Biology and Chicago School

Question 1

Why do people commit crime?

Answer 1

Peer pressure - Adler and Adler 
Status - Cohen, status frustration 
Biology - E.g. prison system (agressive)
For fun - Pomo, edgework (Lyns)
Additction - Pre disposition 
Culture - Smoking weed
Unemployment - Marxism, Brake 
Riots - Functionalism, something wrong in society

Question 2

Why can defining crime and deviance be problematic?

Answer 2

We can conclude that whilst almost all crimes are deviant, not all acts are classed as criminal

Question 3

Deviant behaviour depends upon

Answer 3

The situation
The culture
A person who is deviant in one country may be considered normal in another

Question 4

Define crime

Answer 4

Something that is against the law

Question 5

Define deviance

Answer 5

Act which causes offence or breaks moral norms and values held by society such as religious beliefs

Question 6

Problem - the law

Answer 6

Different countries have different laws

e.g. adultery is illegal in many countries such as Iran (punishable by death). However, not illegal in England

Question 7

Problem - politics

Answer 7

The government have the power to criminalise and decriminalise certain acts
e.g. smoking in a public place used to be legal but the government have now criminalised this act

Question 8

Problem - history

Answer 8

What is illegal in one decade may not be illegal in
another
e.g. witchcraft was against the law (punishable by death). However, today there is no law about witchcraft and many people do not even think about it

Question 9

Problem - social construction

Answer 9

What constitutes a crime is dependent upon the perception you are approaching from it
e.g. keeping a small amount of money found on the pavement rather than handing in could be seen as stealing from a religious point of view

Question 10

Plummer

Answer 10

Introduced the concept of ‘situational deviance’ whereby a normally deviant act is tolerates because of the circumstances in which is occurs

Situational deviance - war
Societal deviance - murder

Question 11

Cesare Lombroso

Answer 11

19th century many people believed criminals were born not made, he concluded criminals displayed clear signs of atavism, meaning they exhibited traits from early ages

Large Jaw
Dark skin
High cheekbones
Male - ‘normal’ females have a disposition to deviant behaviour

40% was accounted for by these atavistic types

Question 12

Lombroso - evaluation

Answer 12

Only looks at biology, ignores environment (deterministic)
Outdated
Racist
Malestream
Methodology (can’t generalise only looked at Italy/pictures)

Question 13

Hans Eysneck

Answer 13

Focused on personality types, traits including

Feeble-mindedness
Moral degeneracy

Eysenck suggested abnormal mental states which can create problems during the process of socialisation are inherited

Question 14

Sutherland

Answer 14

Differential Association Theory

Aruged deviance was behaviour learned through socialisation with others who are deviant
Learning both criminal values/skills

Question 15

Shaw and McKay

Answer 15

Cultural transmission theory

Criminal traditions or cultures are transmitted from generation to generation

Question 16

Park and Burgess

Answer 16

Social disorder theory

Deviance = product of social disorganisation
Rapid population turnover and immigration cause instability