AC2.3

Question 1

social structure

Answer 1

assumes disadvantaged social class primary cause of criminal behaviour (unemployment, single parent families)

Question 2

marxists

Answer 2

• see crime as a means of control in a capitalist society
• argue different classes policrd differently
• gov fabricate statistics
• capitalism is criminogenic (crime causing)
• law making and police and courts serve interests of rich

Question 3

law creation and the dominant hegemony

Answer 3

• ruling class impose ues beneficial to themselves
• marxists believe WC don’t realise they’re being exploited as ‘ideological state apparatus’ maintains WC false consciousness

Question 4

Occupational and corporate crime: Sutherland (1940)

Answer 4

• Sutherland used ‘white-colar crime’ to refer to crime by office workers
• burglary + robbery focused on WC main perpetrators of crimes
• fraudulent crimes other end of class structure mostly ignored

Question 5

Two areas white-collar crime can be split imto

Answer 5

1. Occupational crime
2. Corporate crime

Question 6

Occupational crime

Answer 6

• white collar crime
• theft by employees
• Levi (2007) total cost fraud £12.98 billion

Question 7

Corporate crime

Answer 7

• white collar crime
• intended to increase profits
• serious physical or economic impact on employees

Question 8

Why is corporate crime an invisible issue?

Answer 8

• costs society more than conventional crime
• very little attention (not newsworthy due to complex nature)
• sanctions very minor to those accused

Question 9

Functionalism

Answer 9

• how each part of society contributes stability to whole society
• each part fills specific roles
• crime only dysfunctional if rate too high/low

Question 10

Durkheim (1895)

Answer 10

Two sides of crime:
1. positive side (helps society remain dynamic)
2. negative side (too much leads to social disruption)

Question 11

Important functions Durkheim (1895) suggests crime performs on

Answer 11

• boundary maintenance: crime unites society against wrong doer
• social change: new ideas must challenge existing norms for society to progress
• safety valve: prostitution good for nuclear family (releases men’s sexual frustrations)
• warning light: deviance indicates institution not functioning properly

Question 12

Negative aspects of crime

Answer 12

• anomie
• merton’s strain theory
• interactionalism
• circourel
• Beckner
• realism
• Runciman (1966)
• Marginalisation

Question 13

Anomie

Answer 13

• term by Durkheim
• too much crime has negative consequences

Question 14

Merton’s strain theory

Answer 14

• society encourages material success
• not everyone can gain qualifications/access jobs
• people can conform, innovate, ritualistic, retreatists, become rebels

Question 15

become ritualistic

Answer 15

lose sight of goals

Question 16

conform

Answer 16

accept situation

Question 17

innovate

Answer 17

adapt non-conventional or criminal ways to gain material success

Question 18

become retreatists

Answer 18

drop out of conventional society

Question 19

become rebels

Answer 19

set alternative and opposing goals rather than those promoted by society

Question 20

Interactionalism

Answer 20

• early 1950’s
• Interactionists like Howard Beckner
• argue official statistics on crime socially constructed (impacts labelling leads sterotyping)

Question 21

Cicourel

Answer 21

• explain criminal behaviour of youth/other
• young persons presentation affect likelihood of arrest (‘typical delinquent’)
• ‘young delinquents’ : low income families, broken families, male, ethnic minority
• these young people labelled ‘potential criminals’ so watched more carefully
• ‘hoodies’ association

Question 22

Beckner (interactionist)

Answer 22

• focused on Malinowski’s work on trad culture
• youth committed suicide publically accused of incest
• Beckner argued if person successfully labelled consequences follow. breaking a rule doesn’t automatically mean others will define it as deviant. and someone has to enforce rules or at least draw attention to them

Question 23

Realism

Answer 23

practical view of crime and deviance

Question 24

Right realism

Answer 24

right wing theories of James Q. Wilson emphasises ‘zero tolerance’

Question 25

Left realism

Answer 25

from writings of Lea, Young and Matthews

Question 26

James Q. Wilson ‘Broken Windows’ theory (1982)

Answer 26

Argued crime flourishes in situations when social control breaks down
Solution: public areas nedd to feel safe again fr majority of people

Question 27

Left realism

Answer 27

Suggests crime lies in inequalities by capitalist society

Lea and Young (1984)
- pointed out poverty/unemployment don’t directly cause crime

Question 28

Marginalisation

Answer 28

refers to groups more likely to suffer from economic, socual and political deprivation