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GCSE AQA Sociology > Crime and Deviance > Flashcards

Crime and Deviance Flashcards

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1
Q

What is crime?

A

A crime is an illegal act that is punishable by law e.g robbery, murder, fraud.

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2
Q

What is deviance?

A

Deviance is a behaviour that does not conform to the norms or values of society. Not all deviant acts are illegal e.g not doing homework, talking in a cinema

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3
Q

What is socially defined behaviour?

A

Socially defined behaviour is something which is thought of as ‘normal’ but is actually the result of cultural expectations.

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4
Q

What are sanctions?

A

Penalties and rewards for conduct, concerning a social norm

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5
Q

What is the difference between conformity and obedience?

A

Conformity is when you go along with peers who have no special right to direct behaviour (i.e changing style to fit in) whilst obedience is when you comply with higher authorities (i.e following the law)

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6
Q

What is blue collar crime?

A

Crime committed by someone from the working or lower classes

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7
Q

What is white collar crime?

A

Crimes committed by individuals with a higher social status or upper level occupation

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8
Q

Nature vs nurture

A

Nature is the belief that there is an innate factor responsible for whether you deviate from laws or comply. Nurture is the belief there are outside factors which are responsible, such as how your parents raise you.

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9
Q

What is meant by ‘deviance amplification’?

A

When a deviant activity is ‘amplified’ - mainly by the media

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10
Q

What are ‘folk devils’?

A

A person or group of people who are portrayed in folklore or the media as outsiders and deviant. They are blamed for crimes or other kind of social problems and are labelled for most/all their lives. Stanley Cohen theorised this and argued this can kickstart moral panic

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11
Q

What is the dark figure of crime?

A

AKA the ‘iceberg’ of crime. Refers to the crime that happens in society that is either not reported, not found or ignored by the police.

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12
Q

What is social control?

A

Techniques and strategies for preventing deviant behaviour in any society

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13
Q

What is corporate crime?

A

Offences committed by large companies which directly profit the company rather than individuals

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14
Q

What is an anomie?

A

Lack of the usual social or ethical standards in an individual or group

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15
Q

What is the difference between reported and recorded crime?

A

Reported crime is crime detected by the police and WILL BE investigated, recorded crime is crime that has been detected by the police, investigated and recorded by institutions such as official statistics.

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16
Q

What is validity?

A

How close information and/or statistics are to the true value of

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17
Q

What are some punishments for crime?

A
  • Life sentences
  • Prison sentences
  • Fines
  • Community service
  • ASBO
  • Probation
  • Death Sentence
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18
Q

What are ‘internal social controls’?

A

These develop during socialisation and is your concept of right and wrong

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19
Q

What are ‘external social controls’?

A

Rewards and punishments designed to encourage desired behaviour.

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20
Q

Agents of social control

A

Family - teaches right and wrong via socialisation
Work - need to conform to earn a living
Schools - formally within the classroom and informally via hidden curriculum
Peer groups - forms attitudes to society and are influential in determining behaviour
Legal systems - most powerful institution when dealing with social control
Religion - teaches right and wrong

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21
Q

Relativity of deviance

A
  • Deviance only exists in relation to cultural norms and social definition
  • People become deviants because others define them that way
  • Deviance changed across situations, cultures, time, place and who performs the acts
22
Q

Reasons why young people are more likely to commit crime

A

Status frustration (Albert Cohen) - frustration at lack of independent status
Peer pressure - encouragement from peers
Lack of responsibilities - young people think they can commit crimes with no consequences
Police stereotyping - police are more likely to see young people as a problem

23
Q

Reasons why males are more likely to commit crimes

A

Chivalry thesis (Edmund Pollak) - women get more lenient sentences than men
Demands for housework and parenting means women have less opportunity
Police stereotyping - police believe men are more likely to commit a crime
Less detectable - women’s crimes are normally less detectable

24
Q

What is the ‘opposite’ of chivalry thesis?

A

Double deviance theory (Frances Heidensohn) - belief that women are treated MORE harshly than men because they are guilty of deviating from social norms and by breaking the law (doubly deviant)

25
Q

Reasons why working-class people are more likely to commit a crime

A

Stereotyping - WC fit police stereotypes more closely
Poverty - People resort to crime to provide for families/themselves

26
Q

Explanations for crime and deviance

A

Biological - 1876 study by Lambroso concluded that the shape of a person’s skull influences them
Psychological - pre-menstrual tension and hormones make women act irrationally. 80% of crimes by women happen around this time
Sociological - lack of socialisation means people may be unaware of social norms and values
Subcultures (A. Cohen) - individuals follow peer group’s norms and values
Relative deprivation - Lacking materials can lead to criminal activity. Marxists argue this is a result of capitalism
Labelling (Howard Becker) - labelling a person leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy
Media - Cohen argued that if media portrays a certain group as deviant, it causes a public outcry and amplification of deviance

27
Q

Explain strain theory (Robert Merton)

A

A primary cause of crime is the strain on individuals and groups in society which pushes them to a point they can’t live without crime. This is caused by three situations:

  1. Strain caused by groups of individuals preventing them from achieving their goals
  2. Can be caused when something of value is taken away from a group/individual
  3. Some groups present an individual or group with harmful stimuli
28
Q

Explain subcultural theory (Albert Cohen)

A

Juveniles learn to engage in crime through association or exposure to others

29
Q

Explain control theory (Emile Durkheim)

A

People do not engage in crime because of the controls/restraints put on them. These controls may be used as barriers to crime

30
Q

Explain labelling theory (Howard Becker)

A

A group or an individual get labelled in a certain way, this leads to them being viewed differently, more targeted or even being ostracised from society. This causes those groups/individuals to conform to the label they were given - known as the ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’

31
Q

What is ‘moral panic’?

A

A sudden increase in concern about threat to our way of life that appears to reach the level of panic. This can be caused by:
- More state action
- More laws
- More sensitivity
- More victims

32
Q

Circular nature of moral panics

A
  1. An activity gains media attention
  2. Agencies of control respond
  3. Deviance becomes amplified
  4. Exaggeration, symbolism, prediction
  5. Problem becomes redefined
33
Q

Reasons why crimes may not appear in official statistics

A
  • Crime is hard to detect
  • Victims may fear consequences
  • Victims may fear embarrassment
  • Reporting can make themselves in trouble too
  • Victims may fear police
  • Crime is too private
  • Crime is too petty or trivial
  • May think police aren’t interested
  • Another agency deals with situation
  • Crimes are dropped
  • Not enough evidence
  • No point in reporting if police can’t do anything
  • Victims may be unaware
34
Q

What are official statistics?

A

Provided by police and courts that are collated and published by the home office.
It shows two trends: the typical criminal and when the country is going through a ‘crime wave’

35
Q

Positives of official statistics

A
  • Rates and trends
  • Identify criminals and victims
36
Q

Negatives of official statistics

A
  • Police don’t always record crimes
  • Doesn’t show the dark figure of crime
37
Q

What are victims surveys?

A

Where people are asked to report all cases where they have been victims of crime

38
Q

Positives of victim surveys

A
  • Shows dark figure that isn’t in official statistics
  • Clearer idea of the extent of crime, who is likely to be a victim and peoples’ fears
39
Q

Negatives of victim surveys

A
  • People may forget they were victims
  • People may not realise they were victims
  • People may feel guilty or embarrassed
  • Victimless crimes aren’t shown
  • Inaccuracy from refusal to answer
40
Q

What are self-report surveys?

A

Anonymous questionnaires where people are asked to own up to committing a crime whether they have been discovered or not

41
Q

Positives of self-report surveys

A
  • Anonymity means more people own up
  • Discovers victimless crimes
  • Provides trends of typical offenders
42
Q

Negatives of self-report surveys

A
  • Lack of honesty sometimes
  • People may exaggerate, underestimate or forget
  • Doesn’t uncover more serious crimes
  • Not valid/representative
43
Q

Marxists views on crime

A
  • Believe that the capitalist economic system is criminogenic (root of criminal behaviour)
  • Believe that crime is cause because capitalism encourages competition, greed, and exploitation
  • Marxists argue that the law favours the rich
  • Believe that WC crime is a response to the struggles experienced by the proletariat
44
Q

Functionalists views on crime (pt 1)

A
  • Durkheim argues crime is inevitable and is normal even in advanced communities as not everyone is equally devoted to norms and values
  • Durkheim also argues that deviance beyond a certain amount risks harming society and causing an anomie
  • Durkheim argues a small amount of crime is beneficial (reasons on next flashcard)
45
Q

Why Durkheim believes small amounts of crime can be beneficial

A
  1. Social integration: People share a hatred when someone commits a crime, this brings people together
  2. Social regulation: By punishing someone for committing a crime, this tends to make people less likely to commit a crime
  3. Social change: Deviant behaviour causes people to reflect on what is or isn’t allowed in society, creating new norms or laws etc
46
Q

Functionalist views on crime (pt2)

A
  • Merton argues that the vision of success in American culture is through material success
  • Strain theory argues that anomie is caused by the pressure to accomplish these goals. Therefore people turn away from legitimate means of achieving material success
  • He argues there are 5 responses to strain (next flashcard)
47
Q

5 responses to strain theory

A
  1. Conformity
  2. Innovation
  3. Ritualism
  4. Retreatism
  5. Rebellion
48
Q

Functionalist views on crime (pt3)

A
  • Cohen built on Merton’s strain theory with his theory of status frustration
  • Cohen specifically looked at young, WC males who tend to experience status frustration
  • These men tend to be defined as ‘failures’ by the rest of society.
  • This led to the men forming deviant subcultures in response
49
Q

Functionalist views on crime (pt4)

A
  • Cloward and Ohlin believed Merton and Cohen failed to explain why there were so many different subcultures
  • They identified 3 different types of subcultures:
    1. Criminal subcultures
    2. Conflict subcultures
    3. Retreating subcultures
50
Q

Feminist views on crime

A
  • Dual burden means women have less opportunity to commit crime
  • Marginalisation thesis suggests that because men don’t have domestic roles, they have more opportunity
  • Heidensohn argues that women are controlled by fathers then by husbands and that because men don’t have this control they commit more crimes
  • Carlen argued that the class and gender deal keeps WC women under control
51
Q

Feminist views on crime (pt2)

A
  • Chivalry thesis means that the statistics of crime aren’t accurate as male officers tend to protect women as women are taken less seriously and seen as weaker, therefore they don’t get punished
  • Otto Pollack argued women get away with crimes as they lie better, thanks to them frequently hiding periods and faking orgasms (seen as sexist)

GCSE AQA Sociology (4 decks)

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