Concise Flashcards (MOST IMPORTANT)

Question 1

What are the key functions of crime according to Durkheim?

Answer 1

Boundary maintenance, adaptation and change, safety valve and warning device.

Question 2

Evaluation of Durkheim

Answer 2

Overemphasises the positives: ignores victims and power inequalities.

Question 3

What is Merton’s strain theory?

Answer 3

Crime occurs when individuals can’t achieve culturally approved goals via legitimate means (conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, rebellion).

Question 4

Evaluation of Merton

Answer 4

Explains utilitarian crime but not group deviance or non-material crimes.

Question 5

What do Cloward and Ohlin argue about criminal subcultures?

Answer 5

Three types: criminal, conflict and retreatist depending on access to illegitimate opportunity structures.

Question 6

Evaluation of Cloward and Ohlin

Answer 6

Too deterministic, doesn’t explain m/c crime.

Question 7

What does Cohen say about status frustration?

Answer 7

W/c boys face anomie in m/c schools and form subcultures to gain alternative status.

Question 8

Evaluation of Cohen

Answer 8

Assumes everyone shares the same goals - neglects female deviance.

Question 9

What is Becker’s view on deviance?

Answer 9

It is socially constructed - deviant behaviour is behaviour people label.

Question 10

Evaluation of Becker

Answer 10

Ignore structural abuses of crime e.g. poverty.

Question 11

What is Lemert’s distinction between primary and secondary deviance?

Answer 11

• Primary = insignificant deviant acts.
• Secondary = societal reaction leads to deviant identities (SFP).

Question 12

Evaluation of Lemert

Answer 12

Doesn’t explain why primary deviance occurs.

Question 13

How do traditional Marxists view crime?

Answer 13

Law serves the ruling class - cries of the powerful are under policed.
Snider - capitalist state reluctant to regulate businesses.

Question 14

Evaluation of traditional Marxists

Answer 14

Too deterministic and economically reductionist.

Question 15

What is Chambliss’s view on law?

Answer 15

Laws protect private property - key capitalist interest.

Question 16

Evaluation of Chambliss

Answer 16

Some was benefit w/c (health and safety laws).

Question 17

What is the key idea of Taylor, Walton and Young’s fully social theory of deviance?

Answer 17

Crime is a meaningful, political response to inequality - combines structure and agency.

Question 18

Evaluation of Taylor, Walton and Young

Answer 18

Romanticises criminals and doesn’t offer practical solutions

Question 19

What s the cause of crime according to RR like Wilson and Herrnstein?

Answer 19

Bio differences, poor socialisation and rational choice.

Question 20

Evaluation of RR

Answer 20

Overemphasises individual responsibility and ignores structural causes.

Question 21

What is the broken window theory - Wilson and Kelling?

Answer 21

Minor signs of disorder lead to serious crime f not addressed.

Question 22

Evaluation of broken window theory

Answer 22

Can justify aggressive policing - lead to over-criminalisation of the poor.

Question 23

What are 3 causes of crime according to LR - Lea and Young

Answer 23

Relative deprivation, subculture and marginalisation.

Question 24

Evaluation of LR

Answer 24

Doesn’t explain white-collar crime or state crime.

Question 25

What are LR solutions to crime?

Answer 25

Improve policing, tackle structural inequalities and community involvement.

Question 26

Evaluation of LR solutions

Answer 26

Limited impact without broader social change.

Question 27

Why do women commit less crime - Heidensohn?

Answer 27

Patriarchal control in the home, or and public restricts opportunities.

Question 28

Evaluation of Heidensohn

Answer 28

Doesn’t explain female hire-collar crime.

Question 29

Evaluation of what i the chivalry thesis?

Answer 29

CJS is lenient towards women - Lavinia Woodward (Oxford student)

Question 30

Evaluation of chivalry thesis?

Answer 30

Counter-evidence shows women are punished more harshly for deviating from gender norms.

Question 31

What does Gilroy argue about black criminality?

Answer 31

Myth created by racist stereotypes - crimes are political resistance to racism.

Question 32

Evaluation of Gilroy

Answer 32

Romanticises crime and ignores real victims.

Question 33

What is Hall et Al’s policing the crisis argument?

Answer 33

Moral panic over black muggers in 1970s justified oppressive policing.

Question 34

Evaluation of policing the crisis

Answer 34

Lacks empirical support and outdated context.

Question 35

What is transnational organised crime - Castells?

Answer 35

Global criminal economy includes drugs, human trafficking and cybercrime.

Question 36

Evaluation of transnational organised crime

Answer 36

Difficult to police due to internal scope.

Question 37

What is Glenny’s concept of McMafia?

Answer 37

Organised crime groups operating lie TNCs post Soviet Union.

Question 38

Evaluation of McMafia

Answer 38

Not all global crime is corporate also individual level.

Question 39

What is green crime?

Answer 39

Crime against the environment - can be legal but harmful.

Question 40

Evaluation of green crime

Answer 40

Definitions are subjective and hard to measure.

Question 41

What is state crime - Green and Ward

Answer 41

Crimes committed by or on behalf of states e.g. torture, genocide.

Question 42

Evaluation of state crime

Answer 42

Often hidden and underreported due to state power.

Question 43

What are ‘news values’ and how do hey influence crime reporting?

Answer 43

Criteria like immediacy, drama, violence and risk shape what crimes are reported - Jewkes.

Question 44

Evaluation of news values

Answer 44

Leads to distorted public perceptions of crime.

Question 45

Hat did Cohen ay about moral panics?

Answer 45

Media exaggerates deviance (Mods and Rockers) - public panic - crackdown - deviance amplification spiral.

Question 46

Evaluation of mora panics

Answer 46

Some argue moral panics are less common in today’s saturated media landscape.

Question 47

What is the relationship between media and fear of crime?

Answer 47

Heavy TV viewers overestimate crime rates - Gerbner et al.

Question 48

Evaluation of relationship between media and fear of crime

Answer 48

Fear depends on personal vulnerability, not just media use.

Question 49

What is cybercrime?

Answer 49

Includes identity theft, fraud, pornography and cyber-trespass - Wall.

Question 50

Evaluation of cybercrime

Answer 50

Hard to detect and police due to rapid tech changes and global nature.

Question 51

What is Focault’s view on surveillance?

Answer 51

Power shifted from punishment of the body to control of the mind via surveillance - panopticon.

Question 52

Evaluation of Foucault

Answer 52

Some ague surveillance today is fragmented and non centralised e.g. CCTV, social media.

Question 53

What is the difference between sovereign and disciplinary power?

Answer 53

Sovereign = physical punishment. Disciplinary = surveillance based control.

Question 54

Evaluation of sovereign and disciplinary power

Answer 54

May not apply to ll societies equally

Question 55

What is Garland’s view on punishment in late modernity?

Answer 55

The US and UK have moved towards mass incarceration and risk management.

Question 56

Evaluation of Garland

Answer 56

Fails to address rehabilitative approaches or alternatives like restorative justice.

Question 57

What is transcarcertation?

Answer 57

Blurring of boundaries between different forms of institutional control (e.g. care to prison).

Question 58

Evaluation of transcarceration

Answer 58

Shows how CJS is part of a wider system of control.

Question 59

What is critical victimology?

Answer 59

Based on conflict theories - looks at how structural factors (poverty, state power) produce victimisation.

Question 60

Evaluation of critical victimology

Answer 60

Less useful for immediate crime prevention strategies.

Question 61

What is secondary victimisation?

Answer 61

Victims suffer further through the CJS (e.g. rape victims being disbelieved).

Question 62

Evaluation of secondary victimisation

Answer 62

Highlights the need for victim-sensitive practices in policing and courts.

Question 63

Who is most likely to be a victim of crime?

Answer 63

Young people, EM, the poor, men (violence), women (sexual and domestic abuse).

Question 64

Evaluation of who is most likely to be a victim

Answer 64

Official stats may underreport due to stigma/ fear