Unit 2- Socialogical Theories Flashcards
Explain Durkheim’s Functionalism
Durkheim’s Functionalism is a functionalist theory that society is a stable structure of shared norms, values and beliefs on right and wrong, which most people conform to. But also views crime as inevitable, as every society has individuals who who are not socialised to these values and are likely to deviant. Crime helps society in boundry maintainance, that it unites society by identifiying and punishiing a wrongdoer, reaffiriming the shared rule of society. However, Durkheim also views crime as a threat to the establish social order, and is needed for social change, such as the civil rights movement in south africa, Nelson Mandela. Additionally, crime can be seen as needed to reduce a wider conflict in society, such as the nuclear family. Moreover, deviance acts like a warning light to an aspect of society not functioning properly, such as high truancy indicating problems with the education system.
Boundary Maintainance
Social Change
Safety Valve
Warning Light
Durkheim: Strengths
First to recognise that crime may have positive function for society. Such as reinforcing boundries of right and wrong
Also shows how crime can act as a warning device of what laws need to change
Durkheim: Weaknesses
While crime might be functional for some, not functional for it’s victims
Claim that society requires a certain amount of deviance to function, yet offers no figure to support what it might be
Explain Merton’s Functionalism
Merton’s Functionalism is a functionalist theory that believes that everyone in society shares the same goals of being able to provide food and housing for ones family. However Merton believes that it is the unequal structure of society of blocked oppurtunites of these goals that leads to crime. Those who can adhere to societies goals legitimatly are called conformists, and do not need to commit crime to obtain these goals. Those who cannot obtain their goal but don’t commit crime are Ritualists, and are usually stuck in dead end jobs. Those who cannot obtain these goals legitimatly and turn to crime to obtain these goals are called innovatiors, usually turning to ulitarian crime to substain themselves. Those who cannot obtain these goals and don’t continue the means are called retreatists, and are dropouts vagrants and drug addicts. Those who reject the existing goals and means and replace them with new ones are called rebels. Their aim is changing socciety and are political radical and alternative cultures.
Conformity
Ritualism
Innovation
Retreatism
Rebellion
Merton: Strengths
Shows how both normal and deviant behaviour arse from the saem goals. Conformists and innovatprs both pursue material sucess but differently
Explains patterns show in official statistics, most crime is ulitarian (property) as society values wealth highly. Working class crime rates higher, as have less oppurtunity to obtain wealth legit
Merton: Weaknesses
Ignores the crime of the wealth and overpredicts amount of working class crime
Sees devianc as an individual response, ignoring group deviance + delinquent subcultures
Focus on ulitarian crime ignoring crimes with no economic motive e.g vandalism
Explain Subcultural Theories
Subcultural theories is a functionalist theory that shows how groups with distinctive sets of normss are values can provide an alternative idea of status, alternative to mainstream culture, even if from illegitimate means. Cohen belieces that deviance is the result of group faulture to achieve cultural norms, so invert societies values to alternative status and hiearchy,
Subcultures: Strengths
Thories show how subcultures perform a function for their members by offering solutions to the problem of failing to achieve mainstream goals legit.
Cloward and Ohlin show different types of neighbourhoods give rise to illegitimate opportunites and differnt subcultures
Subcultures: Weaknesses
Ignore the crimes of the wealthy and over-predict working class crime
Assumes everyone starts with mainstream goals and tunrs to SC when they fail. Some dont share goals to begin with, may be attracted to crime for other reasons
Actual subcultures aren’t as clear-cut as Cloward and Ohlin claim. Some show charcterists of all 3 types
Explain Labelling theory
Labeling theory is an interactionalist that beleivess that no act is deviant in iteself, only when rules are created that applies to others that some people may attach to others, such as a police officer attaching smoking weed to young males. Argue that social control agencies such as the police label certain groups as criminal, and results in differential enforcement. For example, police where found to look at gender, class, ethnicity in arresting people. Young males in stopped late at night in high crime areas where most likely to be arrested. Labeling certain groups as deviant also causes deviance as a form of self fufilling prothesy. Primary deviance are acts that haven’t been labeled by others, resulting in the person no seeing thewmselves as criminals. Secondary deviance are people refering to an offender soley on their clabel, which becomes a controlling identity. E.g Thief, and not father, coworker etc.
Differential enforcement
Primary and secondary deviance
Labelling theory: Strengths
Lbl theory shows that the law is not a fixed set of rules, but something whose construction we need to explain
Shifts focus onto how the police create crime by appling labels on stereotypes, causes selective enforcement and explains why working class and minorities over-represented in crime stats
Shows how attempts to control deviance can trigger deviance amp spiral, creating more deviance
Labelling theory: Weaknesses
Wrongly implies that once someone is labbeled, a deviate life is . Which is deterministic.
Emphasis on negative effects of labelling gives offenders a victim status, ignoring real victims
Doesnt explain where the power to label comes from. Focuses on police who apply label but not the capitalist class that make them
Fails to explain why it’s applied to certain groups but not others
Explain Marxism
Maraxism is a theory that views crime as a result of the exploitation of labour of the proletariat (the working class) by the bougeiose (the ruling class), who benefit from their means of production. This is also reflected in how society is structured, and that the police and courts act to keep the working class in place. Marx argued that crime is inevitable in capitialist society, as it is inheritently criinogenic, due to driving people into poverty and needing to turn to crime to survive, pushing materialism as a need of status in society, making people turn to crime in order to such items, and that also producing a dog-eat-dog system that encourages greed for profit, which may lead to coorperaate crimes.
Marxism: Strengths
Shows how poverty and inequality can cause working-class crime, and how capitalism promotes greed and encourages upper-class crime
Shows how both lawmaking and enforcement are biased against the working class, and in favour of the powerful. E.g corp crime rarely prosecuted
Marxism: Weaknesses
Focus on class and largly ignores relationship between crine and other ineqwualities such as gender and ethnicity
Overpredicts amount of working calss crime, not all poor turn to crime
Not all capitalist societies have high crime rates. E.g Japan having 1/5 the homicide rate compared to the US. (but do argue that capitalist societies with little welfare have higher crimerates)
