AC 2.3 & 3.2 Sociological - Interactionism + Realism Flashcards
What is the theory under interactionism?
Labelling theory
What are the theories under realism?
Left realism
Right realism
What is becker’s labelling theory?
Being labelled a ‘criminal’ makes a person more likely to continue crime
Becker suggests crime is the product of social interaction
- in a low income neighbourhood, the police would see it as delinquency. In a wealthy area it would be high spirits
- same acts but different outcomes
- agencies have the power to make labels stick
What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?
People live up to labels given to them
What is a deviant career?
A person continues crime due to societal rejection
Differential enforcement of the law
Interactionists argue that social control agencies, such as the police labelling certain groups as criminal. This results in differential enforcement: this is where the law is enforced more against one group than another.
Piliavin and briar - police decisions to arrest were based on stereotypical ideas about a person’s - manner, dress, gender, class/ethnicity, time and place of the arrest
Young males stopped late at night high crime areas were more likely to be arrested. Cicourel found that the police use typifications of the ‘typical delinquents’, working class and ethnic minority youths are more likely to fit the typification and be stopped, arrested and charged.
Labelling and the self-fulfilling prophecy
Lemert argues that labelling is a cause of crime and deviance. By labelling certain people as deviant, society encourages them to engage in this behaviour. This can be explained by distinguishing between primary and secondary deviance.
PRIMARY DEVIANCE
- acts that are not publicly labelled, often trivial and mostly go uncaught. Those who commit these acts do not usually see themselves as criminals.
SECONDARY DEVIANCE
- This results from labelling as people may treat the offenders solely in terms of the label, which becomes their master status. This criminal label then overrides all other statuses such as partner, father, work colleague
The offender may be rejected by society and forced into the company of other criminals, joining a deviant subculture.
E.g prison - offender is excluded from normal society and is placed with others who confirm their criminal identity
Interactionism and crime statistics
Interactionists reject the use of police statistics compiled by the police. They argue that the statistics measure what the police do rather than what criminals do.
For example, if the police stereotypes working males as typical criminals, they will spend more time pursuing this group than middle-class white-collar criminals as a result, the statistics will be full of working class males, simply because of the police stereotypes. Their statistics are therefore just a social construction, not a true measure of the amount of crime
Interactionism and labelling theory - EVALUATION
STRENGTHS
P- one strength of labelling theories that it shows the law is not a fixer of rules to be taken for granted, but something whose construction we need to explain
E- for example, laws can change and only become meaningful when we attach labels to them
E- this is a strength because it shows how we can make positive changes to the legal system by being mindful of negative associations
- Highlights discrimination by law enforcement
- Shows labelling affects policy
- Shows weakness in official crime statistics (bias)
- Connects the role of the media in creating moral panic
WEAKNESSES
P- one weakness of labelling theories that it wrongly implies that once someone is labelled, a deviant career is inevitable
E- this is deterministic
E- this is an issue because people who have been labelled Mayfield as though they have no choice but to pursue a criminal career and this will stop them from taking responsibility for their actions
- Doesn’t explain why people commit crime to begin with
- Ignores the victims of crime and focuses on the criminal
- criminals do not need to be labelled to know they have done wrong
- Labelling does not always lead to self fulfilling prophecy
What is right realism?
Crime is a choice, and a harsh punishments deter it
Right realist have a right wing, conservative political outlook, they see crime, especially street crime, as a growing problem. Right realist mainly concerned with practical solutions to reduce crime. In the view, the best way to do so is through control and punishment, rather than by rehabilitating offenders or tackling causes such as poverty.
What does RIB stand for?
Rational choice
Inadequate socialisation
Biological factors
What is rational choice?
Offending is a rational choice
The rational choice theory assumes that we are rational beings with free well, deciding to commit a crime as a choice based on a rational calculation of the consequences: basically, weighing out the risk/costs against the reward/benefits
If the rewards of the crime of pit outweigh the risks, people will be more likely to offend.
Right realist argue that the crime rate is high because the perceived costs of the crime are low
Felson argues that for crime to occur, three factors are necessary: a motivated defender, a suitable target (a victim or property) , the absence of a capable guardian (E.G a police officer or a neighbour)
Felson see offenders is acting rationally, which is why the presence of guardian is likely to deter them. However, one problem is that if RCT is correct, offend me act rationally and just move their attention to where the target is softer. This is called displacement, crime doesn’t decline, it just moves.
What is inadequate socialisation?
Effective socialisation can reduce the chances of someone offending by teaching self control and correct values
– The nuclear family is the best agency of socialisation
– Murray argues that welfare dependency is creating an under class who failed to socialise their children properly
– Absent fathers mean boys lack discipline and a male role model, they don’t see a man who works hard to support his family, as a result, boys turned to delinquent role models in street gangs and young man gain status through crime
What are biological factors?
Wilson and Herstein – state that biological differences make some individuals more likely to commit crime
Personality traits associated with criminal, such as aggressiveness, risktaking or low, intelligent or innate (in born)
What is zero tolerance?
Strict policing for all crimes
What is rational choice theory?
Criminals way risks and rewards before acting
What does Felson argue about right realism and crime?
Felson argues that for crime to occur, three factors are necessary: a motivated defender, a suitable target (a victim or property) , the absence of a capable guardian (E.G a police officer or a neighbour)
Felson see offenders is acting rationally, which is why the presence of guardian is likely to deter them. However, one problem is that if RCT is correct, offend me act rationally and just move their attention to where the target is softer. This is called displacement, crime doesn’t decline, it just moves.
Right realism –EVALUATION
STRENGTHS
P– several studies support RCT
E– Rettig gave students a scenario of an opportunity to commit a crime. He found that the degree of punishment determine whether they choose to commit the crime.
E. This is a strength because it shows that criminals are rational actors who weigh up the pros and cons of defending.
Extra point
Feldman found that people made rational decisions: if the rewards were high and risks Willow, they said the crime was worth commit committing. Again, showing that criminals are rational actors who make active decisions about their offending behaviour.
Bennet and wright interview interviewed convicted burglars – risk was the key factor in committing the crime
– May explain petty crimes
WEAKNESSES
P – some studies lack ecological validity
E – Rettig and Feldman’s studies were experiments.
E – this is an issue because it means that the results may not apply to real offenders and cannot be generalised to real life settings
– Bennett and Wright
Unsuccessful burglaries; we don’t know if successful burglars think this way
– Not all crimes of the result of rational decision decisions
– Violents are impulsive
– Offenders under the influence of drugs/alcohol are unlikely to calculate risk
What is left realism?
Crime and inequality, so solutions should focus on social change
What is relative deprivation?
Feeling poor compared to others leads to crime
What is community policing?
Police working with communities to prevent crime
What does MRS stand for?
Marginalisation
Relative deprivation
Subculture
How does marginalisation cause crime?
According to Lea and young, marginalised groups are ones that lack organisations to represent their interests and lack clearly defined goals e.g unemployed youths are a highly marginalised group
- Unlike workers, who have clear goals (e.g better wages) and organisations to give a voice to their grievances (trade unions)
- Jobless youths have no clear goals or organisations to represent them
- sense of powerless, frustration and resentment, express through crime such as violence and rioting
How does relative deprivation cause crime?
His is how deprived or ‘badly off’ someone feels in relation to others
Lea and young argue that two factors are increasing people’s sense of relative deprivation
- The media continually pump out messages urging everyone to aspire to material possessions, promoting ‘a culture hooked on Gucci, BMW,Nike’
- Society is becoming more unequal due to cuts in benefits, unemployment, job insecurity and law pay
How does subculture cause crime?
A subculture is a group way of solving the problem of relative deprivation. Criminal subculture share societies materialistic goals, but because legitimate opportunities are blocked, the resort to crime.
Some may turn into religion instead to find comfort and an explanation for their deprivation E.G God’s will. This may encourage conformity rather than criminality.
Left realism - EVALUATION
STRENGTHS
P - left realism focuses on areas that often do not get a lot of attention
E – for example, it suggests that poverty, inequality and relative deprivation of the underlying structural causes of crime
E – this is a strength because it suggests that if we can rehabilitate prisoners by tackling the underlying causes of crime we could reduce crime
- Draws attention to importance of poverty, inequality and relative deprivation as the underlying structural causes of crime
– Attention to the reality of street crime and it’s a fact – especially on victims from deprived groups
WEAKNESSES
P – left realism fails to explain white collar crime
E – Henry and Milovanovic argue that left realism accepts the authorities definitions of crime as just being street crimes of the poor
This means that it does not provide a full explanation of offending behaviour and ignores harm done to the poor by the crimes of the powerful
– Ignores the harm done by the powerful commit committing crime to the poor
– Over predicts working class crime rates
– Focuses on high crime in a city areas gives an on representative view making crime appear a bigger issue than it is
