ac2.3 - sociological theories of criminality Flashcards
list all the sociological theories
marxism, functionalism (durkheim), strain theory (merton), interactionism (becker), right realism (murray) and left realism (lea and young)
marxists see crime as what in a capitalist society
inevitable
marxists say that crime is used by who as a means of social control
bourgeoisie
marxists say that what institutions encourage you to conform
police, justice system, prisons, schools, family and religion
marxists argue that which crimes and ignored and which are seen as more serious
white collar crime by powerful
committed by less powerful such as street crime
how do marxists argue that different social classes are policed
proletariat heavily policed in the expectation that they will be more criminals, raising the chances of their crimes being detected
what do marxists think the government does with crime statistics
fabricate them to get public support for any action taken that might be construed as trespassing on freedoms
marxists believe that on average what percent of statistics presented by the government are false and misleading
42%
why does durkheim suggest that crime is inevitable with the functionalist approach
as not every member of society can be equally committed to the collective sentiments and values
what does durkheim believe can help achieve solidarity in society
socialisation and social control
when is crime not functional
when the rate of it is high or low
what happens when collective sentiments are too strong according to durkheim
there will be little change
what happens when collective sentiments are too weak according to durkheim
there will be too much crime and the status quo breaks down with chaos resulting
how is law around homosexuality an example of collective sentiments changing in society according to durkheim
if there was no opposition to the law then there would have been no change and practising homosexuality would still be illegal
how does crime strengthen social cohesion according to durkheim
maintains boundaries, reinforcing and uniting commitment to the value consensus
give an example of how crime strengthened social cohesian with the shannon matthews abduction in 2008
members of the moorside estate united in expressing their views, organising searches, marches and other displays of boundary maintenance
define merton’s strain theory
society encourages us to subscribe to the goals of material success but is unable to provide the legitimate means of education and employment to do so
how is the working class more likely to turn to crime according to merton
more likely to have blocked opportunities, experiencing feelings of strain and anomie
define anomie
loss of shared principles or norms
list and describe the 5 ways of achieving goals according to strain theory
conformity - accept the situation
innovation - adopt non-conventional or criminal means to gain success
ritualism - sight of goals is lost but still conform to means
retreatism - drop out of conventional society, reject means and goals
rebellion - set alternative opposing means, goals and values
what does becker and labelling theory say about crime statistics
social constructed along with crime itself
describe becker’s argument that crime is a subjective concept
agents of social control (police, judges) label certain acts as criminal and behaviour is then punished accordingly
what did lemert describe as the two types of deviance according to interactionism and labelling theory
primary deviance - act of deviance not social labelled as harmful or deviant
secondary deviance - an act that has been labelled as deviant
what happens to the offender once the act has been labelled as deviant according to becker
they start to view themselves as a deviant
