40 marker evaluations

Question 1

Durkheim EVALUATION
1) Fails to explain why deviance occurs, why some do it more than others, and why different people are deviant in differing ways
2) Fails to acknowledge issues such as who creates the law, or who has power to evade the laws
3) Fails to consider -ve effects of deviance on individuals (victims)

Answer 1

1) S. Cohen= deviance occurs due to labelling and moral panics created by the media
2) Althusser (M)= ISA and RSA control the proletariat, Chambliss (M)= although both classes commit crime, the ruling class evades detection/laws

Question 2

Merton EVALUATION
1) Fails to ask the important questions

Answer 2

1) Taylor- Merton’s modes of adaptation likened to a slot machine, i.e. innovation- cheat, retreatism= give up
Fails to ask questions of: who put the machine there in the first place? And who is keeping the profits? (M= ruling class)

Question 3

Cloward and Ohlin EVALUATION
1) Focus on w/c only
2) Ignore role of police stereotyping
3) Difficult to highlight only 3 categories
4) Uncommon in the UK

Functionalist

Answer 3

1) Matza (I)- all posesss subterranean values that may lead people to deviancy- not just w/c youths- applicable to all
2) Cicourel (I)= role of police judging/ labelling based on stereotypes
3) Hobbs
4) Marshall= most w/c youths share norms and values of parents, sucbultural activities are not organised, antisocial behaviour due to bordemn

Question 4

A. Cohen EVALUATION
1) No female discussion
2) Fails to prove that school is the main place where status frustration occurs

Functionalist

Answer 4

1) Feminism- fails to acknowledge female crime and deviance

Question 5

Miller EVALUATION
1) W/C only studied

Functionalist

Answer 5

1) Box= focal concerns may apply to middle class too
Matza= subterranean values possessed by all- not only young w/c boys experience unique, deviant values

Question 6

Subcultural theories EVALUATION
1) Not UK applicable

Functionalist

Answer 6

1) Winlow= not relevant in the UK today, distinctions between groups is unclear, violence is now a means of making money, gaining power and respect

Question 7

Interactionist EVALUATION
1) Fails to explain the original deviant action, before labelling has occured
2) Deterministic- does not account for motives (i.e. status, finanical gain, thrill, risk-taking)
3) Only apply to a minority of deviance (i.e. youth crime)
4) Fails to see deviance as a rebellion/resistance
5) Fails to consider power structures in society

Interactionist

Answer 7

1)
2) A.Cohen (F)= status frustration, Merton (F)= strain theory, cloward and Ohlin (F)= illegitimate opportunity structure provide motives for crime
3)
4) Hebdige (M)= mods resist lack of social mobility, Clarke (M)= skinheads resist threat to w/c identity, Bonger= response to capitalist values
5) Althusser (M)= role of ISA and RSA in controlling the proletariat

Question 8

Marxist EVALUATION
1) Too extreme- ruling class involved in a deliberate conspiracy= unlikely
2) Laws may protect the powerless
3) Most do obey the law due to a value consensus

Marxist

Answer 8

1)
2)
3) Durkheim= society is based on a value consensus