Crime and Deviance Flashcards
What is ‘Crime’?
Breaking the formal laws of society which have been set up by the government; Breaking the law
What is ‘Deviance’?
Behaviour that does not comply to the dominant norms of a specific society
Name a deviant activity that may be accepted by one social group, but not another
- Above knee clothing; deviant especially among Muslims, but normal around England
- Smoking; seen as deviant among Muslims
- Eating pork; seen as deviant among Muslims
What does Newburn (2007) suggest about the social construction of crime?
He says crime is a label attached to certain forms of behaviour
- Whether something is a crime is up to the interpretation of the law enforcement
- The action of murder isn’t a crime, it depends how its interpreted;
- A murder on the streets compared to murder in war can be
interpreted very differently as to whether its a crime
What does Downes and Rock (2007) suggest about social constructions of deviance
- A key feature of deviance is the ambiguity nature of it; no one really knows what’s deviant and what’s not
- What’s defined as ‘deviant’ depends on the social expectations;
Although among Muslims it is seen as deviant to eat pork, in England it
is a normal thing, and not deviant
What is ‘Societal deviance’?
This is a where there is a value consensus about what’s deviant; where generally every culture deems these actions as deviant
- child abuse
- murder
- rape
What is ‘Situational deviance’?
Deviant depending on the context of where the action was carried out;
- Not wearing hijabs (for women) in Muslim countries/ In England this
isn’t deviant behaviour
What are the two theoretical ways crime and deviance has been tried to be explained?
Nature - they’re just biologically like that
Nurture - They have been raised in a way where they picked up the traits
What does Durkheim suggest about crime and deviance
He says that;
- Crime is inevitable, the inevitability of crime stems from the inequality that exists in society, and how everyone doesn’t receive the same primary socialization
- Crime is positive, when people are punished for committing crimes, it teaches the rest of society not to go against norms and values
- Some crime can be functional for society because it allows social adaptation and change
What is ‘Merton’s strain theory’?
States that crime is caused by the failure to achieve the goals of the American dream through legitimate means. In his theory there are five different responses to the American Dream:
- Conformism
- Innovation - Ritualism
- Retreatism
- Rebellion
Name and explain each of Merton’s theory of responses of not achieving the American dream
Conformism - Law abiding, non criminal/deviant, conforming citizen
Innovation - They’ll (innovate) find new ways to reach their goals, i.e. crime
Ritualism - Give up on achieving goals, but stick to means (go through the motions) i.e. an office worker whos given up on getting a promotion and just works till retired
Retreatism - Just go backwards i.e. start doing drugs
Rebellion - Reject the social goals and replace them with their own
Name two criticisms of Merton’s strain theory.
- He doesn’t take into account that not everyone may want to achieve
the American dream, some people are happy living average, non high
paying jobs - Only explains economic crime, not violent crime
- There may be people who seem as though they’re law abiding
conforming citizens but are actually doing white collar crimes - Doesn’t explain why most people who face strain don’t turn to crime
What is ‘social control’?
The various methods used to persuade people to conform to the dominant norms and values
What are ‘White-collar crimes’?
nonviolent crime done by the middle class individuals who abuse their work positions i.e. fraud, tax avoidance
What are ‘Corporate crimes’?
Offenses committed on behalf of companies to profit the company; tax fraud
Explain Cohen’s ‘status frustration’ theory
The working class youth believe in the success goals of mainstream culture (American dream), but feel alienated from the mainstream due to living in deprived areas, failure in school, etc. so they react by developing their own values and they do this by making a delinquent sub culture
Name two criticisms two Cohen’s ‘status frustration’ theory
- Assumes that all working class youth believe the mainstream culture is
superior - It’s rare that the youth ever showed real commitment to delinquency
Name and explain the 3 types of subcultures Cloward and Ohlin point to.
Criminal subcultures - where traditional crime in more stable working class areas
Conflict subcultures - lack of social order due to high crime rates; gang culture, street crime
Retreatist subculture - Fail in mainstream culture and fail as a criminal, therefore retreat into petty crimes
What does Miller (1962) say about masculinity and working class culture
That men are the focal concern as they have a need for thrills, thus end up committing crimes
What does Matza (1964) say about young delinquents accepting mainstream values?
- That young people are just disgusted by criminal acts
- They buy into mainstream values and delinquent acts are just a phase
Name 2 criticisms of functionalist based explanations of crime and deviance.
- They assume there is a value consensus (not everyone agrees with
everything) - Only explain working class delinquency but don’t explain middle class crime
- They rely heavily upon crime stats, but a lot of crimes aren’t reported thus ruining the validity of research
What are Matza’s 5 techniques of neutralization
Denial of responsibility - It was out of their control and they were put in that position
Denial of injury - No one was injured in the crime, meaning there’s no problem
Denial of Victim - The act is not wrong, the victim was deserving of the injury or harm
Condemning of condemners - Hypocrites that shift the blame to others
Appeal to higher loyalties - Their act was for the greater good
What are Hirschi’s ideas on crime and deviance
Instead of trying to understand why people commit crimes, Hirschi asks why people DON’T commit crimes.
He believes there are 4 social bonds which stop people from committing crimes, if these bonds are broken, they will turn to crime.
Name and explain Hirschi’s 4 social bonds
Belief - People who share moral beliefs, such as religion, wont commit crimes as they respect others and abide by the law
Commitment - If people are committed to conventional activities such as family, education work, they have no wish to risk them with crime
Attachment - When people are attached to those around them (friends and family), they will be interested in needs and values
Involvement - When people are involved in sports teams, school activities and such, they will have no time for crimes
Name a criticism of Hirschi control theory
- It doesn’t explain why some people have weaker bonds than others
- It doesn’t explain how you can be deviant and have tight social bonds (white collar crimes
Name and explain the 3 Traditional Marxist theories on crime and deviance.
- Capitalist society is criminogenic: In a capitalist society, there will be those who are exploited and are poor, which inevitably mean crime will occur.
- The law reflects the interests of the ruling class: self explanatory
- Selective law enforcement: they pick and choose when the law will apply, for e.g. only young black men will be stopped for stop and search
What do Neo-Marxists theorize on crime and deviance
- They see working class crimes like theft as political acts, seeing working class criminals as robin hood figures.
Name 2 criticisms of Marxist theories
- Overemphasize class inequality, and ignore other inequalities such as race, sex, etc.
- Focus primarily on men, and not everything applies to women.
- Pay little attention to victims of crime
What does Chambliss suggest about crime and deviance
He claims that acts are only defined as criminal only when it’s in the interests of the ruling class to define them as such
TLDR; crime is constructed by the ruling class
What does Box suggest about crime and deviance
Argues that crime are ideological constructs, i.e. its only a crime once behaviour is carried out by working class youth
What are ‘State Crimes’?
crimes committed on behalf of governments
What’s the main focus of interactionists on crime and deviance
interactionists focus on the social construction of crime, whereby an act only becomes deviant when labelled as such, through societal reaction.
What does Ciourel (1976) suggest about crime and deviance
He believes subjective perceptions and stereotypes of law enforcers can affect how label are attached;
- Law enforcers are more likely to arrest working class youth than a middle class youth, as they may see the middle class youth as “going through a phase”.
What does Becker suggest about crime and deviance
Suggests police operate with pre-existing conceptions of what construes ‘trouble’, and these conceptions influence their responses to those behaviors.
What’s a ‘Master Status’?
and what sociologist coined the term?
Brought up by sociologist Becker, master status is a status that overrides all other characteristics of a person, i.e. Ben Mendy will always be seen as a rapist, not a footballer, husband, or father.
What is ‘Primary Deviance’?
Deviance that has not been publicly labelled as such; A guy who watches CP in private will still be treated like a regular guy, as know one knows he does that.
What is ‘Secondary Deviance’?
Deviance that follows once a person has been publicly labelled as such
Name 3 reasons why women commit less crime than men
- Gender socialization
- Less detectable crimes
- Police assumptions
Why do males commit more crime than women
- Gender socialization
- Assertation of masculinity
- Stereotyping
General quick summarization of the Postmodern view on crime
They view crime as socially constructed reflecting an old meta narrative, which doesn’t apply to our now diverse society
What is Post Modernists ‘New Definition Of Crime’?
Postmodernists argue it is necessary to go beyond the narrow definitions of crime and view crime on the basis of threats to people’s chosen lifestyles
What do Henry and Milovanovic (1996) suggest about crime
Crimes should be conceptualized as social harm;
Harms of reduction - immediate harm or loss
Harms of repression - Restricting future human development
What’s ‘Public Protection’?
Preventing harm to vulnerable groups in society
What’s ‘Retribution’?
Offenders are justified to be punished and society is entitled to its revenge
What’s ‘Rehabilitation’?
Interventions focused on reducing offenders reoffending
What’s ‘Restorative Justice’?
Process of bringing together the victims of crime and offenders to restore harm done
