AC2.3

Question 1

sociological theories of criminality

Answer 1

functionalism- Durkheim and merton strain
Marxist- marxism
Interactionism- labeling
Realism- left and right realism

Question 2

Marxist theory

Answer 2

marxism explains that crime is caused by capitalism

Question 3

marxist theory
capatilism

Answer 3

capitalism- greed, competition +self seeking, society is divided into 2 classes

Bourgeoisie-ruling class, owns means of production
Proletariat- working class, capitalist exploit their labour

Question 4

marxist theory
selective law enforcement

Answer 4

police target proletariat
crimes by bourgeoisie are under policed/ under punished

Question 5

marxist theory evaluation
weakness

Answer 5

capitalist countries like japan and Switzerland have low crime rates that suggest capitalism is not crimogenic

Question 6

marxist theory evaluation
strengths

Answer 6

thalidomide case study- supports marxist theory,no one was prosecuted or held accountable proves bourgeoisie get away with crime.
Jordan Belford- only got 22months in prison after pleading guilty for fraud + related crimes proves crimes of bourgeoisie are under punished.
Slapper and tombs- supports marxist theory as corporate crime is under policed therefore encourages companies to use crime to make profit

Question 7

Functionalism

Answer 7

Durkheim
Merton strain theory

Question 8

Durkheim

Answer 8

-crime is an inevitable feature of social life
-not everyone is committed to norms and values
-limited amount of crime is necessary + beneficial
-role of criminal law is to identify boundary between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour
-crime only becomes dysfunctional when rate of it is high or low

Question 9

Durkheim
value concensus

Answer 9

value concensus too strong= little change in society
value consensus too weak= chaos in society

Question 10

Durkheim theory
evaluation

Answer 10

+ Durkheim was the first theorist to recognize crime has positive benefits to society

-overlooks the victim in crime, crime can be dysfunctional/traumatic for victims e.g. James Bulger case had traumatic impact on family

Question 11

Merton strain theory

Answer 11

-deviance occurs when individuals in society can’t achieve goals of society in a normal way
-strain between goals a culture encourages individuals to achieve and what society allows them to achieve

Question 12

Merton strain theory
evaluation

Answer 12

+shows how normal and deviant behavior arises from the same goals

• strain theory is based on how everyone strives for for money, success but criminals like sex offenders don’t

Question 13

interactionism
labeling theory

Answer 13

interactionism refers to how individuals in society interact with each other
labeling theory is used to explain criminality

Question 14

labeling theory

Answer 14

-acts only become criminal or deviant when they are labeled as such
-society’s reaction to an act is what makes it deviant
-Becker suggests police operate with pre existing conception’s and stereotypes that influence how they deal with crime they come across

Question 15

labeling theory evaluation

Answer 15

+ it reveals crime statistics are bias, police label individuals and operate with pre existing conceptions and stereotypes that influence how they deal with crime they come across, police use these stereotypes to target areas or individuals , highlighted in the Stephen Lawrence case as police were racist, enables society to understand the dark figure of crime.
-removes accountability away from offender, in serious cases such as rape crime has not resulted due to the individual being labeled but it’s motivated by other factors such as sexual motivation and does not take into account the impact on the victim

Question 16

Realism
left realism

Answer 16

Left realism is linked to labour
Relative deprivation- how deprived someone or badly off someone feels in relation to others, deprived of key elements due to unfairness resort to crime to obtain what they feel is rightly theirs
Marginalization- separated from society due to preconceived opinions, have a sense of powerlessness, frustration+ resentment of injustice express this through crime
Solution to this- more ethnic minority police,more likely to relate to them(stephen lawrence)

Question 17

left realism evaluation

Answer 17

+explores the role of the victim in much more depth than any other criminological theories

-left realism fails to explain why some relatively deprived people turn to crime

Question 18

Realism
right realism

Answer 18

Right realism is linked to conservatives
Biological differences- crime is caused by mixture of biological and social factors, biological differences make some people more likely to commit crime e.g. certain hormones can lead to increased aggression
Rational choice theory- states everyone has free will and the power of reason. if it is perceived the rewards outweigh the cost then someone may turn to crime
Solution to this- target hardening, zero tolerance

Question 19

right realism evaluation

Answer 19

+retting gave students a scenario of opportunity to commit crime the degree of punishment determined whether they commit crime