All Sociologists

Question 0

Bowlby

Answer 0

Psychological explanation
Individuals who are deprived of maternal love in the first few years of their life are likely to develop personality traits which lead them to commit crime

Question 1

Bennett

Answer 1

Crime is a result of growing up surrounded by deviant, delinquent, criminal adults in a practically perfect in criminogenic environment - one that seems almost consciously designed to produce vicious predatory unrepentant street criminals

Question 2

Braithwaite

Answer 2

Positive role for labelling process.
Reintegrative shaming - labels the act, not the actor - ‘he has done a bad thing’ rather than ‘he is a bad person’
It makes them aware of the negative impact of their actions, without stigmatising the offender as evil

Question 3

Burgess

Answer 3

Deviance is the product of social disorganisation. Changes such as rapid population turnover and migration create instability, distrusting family and community structures. These become unable to exercise social control over individuals, resulting in deviance

Question 4

Burke

Answer 4

Neo Marxist

Critical criminology is too general to explain crime and too idealistic to be useful in tackling crime.

Question 5

Carson

Answer 5

Neo Marxist
Laws that seem to be for the benefit of the working class (such as workplace health and safety) are often not rigorously enforced.
Study of 200 firms, found all had broken h&s laws, yet only 1.5% resulted in prosecution

Question 6

Chambliss

Answer 6

Laws to protect private property are the cornerstone of the capitalist society.
Britain’s East African colonies: forced people to pay tax - as the money to pay tax could only be earned by working on the plantations, the law served the economic interests of the capitalist plantation owners

Question 7

Cicourel

Answer 7

The negotiation of justice 
Officers' decisions to arrest are influenced by their stereotypes about offenders. Their typifications led them to concentrate on certain types. This results in law enforcement showing a class bias, with police patrolling working class areas more intensively, resulting in more arrests and confirming their stereotypes

Question 8

Clarke

Answer 8

The decision to commit crime is a choice based on a rational calculation of the likely consequences. If the rewards of crime outweigh the costs, then people will be more likely to offend

Question 9

Cloward

Answer 9

Subcultural theory
There are both legitimate and illegitimate opportunity structures
Yet crime depends on the access of frustrated w/c to criminal gangs
Those who fail in both structures retreat from society, turning to drink or drugs

Question 10

S Cohen

Answer 10

Folk devils and moral panics
Study of the societal reaction to the mods and rockers - youths at clacton 1964
Press exaggeration and distorted reporting began a moral panic - police arrested more youths and courts imposed harsher penalties.
Demonising them as ‘folk devils’ caused further marginalisation as outsiders, leading to more deviant behaviour

Question 11

Cohen - Status frustration

Answer 11

Working class boys face anomie in middle class school - suffer cultural deprivation 
Their inability to succeed leaves them with low status - they suffer status frustration, which they resolve through rejecting middle class values, and forming a delinquent subculture

Question 12

Cohen - social order

Answer 12

Deviance maintains social order:
Some forms of deviance provide a safety valve for releasing tension without threatening social stability
Deviant behaviour is used as a warning device by society to identify emerging social problems which can then be dealt with

Question 13

Cromwell

Answer 13

Right realism - Supports Felson’s guardian theory
In the chaos immediately following hurricane Andrew in Florida, patrols by local citizens to protect property during the absence of police prevented looting, and crime rates actually went down

Question 14

Durkheim

Answer 14

Deviancy allows for social change to occur - if society reacts positively to deviant behaviour it starts the process for that behaviour to be seen as non deviant in the future

Question 15

Downes

Answer 15

Definition of deviance:
Banned or controlled behaviour which is likely to attract punishment or disapproval.
Supports Messner - societies that spend more on welfare have lower rates of imprisonment

Question 16

Eysenck

Answer 16

Psychological explanation

Individuals who commit crime have inherited psychological characteristics which predispose them to crime

Question 17

Felson

Answer 17

Right realism - guardian theory
For a crime to occur, there must be a motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian. Offenders often act rationally, so the presence of a guardian deters them from offending.
Informal guardians such as in the community are more effective than formal ones such as the police.

Question 18

Foucault

Answer 18

Deviance is relative
Definitions of criminal deviance, sexual deviance, and madness have changed throughout history. Deviance changes with time and place as values, norms, and social expectations change

Question 19

Gordon

Answer 19

Crime is a rational response to the capitalist system as it is found in all classes

Question 22

Hall

Answer 22

Neo Marxist

Applied Taylor’s approach to explain the moral panic over mugging in the 70s

Question 23

Herrnstein

Answer 23

Right realist

The main cause of crime is low intelligence, which is biologically determined

Question 24

Lemert

Answer 24

Primary deviance: deviant acts that haven’t been publicly labelled - no single cause, often trivial (fare dodging)
Secondary deviance: result of societal reaction, being caught and publicly labelled as a criminal (stigma, shame, excluded) may result in being seen as the label - master status, leading to self fulfilling prophesy

Question 25

Lombroso

Answer 25

Physiological explanation
Doctor famous for theory that criminals are genetically different - there are outward signs of the criminal personality (large jaw, extra fingers or toes)

Question 25

Lilly

Answer 25

Against biological explanations of crime

IQ differences account for less than 3% of differences in offending

Question 26

Matza

Answer 26

Delinquency and drift
Most delinquents are not strongly committed to their subculture as strain theories suggest, but merely drift in and out of delinquency

Question 27

Merton

Answer 27

Strain theory - Crime is a response to failing to achieve society’s cultural goals.
American dream (status and wealth) causes strain due to inequalities in opportunities (structural), and the strong emphasis on succeeding with little emphasis on using legitimate means (cultural).
An individual’s position in society affects how they respond to the strain of anomie: conform, innovate, ritual, retreat, rebel

Question 28

Miller

Answer 28

The lower class has it’s own independent subculture, separate from mainstream culture with its own values. Their culture does not value success so members are not frustrated by failure. Deviance arises out of an attempt to achieve their own goals rather than mainstream ones

Question 29

Messner

Answer 29

Institutional anomie
The American dream’s obsession with individual money success and its ‘winner takes it all’ mentality exert pressure towards crime by encouraging an anomic cultural environment in which people are encouraged to adopt an ‘anything goes mentality in the pursuit of wealth.
In capitalist societies lacking adequate welfare provision, high rates of crime are inevitable

Question 31

Murray

Answer 31

Right realist
The crime rate is increasing due to a growing underclass who are defined by their deviant behaviour and fail to socialise their children properly - growing due to welfare dependancy. 
This led to the decline of marriage, and the growth of lone parent families - absent fathers, boys lack paternal discipline - delinquent role models gain status through crime, rather than supporting their families through a steady job. 
The underclass is not only a source of crime, but threatens society's cohesion by undermining the values of hard work and personal responsibility.

Question 32

Plummer

Answer 32

The same act can be seen as deviant, depending on the situation
E.g. Being naked acceptable in own home, yet deviant in public. Killing people is deviant unless you’re a soldier at war.

Question 34

Rock

Answer 34

We cannot predict whether someone who has been labelled will follow a deviant career, because they are always free to choose to not deviate further

Question 35

Savelsberg

Answer 35

Strain theory
Post communist societies in Eastern Europe saw a rapid rise in crime after the fall of communism in 1989.
This is due to the rise in communism’s collective values being replaced by new western capitalist goals of individual money success

Question 36

Pearce

Answer 36

Neo Marxist 
Laws that seem to be for the benefit of the working class (such as workplace health and safety) often benefit the ruling class too (keeping workers fit for work). 
By giving capitalism a caring face, these laws also create false consciousness among the workers

Question 37

Shaw

Answer 37

Cultural transmission theory
Some neighbourhoods develop a criminal culture that is transmitted through generations, while other neighbourhoods remain relatively crime free during this time

Question 38

Snider

Answer 38

Neo Marxist
The capitalist state is reluctant to pass laws that regulate the activities of businesses or threaten their profitability

Question 38

Reiman

Answer 38

Neo Marxist 
The more likely a crime is committed by higher class people, the less likely it is to be treated as a criminal offence. 
With crimes committed mostly by the higher classes, such as safety violations and serious tax evasion, the criminal justice system takes a more forgiving view.

Question 39

South

Answer 39

The drug trade is a mixture of both disorganised crime (conflict subculture) and professional mafia style criminal subcultures

Question 40

Sutherland

Answer 40

Deviance is behaviour learned through social interaction with others who are deviant, both criminal values and skills

Question 40

Slapper

Answer 40

Neo Marxist
Corporate crime is under policed and rarely prosecuted or severely punished.
This encourages companies to use crime as a means of making profit, often at the expense of their workers or consumers.

Question 41

Taylor, Walton, Young

Answer 41

Criticise Subcultural theories for assuming that the majority of people aspire to the mainstream goals of success and wealth - individuals and deviant groups such as hippies do not share these goals

Question 41

Triplett

Answer 41

There is an increasing tendency to see young offenders as evil and to be less tolerant of minor deviance. The harsh criminal justice sentences has resulted in an increase in offending

Question 43

Wilson

Answer 43

Right realist
Biosocial theory of criminal behaviour
Crime is caused by both biological and social factors. Biological differences make some more predisposed to commit crime than others (personality traits: aggressive, risk taking).

Question 43

Wilson - choice of crime

Answer 43

If the supply and value of legitimate opportunities was declining at the very time that the cost of illegitimate opportunities was also declining, a rational teenager might well conclude that it made more sense to steal cars than to wash them

Question 44

Young - secondary deviance

Answer 44

Secondary deviance - hippy marijuana users
Initially primary deviance, however persecution and labelling by the police led them to see themselves as outsiders. They developed a deviant subculture

Question 45

Kelling

Answer 45

Environmental factors - Broken windows
Maintaining the quality and orderly character of neighbourhoods is essential in preventing crime. Any sign of deterioration such as graffiti or vandalism, should be dealt with or else crime will increase

Question 46

Webb

Answer 46

Environmental factors
High rates of thefts and pickpocketing at a Birmingham market - most occurred where the stalls were most densely packed.
When the market was redesigned, stalls were set further apart and lighting improved, resulting in thefts falling by nearly 70%

Question 47

Jones

Answer 47

Criticises right realism
Their policies in the USA failed to prevent the crime rate rising.
A zero tolerance policy gives police free rein to discriminate against ethnic minority youths.
The crime figures don’t reveal the truth, as there has been a displacement of crime to other areas.

Question 48

Young - deprivation

Answer 48

Left realist
Explains the paradox of society being both more prosperous and crime-ridden
Although people are wealthier, they are more aware of relative deprivation due to media and ads, raising expectations for material possessions. Those who cannot afford them may resort to crime instead.

Question 49

Young - individualism

Answer 49

With relative deprivation, this is a ‘lethal combination’, causing crime by encouraging the pursuit of self interest at the expense of others.
It causes the disintegration of families and communities by undermining the values of mutual support and selflessness - this weakens social control which creates a spiral of increasing crime.

Question 50

Pryce

Answer 50

Religious subcultures encourage respectability and conformity.
In the African Caribbean community of Bristol, there is a variety of subcultures and lifestyles: hustlers (pleasure seeking and criminal), Rastafarians, saints (Pentecostalists), and working class ‘respectables’

Question 51

Young - marginalisation

Answer 51

Left realist
Marginalised groups lack clear goals and organisations to represent their interests.
Workers have clear goals (better pay and conditions) and organisations (trade unions) so do not resort to violence to achieve goals.
Unemployed youth are marginalised, they only have a sense of resentment and frustration, expressing this through criminal means of violence and rioting.

Question 52

Kinsey

Answer 52

Police clear up rates are too low to act as a deterrent to crime. They spend too little time actually investigating crime.
The police depend on the public to provide them with information about crimes - 90% of crimes are reported to the police by the public. As they are losing public support especially in inner city areas, ethnic minorities, and young, the flow of info dries up and so police rely on military policing (stop and search) which alienates communities (vicious circle)