AC2.3-Describe sociological theories of criminality

Question 1

What are the 3 groups of sociological theories?

Answer 1

Social structure: marxism, functionalism

Interactionism: labelling

Realism: left and right

Question 2

What are Durkheim’s 4 functionalist functions of crime?

Answer 2

1- Boundary maintenance
Reaffirms what is right and wrong by making an example of those who have broken the law: eg media attention, court appearances

2-Social change
For society to progress, existing norms and values must be challenged: this causes changes in human interactions and relationships.

3-Safety valve
A certain amount of crime/deviance is normal and part of healthy societies, acting as a ‘safety valve’ providing a harmless way for someone to express their discomfort.

4- Warning light
Deviance can indicate an institution is not functioning properly: eg campaigns in schools.

Question 3

What are examples of boundary maintenance?

Answer 3

George Floyd murder, London riots, media attention/petitions.

Question 4

What are examples of social change?

Answer 4

Decriminalisation of homosexuality, social movement of worker’s rights.

Question 5

What are examples of safety valve?

Answer 5

Prostitution allows men to ‘blow off steam’, it does not affect how institutions run.

Question 6

What are examples of warning light?

Answer 6

Truanting from school may indicate there is a problem with the institution and the running of education.

Suicide

Question 7

What are the strengths of Durkheim’s functionalist theories?

Answer 7

Helps us see society as a system of interdependent parts.

Recognised the positive functions of crime, explaining why crime/deviance may exist.

Question 8

What are the weaknesses of Durkheim’s functionalist theories?

Answer 8

He claims crime is functional for society but victims would disagree with this.

Durkheim tells us that crime is inevitable/necessary, but when does it become too much? Eg genocides.

Question 9

What is Merton’s functionalist strain theory?

Answer 9

Crime can be caused by strain- which is when someone accepts society’s goals but lacks legitimate means.

Goals- what society tells us we should be aiming for.

Means- how we are told to achieve these goals.

Question 10

What are the 5 types of people Merton put forwards? (RRR reject goals)

Answer 10

Conformity- accept goals and means
Innovation- accept goals, reject means
Ritualism- reject goals, accept means
Retreatism- reject goals and means (eg drop outs)
Rebellion- create new goals and means

Question 11

What are examples of innovation?

Answer 11

Member of the mafia which values wealth but has different means of attaining it.

Question 12

What are examples of ritualism?

Answer 12

University student accepted the means as they went to university but did not get a job at the end of their degree so rejected the goals.

Question 13

What are examples of retreatism?

Answer 13

Someone who abuses drugs as they reject both means and goals.

Question 14

What are examples of rebellion?

Answer 14

Environmental movements such as ‘extinction rebellion’ create new goals and means as they promote new social norms.

Question 15

What are the strengths of Merton’s strain theory?

Answer 15

Merton helps us understand the origins of criminal behaviour which he believes is the inability to achieve goals.

He helps us understand why crime may be more common from people in lower social classes due to blocked opportunities.

Question 16

What are the limitations of Merton’s strain theory?

Answer 16

Merton cannot explain why wealthy people with the means to achieve their goals still commit crime.

Merton does not explain non-utilitarian crime (crime with no material gain such as assault)

Question 17

What is marxism?

Answer 17

Crime is inevitable in a capitalist society as capitalism is criminogenic, i.e. the capitalist system and encourages criminal behaviour. The law is made by the capitalist elite and tends to work in their interests.
All classes, not just the working classes, commit crime, the crimes of the capitalist class are more costly than street crime.

Question 18

What are the Bourgeoisise? eg

Answer 18

The ‘ruling class’- own the means of production (eg banks)

eg- King Charles

Question 19

What are the Proletariat?

Answer 19

The ‘working class’- sell their labour to the ruling class so are exploited so the ruling class makes more profit.

Question 20

What are the 3 elements to the Marxist explanation of criminality?

Answer 20

1) Capitalism causes crime: some people in poverty have to resort to crime to survive (eg stealing food)

2) Lawmaking and law enforcement is biased: government and king are part of bourgeoisie and determine the laws to better suit them.

3) Crime and the law perform ideological functions: parts of society enforce upper class ideology and as there are punishments for straying away from these, people follow the ideology (eg uniform policy)

Question 21

What are the 5 factors as to how capitalism causes crime?

Answer 21

1) Exploitation of the working class drives many people into poverty.
2) Capitalism advertises goods to people in order to sell them- eg mothers may commit crime to be able to afford kid supplies.
3) Many people cannot afford goods advertised so turn to utilitarian crime (to make money) like tax evasion.
4) Inequality makes working class feel alienated and frustrated leading to non-utilitarian crime.
5) Desire for product breeds greed- even ruling class wants more so may turn to white collar crime.

Question 22

What does selective law enforcement mean?

Answer 22

A study in Seattle by Chambliss (and Pearce) demonstrated one rule for the rich and another for the poor.

The criminal justice system mainly concerns itself with policing and punishing the
marginalised, not the wealthy, and this performs ideological functions for the elite classes.

Question 23

What are the strengths of Marxist explanations of crime?

Answer 23

It analyses power and conflict in society, explains why there is such an uneven distribution of power and wealth between social classes.

Helps explain why white collar crime are often not convicted.

Question 24

What are the weaknesses of Marxist explanations of crime?

Answer 24

Overlooks alternative ideas that might shape behaviour because of its focus on class conflict, other issues affecting behaviour like gender, race and individuals are not given attention.

Deterministic - assumes working class are unaware of their exploitation and forced to commit crimes.

Not all capitalist societies have high crime rates -Japan, Switzerland.

Question 25

What do Marxists believe would solve crime?

Answer 25

Revolution - replacing capitalism with communism should reduce crime.

To increase minimum wage to decrease pay gap , tax wealthy more to redistribute wealth.

Question 26

What is the labelling theory given by interactionists/ BECKER?

Answer 26

When we label someone, they act in a certain way which leads to the self-fulfilling prophecy where they act in the way they are expected to.

Question 27

How do the police/ social control agencies label others?

Answer 27

They label certain groups as criminal which can lead to differential law enforcement where the law is enforced more against one group than another.

Piliavin and Briar- police decisions to arrest were based on stereotypical ideas regarding manner, dress, gender, class, ethnicity, time and place.

Question 28

Summarise Wilkins’ deviancy amplification spiral?

Answer 28

There is a primary deviance that causes a response such as refugees that have not claimed asylum.

Moral entrepreneurs are led to enforce the laws via media outlets.

The criminals are isolated by society and are negatively labelled: eg refugees negatively labelled.

The criminals are classed as folk devils.

There is an increased public reaction due to the stir created by moral entrepreneurs/ media.

The criminals posses a deviant image so act accordingly to their label due to the self-fulfilling prophecy.

There is a secondary deviance as the criminals commit a crime, leading to further moral panic.

Moral clampdown.

Question 29

Describe interactionism

Answer 29

It is not the act that is deviant, but society’s reaction to the act.

Agents of social control label certain acts as criminal/ deviant.

Lemert- primary deviance are acts that have not been yet labelled deviant can lead to secondary deviance which is a result of the labelling.

Question 30

What are the strengths of interactionism?

Answer 30

Focuses on the individuals rather that categorising us into groups of society.

Allows us to compare the way we act with different people.

Helps us understand the social construction of the world.

Question 31

What are the weaknesses of interactionism?

Answer 31

Does not take into consideration every individual. Some people are unable to make choices and have little free will.

We do not get to choose consequences for actions.

Underestimates the power of structure.

Question 32

What is left realism?

Answer 32

A social political viewpoint which believes crime is caused by inequality in society- more relevant in contemporary society.

Question 33

What are the 3 left realist causes of crime (MRS) ?

Answer 33

Lea and young identified:

1) Marginalisation- people on margins of society are not represented so may be more likely to engage in crime.

2) Relative deprivation- people recognise they are less well off than others so may turn to crime to close the deprivation gap.

3) Subcultures-those who cannot achieve in mainstream society will turn to a subculture, may not always be deviant and can also be religious to find an explanation for their deprivation.

Question 34

How to link left realism to crime?

Answer 34

Marginalisation- groups like unemployed youths are marginalised as no specific organisation represents them so they have no clear sense of goals/ access to legitimate means so turn their anger to crime.

Relative deprivation- Runcimans 1966: expectations can make someone feel deprived, in today’s society media and advertising can cause someone to feel like they are missing out more.

Subcultures- opportunities for the groups to achieve their goals are blocked by their position in society so they may turn to crime out of frustration.

Question 35

What are the strengths of left realist explanations of crime?

Answer 35

They focus on the underlying causes of crime such as poverty and inequality: changing these is thought to reduce crime.

Attention is drawn to the effects of crime on deprived groups who are most likely to be victims.

Question 36

What are the weaknesses of left realist explanations of crime?

Answer 36

They do not explain white collar crimes as they focus mainly on crimes committed by the working class.

They assume that everyone who experiences relative deprivation/ marginalisation commits crime when the majority do not.

Question 37

What are left realist solutions to crime?

Answer 37

Focus on the crime and offenders on a local level:
- reduce inequalities/ deprivation/ exclusion (living wage, job security)
- community policing (local community provisions, multi-agency cooperations)
- restorative justice (offender mediation, reintegrative shaming where offender is viewed with shame)

Question 38

What is right realism?

Answer 38

The belief that crime is a real problem, focusing on practical solutions to reduce crime.

Disagree with marxism and the idea that crime is caused by structures in society (eg inequality)

Question 39

What are the 3 right realist causes of crime (RIB) ?

Answer 39

1) Rational choice- deciding to commit crime is a choice based on a rational calculation of the consequences- do benefits outweigh costs?

2) Inadequate socialisation- welfare state has undermined the nuclear family. Murray: growth in lone, welfare dependant parents fail to adequately socialise their children.

3) Biological differences- some people are innately predisposed to committing crime due to personality traits eg low IQ.

Question 40

What are examples of rational choice?

Answer 40

cashier stealing money out of a register: immediate cash VS potential unemployment.

Question 41

What are examples of inadequate socialisation?

Answer 41

Charles Manson was a murderer who was born to a 16year old girl who married multiple times, not from nuclear family.

Question 42

What are examples of biological differences?

Answer 42

Daniel Hugon had an extra Y chromosome and was tried for strangling a 61-year old prostitute to death.

Question 43

What are right realist solutions to crime?

Answer 43

Focus on the control and punishment of offenders not rehabilitation:
-greater police presence with increased patrols
-zero tolerance policy to the deterioration of neighbourhoods- eg vandalism dealt with immediately.
-support harsher prison sentences.

Question 44

What are the strengths of right realist explanations of crime?

Answer 44

Feldman found that people said crimes were worth committing if the rewards were high and risks were low.

Bennett and Wright interviewed burglars and found they considered rewards and risks before deciding to commit a burglary.

Question 45

What are the weaknesses of right realist explanations of crime?

Answer 45

Feldman’s study was an artificial experiment, we do not know if actual criminals feel this way.

Bennett and Wright’s interviewees had all been caught in the act: we do not know if successful burglars also made rational decisions.

Violent crimes are often impulsive and not a rational decision.