2.3 / 3.2 sociological theories Flashcards
What is a Social Structure
The pattern of social arrangements in society that determines the action of individuals
What are Structural Theories
Theories that loom at how equal or unequal society is, what holds it together and what causes societal division.
Functionalism
What is the focus of Functionalism
Functionalism and by extention Strain Theory focus’ on what hold society together. Both theories have interest in how we are socialised and have shared values.
Functionalism
How do Functionalists see society
They see society as a stable social structure based upon shared norms, values and beliefs about right and wrong.
Functionalism
What is Value Consensus
And why is it important to functionalism
Society’s shared norms and values
The valiue consensus binds people together, creating social soloidarity, wherein members of a society feel like they belong to a homogenous unit.
Functionalism
What are Functionalist Beliefs
Crime is inevitable as, some people are inadequately socialised and are therefore likely to deviate from the norms and laws of society.
Durkheim (1858 - 1917)
What are the Functions of Crime
Boundary maintainance
Crime produces a reaction from people, uniting them to condemn specific behaviours, therefore reinforcing their commitment to society.
Durkheim (1858 - 1917)
What are the Functions of Crime
Social Change
For society to progress, individuals wwith new ideas must challenge existing ideology, norms and values. At first this will be seen as deviance.
Durkheim (1858 - 1917)
What are the Functions of Crime
Safety Valve
Some crimes prevent further worse criminal behaviours - using a prostitute allows for the release of a mans sexual frustration, preventing worse crimes like rape of domestic abuse.
Durkheim (1858 - 1917)
What are the Functions of Crime
Warning Sign
Crime is an indicator about the functionality of a society, a drastic change in crime levels can be a warning that something within a society is incorrectly functioning, therefore change needs to be made.
Functionalism
What are the Positive impacts of crime Durkheim identified
Crime helps society change, and remain dynamic
Functionalism
What are the Negative impacts of crime Durkheim identified
Too much cvrime can lead to societal disruption (anomie)
Functionalism
What is an Anomie
The loss of shared and dominant guiding principles/norms (normlessness)
Functionalism
What does Durkheim believe the Function of Punishment is
He believd that the function of punishment was not toremove crime, but to reinforce shared values, norms and beliefs.
Strengths - (3.2)
Durkheim’s Theory
- Durkheim was the first to recognise that crime can have a positive function for society, reinforcing right and wrong by uniting people against the defender.
Weaknesses - (3.2)
Durkheim’s Theory
- Does not look at what the cause of crime may be – just that it is functional, healthy, universal, inevitable, and relative.
- He suggests that crime/deviance strengthens social solidarity, but overlooks how it can also isolate people.
- He argues that a certain amount of crime is healthy within a society, but does not specify a quantity or indicate how much crime is the correct amount.
- He ignores issues regarding inequality of class/power, gender, ethnicity
- He also suggests that the criminal justice system is beneficial to everyone in a society, by punishing criminals and reinforcing acceptable behaviour within a society, others believe that it is not the case, with Marxist and Feminist analysis of crime demonstrating that not all criminals are punished equally, thus crime and punishment greatly benefits the powerful rather than the powerless.
Merton (1910 - 2003)
What is Strain Theory
Strain Theory argues that deviance is derived from culture and the structure of society itself, as all members of society share the same values.
According to Merton, the importance that western cultures place in striving for wealth, success and competition (the American dream) can generate deviance and criminal behaviours as members of the society are placed in different positions withing the social structure (differing in class positions) they do not all have the same means to achieve these shared values. This situation can generate anomie, and therefore deviance.
Merton highlights the strain betweenthe goals of society and the means to reach the goals, therefore those in more disadvantage positionsare more likely to seek alternate or criminal means to achieve the goals.
Strain Theory
What are Goals
What we are socialised to achieve. Americans are socialised to aim for the ‘American dream’.
Strain Theory
What are Means
The structures we are supposed to use the achieve the goals. If people make the most of oppurtunities that they are offered then they can enjoy a high standard of living.
Merton (1910 - 2003)
How do people adapt to the Strain between the Goals and the Means
Conformity
Conformists are people who accept the goals and use the means to reach the goal. If the goals change they will also change their means to get the goals.
How do people adapt to the Strain between the Goals and the Means
Innovation
Innovators accept the goal, but find illegal means to reach the goal. By committing utalitarian crimes (financial gain). The people who commit these crimes are usually from lower classes abd have no legitimate ways of achieving as oppurtunities are blocked.
How do people adapt to the Strain between the Goals and the Means
Ritualism
Ritualists give up. They do not strive to achoieve goals as they have given up hope of achieving them.
How do people adapt to the Strain between the Goals and the Means
Retreatism
Retreatists are dropouts, and people who reject both the goals and the means, including; vagrants, drug addicts and alcoholics.
How do people adapt to the Strain between the Goals and the Means
Rebellion
Rebels reject the existing goals and means, instead replacing them with ones that aim to change society. For example; poloitical radicals, or people of alternate subcultures like goths or hippies.
Strengths - (3.2)
Strain Theory
- Shows how normal and deviant behaviour arise from the same goals and different means. Conformists and innovators both pursue financial success but by different means.
- Explains crime patterns shown in recent statistics. Most crime is property crime because society values wealth band white collar crime rates are higher
Weaknesses - (3.2)
Strain Theory
- Focuses on utilitarian crime and ignores with crime with no economic motive
- Ignores crime of the wealthy and over predicts white collar crime.
- Merton sees crime as only an individual response, disregarding criminal subcultures completely.
Marxism - (Karl Marx)
What is Marxism
The belief that crime is caused by unfairness in the terms of social classes, and that the disadvantaged are tyhe primary cause of crime, due the unfavourable conditions surrounding poverty.
Marxism - (Karl Marx)
What are the Two Classes a capitalist society divided into
- Bourgeoisie
- Prolateriat
Marxism - (Karl Marx)
What is the Bourgeoisie
- The ‘ruling capitalist class’
Own the means of production
Marxism - (Karl Marx)
What is the Proletariat
- The ‘working class’
Are exploited by the ruling class for profit.
Marxism - (Karl Marx)
What are the Three main elements of Marxism
- Capitalism causes crime
- Law making and Enforcement are biased
- Crime and Law perform ideological functions
Marxism - (Karl Marx)
Elements of Marxism
Capitalism causes Crime
Crime is inevitable as it is criminogenic (crime causing).
* Exploitation of the proletariat drives many into poverty meaning crime is the only way to survive.
* Capitalism continually pushes consumer goods (goals) resulting in crimes like theft to have the same/ideal things (means).
* Inequality between bourgeoisie and proletariat cause feelings of alienation and frustratiuon causing crimes of violence and vandalism.
* Capitalism causes crime amongst capitalists - it promotes greed, encouraging the rich to commit corporate/utalitarian crimes to gain advantage.
Marxism - (Karl Marx)
Elements of Marxism
Law Making and Enforcement are Biased
Chambliss
- Laws are made to protect private property and the rich - (laws against homelessness/vagrancy but nonr against owning multiple homes).
- Very few laws that challenge the unequal distribution of wealth.
Marxism - (Karl Marx)
Elements of Marxism
Law Making and Enforcement are Biased
Selective Enforcement
- White collar and corporate crime is less likely to be prosecuted than working class ‘street crimes’ - the poor are punished more harshley than the rich.
- Out of 200 companies that have broken H&S laws Carson found only three were prosecuted.
- despite large numbers of negligence related workplace deaths, only one prosecution for corporate homicide has ever occured in the UK.
- Corporate crimes are often punished less severely - with fines rather than prison terms.
Marxism - (Karl Marx)
Elements of Marxism
Crime and Law perform ideological functions
Marxists argue that crime and the law are an ideology – (set of ideas that conceal the inequality of capitalist society):
* Selective enforcement of law makes it look as if crime is the fault of the working class, encouraging workers top blame working class criminals for their problems rather than capitalism.
* Shifts the attention of the working class away from more serious ruling class crimes.
* Marx argues that the ideas encourage the working class to accept capitalism instead of replacing it with a more equal society.
Strengths - (3.2)
Marxist Theory
- Provides an explanation for crime that covers all social classes and a variety of offences.
- Highlights the impact of selective law enforcement and how white collar crime is under policed.
- Demonstrated how the law reflects differences in power between the social classes. Also how inequality in society can lead to criminal behaviour.
Weaknesses - (3.2)
Marxist Theory
- Focuses on class inequality therefore ignoring other types of inequality like gender and race.
- Overpredicts the amount of crime in working class communities. Not all poor people commit crime.
- Not all capitalist societies have high crime rates – Japan and Switzerland have lower crime rates than the USA and UK
- Prosecutions of corporate crime do happen.
Labelling Theory - (Howard Becker)
What is Interactionism
Sees our interactio ns with eachother as based on meanings or labels. Criminal is a label thta some people (rozzers) may attach to others (like young men - the ‘stereotypical’ offender) in their interactions. ‘Crime’ and ‘Criminals’ atre social constructs - meanings that we create through social interactions.
Labelling Theory - (Howard Becker)
What is the Labelling Theory
- Social groups create deviance by creating rules whose infraction (breaking) constitutes deviance, and by applying these rules to particular people, labelling them as outsiders.
- Argues that crime is subjective, and that agents of social control (police / judges) label certain acts as deviant or criminal, and behaviour is punished accordingly
Labelling Theory - (Howard Becker)
What is Primary Deviance
An act that has not been labelled publically as deviant by society - often trivial, and mostly uncaught.
A norm is broken, but is mostly tolereated or concealed by others, like:
* Underage drinking
* Littering
* Fare dodging
Labelling Theory - (Howard Becker)
What is Secondary Deviance
Resulting from labelling , people treat the offender solely by their label - becoming their master status (status that takes the greatest role in shaping a person’s life, and determining their social identity), which can lead to a self – fulfilling prophecy.
Labelling Theory - (Howard Becker)
What is a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
We become what people expect us to become, and so if we are negatively labelled in a certain way consistantly by others it is what we will become.
Resulting from secondary deviance, the offender may be rejected by society and forced into the company of other criminals, joining a deviant subculture, for example prison - the offender is isolated from normal society and placed with others that confirm their criminal identity, provide them with criminal role models, and teach them criminal skills.
This completes the prophecy as the individual has now become the label, and results in a higher likelihood of further offending.
Labelling Theory - (Howard Becker)
What is the Deviance Amplification Spiral
Wherein an attempt to control deviance through a ‘crackdown’ leads to it increasing rather than decreasing.
* Social Reaction - society reacts to deviance.
* Isolation - deviant group is isolated.
* Resistance - deviant group resists the social reaction.
* More Deviance - resitance leads to more deviance.
* Social Control - gov attempts to control deviance with new laws, resulting in more behaviours labelled as ‘immoral’ or ‘deviant’.
* Moral Panic - society, polic and gov identify society as being in moral danger due to certain groups and behaviour.
* Deviance - the behaviour is labelle as deviant.
* Media - Media reports on the ‘deviants’ threatening society creating ‘folk-devils’.
Repeat :)
Labelling Theory - (Howard Becker)
What is the correlation betweeen Interactionism and Crime Statistics
Interactionists reject the use of crime statistics compiled by police, arguing that the statistics measure what the police do rather than what criminals do - their statistics are a social construction, and not a true measure of crime.
e.g - If police stereotype working class males as the ‘typical criminal’ they will spend more time pursuing this group than middle class white collar criminals. this results in teh statistics being full of working class males simply due to stereotype.
Strengths (3.2)
Labelling Theory
- Shows that the law is not a fixed set of rules to be taken for granted, but something whose construction we need to explain.
- It shifts the focus onto how the police create crime by applying labels based on their stereotypes of the ‘typical criminal’. This selective law enforcement may explain why working class and minority groups are over-represented in crime statistics.
- Shows how an attempt to control deviance can trigger a deviance amplification spiral and therefore more deviance.
Weaknesses (3.2)
Labelling Theory
- Fails to explain why people commit primary deviance in the first place as this occurs before they have been labelled.
- By assuming offenders are passive victims of labelling, it ignores the fact that individuals may actively choose deviance.
- It ignores the victims of the crime and focuses on the criminal, potentially romanticising crime.
- It tends to be deterministic, as once someone is labelled a deviant career is inevitable.
