1. Functionalist, Strain And Subcultural Theories

Question 1

Social construction of crime

Answer 1

-A social construction is an idea that has been created and accepted by people in society.
-Crime is a social construction as a crime is determined by society and laws created by society.

Question 2

Functionalism and crime

Answer 2

-Believe deviance is inevitable and beneficial in society
-Interested in causes of deviance
-Try to explain deviant subcultures

Question 3

Durkheims functionalist theory

Answer 3

Said that ‘crime is normal, an integral part of all healthy societies’

Question 4

Inevitability of crime

Answer 4

-Too much crime would destabilise society, but crime is inevitable and universal
WHY DOES CRIME EXIST IN SOCIETY?
1. Ineffective socialisation
2. Diversity of lifestyles and values

Question 5

Positive functions of crime: Boundary Maintenance

Answer 5

-Reaction to crime= United members in condemnation and reinforces shared norms and values (Manchester bombing)
-Explains function of punishment
-Dramatised wrong doing leads to public shaming

Question 6

Positive functions of crime: Adaption and change

Answer 6

-Change starts with and act of deviance
-There must be challenge and scope to change norms and values
-If new ideas are suppressed, society will stagnate and will not make necessary adaptive changes

Question 7

Other function of crime

Answer 7

Davis (1961): prostitution acts as a safety valve for the release of male frustration without threatening the nuclear family

Question 8

Hirschi bonds of attachments: why people do not commit crime

Answer 8

Attachment- how much do we care what others think.

Commitments- what have we got to lose?

Involvement- how involved are we with society?

Belief- to what extent do we believe obeying the law is the right thing to do?

Question 9

Mertons strain theory

Answer 9

-People engage in deviant behaviour when they are unable to achieve socially approved goals by legitimate means
-MERTON: developed Durkheims ideas to explain deviance- structural and cultural factors

Question 10

Structural factors

Answer 10

Society’s unequal opportunity structure

Question 11

Cultural factors

Answer 11

Strong emphasis on success goals and weaker emphasis on using legitimate means to achieve them

Question 12

Deviance is a result of these 2 things

Answer 12

-The goals a culture encourages individuals to achieve
-What the institutional structure of society allows them to achieve legitimately

Question 13

American dream

Answer 13

-American culture values ‘money success’
-People expected to pursue this by legitimate means: study, education, qualifications and work
-Meritocratic society

Question 14

Reality

Answer 14

-Many disadvantaged groups denied opportunities legitimately
-Results in strain between cultural goal of money and success and legitimate means to achieve them
-Pressure to deviate is increased due to emphasis on achieving success at any price. Winning the game more important than playing by the rules.

Question 15

Evaluation of Merton

Answer 15

-Merton shows how both normal and deviant behaviour can arise from the same mainstream goals e.g. conformers and innovators are both pursuing same goals but by different means

Question 16

Criticisms of Merton

Answer 16

-Take statistics at face value, too deterministic
-Marxists argue it ignores the power of the ruling class to make and enforce the laws that discriminate against the poor
-Assumes value consensus - everyone wants monetary success
-Only accounts for utilitarian crime not crimes of violence, vandalism etc. Can
strain theory explain state crimes
-Doesn’t take into account deviant subcultures - focus on individual.

Question 17

Subcultural strain theories

Answer 17

-Deviance is a product of a delinquent subculture with different values from those of mainstream society
-Provide alternative opportunity structure for those who cannot achieve by legitimate means
-Solution to a problem and functional for members
-Criticise and build on Merton’s theory

Question 18

Cohen and status frustration

Answer 18

-Agrees with Merton that crime is largely a lower class phenomenon
-Criticises in the following ways: Merton argues it is an individual repose but ignores crime in groups, largely ignores crimes such as assault or vandalism which may have no monetary gain
-Working class boys face anomie in MC dominated schools leading to status frustration
-Resolve this by joining or forming delinquents subcultures to feel belonged

Question 19

Alternative status hierarchy

Answer 19

-Subcultures values are often spite, malice, hostility and contempt
-Status is gained from going against the mainstream values eg vandalising property, truancy
-The subculture offers alternative status hierarchy in which to achieve
-Helps to explain non-economic delinquency
-Assumes working class boys start of sharing middle class goals and it can be hard to achieve them

Question 20

Cloward of Ohlin

Answer 20

-Agree working class youths denied legitimate opportunities so deviance is a response to this
-Not everyone responds in an ‘innovation way’ way
-Interested in why different subculture responses occur

-Different neighbourhoods provide different illegitimate opportunities. This results in 3 types of subcultures: criminal, conflict and retreatist

Question 21

Criminal subcultures

Answer 21

provide apprenticeship for career in crime. Evident in neighbourhoods with long-standing and stable criminal culture. Provided with ‘training’ and ‘role models’

Question 22

Conflict subcultures

Answer 22

In areas of high population turnover. High levels of social disorganisation, prevents stable professional criminal network forming. Illegitimate opportunities are available in loosely organised gangs. Violence provides as release for young men’s frustrations, alternative sources or status, turf wars, turf wars. Closest to that described by Cohen.

Question 23

Retreatist subcultures

Answer 23

Those who aspire to being a professional criminal or gang leader don’t always succeed. They have failed in both the legitimate and illegitimate opportunity structures. These people often result in retreatist subcultures based on illegal drug use

Question 24

The Chicago school

Answer 24

Cultural transmission theory- Shaw and McKay noted how some neighbourhoods developed a criminal tradition/culture. Transmitted from generation to generation.

Differential association theory- Sutherland- interested in the process by which people become deviant. Argued deviance was a learned behaviour through social interaction with other deviant people. Learn both criminal value and skills

Social disorganisation theory- Park and Burgess- deviance is the product of social disorganisation. Rapid population turnover and migration create instability. Disruption to family and community structures occur- loss of social control= deviant behaviour develops.

Question 25

Evaluation of Cloward and Ohlin

Answer 25

-South (2014)- drug trade is a mixture of disorganised and professional criminal subcultures. Some professional dealers are retreatist users, therefore making a living from utilitarian crime. Cloward and Ohlins theory would not allow you to belong to both subcultures.

-Miller (1962)- argues lower class has its own independent subcultures with its own values. As this subculture does not value success in the first place it’s members are not frustrated by failure.

-Matza (1964)- most delinquents are not strong,y committed to their subculture. They drift in and out of delinquency.

Question 26

Recent strain theories

Answer 26

-Do we still pursue money success or have we now evolved and developed new success measures?
-Regardless strain theory can still be applied. Failure to achieve the desired goals may result in delinquency. This would also help with the idea of middle class delinquency

Question 27

Institutional anomie theory

Answer 27

-Economic goals are valued more than any others and this undermines other institutions e.g. schools prepare students for work rather than focus on values. Where free market capitalism exists, with a lack of adequate welfare, high crime is inevitable.
-Downes and Hansen support this with their study. Where societies have high welfare spending they had lower rates of imprisonment.
-Savelsberg rapid rise in crime after the fall of communism in Eastern Europe