7.2 Society And Crime: Sociological Theories

Question 1

Functionalist Theories

Answer 1

Functionalist theories argue that crime occurs when the aspirations of individuals and groups do not coincide with available opportunities

2 main functionalist theorists were Émile Durkheim and Robert K. Merton

Question 2

Anomie

Answer 2

À concept first brought into wide usage in sociology by Durkheim to refer to a situation in which social norms lose their hold over individual behaviour

Durkheim believed atomic situations made people feel disoriented and anxious

Question 3

Durkheim + Crime

Answer 3

Durkheim saw crime and deviance as inevitable elements in modern societies, where their is more room for individual choice

He believed deviance was necessary to introduce new ideas and social challenges to bring about change and to promote social boundary maintenance between «good» and «bad» behaviour

Question 4

Robert K. Merton and Deviance

Answer 4

Merton believed that deviance is a byproduct of economic inequalities

He split people into 5 possible types based on how they responded to the tensions between socially endorsed values and the limited means of achieving them

Question 5

Merton’s 5 Types of Deviance

Answer 5

1. Conformist
2. Innovator
3. Ritualistic
4. Retreating
5. Rebel

Question 6

Conformists

Answer 6

Accept generally help values and the conventional means of realizing them, regardless of whether they meet with success

Question 7

Innovators

Answer 7

Accept socially approved values but use illegitimate or illegal means to follow them

Question 8

Ritualists

Answer 8

Conform to socially accepted standards, though they have lost sight of their underlying values

Question 9

Retreatists

Answer 9

Retreatists have abandoned the competitive outlook, rejecting both the dominant values and the approved means of achieving them

Question 10

Rebels

Answer 10

Rebels reject both the existing values and the means of achieving them but work to substitute new ones and reconstruct the social system

Question 11

Relative Deprivation

Answer 11

Deprivation a person feels by comparing himself with a group

Merton saw this relative deprivation as an important factor in deviance

Question 12

Subcultures with Deviant Values

Answer 12

Subcultures with deviant values develop in response to a lack of of legitimate opportunities for success as defined by the wider society

Question 13

Interactionist Theories

Answer 13

Sociologists studying deviance reject the idea that some types of conduct are inherently deviant

Instead, they ask why only some groups get labeled as deviant

Question 14

Differential Association

Answer 14

An interpretation of the development of criminal behaviour proposed by Edwin H. Sutherland, according to whom criminal behaviour is learned through association with others who regularly engage in crime

Question 15

Differential

Answer 15

Differential refers to the ratio of deviant to conventional social contacts

We become deviant when exposed to a higher level of deviant persons and influences, compared with conventional influences

Question 16

Labeling Theory

Answer 16

An approach to the study of deviance that suggests that people become «deviant» because certain labels are attached to their behaviour by political authorities and others

Question 17

Primary Deviation

Answer 17

According to Edwin Lemert, the actions that cause others to label one as a deviant

Question 18

Secondary Deviation

Answer 18

According to Edwin Lemert, secondary deviation occurs when an individual accepts the label of deviant and acts accordingly

Question 19

Conflict Theory

Answer 19

The argument that deviance is deliberately chosen and often political in nature

Question 20

Control Theory

Answer 20

The theory that view Crime as the outcome of an imbalance between impulses toward criminal activity and controls that deter it

Control theorists hold that criminals are rational beings who will act to maximize their own reward unless they are rendered unable todo so through wither social or physical controls

Question 21

Target Hardening

Answer 21

An approach to crime prevention that makes it more difficult for criminals to commit crimes by minimizing their opportunities to do so and intervening in potential crime situations.

These methods have been successful but do not address the underlying causes of crime and instead are aimed at protecting and defending certain elements of society from its reach

Question 22

Theory of Broken WIndows

Answer 22

Target hardening and zero-tolerance policing are bands on the theory of broken windows, which arose from a study by the social psychologist Philip Zimbardo

Question 23

Theoretical Conclusions

Answer 23

Criminal and «respectable» behaviour exist on a continuum.

Whether someone engages in a criminal act or comes to be regarded as a criminal is influenced by social learning and social surroundings

The way in which crime is understood directly affects the policies developed to combat it