B: EXPLANATIONS FOR CRIME Flashcards
Durkheim
Saw crime as a healthy part of society
‘Boundary maintenance’
Testing the boundaries of what is right and wrong
‘society of saints’
If we didn’t have any crime
‘public temper’
Functionalist- promote social solidarity
‘Collective conscience’
Func- set of norms and values society holds
Role of public condemnation
Now taken by radio, TV and Twitter
Durkheim- anomie
A small amount of crime and deviance can prevent anomie as long as its punished
Who talks about safety valve?
Davis
Deviancy as a safety valve
‘let off steam’ to prevent worse deviance, eg prostitution
Cohen
‘status frustration’
Cloward and Ohlin
‘blocked opportunities’
Miller
‘focal concerns’
Ferrell (1999)
Crime is not rational decision making, but a result of humiliation, excitement and fear
Five modes of adaption
Conformity Innovation Ritualism Retreatism Rebellion
Albert Cohen (1955)
Says young deviance is non-utilitarian, but for short-term hedonism
Katz
Sociological explanations which focus on gender age etc fail to explain why people are drawn into crime
Young
Youth deviance is about rebellion and risk
Bulimic society, intensity of exclusion
Lyng
Edgework to refer to the exploring of boundaries
Can lead to intense emotions
Sense of control
Katz and Jackson-Jacobs
Social mobility leaves those at the bottom with a sense of failure- gangs enable them to achieve this status
Becker
Deviance is socially constructed- labelling creates master status which leads to self fulfilling prophecy
Plummer
‘deviant career’
Argues that the internalisation of the label can result in a deviant career
Malinowski
Study of Trobriand Islands- deviance is shaped by public reaction
Who spoke about public shaming shaping deviance ?
Malinowski
Lemert
Believes society’s reaction is more significant than the behaviour itself
Primary and secondary deviance
Who spoke about primary and secondary deviance ?
Lemert
Matza
Youths face pressure to pursue ‘subterranean values’ in spite of a moral obligation to the law
‘Techniques of neutralisation’
Who spoke about ‘techniques of neutralisation’?
Matza
Give an example of a technique of neutralisation
Denial of responsibility Denial of injury Denial of victim Condemnation of condemners Appeal to higher loyalties
Young
Powerful groups saw alienated, drug taking youths as a threat- deviancy amplification which leads to self fulfilling prophecy
Cicourel
Justice is negotiated, based on manner, appearance etc
Crime rates fluctuate depending on media publicity and public concern
Capitalist ideology
Seen as a fact, brainwashing
Althusser
RSA and ISA used to maintain control
RSA
Repressive state control, eg police, courts
ISA
Ideological state control, eg socialisation. Divides us
Box
Avoidable killing- explains how crime is socially constructed
Bonger
Crime is caused by poverty and capitalism- creates competition which leads to materialism, violence and racism
Gordon
More attention focused on violent crimes than white collar crimes- 91% of people in the USA have committed a crime
What % of people in the USA have committed a crime (via Gordon)?
91%
Chambliss
Capitalism creates the desire to consume but also the inability to earn- leads to crime
Marx (2)
Crime keeps the proletariat off the streets
Employment in the CJS reduces unemployment
Who spoke about RSA and ISA?
Althusser
Who spoke about avoidable killings?
Box
Marxists argue crime is a…
rational response to capitalism
Criticisms of the Marxist view on crime
Overestimates WC crime
Japan-low crime rates
Ignores other factors
Laws protect all, eg murder
‘New Criminology’ Taylor, Walton and Young
Believes that deviance needs to be studied in relation to capitalism
Chambliss
Saints and Roughnecks study
Neo-Marxist sociologists
Chambliss, Gilroy, Hall
‘Full social theory of deviance’
Power distribution must consider
- Circumstance
- Meaning
- Effect
Gilroy
Ethnic minorities turn to crime to defend themselves
Hall
‘Policing the crisis’- looked at social and economic conditions for explaining labelling and deviance
‘mugging’
First used by British media in 1972. Associated with black males
Control theory
Travis Hirschi- strong family ties and bonds prevent us from committing crime
Attachment, Commitment, involvement and beliefs
Travis Hirschi
Control theory
Murray and Herrnstein
Impact of cognitive ability or intelligence- link between low IQ and crime
Right wing view on crime
Blame the individual, argue the answer is stricter controls
Left wing view on crime
Argue that people are victims of their circumstance, blame the system rather than the individual
Right realist sociologists
Wilson, Wilson and Kelly, Wilson and Herrnstein
Wilson
Long term trends in crime can be accounted for by
- Young males are most likely to commit crime- aggressive and have short term prospects
- Changes in benefits- cost of crime
- Social and cultural changes
Largely uncontrollable
Wilson and Kelling
‘broken windows’- community changes its behaviour in response to disorder
Development of ‘urban decay’
Wilson and Herrnstein
Emphasise the role of biology- ‘criminal traits’ heightened if poor socialisation occurs
Nuclear family- best socialisation
Left realist sociologists
Matthews and Young, Young
Matthews and Young
The square of crime
The square of crime (Matthews and Young)
CJS, offender, general public, victim
Young
Relative deprivation, exclusion leads to breakdown- increase in crime- scapegoating
Sociologists who argue for biological explanations for crime
Pollack, Lombroso, Thomas
Pollack
Argues that women are more biologically deviant- can conceal menstruation and fake orgasms
‘chivalry’ in the CJS- more lenient treatment
Lombroso (2)
Criminals are biological
Argues that women do commit less crime than men- they do not have the intellectual capacity to break the law
Thomas
Women require more approval and affection than men
Poor women are not socialised properly- use their sexuality for emotional gain
What do functionalists believe about gender and crime?
Sex role theory- boys and girls are clearly socialised differently
Sutherland
Girls are supervised and more strictly socialised than boys
Female deviance can be explained by poor socialisation
Parsons
Men take on the ‘instrumental’ role, whilst women take on the ‘expressive’ role
Girls have more access to their role model- can leave boys with ‘status anxiety’
Smart
Girls have stricter socialisation which prevents them from committing less crime- ‘prisoners in their own home’
For men, crime is ‘____ __________’, while for women is it ‘____ _________’
‘role expressive’ for men, ‘role distorting’ for women
Carlen
Women who commit crime are usually those where the crime does not outweigh the benefits of women- they do not conform
Feminist sociologists on gender and crime
Smart, Carlen
Functionalist sociologists on gender and crime
Parsons, Sutherland
Liberation theory
The idea that, as women become more liberated, they are out in the public sphere more
Liberation sociologists
Freda Adler, Chesney-Lind, Gelsthorpe, James and Thornton
Freda Adler
Rise in ‘laddish’ behaviour among women
Chesney-Lind
Argues that poor women are more likely to be criminals than ‘liberated’ middle class women, therefore suggesting that crime is more down to economic or social situations than liberation
James and Thornton
Found that women prisoners are more likely to come from poverty
Gelsthorpe
The increase in women prisoners could be down to a shift in sentencing policy and a decline in ‘chivalry’
Myra Hindley
Labelled ‘the most evil woman in Britain’ as she showed no remorse in her trial, going against stereotypes
What did Jean Ritchie suggest?
If Hindley had played her part in the original trial, she may have been treated less harshly by the CJS and the media
Chivalry thesis sociologists (3)
Speed and Burrows, Carlen, Hedderman and Gunby
Speed and Burrows
Found that in shoplifting cases, male offenders are 2x as likely to receive a sentence than women (30% to 15%)
Carlen
Argues that a female’s role as a mother is considered more than a male’s role as a father
Hedderman and Gunby
Interviewed judges and magistrates and found that they were conscious of complex issues surrounding female offending, eg domestic abuse, and single parenthood
Chesney-Lind
Female deviance tends to be sexualised
Sociologists who challenge chivalry thesis (2)
Klein, Heidensohn
Klein
Chivalry thesis is classist and racist- only applies to middle class white women
Heidensohn
It is only applicable to women who conform to maternal behaviour, and those who do not are punished more severely
Messerschmidt
Hegemonic masculinity- young males commit crime to show masculinity
Mosher
‘hypermasculinity’ to refer to the jobless and unemployed- exposed to this at a young age with their fathers
Mac an Ghaill
‘crisis in masculinity’ - decline in industrial jobs can lead to violence + crime
Winlow
Studied working class males in Sunderland- found that unemployment made men more violent
Box on white collar crime
The way society defines crime is focused on working class
Tombs
Found that the scale of unlawful workplace deaths outweighed the number of recorded homocides- ignored
Goldstraw-White
Found that those who were convicted of white collar crimes often do not see themselves as criminals (semi-structured interview)
Friedrichs
Risk plays a large part in white collar crime- the gamble can be a part of the appeal
Who says that risk plays a role in white collar crime?
Friedrichs
Who found that convicted white collar criminals did not see themselves as criminals?
Goldstraw-White
Chivalry thesis is only applicable to middle class white women
Heidensohn
Chivalry thesis is classist and racist
Klein
Judges and magistrates are aware of the complex issues surrounding female offending
Hedderman and Gunby
A female’s role as a mother is considered more than a male’s role as a father
Carlen
Male offenders 2x as likely to recieve a sentence for shoplifting
Speed and Burrows
Female prisoners more likely to come from poverty
James and Thornton
Poor women are more likely to become criminals than ‘liberated’ middle class women
Chesney-Lind
Female deviance can be explained by poor socialisation
Sutherland
Women require more approval and affection
Thomas
Women do commit less crime- they do not have the intellectual capacity to break the law
Lombroso
Criminal traits are heightened if poor socialisation occurs
Wilson and Herrnstein
‘Broken windows’
Wilson and Kelling
Ethnic minorities turn to crime to defend themselves
Gilroy
Crime is caused by poverty and capitalism
Bonger
Powerful groups saw alienated groups as a threat- deviancy amp to self fulfilling prophecy
Young
