for respect is gained from their peers
This can explain non utilitarian crimes like vandalism which is an expression of inverting mainstream values such as respect for property
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79
Marxists view of crime
The economic system of capitalism itself causes crime. The whole system is based on the exploitation of the working class by the ruling class
80
Pearce 1976
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Marxist
Even laws that appeared to help workers really helped the bourgeoisie. His focus was on health and safety laws which provided the ruling class with a healthy workforce
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81
Statistics for crime and social class
37.4% of black people and 44.8% of Asian people felt unsafe being at home or around their local area, compared with 29.2% of white people
82
Williamson and Dickinson 1993
Found that 30% of newspaper space was devoted to crime
83
Mandel 1984
Estimates in 1945 to 1984, 10 billion thrillers were sold, 25% prime TV and 20% films
84
‘The age fallacy’
Criminals and victims are portrayed as older and more middle class than those typically found in the criminal justice system
85
Felson dramatic fallacy
Media underplays ‘ordinary’ crimes, similarly media images lead us to believe that to commit crime one needs to be daring and clever - the ‘ingenuity fallacy’
86
Schlesinger and Tumber 1994
In the 1960s the focus had been on modern and petty crime but in the 1990s petty crime were of less interest to the media
87
Hoodie moral panic 2006
Being banned from shopping centres, tends to be youth culture (subculture), media impact, new moral panic is knife crime and youth groups, media half panicking half commenting on it
88
Borbal doll experiment
Demand characteristics
| Kids who watched brutal violent acts were more likely to replicate them through watching films or videos
89
Media and cause of crime and deviance
Concern that the media have a negative effect on values, attitudes and behaviours particularly with vulnerable groups
90
3 developing trends in media
‘Reality’ shows tend to feature young non white underclass offenders
Police shown as corrupt or brutal
Victims have become central, law enforcers as avengers and the audience invited to identify with their suffering
91
Media and crime statistics
46% of news reports were about violent or sexual crimes but these make up only 3% of all crimes recorded by the police
News exaggerates the risk of victimisation especially to women, white, middle class
92
Clarke 1992
‘Rational choice theory’ individuals are calculating in pursuit of their own interests. Potential offending low risks and high rewards to make it worthwhile
Solution - make it harder to attack someone
93
Felson and Clarke 1998
Theft was more likely where attractive targets (portable, high value) were accessible with a good chance of escaping without detection
94
Cohen and Felson 1999 and Felson 2002
Developed these theories further by introducing ‘routine activities theory’. Opportunity crucial to most crime. Offences arose from risk free profit from daily activities
95
Garland 2001
Argues that it is only concerned with limiting the extent of crime and its impact - ignores the factors that may be casual such as inequality and relative deprivation
96
Crawford and Evans 2013
Contributing to a ‘fortress society’, divisive - not even a place for homeless to sleep. Increasing surveillance challenges civil liberties
97
Watson 2008
One of the most widely used measures in the use is CCTV cameras
Estimated 1 million in the UK
98
Bus terminal New York 1980s
Redesign where homeless people would live
Small spaces for drug trade
Felson claimed it had too much space for people to move into, poor sight lights so activity could go unobserved and quiet corners for people to sleep and live
99
Solutions to crime
```
Better lighting
Graffiti resistant stone walls
Toilet attendants and smaller sinks
Obstacles to prevent skateboarding
Flat surfaces or benches to make it uncomfortable to sleep on
‘Design out crime’
```
100
Situational crime prevention
Directed at specific point that criminals and their potential targets come together
101
Environmental crime prevention
Localities which might encourage or discourage crime
102
Social and community crime prevention
Underlying causes that might motivate crime
103
Christie 1986
Saw ‘victim’ as a social construction meaning that it is media ideal, weak and blameless individual, the target of a strangers attack
104
Positivist victimology
Miers 1989
Marvin Wolfgangs 1958
Bookman 2005
Amirs 1971
105
Miers 1989
Aims to identify patterns (what factors make some more likely to be victims than others), focuses on violent interpersonal crime and identify victims who have contributed to their own victimisation
106
Marvin Wolfgangs 1958
Study of 588 homicides in Philadelphia. 26% involved victim precipitation - triggered events e.g. when victim first to use violence makes victim, female perpetrator
107
Evaluation of positivist victimology
Bookman 2005
Shows the importance of the victim - offender relationship and in many homicides, it is a matter of chance which party becomes the victim
108
Amirs 1971
Claim 1/5 rapes are victim precipitated
109
Critical victimology
Tombs and Whyte 2007
110
Tombs and Whyte 2007
‘Safety crimes’ employers violations that result in the injury and death of workers are presented as accident prone workers
Dealing with rape - blaming victim ‘she was asking for it’ is seen as an acceptable defence strategy
111
Evaluation of critical victimology
Disregards the role victims may play in the choices they make e.g. in not securing their house or in their own offending
Valuable in drawing attention to the role of power in the social construction of ‘victim’
112
Victims British crime survey 2006
60% of the population not victims of any kind of crime but 4% of the population are victims of 44% of all crimes in that period
113
Secondary victimisation
Victims suffer the crime then further at the hands of the criminal justice system e.g. feminist analysis of treatment of rape victims by police and courts, amounts to a double violation
114
Willis 1977
```
Concludes that working class youth do not share the same definition of status as middle class boys
He found that lads saw educational failure as ‘success’ because qualifications were not necessary for the jobs they wanted
```
115
Marshall 2005
Research suggests that most youths never came into contact with subcultures. Instead, they mainly hang out in informal and disorganised groups he called ‘crews’. These engage in incidental anti social behaviour rather than crime, caused by high spirits, boredom and drunkenness, rather than subcultural pressures
116
Reiner 2008
Observes that financial success breeds a desire for money rather than job satisfaction. Corporate and white collar crimes are therefore caused by the anomic pressures resulting from societies that value monetary success
117
Wilkinson and Pickett 2009
Clear link between inequality and crime
In societies such as the USA and UK, which demonstrates very wide inequalities between rich and poor, crime rates are high
However, crime rates are relatively low in capitalist societies that demonstrate low levels of inequality, such as Sweden and Japan
118
Burke 2005
Left realist
| Says that the New Criminology is too idealistic and therefore impractical in its attempt to explain and tackle crime
119
Overall crime rate in the UK
2002 - 6million recorded crimes
| 2015 - 6.5million recorded crimes
120
Property crime rate in England and Wales
1990 - 9million
| 2015 - 2.9million
121
Campbell 1986
Research found that the ratio of male crime to female crime is 1.33 to 1 rather than 9 to 1
122
Burman 2004
Research in Glasgow
Girls are perpetrators of gang violence but violence committed by girls is still relatively rare compared with that committed by boys
123
Graham and Bowling 1995
Carried out a self report study involving 2500 people and found that white and black offending rates were very similar, whilst Asian people had much lower rates. This challenges the view seen in the official crime statistics (OCS) that some ethnic minorities are more criminal than white people
124
Evaluating self report studies
Unreliable - some people never own up to committing crimes
Low validity - may be undermined by selective or false memories
Ethical issues - inevitably produce ‘guilty knowledge’
Unrepresentative - mainly aimed at adolescents rather than adult offenders
Give an insight to the dark figure of unreported crime and provide an accurate picture
125
Junger-Tas 1989
Claimed that teenagers with a criminal record were less likely to cooperate with self reports
126
Hood 1992
Studied over 3000 court cases in which males and females were found guilty of similar crimes and found that women were one third less likely to be sent to prison
127
Alder 2001
Argues that women’s liberation from patriarchy will lead to a new type of female criminal, one with greater opportunity and confidence to commit crime
128
Jewkes 2011
Observes that crime is newsworthy for several reasons:
Negative news sells more
Human interest element
Crime is dramatic in terms of its effects on the victim
Violent crimes committed by women or those in which children are victims attract more media attention as they are rare
129
Ditton and Duffy 1983
Found that nearly half of media reports about crime focused on murder or rape, despite the fact that these types of crimes only make up about 3% of crimes recorded by the police
130
Newsome 1994
Claimed that impressionable audiences such as children or teenagers may be negatively influenced by violent, immoral or anti social media content
Saw the media as a powerful secondary agent of socialisation
131
Redhead 1993
Notes that a moral panic regarding acid house raves in the late 1980s led to the police setting up roadblocks on motorways, turning up at raves in full riot gear and eventually led to the passing of the criminal justice act 1990 which banned illegal parties
132
Cybercrime
```
Identity theft
Hacking
Online scams
Viruses
Annual cost for British companies is £27 billion
```
133
Rummell 1997
Claimed that governments have murdered six times more people than have died in combat in all 20th century wars
134
Foucault 1975
Argued that surveillance indicated a new form of state power, which had replaced more brutal forms
He aw surveillance as a form of ‘disciplinary power’ which was more effective than brute force as citizens were more likely to conform if they felt they were being watched
135
Betham’s prison design 1791
All inmates can be observed by one guard. The observer is not visible to the inmates who generally conform to the rules because they do not know when they are under surveillance
136
Mathieson 1997
Foucault neglects the surveillance of the powerful by the masses
E.g. social media can quickly mobilise public opinion against powerful groups
