chapter 10 Flashcards
what type of approach is best used within crime?
Sociological approaches are the most prevalent and widely accepted in crime
what theories was Durkheim the founder of?
anomie theory and social control theory
who played a key role in establishing sociology’s dominance?
Sutherland
how can the interrelationship between sociology and criminology be explained?
until recently, the discipline of criminology was often subsumed under the auspices of sociology departments.
how do sociological explanations view crime?
crime and deviance are normal or semi-normal as they are socially or culturally learned responses to social circumstances
biological explanations
investigate inherited biogenetic deficits or abnormalities that predispose individuals to engage in criminal or deviant acts.
psychological explanations
examine individual differences in personality, memory, perception, learning, and cognition, and how such differences can lead to abnormal behavior and character disorders.
what theories do the overlap between sociological, psychological, and biological combine?
Sutherland’s differential association theory and B.F Skinner’s work on operant conditioning.
structural functionalism
the view that society is natural and organic
who laid the groundwork for what became known as the “ sociology of law”?
Montesquieu
sociology of knowledge
Henri de Saint-Simon - human science: applied scientific principles to the study of society
anomie
a coin termed by Durkheim to describe periods of lawlessness, an unrestrained choice, or a breakdown in social solidarity.
who first coined the terms sociology and positivism?
Comte
why did Durkheim reject the disease analogy and what did he observe?
crime has existed throughout history and is present in all societies. he concluded that a certain amount of crime must be normal or serve a social function.
social solidarity
Durkheim; creating a them vs us mentality or a good vs bad distinction
how did Marx view society?
rooted in social conflict and postulated that capitalism would be overthrown and replaced with socialism.
Durkheim argument on society
society was based on consensus and was comparable to a natural functioning organism that does what it has to do to survive
consensus
shared norms, values, and beliefs
forces of integration
the social bonds and shared beliefs that attracted people and held them together
forces of regulation
the laws and social institutions that helped ensure compliance with social norms, values, and beliefs.
the social Darwinist notion
people with low socio-economic status were that way due to their degenerative condition and challenged a popular notion.
what did members of the chicago school conclude?
it was the nature of the neighborhood - the cause of criminality
what was the population growth caused by (1830 - 1930) social disorganization theory
mass immigration from other countries trying to escape political instability as well as black Americans fleeing
what did Parkland Burgess observe Chicago-centric zone model
chicago had grown in a series of five concentric zones. each with its own distinctive land and usage and population
functionalism
the idea that society is comparable to a functioning organism with irrelated parts and structures to ensure that the parts work together; functionalists believe that society is based on consensus.
who saw the city as a functioning organism, or natural human environment?
Park and Burgees
How did Park and Burgees acknowledge functioning (organism/natural human environment)?
they regarded the formation of these concentric zones as part of the natural evolutionary process of “invasion, dominance and succession”, much like what happened in the animal kingdom when a new more successful species invades.
what happened as the loop grew and expanded outward (concentric zone model)
as the loop grew and expanded outward, it put pressure on the zone in transition, which became a rundown urban slum.
who was the disorganized zone in transition primarily populated by?
immigrant, transient workers, and others who could not afford to live in one of the more affluent zones
social disorganization theory
the theory that had a breakdown of networks, norms, and trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation among residents and can lead to greater crime/violence
what did Shaw and McKay study
social disorganization
what did Shaw and McKay demonstrate and how?
juvenile delinquency rates being related to social disorganization by using official census data
five main characteristics associated with socially disorganized areas?
poverty, overcrowding, ethnic and cultural heterogeneity, residents; instability, and broken homes.
what else did social disorganization lead to?
a breakdown of the type of informal social controls and their contribution
who replicated Shaw and McKays study
Sampson and Grooves
Shawn and McKay study variables
residential density, poverty, ethnic and cultural heterogeneity, residential mobility, family disruption
Sampson and Grooves study variables
sparse local friendship networks, unsupervised teenage peer groups, low organization participation
symbolic interactionism
chicago school notion that meaning and reality are. socially constructed through the use or sharing of gestures, symbols, or words which are themselves socially created symbols that convey socially agreed upon meanings
neutralization
an extension of Sutherland’s differential association theory - excused or justified behavior (Skye and Matza)
Sutherland’s differential association theory
criminals learn motivations and rationalizations to justify their criminal behavior
sociology of deviance
blends chicago school symbolic interactionism with views on how crime and deviance are used to maintain social boundaries or control
who are recognized as the most prominent thinkers in the sociology of deviance
Erikson and Becker
sociology of deviance beliefs
deviance is relative and normal behavior for societies while abnormal and criminal for others
labeling theory
the theory that the label affixed through the criminalization process may lead individuals to develop a deviant self-image or feel different (becker)
moral panic
certain people or groups are labeled as the cause of a perceived social problem resulting in public alarm
anomie strain theory
Merton’s theory describing the state of anomie in American society caused by the disjunction between cultural goals
cultural transmission theory
criminal subcultures develop their own criminal values or norms which pass through generations
general strain theory
explains delinquent acts by teens from affluent families; teens have more immediate strains
institutional-anomie theory
Messner and Rosenfeild’s theory that institutional imbalance is caused by the cultural goals of capitalist society and the failure of social institutions to integrate and regulate these goals
social learning theory
definitions favorable to criminal behavior are learned through differential reinforcement; criminal behavior depends on reward or punishment
social control theory
rooted in Durkheim forces of integration the concern with the breakdown in informal social controls holds that social bonds and informal social controls act as restraints
social bond theory
social control theory by Hirschi; the four elements of the social bond - attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief
interactional theory
Thornberrys theory that both social bond theory and social learning theory is needed to explain criminal behavior because of weakening the social bond and social learning of criminal values are interactional or reciprocal
