crime and deviance

Question 1

functionalist view

Answer 1

functionalism - consensus structural theory
- sees the source of c&d located in the structure of society
- social order and cohesion are based on a value consensus, the agencies of social control seek to protect this by controlling the threat pose by c&d

Question 2

what did durkheim argue about the benefits/functions of c&d

Answer 2

argued that crime is an inevitable feature of social life because individuals are exposed to different influences and circumstances - so not everyone can equally commit to the shared values and moral beliefs of society.
he saw some c&d as necessary and beneficial as it could contributing to the well-being of society

Question 3

the benefits/functions of c&d

Answer 3

strengthens collective values - values can waste away unless people are reminded of the boundaries between right and wrong behaviour.

enabling social change - some deviance is necessary to allow new ideas to develop and enable society to change and progress.

acting as a warning device - that society is not working properly, for example, truancy from school, drugs, c&d point to underlying social problems that needed solving before serious threats to social order develop.

Question 4

what is boundary maintenance

Answer 4

when crime produces a reaction from society, uniting its members in condemnation of the wrongdoer and reinforcing their commitment to the shared norms and values

Question 5

what is strain theory?

Answer 5

Strain Theory argues that crime occurs when there aren’t enough legitimate opportunities for people to achieve the normal success goals of a society.

In such a situation there is a ‘strain’ between the goals and the means to achieve those goals, and some people turn to crime in order to achieve success.

Question 6

evaluations of mertons strain theory

Answer 6

Strain is dependent upon people wanting to achieve socially-approved goals

Question 7

the american dream - merton

Answer 7

american society is meritocratic - in reality it is very different, one of the most unequal countries in the western world. there is strain between the cultural goal of money success and the lack of legitimate means to obtain it.

Question 8

conformists

Answer 8

these are people who believe in the american dream, worked towards their education and are in employment

Question 9

ritualists

Answer 9

these are people who do not aspire to society’s goals but accept the means of achieveing them, so they go to work and ‘do the job’ but may not want career success such as promotions

Question 10

innovators

Answer 10

people who are seen as criminals who support the goals of society (earn money/have children) but may use criminal means to achieve them.

Question 11

retreatists

Answer 11

reject society’s goals and may be seen as drop outs (alcoholics, drug addicts)

Question 12

rebels

Answer 12

these create alternative goals to those prescribed by society and may seek a counterculture. terrorist or revolutionaries would fit in this category

Question 13

agency

Answer 13

refers to the idea that people make their own decisions and are responsible for their own actions

Question 14

labelling theory of c&d

Answer 14

argues that c&d acts are as a result of labelling by authorities - the powerless are more likely to be negatively labelled.

Question 15

The labelling theory of crime is associated with interactionism.

key ideas :

Answer 15

• crime is socially constructed
• agents of social control label the powerless and deviant and criminal based on stereotypical assumptions and this creates effects such as the self fulfilling prophecy

Question 16

howard becker - Becker examined the impact of labelling on individuals in education

Answer 16

claimed that acts are only deviant because society deems them to be - individuals do not consider the act to be deviant

Question 17

labelling

Answer 17

• Once an activity is labelled as deviant, this label becomes attached to the individual
• This becomes their master status - one that overrides all other characteristics.
• being labelled deviant can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy
• Governments and legal systems apply labels to deviant activities through criminalising them

Question 18

evaluations of becker

Answer 18

• Focus on the ‘underdogs’ of society which gave sociology a greater understanding of how criminals were stigmatised
• Did little to explain why initial acts of crime occurred
• Often sided with criminals rather than the ‘real’ victims of crime

Question 19

cohen

Answer 19

Albert Cohen was influenced by Merton’s ideas of inequality in society and agreed that crime is caused by a reaction to blocked opportunities.
However, Cohen suggested that it was not individuals, but subcultural groups that were responsible for most crime.

Question 20

cohen - status frustration

Answer 20

• w/c boys would value success goals but failure in school due to anomie + cultural deprivation
• lack legitimate opportunity structures = status frustration as denied status / power + left at bottom of hierarchy.

Question 21

Cloward and Ohlin

Answer 21

suggested that, based upon the area young working-class males lived in, they had different opportunities to commit crime.
They examined areas with existing criminal networks, areas of transition and areas with limited opportunities for criminal behaviour.
They identified 3 distinct variations of subcultures: criminal, conflict and retreatist.

Question 22

the 3 distinct variations of subculture

Answer 22

criminal subculture: organised crime - career criminals (car theft)
conflict subculture: gangs organised by young people themselves - claiming territory from other gangs (assult)
retreatists: unable to access either legitimate or illegitimate opportunity structures might drop out all together (drugs)

Question 23

evaluation of cloward and ohlin

Answer 23

• not 3 distinct subcultures - subcultural overlap - drug use plays a part in most gangs
• dont tackle root cause of why people are denied legitimate opportunities
• dont explain female crime