AC 2.3 Sociological theories

Question 1

Sociological theories
- interactionalism
- Labelling

Answer 1

main points:
- ‘Crime’ and ‘criminals’ are social constructs – meanings that we create through our social interactions.
-

Question 2

Sociological theories
- realism
- Right realism

Answer 2

main points:
-They see crime, especially street crime, as a growing problem.
- through control and punishment, rather than rehabilitating offenders or tackling causes, such as poverty.
- They reject the Marxist view that factors such as poverty are the cause of crime.
- crime is the product of inadequate socialisation and rational choice

Inadequate socialisation:
- Effective socialisation = nuclear family
- welfare benefits-absent fathers- fail to socialise their children properly

Rational choice theory:
- free will and commit crimes based on calculation of the consequences
- argue that the crime rate is high because the perceived costs of crime are low

Question 3

Sociological theories
- realism
- Left realism

Answer 3

main points:
- They see inequality in capitalist society as the root cause of crime
- Crime rates are highest in w/c areas with high levels of unemployment and deprivation.

Relative Deprivation:
- unfairness class divide, some resort to crime to obtain what they feel they should be rightfully theirs.

Subculture:
- Crime then becomes an alternative means of achieving the consumer goods they desire

Marginalisation:
- marginalised groups are ones that lack organisations to give voice to their interests and lack clearly defined goals. (E.g. unemployed youths)
- Instead, they have a sense of powerlessness, frustration and resentment of injustice, which they express through crime such as violence and rioting.

Question 4

Sociological theories
- functionalism, Durkheim

Answer 4

Main points:
- He argued that crime has four key characteristics;
1. Inevitable – means crime will always exist. It can be reduced but never eliminated.
2. Universal – means that crime exists in every society.
3. Relative - means that what is seen as criminal behaviour varies from society to society and over time, in other words, crime is a social construct.
4. Functional – means that a limited amount of crime and deviance can actually benefit a society, because the experience of crime strengthens bonds between people.

positive functions:
- Boundary maintenance – unites society’s members against the wrongdoer, reminding them of the boundary between right and wrong, and reaffirming their shared values.
- Social change – for society to progress, individuals with new ideas must challenge existing norms and values, and at first this will be seen as deviance. (E.g. Nelson Mandela)
- Safety valve – to protect other institutions in society. (E.g. prostitution enables men to release sexual frustrations without threatening the nuclear family)
- Warning light – Deviance indicates an institution isn’t working properly. (E.g. high truancy rates could indicate a problems with the education system)