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CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES > 2.3 Sociological Theories of criminality > Flashcards

2.3 Sociological Theories of criminality Flashcards

1
Q

What is Functionalism?

A

Created by Emile Durkheim (1858 - 1917). Everything in society has a function and is there for a reason. Crime is normal…An integral (essential) part of all healthy society.

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2
Q

What are the Functions of crime?

A
  • ‘Society of Saints’
  • Boundary maintenance
  • Social change and adaptations
  • Safety valve
  • Warning light
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3
Q

What is the ‘society of saints’?

A

Without crime, we would develop very high standards. Small deviant acts stick out like a sore thumb. Deviant is inevitable and reminds us of the different types. Major acts > Minor acts

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4
Q

What is boundary maintenance?

A

Crime produces a reaction reinforcing societies norms and values. Shows crime is wrong. Social Cohesion.

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5
Q

What is social change and adaptation?

A

Helps evolve society. Many historical events were seen as massive acts of deviance but lead to change.
Examples: BLM, Nelsons Mandela’s fight for equality, Civil rights movement (1955 - 1968) etc.

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6
Q

What is a safety valve?

A

Release stress in society.

Example: Prostitution.

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7
Q

What is a warning light?

A

Crime and deviant acts as a warning to society that something is not working correctly. Change needs to happen.

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8
Q

What is Merton’s strain theory?

What are the two strains that cause deviance?

A

Argues that people engage in deviant behaviour when they are unable to achieve their goals by legitimate means. norms are not always strong enough to prevent it.
Goals that a culture encourages and how society allow you to achieve them.

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9
Q

What are barriers to achieving social goals?

A

Discrimination, language barriers, high expectations, past trauma, money, status, education, homeless, sexism, careering for others etc.

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10
Q

What is the American Dream?

A

Money, success and happiness

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11
Q

What does Meritocratic mean?

A

Social system that gives the most power and highest social positions to people with the most ability.

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12
Q

What are adaptations of the strain?

A
  • Conformity
  • Innovation
  • Ritualism
  • Retreatism
  • Rebellion
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13
Q

What is conformity?

A

Accept the goals and institutionalised means. Most common response and most likely among middle class Americans.

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14
Q

What is Innovation?

A

Accept the goals but rejects the institutionalised means. Find more innovative deviant ways to achieve goals. Lower end of society.

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15
Q

What is Ritualism?

A

Given up on goals but stick to the means. Plod along in a job. Middle class office workers.

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16
Q

What is Retreatism?

A

Reject both the means and goals. Often descends into alcoholism, drug abuse etc.

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17
Q

What is Rebellion?

A

Seeks to replace the existing goals and means with new ones that meet their norms and values.

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18
Q

What is the Marxist theory of crime?

A

Karl Marx (sociologist) created a structural theory. Allows the ruling class to exploit the poor working class by forcing them to sell their labour. Rich gets richer.

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19
Q

How is capitalism criminogenic to Marxists and what does Gordon argue?

A
  • crime is inevitable in capitalist societies. Capitalism causes people to commit utilitarian crimes.
  • wealth, income, poverty, unemployment and homelessness
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20
Q

What are the 4 rules?

A
  • Rule 1: The basis of Law creation favours the ruling class
  • Rule 2: Selective Law enforcement
  • Rule 3: Individual Motivation
  • Rule 4: Crime and control
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21
Q

What is Rule 1: The basis of Law creation favours the ruling class?

A
  • All laws are created with the ruling class’s interest in mind.
  • Operates to protect the rich and powerful.
  • Used for a mean of social control - if you don’t conform you will be punished.
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22
Q

How do they enforce Rule one?

A

Police, Justice system, Prisons and schools, family, media and religion.

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23
Q

What did Althusser say?

A

Law is an IDEOLOGICAL STATE APPARATUS which normalises obscenely wealthy and obscenely poor.

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24
Q

What did Mannheim argue?

A

Law protects private property and therefore the rich.

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25
Q

What did Box say?

A

Ruling class has the power to block laws.

26
Q

What is Rule 2: Selective Law enforcement?

A

Rich middle class are under-policed, under-punished and under-estimated. Some laws to protect the working class but they are weakly enforced.

27
Q

What did Marxists find when investigating Rule 2?

A
  • Carson found that only 3/200 companies who broke safety law was prosecuted
  • Despite large numbers of deaths by employee negligence, only 1 successful prosecution
  • Corporate crime is often punished less severely
28
Q

What is Rule 3: Individual Motivation?

A

Crime is inevitable in society where some are richer than others.

29
Q

What did Bonger argue?

A 
In a society that follows capitalist values creates as society where people don't care enough about each other to respect them. 
Can create status frustration and failure in the mind of the working class criminals.
30
Q

What are capitalist values?

A

competition, greed, hostility, self-seeking etc.

31
Q

What’s the difference between Traditional Marxism and Neo-Marxism?

A

TM - Capitalism FORCES people to be criminals. Deviance is due to inequality and power. Laws reflect the ideologies of the ruling class.
NM - Capitalism makes people CHOOSE to be criminals.

32
Q

What is Rule 4: Crime and control?

A 
Marxists believe that the ruling class use crime to divert the attention away from the real issues in society.
Crime helps to divert attention away from the exploitive nature of capitalism and focuses on the evil nature of criminal groups.
33
Q

Who helps reinforce the capitalist system is the best for the economy?

A

Media, religion and education system.

34
Q

What is Gottman’s spoiled identities?

A

Negative physical and mental characteristics and statuses.

Losses in prison can have an impact on someone’s moral career.

35
Q

What heavy policing do Rule 4 justify?

A
  • working class areas
  • stop and searches of young people
  • arrests of anyone who oppose capitalism
36
Q

What is the Labelling Theory?

A
  • why some people’s acts are seen as deviant compared to others
  • effects of labelling others
  • most people commit crime
  • No act is criminal or deviant in itself but only when someone creates laws and applies them to it
37
Q

What did Becker argue?

A
  • ‘social groups create deviance by creating the rules who infractions constitute deviance’
  • deviance is not a quality of a bad person but the result of someone defining someone’s activity as bad
38
Q

What are moral entrepreneurs?

A

moral entrepreneurs want to help those beneath to achieve a better status.

39
Q

What is Primary and Secondary deviance?

A

Primary - acts that have not been publicly labelled and only small implications for status
Secondary - results from labelling acts as deviant and treated as an outsider. Defined by Lemert.

40
Q

What is a master status?

A

secondary deviance = master status. once someone is labelled and viewed as a criminal, they feel the need to live up to the status.

41
Q

What is deviance amplification?

A

what happens when attempts to control escalate.

deviance amplification -> attempt to control -> greater attempts -> higher levels of deviance -> repeat the cycle

42
Q

What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?

A

Individual has now become what the label said they were

43
Q

What is the Realist Theories of criminality?

A

More practical view of crime and deviance. Suggests what might happen/ to be done to reduce crime and make the community feel safer.

44
Q

What is right and left realism?

A

Right - emphasises ‘zero tolerance’ improve punishment and reduce welfare.
Left - socialists. poverty and lack of education causes crime.

45
Q

What is the summary of right realism?

A

Originated from James Q. Wilson. He created the broken window study. States that crime flourishes in situations where social control breaks. More frequent and serious crime.

46
Q

What are the three factors that produce right-realist crime?

A
  • Biological differences
  • Inadequate socialisation
  • Rational choice
47
Q

What are biological differences?

A

some people are predisposed to commit crime because of certain personality traits ( twin studies, adoption studies etc. )

48
Q

What is inadequate socialisation?

A

Murray argues that crime levels increase as the underclass fail to socialise their children. Also, the underclass is growing because of welfare dependency

49
Q

What is rational choice?

A

Assumes people have free will and Ronald Clarke argued that people weigh up the positives and negatives before committing a crime.
crime rate high = cost of crime is low

50
Q

What is target hardening?

A

consequence of rising crime

51
Q

What is the summary of left realism?

A

Created by Runciman. He argued that revolutions only occurred when realising the difference them and the rich. Reduce crime by making society equal and fair.

52
Q

What are the three cause of crime to socialists?

A
  • Relative deprivation
  • Subcultures
  • Marginalisation
53
Q

What is relative deprivation?

A

How deprived someone feels in relation to others. crime occurs when people feel others have unfairly more.

54
Q

What factors increase a person’s relative deprivation?

A
  • Media influence

- Unequal society

55
Q

What are subcultures?

A

Group’s collective solution to the problem of relative deprivation. Members share materialistic goals but because of the deprivation gap its blocked.

56
Q

Who do subcultures resort to?

A

Religion - encourages conformity rather than criminality. find comfort in understanding their deprivation.
Gangs - Illegitimate ways

57
Q

What is marginalisation?

A

Social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society (unemployed youth). Lack clear goals and organisation to represent them. Express their frustration through criminal means.

58
Q

What is the Surveillance Theory?

A

Involves monitoring people to control crime.

Look at methods carried out by which surveillance is carried out

59
Q

What are the three types of surveillance?

A

CCTV - video recording of someone’s procedures. covert or overt. overt can deter someone from committing a crime.
Bugs - listening device.
Taps - listening device on an electronic device.

60
Q

What is The Panopticon?

A

means ‘all-seeing’. A prison where prisoner’s cells are visible to the guards through a central watch tower but the prisoners can not see the guards. prisoners self-discipline themselves.

CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES (6 decks)

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