sociological theories:interactionism & realism

Question 1

which theories are social structure

Answer 1

Marx (marxism )
Durkheim (functionalism-anomie theory)
merton (functionalism- strain theory)

Question 2

which theories are interactionism

Answer 2

Becker(labelling theory)

Question 3

which theories are realism

Answer 3

right realism (Murray/ Clarke/W&K)
left realism (Lea and Young)

Question 4

claims of Becker

Answer 4

-Interactionists claim that people do not become criminals because of their social backgrounds, but rather argue that crime merges because of labelling by authorities.
- crime is socially constructed. Becker states that deviance ‘exists in the eye of the beholder’ and individuals define what is seen as deviant. An act is only criminal or deviant if people label it as such

Question 5

Components of Becker

Answer 5

-When an individual or a group get labelled, it can have a knock-on effect on their behaviour.
-Self-fulling Prophecy describes what happens when a false belief (negative label) influences people’s behaviour in such a way that it ultimately become who they are.
-When someone is labelled, this can lead to them believing the label and acting accordingly.

Question 6

credibility of Becker

Answer 6

+Focuses on the individuals rather than categorising us into groups of society, such as the working class or ruling class.
+Allows us to compare the way we interact with different people.
+Helps us understand the social construction of the world.
- Shows how the media can have an impact on the creation of deviance and can produce moral panic.
-Can be criticised for lacking reliability and representativeness.
-It’s not scientifically tested.

Question 7

applications of Becker

Answer 7

• Cohen (1972) – The Mods and Rockers were labelled as deviant youth subcultures by the media. This led to a significant moral panic that young people were out of control, when in fact there was very little conflict between both youth groups. It led to a self-fulfilling prophecy because of the labelling, the Mods and Rockers did indeed end up on Brighton Beach. Although the damage was relatively committed

Question 8

refuting evidence of Becker

Answer 8

-Left Realism and Marxists – This theory doesn’t pay sufficient attention to how social structures can make individuals criminal. For example, material deprivation can have a real, objective impact on your ability to do well in life, therefore it is not just all about labelling.
-Individualistic theories would argue that this theory ignores social learning, attachment issues and personality types and criminal behaviour.

Question 9

supporting evidence of Becker

Answer 9

• Cohen (1972) showed that the media and the government overreact to minor social disorder and apply the label of folk devil to groups which labels them as deviant and criminal.
• Lemert (1964) – Primary and secondary deviance. An individual first commits primary deviance. Through a process of labelling the individual is forced to play the role of deviant. As a reaction to this role, the labelled person adapts their behaviour according to the role assigned to him. This behaviour reaction is called secondary deviance.

Question 10

claims of left realism

Answer 10

-People turn to crime because they subjectively perceive themselves as unfairly disadvantaged over their peers.
-To reduce crime there needs to be practical measures to reduce crime and a long term change towards a more equal and caring society is needed
-According to lea and young, crime can be solved by changing the relationship between the public and police, dealing with the inequality in today’s society.

Question 11

components of left realism

Answer 11

Relative deprivation
-People feel that they are being deprived when they compare themselves to others.
-People are more aware of their deprivation than in previous years due to social media.

Subculture
-Is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs often maintaining some of its founding principles
-There are a number of subcultures that subscribe to the mainstream goals of society e.g. materialism and consumerism

Marginalisation
-Social exhaustion or social marginalisation relegates groups to the fringes of society. This makes people feel that they don’t have a chance of life.
-This is more likely to affect the working classes and ethnic minorities.

Question 12

credibility of left realism

Answer 12

+Explore the role of the victim of crime especially the poor and vulnerable in much more depth than any other criminological theory.
+Left realists aim to provide solution to the problem of crime.
+Uses the crime survey of England and Wales to see how crime affects individuals and who it affects most
-Theory doesn’t explain how to realistically solve crime
-It focuses on inner city high crime areas and therefor may give an unrepresentative view of crime
-Largely focuses on economic crimes such as benefit fraud or shoplifting.

Question 13

applications of left realism

Answer 13

-There were 50,500 knife crime offences some countries saw an increase of up to 38%
-London rival gangs Dem Africans and the get money gang ae gangs of predominantly black youths who control the streets of golden green (London)
-These are young socially deprived marginalised boys who see no other option other than joining a gang because they are on the margins of society and feel they get nothing out of life.

Question 14

refuting evidence of left realism

Answer 14

-While the government introduced directly elected police and crime commissioners in 2012, there is no evidence to suggest that this increased public support for, or confidence in, the police. This reform has not changed the relationship between the public and the police in the way left realists hoped.
-This theory fails to explain white-collar and corporate crime, or crime committed by ‘elites’ who are not marginalised.

Question 15

supporting evidence to left realism

Answer 15

Merton (Strain Theory) - Those who are excluded from the benefits of mainstream society develop their own subcultures, norms and principles. Inevitably, for those excluded from legitimate avenues, this involves criminal behaviour.
Matthews (1992) argues that improving leisure facilities for the young, reducing income Inequalities, improving housing estates, raising the living standards of poorer families, reducing unemployment and creating jobs with prospects, will all help to cut crime

Question 16

claims of right realism

Answer 16

-Crime is a real problem destroying communities and threatening society’s work ethic.
-The rise in welfare dependency people living off benefits has contributed to the growing rate of crime.
-The best way to reduce crime is through control and punishment e.g. longer prison sentences

Roy Clarke- rational choice theory 1985
-Individuals make a rational choice whether to commit crime.
-People are more likely to commit crime if the reward outweighs the punishment.

Wilson and Kelling- broken windows theory 1982
-Signs of a disorder will lead to more disorder.

Question 17

Components of right realism

Answer 17

-Solutions and strategies based on right realist point of view- zero tolerance and target hardening +punishment.
-Zero tolerance- in order to prevent crime the police and members of communities must clamp down on the first sign of petty crime and disorder a zero tolerance policy to street crime is needed. The role of the police should be to focus on controlling the streets so that law abiding citizen feel safe.
-Target hardening and punishment- the state should introduce practical measures to make crime less attractive. The focus needs to be on control, prevention and punishment of offenders rather than tackling the cause of crime e.g. poverty.

Question 18

credibility of right realism

Answer 18

+Looks at m0re likely reasons behind why crime is committed.
+Offers a more practical approach to tackling crime
+Has led to a shift in official thinking in offering practical control measures for crime and deviance.
-Ignores wider structural causes such as poverty.
-Overstates offenders rationally and how far they make cost benefit calculations before committing a crime

Question 19

right realism applications

Answer 19

New York city port authority bus terminal
-The bus terminal had major problems relating to robbery, pickpocketing, luggage theft, assault, homelessness, drug sales and solicitation for prostitution.
-A zero-tolerance approach and target hardening measures were taken such as graffiti resistance paint, toilet doors were made to have gaps at the bottom and the top, corners were filled to prevent vagrancy.
-Crime and customer complaints reduced as a result.

Question 20

refuting evidence of right realism

Answer 20

• Right realism view doesn’t reduce crime it just moves it onto somewhere else. If criminals are rational thinkers then they will respond to target hardening by ,moving to an area where that targeting is softer
  -Mooney 2998 claims ‘ there is not a single substantial scrap of evidence’ that there is a link between the underclass and crime

Question 21

supporting evidence for right realism

Answer 21

-Flood page et al 2000 supports Charles Murrays view of the decline of the family leading to criminalisation. Found that from lone- parents backgrounds children were more likely to offend.
-The New York zero tolerance study that zero tolerance policies reduced crime.