AC2.3 Flashcards
social structure
assumes disadvantaged social class primary cause of criminal behaviour (unemployment, single parent families)
marxists
- 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
law creation and the dominant hegemony
- 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
Occupational and corporate crime: Sutherland (1940)
- 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
Two areas white-collar crime can be split imto
- Occupational crime
- Corporate crime
Occupational crime
- white collar crime
- theft by employees
- Levi (2007) total cost fraud £12.98 billion
Corporate crime
- white collar crime
- intended to increase profits
- serious physical or economic impact on employees
Why is corporate crime an invisible issue?
- costs society more than conventional crime
- very little attention (not newsworthy due to complex nature)
- sanctions very minor to those accused
Functionalism
- how each part of society contributes stability to whole society
- each part fills specific roles
- crime only dysfunctional if rate too high/low
Durkheim (1895)
Two sides of crime:
1. positive side (helps society remain dynamic)
2. negative side (too much leads to social disruption)
Important functions Durkheim (1895) suggests crime performs on
• 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
Negative aspects of crime
• anomie
• merton’s strain theory
• interactionalism
• circourel
• Beckner
• realism
• Runciman (1966)
• Marginalisation
Anomie
• term by Durkheim
• too much crime has negative consequences
Merton’s strain theory
• society encourages material success
• not everyone can gain qualifications/access jobs
• people can conform, innovate, ritualistic, retreatists, become rebels
become ritualistic
lose sight of goals
conform
accept situation
innovate
adapt non-conventional or criminal ways to gain material success
become retreatists
drop out of conventional society
become rebels
set alternative and opposing goals rather than those promoted by society
Interactionalism
• early 1950’s
• Interactionists like Howard Beckner
• argue official statistics on crime socially constructed (impacts labelling leads sterotyping)
Cicourel
• 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
Beckner (interactionist)
• 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
Realism
practical view of crime and deviance
Right realism
right wing theories of James Q. Wilson emphasises ‘zero tolerance’
