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sociology paper 3 > crime and deviance 1 > Flashcards

crime and deviance 1 Flashcards

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Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

crime

A

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)

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2
Q

Downes and Rock

social construction of deviance

A

Suggest that whether an act is seen as deviant ot not depends on the context in which the act occurs

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3
Q

Becker- interactionist

social construction of deviance

A
  • 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
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4
Q

crime definition

A

illegal activity or omission that is punishable by law

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5
Q

deviance

A

behaviour that is disaproved of by social groups as it goees against shared norms and values

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6
Q

2 ways in which crime is measured

A
  1. analyse secondary data eg CSEW
  2. collect primary data eg self report studies
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7
Q

official crime statistics

A

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

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8
Q

users of official stats

A
  • politicians
  • media
  • police force
  • prison service
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9
Q

what are crime stats used for?

A
  • compare rates and identify trends
  • reveal police efficiency
  • concentration of police resources
  • provide information
  • inform government policy
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10
Q

Wiles- the dark figure of crime

A
  • 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
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11
Q

the CSEW found that

A
  • 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
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12
Q

Kingsey, Lea and Young

A
  • 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
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13
Q

Moore, Aiken and Chapman - police as ‘filters’

A

police only record some reported crime as:
- may be too trivial
- social status of victim
- classifying the crime (minor and aggrivated)

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14
Q

Gill’s study

A

Liverpool police treated w/c less favoural

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15
Q

Which studys support ‘those whose demeanor is deferential, co-operative and polite are more likely to be let off for minor offenses’?

A
  • Anderson - direspectful youths
  • Cicourel’s negotiation
  • Becker’s labelling theory
  • Skolnick’s canteen culture
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16
Q

The ‘cuffing’ of crime

A

the dishonest practice of not recording crimes

17
Q

more crimes may be reported

disadvantage of official crime statistics

A

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

17
Q

plea bargaining

A

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.

18
Q

new crimes and new opportunities

disadvantage of official crime statistics

A
  • internet fraud
  • cyber hacking
  • identity theft
  • phishing
  • mobile phone theft
  • pedophile networks enhanced
19
Q

changes to legislation and law enforcement

disadvantage of official crime statistics

A

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

20
Q

conclusion about disadvantage of official crime statistics

A

evidence suggests that crime is not increasing but the recording of them is. Police statistics are socially contructed.

21
Q

functionalist view on statistics

A
  • 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)
22
Q

New right view on statistics

A
  • accept the statistics
  • laws are made for the benefit of society
  • explain criminality in underclass
  • statistics overlook deeper cultural and moral problems
23
Q

Marxist view on statistics

A
  • 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
24
Q

feminist view on statistics

A
  • Smart crime stats underplay extent of female victims
  • police reluctant to be involved in domestic crimes
  • female victims reluctant to report offenses (Stanko)
  • critisize patriarchal nature of stats
  • Gener stereotypes enforced by selective use of law enforcement and punishment
25
Q

Left realist view on statistics

A
  • accept stats have some value
  • typical offenders are young, male and working class
  • should be supplimented by other methods such as victim surveys
  • highlights how people have real fears of crime
  • dramatic rise in reported crime cant be fully explained by increased willingness to report
26
Q

Interactionist view on statistics

A
  • largely useless and distort reality
  • numerical data tells us little about deviant minds
  • must establish verstehen
  • labelling theory interested in why acts are viewed as deviant
  • stats are socially constructed
  • Cicourel argues police are prone to judging people so crime rates high in ethnic minorities
  • Becker argues deviance is a product of deviant labels

sociology paper 3 (11 decks)

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