Chapter 1: Interactionist, Right & Left Realist explanations Flashcards
What is a formal agent of social control?
Main job is to control behaviour
Police, government, court, prison
What is an informal agent of social control?
Controls behaviour but is not its main role
Family, education, religion, media
What does interactionist BECKER say about labelling and crime?
A deviant is someone to whom the label has been successfully applied
Deviant behaviour is simply behaviour that people so label.
What does interactionist CIRCOUREL say about labelling and crime?
An officer’s decision to arrest is influenced by their stereotypes about offenders
(appearance, background, circumstance)
Use typifications
Justice is not fixed but negotiable
What is a typification?
And by who?
CIRCOREL
Common sense theories or stereotypes of what the typical delinquent is like
What did Interactionist LEMERT say about labelling and crime?
Primary deviance: deviant acts that haven’t been publicly labelled.
Secondary deviance: result of societal reaction
(Crime- label- rejected by society- criminal rejects society- deviant career)
Master status- known for crime.
Self-fulfilling prophecy arises of deviant career.
Who was guilty for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard?
Wayne Couzens
(Police officer)
Given whole life order order in prison without parole
What do Right Realists see crime as?
See crime (especially street crime) as a real and growing problem
Undermine social cohesion and destroys social communities.
What is Right Realist, MURRAY’S underclass theory?
Believes there is underclass below the W/C that subscribe to deviant values
Lacks morals
Single parents, without both parental discipline, child turns to role models on street, gain status through crime.
What is Right Realists, CHARLESWORTH study of poverty in Rotherham?
Rotherham in extreme poverty but low crime rate
(Murray is wrong)
Depression in unemployed
No job = no identity
What is Right Realists, CLARKE’S rational choice theory?
Decision to commit crime is based on a rational calculation
If rewards outweigh costs, people are more likely to offend
As perceived costs have declined, crime increased
What is Right Realist, HIRSCHI, Control Theory?
Most don’t commit crime due to 4 controls:
Attachment- commitment to family life
Commitment- education, career
Involvement- could loose respect by community
Belief- law, order, discipline, respect
What did Right Realists, CLARKE & HIRSCHI say about crime prevention strategies?
Situational crime prevention- reduces opportunities for committing crime
Target hardening: invest more in CCTV, better locks
What was WILSONS’s Broken Window Theory?
Any sign of disorder left unfixed sends signal that no no one cares
(drug dealing, graffiti, littering)
Absence of social control
What do left realists see crime as?
A real problem for ordinary people especially disadvantaged groups who are the victims
What was LEA & YOUNG theory of relative deprivation?
Feeling poor compared to others
Refers to how deprived someone feels compared to others
M/C commit crime as someone else is better than them
Pressure of being successful
What do Left Realists say about marginalization?
Young people often feel marginalised and have no power to change their situation
Feel isolated and rejected
Negative treatments from police results in further hostility and resentment towards mainstream society
What do Left Realists say about subcultures?
W/C and black people who experience marginalised/ deprivation feelings may form deviant subcultures.
Feels society doesn’t value them so commit crime
Why do Left Realists believe Situational crime prevention and environmental crime prevention are doomed to fail?
They only treat the symptoms of crime
Don’t treat root causes
What is the Left Realist idea of social and community crime prevention?
Aim to remove conditions that make individuals commit crime
Aim to tackle root cause of crime
What was the Perry Pre-School Project?
Project provided high-quality pre-school education to 3/4 yr old Afro-American children living in poverty
Given extra sessions on decision making and problem solving
By age of 40 fewer lifetime arrests for violent crime, more graduated
(Only 1 off study)
What do Left Realists LEA & YOUNG believe about policing and control?
Public need to be more involved in policing
Public lack of confidence in police forces them to rely on stop and search
- Sarah Everard raped, kidnapped, murdered by police officer.
What are the 3 causes of crime according to the left realists?
Relative deprivation
Marginalisation
Joining sub-culture
What did WILKINS say about deviancy amplification?
Official attempt to control deviance or crime leads to increase in level of deviance
What does WILKINS say about the labelling theory?
When people and certain acts are defined as deviant, the social group identified as ‘deviant’ are stigmatized and cut off from mainstream society
What name does Becker give groups such as the media, police and those who have the power to create and enforce laws?
Moral entrepreneurs
