2.3 - Sociological Theories Flashcards
What are the 2 types of theories in sociological theories??
Structural - Individuals are controlled by structures in society ( religion, family, school or law ) Known as Macro as they cover the whole society
Action - Individuals are controlled by their interactions with each other - how police acting toward groups or teachers labelling students by class, gender or ethnicity
What are the 4 structural theories??
Durkheims Functions of crime
Mertons strain theory
Cloward and Ohlins sub structural theories of crime
Marxists views of crime
They see the structure of society and how equal that society is, what holds it together and what causes division. They see the structure as the cause of crime.
What is Durkheims functions of crime theory??
He says society should be based on shared beliefs, norms and values on right and wrong. This is a stable society where most people do not deviate and produces social solidarity. ( Harmoneous unit )
Crime happens when those values and norms break down. Crime is inevitable though as some people are less socialised and deviate also differant subcultures may have differant norms making it unclear.
He calls this “anomie” - normlessness where shared norms become weak
Whata are the four functions of crime according to Durkheim??
Boundry maintainence - society unites against wrongdoer and it reminds them of the shared right and wrong.
Social changes - for society to progress individuals need to challenge the norms and values and this will first be seen as devience.
Safety value - (Davis 1937) argues that prostetution releases mens sexual fustrations without threating the nuclear family.
Warning light - Devience may indictae an instiution is not working - high trunecy rates means flawed education system.
What is Mertons Strain theory??
Merton 1939 - argues that the root cause of crime is an unequal social structure.
Society values “money success” and people should do everything in their power to achieve this goal.
But not everyone has equal oppertunity to achIeve this as “Blocked Opertunities” means that some groups like gender, working class or ethnic minorites are disadvantaged. This creates strain between classes and causes crime and devience.
Focuses on USA but it can be applied to the uk
What are the 5 groups in society according to Merton??
Conformists - They legitamatly acheive societies goal
Inovation - They accept the goal use illegal ways reach it
Ritualism - They give up striving for success
Retreatism - dropouts who give up goals and means
Rebellion - reject the goal and aim but aim to replace them with changing society
What is the subcultural theory of crime??
Deliquent subculturals are where the shared value and norms are deviant. It applies mertons theories of goals and aims.
Albert Cohen ( 1955 ) agrees with merton that deivience is a response to failure to achieve by legitimate means but
Cohen sees it as a group failure not an individual and Cohen focuses on non-utilitarian crimes - vandalism
Key idea is these members can gain status through illegal means.
What is Clowdens and Ohlins subcultural theory??
1960 - differant neighbourhoods give way to differant subculture groups
A) Criminal SC - where there is an established crime network
B) Conflict SC - where the only oppertunities are within street gangs.
C) Retreatist SC - made up of dropouts who failed both illigitimate and legitimate routes
What is A03 for Mertons Strain theory??
+ Shows how both normal and deviant arise from the same goals. Conformists and innovators both pursue “money success” but by differant means.
- Merton ignores crimes of the weathly and over-predicts working class crime
- He focuses on Utilitarian crimes like theft ignoring ones with no economic motive
A03 for Cohens theory??
+ Shows how subcultures perform a function of their members solutions to the issue of failing the mainstream goals
+ Cloward and Ohlin show how differant subcultres give way to differant illigitamte oppertunities.
- Like merton they ignore the crimes of the wealthy and overpredict the working class
- They assume that every starts with the mainstream goals then turns when they fail but some dont have the goals at all
What is the marxist theory??
Is a structural theory - the unequal structure of capitilist society shapes peoples behaviour and includes criminal behaviour and society deals with it.
All institutions work to maintain this inequality and expolitation - law and enforcement are means to keep the woking class in their place
What are the two classes in the marxist theory??
Ruling Capitilist Class - Bourgeosie - those who own the means of production
Working Class - Proletariat - Those who labour
What are the 3 main elements of the marxist theory??
Capatilism causes crime
Law making and law enforcement are biased
Law performs ideological functions
Explain Capatilism causes crime ??
Marxists believe it is inevitable as it is criminogenic
Explotation drives people into poverty
Capitalism advertises products like crazy - people commit theft to obtain them
Dog eat dog and profit promotes greed - commit corprate crimes
Theft is utilitarian crime
Explain law making and law enforcement??
Making the law - Serves interest of capitilist class.
William Chambliss 1975 - says crime for homeless to squt in empty houses but not for the rich to own several houses
Law enforcement - Enforced against working class not capitilists
White collar and corprate crimes not as likely to be prosecuted than working class street crimes
Explain ideological functions??
Ideas about crime and the law are an ideology – a set of ideas that conceal the inequality of capitalist society.
Selective enforcement onto working class blames then and turns worker against working class criminals rather than capitlism.
Does this to make them accept capatilism rather than a more equal society
What is interactionsim??
Interactions with other another as based on meanings or labels. Police label young men criminals due to their expirience. Labelling theory state that no act is deviant or criminal in itself. It only become so when we create rules and apply them to others.
Crime and criminals are social constructs – meanings that we create through our social interactions.
What is the Labelling and the self – fulfilling prophecy??
Under interactionism -
Lemert (1972) argues, labelling is a cause of crime and deviance. By labelling certain people as deviant, society encourages them to become more so primary deviance involves acts that have not been publicly labelled. Secondary deviance results from labelling meaning the offender may be rejected by society and forced into the company of other criminals, joining a deviant subculture.
Extra knowledge not really needed.
What is Differential enforcement of the law?
Interactionists argue that social control agencies such as the police label certain groups as criminal. This results in differential enforcement – where the law is enforced more against one group than against another.
Similarly, Cicourel (1968) found that police use typifications (stereotypes) of the ‘typical delinquent’. Working – class and ethnic minority youth are more likely to fit the typification and be stopped, arrested, and charged.
What is right realism??
Right realists have a right wing, conservative political outlook. They see crime, especially street crime as a growing problem. Right realists are concerned with practical solutions to reduce crime. In their view, the best way to do so is through control and punishment.
Right realists reject the Marxist view that factors such as poverty are the causes of crime. They argue that crime is caused by:
Biological differences between individuals
Inadequate socialisation
Offending is a rational choice
Explain Biological differences between individuals
According to Wilson and Herrnstein (1985) biological differences make some individuals more likely to commit crime.
Explain Inadequate socialisation:
Effective socialisation can reduce the chances of someone offending by teaching them self – control and correct values. Right realists see the nuclear family as the best agency of socialisation. However, according to Murray (1990), the nuclear family is being undermined by generous welfare benefits. He claims that this has led to a steady rise in the number of welfare– dependent lone parents families. Fathers no longer need to remain in the house and take responsibility for supporting their families, since the state does it for them.
Explain Offending is a rational choice
An important part of right realism is rational choice theory (RCT). This assumes that we are rational beings with free will. Deciding to commit a crime is a choice based on rational calculation of the consequences: basically, weighing the risks / costs against the rewards / benefits. If the rewards of crime appear to outweigh the risks, people will be more likely to offend. Rights realists argue that the crime rate is high because the perceived costs of crime are low. Criminals see little risk of being caught and do not expect to receive severe punishments even if they are convicted.
What is left realism??
Left realists have a left wing, socialist political outlook. They see inequality in capitalist society as the root cause of crime. They argue that the main victims are disadvantaged groups:
the working class
ethnic minorities
women
Crime rates are highest in working – class areas with high levels of unemployment and deprivation. There is also evidence that the police take crimes against these groups less seriously. Left realists propose to reduce crime by making society fairer and more equal.
Explain Relative deprivation
How deprived or badly off someone feels in relation to others.
Lea and Young argues that two factors are increasing people’s sense of relative deprivation:
Media continually pump out messages urging everyone to aspire to material possessions, promoting what Young calls a ‘culture hooked on Gucci, BMW Nikes’.
Society is becoming more unequal due to cuts in benefits, unemployment, job insecurity and low pay.
Young (2002) notes that there is now also ‘relative deprivation downwards’: People who are better off feel resentment against those who are actually worse off. This may explain some hate crimes against powerless groups, for example, asylum seekers or the disabled
Explain Subculture
Left realists believe a subculture is a group’s way of solving the problem of relative deprivation. Some subcultures turn to crime to solve the problem. Criminal subcultures share society’s materialistic goals, but because legitimate opportunities are blocked, they resort to crime.
Explain Marginalisation
According to Lea and Young (1984), marginalised groups are ones that lack organisations to represent their interests and lack clearly defined goals. E.g Unemployed youth are a highly marginalised group.
Unlike workers, who have clear goals or better wages and organisations to give voice to their grievances (trade unions), jobless youths have no clear goals or organisations to represents them. Instead, they have a sense of powerlessness, frustration, and resentment of injustice, which they express through crime such as violence and rioting.
A03 for right realism??
+ Research by Flood page (2000( supports the view of the decline of the family. Children with step families more likley to offend
+ Feldman 1977 found that people made rational choice - high reward low risk so they will offend
- Focuses too much on young males and street crime
- Ignores increasing gap between the rich and poor
- Not all crimes are rational choice some are impulses or those intoxicated cant rationalise
A03 for left realism??
+ Draws attention to importance of poverty, inequality and relative depravation as underlying structure of crime
+ Draws attention to the reality of street crime and its effects on deprived groups
- Over predicts working class crimes - not everyone who expiriences relative depravtion and marginalisation offends
- Fails to explain white collar crime
