sociological theories of criminality Flashcards
sociological theories of criminality
what does marxism suggest about crime?
-the law is there to keep the w/c in their place
-capitalism causes crime and society is criminogenic (crime-causing)
-exploitation leads to poverty
-utilitarian crimes (financial gain) are committed due to capitalism pushing consumer goods (white-collar crime is due to capitalism)
-different social classes are policed differently; proletariats are policed heavily because they are expected to commit more crime
-chambliss = laws are there to protect the rich; very few laws are in place to challenge the rich
-42% of the statistics presented by the government are false and misleading
-selective law enforcement = white-collar crimes are less likely to be prosecuted than w/c crimes
-calson found 3?2000 companies who had broken safety laws were prosecuted; corporate crimes are punished less severely
evaluate the marxist theory
strengths
-provide an explanation for crime that covers all the social classes
-shows how poverty leads to crime and capitalism promotes greed
weaknesses
-ignores other inequalities like gender and ethnicity
-overpredicts the amount of crime committed
-white-collar crime has been prosecuted
-not all capitalist societies have high crime rates (e.g., japan and switzerland)
what is the labelling theory?
-people are given a master status, which can label someone for life
-criminals are more likely to receive a negative label
-negative label = self-fulfilling prophecy
-becker = deviant career; someone is labelled, they commit crimes, lose their job and are rejected by other; time in prisoners leads to them being influenced to commit more deviant behaviours
-labelling can excuse criminals to justify their behaviours
-positive labels = “the perfect student” encourages the same behaviour to work harder
-lement = labelling someone as deviant encourages deviant behaviour; primary deviance - acts which aren’t publicly labelled (e.g., train without ticket); secondary deviance -people treat the offender by their label, becoming their master status; label overrides other status like mother or father
-e.g., mods and rockers were labelled negatively a folk devils, causing them to commit more deviant behaviours
evaluate the labelling theory
strengths
-can be applied to real life in school settings; people spend lots of their life labelling people according to their appearance or personality
-ball (1970); students placed in upper bands behaved better than those in lower bands
weaknesses
-not everyone conforms to the label given to them; it might encourage them to change their behaviour and do their best to prove that label wrong
-wrongly implies that once someone is labelled, a deviant career in inevaitable - determinist
what does functionalism suggest about criminality?
-durkheim = society is a stable structure based on shared norms, values and beliefs. most people conform to these shared norms and do not deviate. crime is inevitable because of inadequate socialisation - sometimes there is anomie
-durkheim’s functions of crime
-boundary maintenance: public reaction against crime unites members of society and reminds them of the boundary between right and wrong (e.g., london riots)
-social change: for society to progress, people need to challenge existing norms and values (e.g., nelson mandela)
-safety value: a way for people to express their unhappiness (e.g., davis and prositutes)
-warning light: indicates that an institution in society isn’t functioning properly (e.g., high truancy rates could indicate a problem in the education system)
evaluate the functionalist theory
strengths:
-provides a detailed analysis for why crime has hidden functions for society
-durkhiem was the first to recognise that crime can have positive functions for society, reinforcing moral boundaries against the wrongdoer
weaknesses:
-crime isn’t always a positive thing as this theory suggests. some elderly people may be afraid to leave their house due to gang crimes, etc.
-crime may be functional for others but not criminals
what is the subcultural theory?
-certain subcultures in society have values and attitudes that lead to committing crime and violence
-cohen = status fustration exists and lower-class boys end up at the bottom of the school’s hierarchy due to teacher’s opinions about them
-they feel worthless and turn to subcultures to gain status (e.g., anti-school gangs)
-deviance amplification = the media demonises people to create moral panic. they are made into folk devils
-three types of subculture (cloward and ohlin):
-criminal subcultures: crimes such as theft are committed. these subcultures develop in working class areas where crime is normalised
-conflict subculture: crimes such as gang warfare and violent crimes are committed, developing in socially disoragnised areas
-retreatist subculture: these subcultures come in about lower class areas and usually through the youth who have failed to succeed in society. the crimes committed are petty theft, prositution and shoplifting
evaluate the subcultural theory
strengths:
-support from cloward and ohline further develops cohen’s idea, covering lots of different neighbourhoods and reasons for why someone might commit a crime
-these theories show how subcultures perform a function for their members by offering solutions to the problem of failing to achieve legitmate means
weaknesses:
-ignores white-collar crime
-overpredict the amount of crime committed by the working class
-actual subcultures are not as clear as suggested, some show characteristics of all three types
what is the interactionalist theory?
-differential enforcement of law: police label certain groups as criminals, resulting in police enforcing the law more severly on one group than another
-pilivian and briar: police decisions to arrest were based on sterotypical ideas about a person’s manners, race, etc. young males stopped late at night were more likely to be arrested
-reject the use of crime statistics: statistics represent what police do and not what criminals do
-if they sterotype working class males as criminals, they spend more time pursuing criminals
-statistics are a social construction, not a true measure of the amount of crime
evaluate the interactionalist theory
strengths:
-selective law enforcement provides an explanation for why w/c are overrepresented in crime statistics
limitations:
-wrongly implies that once someone is labelled a deviant career is inevitable - determinist
what is merton’s strain theory?
-crime comes from the unequal structure of society
-american society values money success which people should achieve through legitimate means
-blocked opportunities lead to inadequate schooling and w/c face poverty leading to a strain between the goals and legitimate means
-four ways of adapting to the strain
-innovation: illegal ways of achieveing the goal through utilitarian crime
-rebellion: rejecting society’s goals and means and aiming to replave them with better ones (e.g., hippies)
-retreatism: give up on the goal and the means (e.g., drug addicts, vagrants)
-ritualism: give up on the goal but still work a dead-end job
evaluate the strain theory
strengths:
-his idea that society value money makes sense as more crime is proprty crime - working class rates are higher because they have less opportunities to gain weath legitimatley
weaknesses:
-overpredicts the crime of the working class
-ignores white-collar crime as a whole
what is left realism?
-crime is due to inequalities in a capitalist society
-main victims: women and ethnic minorities
-lea and young: three causes of crime
-relative deprivation: how deprived someone is in comparison to others. media pushes consumer goods and demonstrates an unequal society (e.g., footballer’s pay - percieved unfairness - turn to crime) young - relative deprivation downwards - better off people feel resentmenet to those lower, like scroungers, explaining hate crime
-subculture: groups way of solving relative deprivation. criminal subcultures share same goals but legitimate opportunities are blocked so turn to crime. some turn to religious subcultures as an explanation (god’s will) - encourages conformity, not criminality
-marginalisation: lea and young - marg. groups lack organisations to represent them and lack clearly defined goals (jobless youth feel powerless, which they express through crime like violence and rioting)
evaluate left realism
strengths:
-draws attention to the reality of street crime and its effects and the importance of poverty of the underlying structual causes of crime
weaknesses:
-overpredicts the amount of working class crime - not everyone who experiences relative deprivation or marginalisation turn to crime
what is right realism?
-street crime is a growing problem and concerned with creating practical solutions to solve crime
-to reduce crime, it is best to control and punish then to rehabilitate ot tackling poverty (vagrants)
-reasons for crime:
-biological differences: wilsons and hernstein: say it makes one more likely to commit crimes than others. low iq and agressiveness are associated with criminality
-inadequate socialisation: nucleur family is best socialisation - can reduce the chances of someone offending by teaching self-control and correct values. murray: nucleur family is being undermind by welfare benefits (fathers no longer need to stay and provide - the state does that) the underclass - welfare dependency is creating the underclass who fail to socialise their children properly. absent father = no discipline or good, male role model because they see no man supporting their family, resulting in boys looking up to delinquent role models in gangs and gain status through crimes rather than through supporting their families
-offending is a rational choice: we have free will and choose to commit based on a rational calculation of the consequences. if rewards outweigh the risk - more likely to offend. crime rates are high as percieved costs of crime are low. criminals see little risk in being caught and don’t expect severe punishments if convicted.
-felson’s routine activity theory: for crime to occur, three things are necessary: 1. motivated offender 2. suitable targer (person or property) 3. abscence of a capable guardian (parent or neighbour). offenders act rationally which is why an offender is likely to be deterred in the prescence of a guardian
