crime and deviance 1 Flashcards
crime
a term used to describe behaviour which is against criminal law. But different societies have different laws so crime is relative (place to place ect Plummer)
Downes and Rock
social construction of deviance
Suggest that whether an act is seen as deviant ot not depends on the context in which the act occurs
Becker- interactionist
social construction of deviance
- society has rules and those who do not conform to those rules are deviant
- behaviours only become deviant when others percive it as so
- identification and application of deviant labels is inconsistent
crime definition
illegal activity or omission that is punishable by law
deviance
behaviour that is disaproved of by social groups as it goees against shared norms and values
2 ways in which crime is measured
- analyse secondary data eg CSEW
- collect primary data eg self report studies
official crime statistics
those published by the office for national statistics ONS, and are produced by the home office, the Ministry of Justice and the crime survey of england and wales CSEW
users of official stats
- politicians
- media
- police force
- prison service
what are crime stats used for?
- compare rates and identify trends
- reveal police efficiency
- concentration of police resources
- provide information
- inform government policy
Wiles- the dark figure of crime
- all unrecorded crime
- crime must go through 3 barriers before being recorded
- the CSEW suggest that the true level of crime is 2X the official crime stats
the CSEW found that
- 44% of crime victims felt the incident was not sufficiently serious to report
- 33% claimed police would be unsuccessful in solving the crime, so was not worth reporting
Kingsey, Lea and Young
- street crime mainly affected w/c communities
- inner city residents have little faith in police
- fear of reprisal from criminals
- police methods ineffective
- w/c turn blind eye to crime
- crime arrises from feelings of relative deprivation
…..
Moore, Aiken and Chapman - police as ‘filters’
police only record some reported crime as:
- may be too trivial
- social status of victim
- classifying the crime (minor and aggrivated)
Gill’s study
Liverpool police treated w/c less favoural
Which studys support ‘those whose demeanor is deferential, co-operative and polite are more likely to be let off for minor offenses’?
- Anderson - direspectful youths
- Cicourel’s negotiation
- Becker’s labelling theory
- Skolnick’s canteen culture
The ‘cuffing’ of crime
the dishonest practice of not recording crimes
more crimes may be reported
disadvantage of official crime statistics
Simmonds and Dodd
Since mid 1990s 44% of all crime is reported, which is significantly higher than the 1980s. This skews trends. Many reasons for this:
- increased phone ownership
- incresaed ownership of valuable goods
plea bargaining
Defences try to get the charges with the lowest possible punishments put forward following informal agreements eg recieve guilty pleas in exchange for downgrading serious crimes.
new crimes and new opportunities
disadvantage of official crime statistics
- internet fraud
- cyber hacking
- identity theft
- phishing
- mobile phone theft
- pedophile networks enhanced
changes to legislation and law enforcement
disadvantage of official crime statistics
More crimes may be reported
- decision in 1977 to include criminal damage of <£20 increased anual total by 7%
- new crime recorded standard in 2002 aimed to reduce police discression but ended up eith high in rates
conclusion about disadvantage of official crime statistics
evidence suggests that crime is not increasing but the recording of them is. Police statistics are socially contructed.
functionalist view on statistics
- share views on positivists
- useful in identifying patterns and trends
- crime is a young, male, working class phenomenon
- Merton (statistics are valid and reliable and use them to develop explanations of working class criminality)
New right view on statistics
- accept the statistics
- laws are made for the benefit of society
- explain criminality in underclass
- statistics overlook deeper cultural and moral problems
Marxist view on statistics
- recognise systematic bias
- Althusser stats have ideological function
- law and enforcement reflect ruling classes interests
- Gordon working class are criminalised
- the higher up people are, the less likely to be arrested
- stress significance of ‘dark side’ of white collar crime
- stats refelct inequality and scapegoating and show how ruling class engage in manipulation
