Crime and Deviance Flashcards
1
Q
What is the difference between crime and deviance
A
crime - action or behaviour that goes against the legislation of a particular question
deviance - actions which go against norms of a society
2
Q
what is a social construction
A
a social phenomena which is not naturally occuring but created by rge society
3
Q
What are the four functions of crime according to functionalists
A
Boundary maintenance - Durkheim - crime reinforces what is acceptable as punishment shows consequences
Adaption + Change - Durkehim - social deviance is needed to progress
Warning sign - Cohen - increase in a certain type of crime shows something needs a change
Safety Valve - Davis/Polsky - some smaller crimes can actually prevent bigger crimes
4
Q
What is Merton strain theory
A
based on American dream in 1950s - crime was a response to the starin people feel to meet goals
5
Q
What is Merton’s five types of responses to strain theory
A
Conformity - accepting goals and legitimate ways to achieve it
innovation - accepting society goals but choosing alternate ways to acheieve this
Ritualism - following the means to achikeve goals but believing it will never happen
Rebellion - creating own values
Retreatism - reject goals and means to achieve it but does not replace with own values
6
Q
What is evaluation of strain theory
A
- over exaggerate importance of monetary success
- underestimated amount of crime committed by these who have achieved societal goals
- doesn’t explain why groups choose the response they do
7
Q
Criticism of functions of crime
A
Marxism - ignores the role that the powerful have in shaping what is criminal
Durkheim ignores impact crime has on victims
Doesn’t quantify how much crime is beneficial in society
crime doesn’t always lead to solidarity and can cause isolation for victim and criminal
8
Q
What is Cohens theory
A
Young boys underachieve in education and this feel status frustration in their inability to achieve goals so turn to crime to achieve this status
9
Q
A
10
Q
What are criticusms of cohen
A
Willis - w.c do not have same shared values
ignores female delinquency
only discusses youth crime
11
Q
What is the theory of Cloward and Ohlin
A
Criminal - socialise young people in to crime
conflict - little social cohesion
retreatist - fail to access to other criminal subcultures
12
Q
What are the criticisms of Cloward and Ohlin
A
assumes official statistics are accurate
over exaggeration of criminal opportunities
13
Q
What is Millers theory
A
w.c have different sets of values than rest of society which includes hyper masculinity which leads to crime being normalised
14
Q
How is capitalism criminogenice
A
leads to wealth gap and frustration of exploitation leads to crime
Gordon (1976) - crime is a rational reaction to capitalist beliefs in greed and profit
15
Q
What is selective law enforcement
A
criminal justice system applies law differently between social groups
Reiman (2001) - ruling class more likely to commit crime and less liklewy to be prosecuted as they are not seen as a criminal act
16
Q
What is selective law making
A
the law themselves are constructed to benefit the rich
Chablis - protects property and profits
Snider - govs are reluctant to pass laws which regulate the activities of businesses
Box - rich often engage in activities which result in death but protected by the law
17
Q
what is the ideological functions of crime
A
give a reason for the social control by the ruling class in order to prevent revolution from occurring
Pearce - laws are occasionally passed which seems to benefit w.c but actually benefit ruling class through loopholes
18
Q
What is criticisms of marxist theory of crime
A
ignores other causes of crime -e.g gender and ethnicity
romanticises criminals - suggests w.c can’t help but commit crime
crime in communist states - if crime was a sympt of capitalism then communists states should be crime free but they’re not
ignores the victim of crime
law makers in modern democracies are elected
19
Q
What is Lemerts theory of labelling
A
Primary deviance - a person commits an act they know is deviant but no one else knows so no label is attached
secondary deviance - the deviant act is witnessed and label is attached
20
Q
What does Cicourel believe
A
labelling is what leads to selective law enforcement - typical on is common sense theories and stereotypes of a typical cininal
21
Q
What is the consequences of labelling
A
self fulfilling prophecy - once a person is labelled as deviant they act on this
deviancy amplification - attempt to control deviance leads to greater amounts
master status - individual is identified by a particular aspect of themselves which impacts how they are seen within society
22
Q
What are criticisms of labelling theory for crime
A
deviant becomes the victim and therefore not to be balmes for behaviour
determinisitic
doesnt explain why people commit the original deviance
doesn’t explain who creates the labels
23
Q
What are formal and informal agencies of control
A
formal - police, CJS and courts
informal - public/society
24
Q
What is the left realist point of view
A
developed during 1980s - follow Marxist view that society is unequal and this is what causes crime however they believe gradual changes is neccessary rather than revolution
25
What do Lea and Young say are the causes of crime
relative deprivation - as living standards have risen so has peoples feelings of being more deprived compared to others leading to resentment and people turning to crime to deal with this
marginalisation - isolated from society and lack goals leading to frustration which can lead to crime
subculture - collective response to problems of relative deprivation as they subscrive to the goals of of society which is materialism
26
How do left realists believe crime should be tackled
tackle social prblems leading to crime in particular inequality and deprivation
policies and strategies should focus on creating betters relationships with the public 'multi agency approach'
27
Evaluation of left realism
Milonavic - accepts gov definition of crime being street crime
Interactionists - doesn't explain motives
assumes a value consensus
relative deprivation cannot explain all types of crime
focuses on high crime inner city gives an unrepresentative view
28
What is the right realist view point
Neo-conservative governments of 1970s - see crime as a growing problem that destroys social cohesion - less concerned with causes of crime and rather solutions
29
What do right realists believe causes crime
biological - Wilson and Hernstein - some people are more predisposed to crime through personality traits such as agression which is worsened with poor socialistion
socialisation - Murray - increase due to growing underclass who are dependent on the welfare state and poorly socialise their children
rational choice theory - Clarke - assumes free will so criminals have made a choice to commit crime based on the calcualtions of the benefits
30
What solutions do right realists prefer
look at making crime less attractive by targeting
Wilson and Kellings - zero tolerance politicing and broken windows
31
What are criticisms of right realism
ignores wider structural causes
overstates rationality of criminals - overlooks impulsive crime
contradition between rational and biological causes
ignores white collar crim
32
What are offical statistics
those which are collected by government by the Office of National statistics
33
What are different sociological perspectives on crime statistucs
functionalism/right realism - accept them at face value as they seem reliable and valid sources
interactionism - see statistics as social constructs and only useful for identifying stereotyoes
marxism - shows a biased view as they are constructed by the ruling class
feminism - under represent extent of female crime and crimes against women
left realism - broadly correct but underrepresents coroporate crimes
34
What is Pollach's chivalry thesis
It is not that women commit less crime than men it is that they are less likely to be changed or convicted of the crime due to the CJS being made up mostly of men who are brought up to be chivalrous towards them
35
Evaluation of chivalry thesis
more women in CJS now which disregards this
Women may got treated more leniently as their crimes tend to be less serious
women face double deviancy in the CJS especially when their crimes go against traditional gender norms
36
What are the typical crimes for women
less detecatble crimes - shopligiting and petty theft and prostitution
37
Who created sex role theory
Parsons - female commit less crimes than men due to socialisation and access to role models - boy has less access to adult tole models so they are more likely to turn to ganags
C - Walkate - makes a biological assumption that women are more nurturing to childbearing
38
What is Heidensohn's control theory
Women commit less crime than men due to the amount of patriarchal control they are subjected to - this happens in the homes, public and work - if they push back they are met with DV
C - patriarcahl control can push people to crime - liberation thesis
equal oppurtunities now
39
What is Carlsons class and gender deal
Class deal - material rewards for being in paid work which enables women to purcahse goods
Gender deal - conforming to stereotypes
Not all women are able to access these rewards so they turn to crime
C - sample in original study making it hard to generalise to all women
suggests that women are influenced by external forces so underplays free will
40
What is bedroom culture
women are socialised into domesticity and there is a risk of more social exclusion than men if they commit crime
41
What is liberation thesis
Adler - as patriarchy dissolves there will be an increase in female crime as well as an increase in seriousness of crime due to greater self confidence
C - crime rates in women were growing in 1950s ling befire the liberation movement
A majority of female crimes are w.c
Chivalry thesis women branching into male crime through female crimes
42
Whatg was Messerschidmts theory
men commit crime in order to show masculinity - clarifies hegemonic and subordinate masculinity
self fufilling propepchy due to being labelled as violent and also may turn to crime to be the provider
C - could be considered a description rather than an explanation - not all men commit to masculintiy
rise of symmetircal family reduces pressure
43
What did Morris say abour democraphic explanatin of ethnicity
BAME groups contain a disproporionate number of young people compared to the white ethnic majority
C - statistical illusion - it is impossible to determine if it is the age of the offenders that causes the higher rates of their ethnicity
44
What does police targeting on ethnicity mean
Phillips and Browning - EM are over policed and under protected
Gilroy - stereotyping - police focus on EM and therefore are more likely to be stopped and searched
C - targeting could be caused by moral panic and therefore based of actual criminality
45
What is locality theory
Waddington et al - certain areas are more densly populated with ethnic minorities which explain high stop and search statistics and minorities tend to live in ares of transition
C - maybe case of first gen immigrfant sbut many ethnic minorities have moved out of zone of transition
46
How does institutional racimism causes crime
Holdaway - police are not racist but when together they reinforce sterotypes - canteen culture
McPherson report - after murder of Stephen Lawrence which highlighted police were racist
C - police force has been reformed to deal with institutional racism and recruiting diversly
47
Why do Lea and Young believe EM commit crime
they suffer from mariginalisation and relative deprivation leading to them forming sub cultures which help allieviate feelinsg of margianlisation
C - not all EM minority join a sub culture and not all sub cultures are criminals
48
Why does Gilroy believe EM commit crime
they feel alienated by everyday experiences of racism and what they percieve as a racist police force and as such crime become a form of protests
C - doesnt account for the fact most crime is commit within ethnic groups therefore the majority of victims are of the same race
49
What is Sewell's triple quandary
black boys lack of father figures lead to them turing to crime
negatuve experience wuth white culture - stautus frustration
media presentation of hip hop culture
C - the rise of positive role models e.g Obama
no casuality established for single parents and crim
50
What is white collar crime
when a person uses their job or company to commit crime for personal gain
51
What are explanations for trends in social class crime
selective law enforcement - m.c get a slap on the wrist where are w.c are more likely to be arrested for the same crime - many corporate crime are not investiagted
selective law creation - those who create the law are m.c so hey can manipulate the law to benefit their own needs
labelling - w.c are labelled as being more criminogenic and therefore CJS seem them as making concious choice
52
What is Reiner theory on strain theory
also explains m.c crime and white collar crime by suggesting there is no limit to success so even those who are successful feel strain
53
How does control theory explaun white collar crime
Murray - the underclass is responsible for the majority of street crime
Hirshci - underclass are more likely to lack impulse control and bonds to the community preventing them from crime
54
Evaluation of social class and crime
doesn't explain why only some people commit crime
difficult to gain accurate statistics on corporate and white collar crime
55
What are the eight news values
immediacy of the story
dramatisation
personalisation
higher status
simplification
novelty/ unexpectedness
risk
violence
56
What is the law of opposities
Surrette - media shows the direct oppositie of offical statistics e.g media focus on muscles and violent crime when most crimes in the UK are properly based, also shoes victims to be female but its usually men between 19-24
57
What are different sociological perspective on media influence
Functionalism - reporting crimes keeps solidarity as it reflects things people are concerned about and most want to see reported
marxism - reflects ruling class ideology aand their crimes are underrepresented - reporting is a form of mainting control
feminism - reinforces women as victims and under reporting violence against women
interpretivists - media is a social construction and is based on labels
postmoderism - Baudrillard - media creates reality as people have no undertsading of crime but only the representation of crime
58
What is hypodermic syringe model
the media audiences are passive recepitents of the messages from the media and that these messages without critical thoughts
59
How can media cause crime
imitation - people try to act out what they see online
school of crime - watching tv shows and news
arousal - increase in adrenaline
desensitisation - lowering shock
deprivation - left relaism and strain theory
Glamourisation
60
What is moral panic
an instance of public anxiety or alarm in response to a prblem regarded as threatening the moral standards of society
61
examples of moral panic
black muggings - 1970s
HIV 1930s
satanic child abuse 1980s
Guns 2000s
Islamic terrorism 2000s
Knife crime - current
62
Criticisms of moral panic (McRobbie and Thornton)
The frequency of moral panics has increased they are no longer noteworthy
moral panics used to be for scapegoating but now there is loads of many viewpoints
as the concept of moral panic is well known some groups try to create one for their own benefit
it is difficult o start one know as there is no consensus on what is 'bad'
63
New types of crime after globalisation
Drug trade - worth over $300 nbn oer years
Human trafficking - 1/2mil people are trafficked in the western world annually
Finanical crimes - money laundering with international banking
Cybe crime
Transantional organised crime - Glenny 'McMafia'
Terrorism
64
What does Bauman say is the impact of globalisation on crime?
growing individuals and consumer culture means individuals are left to weigh the costs of decisions and choose the best course that brings them the hughest rewards
65
How has disorganised capitalims impacted crime
Lash and Urry - increased deregulation and fewer state rules over business - corporations act transanationally in order to increase profit and lower refulation
Taylor - greater job insecurity and less social cohesion increases crime rates
66
What does Beck say about 'risk society'
Growing instability in the globallised world has led to people being more risk concious - cause of the risk are often global makikng it harder to pinpoint who is responsible
67
Evaluations of globalisation and crime
difficult to investigate due to secretive and global nature
dependency on secondary sources and reliable statistics are not avaiable
primary reasearch can be dangerous
exaggeration of impact
68
What is the difference between anthropentric and ecocentirc
anthropocentric - harm to the environment from the perspective of humanity
ecocentric - harm to any aspect of the environment as harm to all of it
69
What are different definitions of green crime
Situ and Emmons (2000) - green crime is a aunthorised act that violates a law of a state (so not global warming)
White - green crime is an action that harms the physucak envrionemtn even if it is not against a law - transgressive criminology
Beck - todays society can provide resources in the developing world but yet technology creates new manufactureted risks hat can harm the environment
70
What is South's two types of green crime
Type 1 - crime that are a result of desturction and degradation of the earths resources e.g air pollution, deforestation etc.
Type 2 - crimes that result out of the flouting of rules aimed at preventing environmental disatser
71
Who does Wolf say are the victims of green crime
those in the developing world, poor and ethnic minorities are more likely yo be victims due to unability to move from areas where dumping takes place
72
Who are the four perpetrators of green crime according to Wolf
individuals - cumaltive affect - adds up eventually
businesses - responsible for water air and land pollution due to waste dumping
governments - Santana - military are the biggest insitituitional. power through unexploded boms and lasting effects of toxic chemicals
organised crime - waste disposal
73
What is the evaluation of green crime
difficult to study green crime as there is not an agreed defintion
difficult ot assess impact of green crime as it can leave a long impact
much research is based on case studies
green crime can be accompanied by greater value judgements
74
Different definitions of state crime
Chambliss - acts deined by law as criminal and committed by the state officals
Michalowski - state crime involves illegal acts but also legally permissable acts that causes harm - zemiology
Rothe and Mullins - an action by or on behalf of a state that violates international law or states domestic law
Schendinger - state crime shoild be defiend as a violation of peoples human rights
75
What are the four types of state crime accoring to Mclaughlin
Political - censorhsip or corruption
Police or military - genoicde, torture, IWT - e.g Rwanda genocide, Guatanomo bat and Iraq war
economic - health and safety laws e.g Chernobyl and economic policies e.g austerity
social - instiutional racism and destruction of native lands e.g USA destruction native indian land
76
What is Cohens culture of denial
Stage 1 - It didnt hapen
Stage 2 - If it did happen it was something else
Stage 3 - even if it happened it was justified
77
What is the neutralisation theory
Skyes and Matza - justification through
denial of victim
denial of injury
denial of resposibility
condeming condemer
appeal to higher authority
78
How can the intergrated theory explain state crime
Green and Ward - suggests state crime arises from similar circumstances to other crime
79
How can moderntiy explain state crime
Rowman - certain feauture of modern society allow for state crime to be made easier
division of labour - no one is fully responsible
beaureaucraticisation - normalisation of the act by making it repetitive
dehumanisation of victim
sceince and technology
80
What is Kelman and Hamiltons explanation for state crime
crime of obidence rather than deivance
authorisation - acts approved by those in power
routinisation - turn the act into routine
dehumanisation - protary victims as sub human
81
What does Newburn say is the 5 purposes of punishment
Rehabilitation, restorative justice - making it up to the criminals, protects society, boundary maintenance, retribution - criminals deserve punishment
82
What are the sociological perspectives on punishment
Functionalism - society exists on shared norms and values and laws represent this collective consciousness
Marxism - laws reflect ruling class ideology and punishment is part of the repressive state apparatus
Weberianism - only the state has the power to punish not the church or landowners as it was in the past
83
How does Foucault say punishment has changed?
Sovereign power - public forms of punishment to show the power of the monarch and deter others from crime
Disciplinary power - decline in sovereign power moved punishment to disciplinary and undergoes survaillence and monitroing
84
How does Garland say forms of punishment have changed?
Penal Welfarism - 1950s CJS tried to punish and rehabilitate offenders so they cpuld reintergate into society
Punitive state - 'culture of control' through acturalism, mass incancerations and tough on crime policy
85
What did Rusche and Kirchheimer sya about punishment
Marxist approach - punishment changes as economic needs change for examples there has been a move from physical punishment to cheap prison labour in order to benefit the economic needs of the dominate class
86
Arguments prison is or isn't effective?
Yes - keeps society safe, resocialisation into soicietal norms, education to prevent recidivism and bad expereinces in prison will stop reoffending
No - school of crime, leads to labelling which can cause reoffending, high recidivism rates
87
What is situational crime prevention
pre emptive approach making it harder to commit crime in the first place by designing out crime
traget hardening through locks on windows, alarm systems, CCTV and more police
Felson - NYC Port Authroty Bus Terminal, Pease - Bars, Bolts and Barriers
88
Evaluation of situational crime prevention
displacement theory - it just moves crime elsewhere
doesn't deal with white collar crime
unfairly targets the w.c who can't afford target gardening systems
89
Environmental crime prevention
by improving the local area and dealing with low level criminal activites such as vandalism
zero tolerance policing - dealing with petty crimes which precent the movement into serious ones
Wilson and Kelling - broken widonws policy
90
Evaulation of environmental crime prevention
deals with the symptoms not the cause
targets w.c people and street crime rather than white collar crime
displacement theory
91
What is left realist strategies to control crime
dealing with social inequaltities that lead to crime to reduce crime rate
Youth groups, community centres, parenting groups, increasing community police to repare relationships with police
Prey pre-school program
92
Evaluation of social and community crime prevention
assumes a value consensus within a community and ignores issues with relative deprivation which can limit the effectiveness of policies
doesn't deal with white collar crime
93
What are sociological views on the CJS
functionalism - vital insitution within society that works with other insitutions to ensure social solidarity and cohesion is mainted by law and order
Marxism - part of the repressive state apparatus and used by the ruling class to maintain their power through opptrssion whilst appearing legitimate
Feminism - tool of the patriarchy to maintain power as most of its members are male and women expereince double victimisation
94
What does Lyon say about surveillance socities
modern society and technology has reacjed the point where our lives are quite transparent and there is a lack of privacy - our every move is monitired but this has become routine so we ignore it
95
What does Foucault say about discipinary societies
societies which do not use physcial punishment but control the minds through surveillance - this has led to carceal culture where dsiciplinary power has moved to other areas of society
96
What was the Killburn experiment
Newburn and Heyman - CCTV is as much protection as it is an erosion of civil liberties - CCTV could be used by defense lawyers as much as prosectors
97
What is a post panoptical society
Bauman and Lyon - it is the knowledge that we are actually being monrited wjich controls over behaviour and are monitored by where we go or what we buy
98
Is surveillance good or bad form of social control
Good - helps reduce fear of crime, helps to fight terrorism, provides evidence
Bad - opposite form of social control, limited evodemce that it changes behaviour, erosion of civil liberties
99
What is a victim
those who have suffered harm including mental, physical or emotional through acts of omission that violates the law
traditional viewd as someone weak, female, elderly and innocent
100
What are the patterns of victimisation
Class - w.c people are more likely to be a victim of crime although m.c are more in fear of victimisation
Age - infants more likely to be murdered, teens more likely to be victims of theft or violent crimes, elderly more likely to be victims of abuse
Gender - emn are more likely to be vicitims of violent crime -70% of homicides while women more likley to expereince DV
Ethnictiy - ethnic minroties are more at risk of crime
101
What is the impact of victimisation
Hoyle - 12 reactions of victimisation which has negative effects on their lives such as sleeplessness, PTSD, shock and anxiety
Walklate - double victimisation occurs as the defence team will be kooking at ways of discreting or blaming the victim
Fear of future crime
