Crime and deviance

Question 1

newburn (functionalist)

Answer 1

No act itself is criminal. It is a label attached to certain forms of behaviour prohibited by the state.

Question 2

durkheim (functionalist)

Answer 2

Traditional societies as underpinned by mechanical solidarity. He believes that crime exists in all societies and that it is inevitable and necessary to maintain social solidarity

Question 3

davis (functionalist)

Answer 3

Crime is positive because it can act as a safety valve to prevent more severe crimes from happening e.g. prostitution

Question 4

merton (neo-functionalist)

Answer 4

The strain theory led to the poor experiencing a state of anomie - a form of moral frustration and disenchantment. Identified 5 types of behaviour; conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion.

Question 5

gordon (marxist)

Answer 5

The organisation of capitalism is criminogenic. Capitalism causes crime in all social classes. Rich want to be richer, poor get poorer. Ruling class dehumanise criminals for their actions and use the legal system to neutralise opposition to their ideology

Question 6

althusser (marxist)

Answer 6

Calls the law an ideological state apparatus because it functions to hide the true extent of class inequality.

Question 7

pearce (marxist)

Answer 7

Even laws that look like they help the working class, actually just benefit the working class. E.g. health legislation just provides healthy workers for the upper classes

Question 8

chambliss (marxist)

Answer 8

The law mainly protects capitalist interests, particularly wealth, property and profit. Argued that most laws are property laws and are primarily focused on protecting the middle classes. More likely to be arrested for benefit cheating than import tax evasion

Question 9

taylor (neo-marxist)

Answer 9

Capitalist society is based on exploitation and class conflict and is characterised by extreme inequalities of wealth and power. They argue that the state makes and enforces laws in the interests of the capitalist class and criminalises members of the working class. Multiple factors relating to labelling by the capitalist class.

Question 10

hall (neo-marxist)

Answer 10

Moral panics about crime were used to reassert the dominance of ruling-class hegemony during the 1970s, when capitalism was undergoing a crisis. Moral panic around black muggers as a minor issue that was used to distract from the main class based issues that were in society at the time.

Question 11

gilroy (neo-marxist)

Answer 11

Argues that crimes committed by black individuals is caused by a mix of capitalist class exploitation and racism. They argue that this is a rational response to the exploitation they experience.

Question 12

s cohen (interactionist)

Answer 12

Talks about how these negatively labelled crimes are amplified in the media through deviance amplification spiral and can then lead to the creation of moral panics.

Question 13

cicourel (interactionist)

Answer 13

Talks about how police internalise this negative label of crimes and therefore are more likely to charge a working class delinquent as it fits in their typical view.

Question 14

shaw and mackay (environmentalists)

Answer 14

Burgess model - studied chicago in 1930s. They found that most crime happened in the inner city and fewer crimes happened the more you moved outwards.

Question 15

sutherland (environmentalist)

Answer 15

Differential association - when people commit crimes if they hang around with other people that commit crimes by association. E.g. the mafia - people are born into it and adopt criminal actions by association.

Question 16

baldwins and bottoms (environmentalists)

Answer 16

‘Tipping point’ - When the area has enough criminal individuals that it leads to the area becoming tipped

Criminals move into the area, non-criminals move out, more criminals move in

Question 17

merton (class and crime)

Question 18

A cohen (class and crime)

Answer 18

w/c boys that are unable to achieve status in education (status frustration). Look to obtain status by forming subcultural groups and construct an alternate status hierarchy. Involves subverting the norms and values of society to give status to criminal and deviant activities

Question 19

miller (class and crime)

Answer 19

Argues that w/c juvenile delinquency is not the result of strain. Instead w/c youth are merely acting out and exaggerating the mainstream values of w/c culture such as heightened masculinity.

Question 20

cloward and ohlin (class and crime)

Answer 20

If young working class people are denied legitimate opportunities such as jobs, they may turn to an illegitimate opportunity structure (IOS). Three types of subculture:

1 - Criminal - in some parts of the world, young people may be recruited into organised types of criminal subcultures or networks.
2 - Conflict - some inner-city areas may be dominated by territorial street gangs
3 - Retreatist - those who fail to gain access to either the criminal or conflict subcultures may form retreatist subcultures, in which the major activities are drug use.

Question 21

jock young (class and crime)

Answer 21

‘Bulimic society’ - now we are exposed to a large variety of consumer products which the working class cannot afford - so often turn to crime to get these material items

Question 22

murray (class and crime)

Answer 22

States that in lone parent families children lack a stable father figure in their lives and are often influenced by negative role models - older boys involved in gangs, drug-dealing and so on.

Question 23

ron clarke (class and crime)

Answer 23

Rational Choice;
- criminals have free will and choose to commit crime
- the choice to commit crime is based on a rational weighing up of the benefits of crime against the potential risks

Question 24

becker (class and crime)

Answer 24

Deviance is a social construction.

In his study about outsiders he found that there is no value consensus on normality or deviance and they mean different things to different groups.

Question 25

p cohen (class and crime)

Answer 25

Talks about the two different types of subculture in East London, the Mods and the Skinheads. The middle-class Mods were viewed as a positive subculture, whereas the working class Skinheads were viewed negatively due to using the subculture as a way of coping with their poor circumstances.

Question 26

lea and young (class and crime)

Answer 26

Lea and Young studied Rastafarianism and found that they turned to street crime due to their difficult economic situation.

Question 27

heidensohn (gender and crime)

Answer 27

Women are too controlled to commit crime Control theory - Controlled in home, work, and public sphere - Women less likely to commit white collar crimes as face discrimination in workplace Young females face greater social stigma and negative labelling if they are involved with deviant activities - acts as deterrent Women prosecuted more harshly (double deviance) Prosecuted for breaking the law and breaking the stereotype of femininity/ social norms and values

Question 28

adler (gender and crime)

Answer 28

Women now have more rights than ever, so they now are committing more crimes. E.g. since the equal pay act, female crime has increased.

Question 29

pollak (gender and crime)

Answer 29

Women do commit crime but are often treated more leniently by the courts and police. (Chivalry Thesis)

Question 30

messerschmitt (gender and crime)

Answer 30

Argues that boys in the UK are socialised into a powerful hegemonic masculine value system that stresses difference from femininity and the importance of being a ‘real man’. Boys feel as though they need to exercise power over women which may create the potential for criminal behaviour.

Question 31

parsons (gender and crime)

Answer 31

Sex-role theory - men are more likely to commit crime as they believe they should be the breadwinners providing for their family.

Question 32

lyng (gender and crime)

Answer 32

Argues that people commit crime for the thrill

Question 33

williams and clark (ethnicity and crime)

Answer 33

Institutional racism leads to BAME individuals to be seen as gang members

Question 34

patel and tryer (ethnicity and crime)

Answer 34

Islamic individuals are sometimes seen as terrorists.

Question 35

philips and webster (ethnicity and crime)

Answer 35

Travellers feel harshly treated by the police.

Question 36

macpherson report (ethnicity and crime)

Answer 36

Report into death of Stephen Lawrence Concluded that the Met Police were guilty of 'institutional racism' in its failure to tackle such discrimination

Question 37

hobbs and dunningham (globalisation and crime)

Answer 37

Found that global criminal networks often serve and feed off established criminals networks in Western countries. Argue that crime is increasingly ‘glocal’ in character - it is locally based but has global connections. For example, the illegal drugs trade.

Question 38

glenny (globalisation and crime)

Answer 38

McMafia - organised global crimes networks operate in the same way as legitimate global businesses. For example, the global drug economy has zones of production, distribution and consumption.

Question 39

taylor (globalisation and crime)

Answer 39

Globalisation - has allowed capitalist class to exploit criminal opportunities available due to globalisation. E.g. bhopal and hamilton.

Question 40

beck (globalisation and crime)

Answer 40

Argues that the risks associated with global crime are the result of new technologies developed by industrial capitalism. He argues that the development of cyber and digital technology such as the internet has produced a new set of risks. Points out that many of the threats to our ecosystem are manufactured risks and are the result of the massive demand for consumer goods and the technology that underpins it. Human demands for manufactured goods potentially has grave effects for both humanity and the environment. (e.g. impact on greenhouse gas emissions).

Question 41

schlesinger and tumbler (globalisation and crime)

Answer 41

Murder was more popular in the media in the 1960s, but since the abolition of the death penalty, crimes such as child abuse and drugs have become more popular.

Question 42

bandura (globalisation and crime)

Answer 42

How the media can cause people to be violent by copying what they see on television.

Question 43

s cohen (globalisation and crime)

Answer 43

Focuses on the media's representation of the Mods and Rockers in the 1960s. Argued that the media generated a moral panic about the behaviour of these groups in 1964 through exaggerated reports of minor vandalism and low-level violence. This led to widespread public fear and a police crackdown. The distorted reporting encouraged youths to identify with one of the two groups, which had not previously seen each other as rivals.

Question 44

hall (globalisation and crime)

Answer 44

Sees moral panics as deliberately engineered by the ruling class to divide and rule the working class and to distract people from a 'crisis of capitalism'.

Question 45

mcrobbie (globalisation and crime)

Answer 45

Argues that the concept of moral panic is outdated because of the existence of social media platforms such as facebook and twitter. Audiences are now exposed to more interpretations about potential social problems and so are less likely to respond with panic or anxiety. Moral panics are less likely to occur today because of the sheer diversity of media outlets.

Question 46

white (globalisation and crime)

Answer 46

He argues that green crime should be defined as any deliberate harm to the natural environment and the creatures that live within it, even if no law is broken. Two perspectives on crime: - Anthropocentric - humans have the right to dominate nature to their own ends. - Ecocentric - humans and their environment are interdependent.

Question 47

mclaughlin (globalisation and crime)

Answer 47

Four major types of state crimes: 1 - Crimes committed by state security and police forces (War crimes) 2 - Political crimes - censorship of the media 3 - Economic crimes - theft of public funds, corruption and bribery 4 - Social and cultural crimes - failing to protect human rights

Question 48

milgram (globalisation and crime)

Answer 48

In his study he found that 65% of the participants were willing to administer the highest amount of voltage - can be criticised as occurring in a lab environment. In Nazi Germany, the Germans cooperated with the Nazi's to harm/kill the Jews as they didn't have to take responsibility. Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Question 49

christie (social control and crime)

Answer 49

Victims are socially constructed. The media and official statistics have different statistics and imagery of what a victim is like. Links to positivist and critical victimologists.

Question 50

hans von hentig (social control and crime)

Answer 50

Claimed that most victims of violence belong to ‘vulnerable’ status groups such as females and the elderly. He also implied that their lack of status invited the crime against them.

Question 51

tombs and white (social control and crime)

Answer 51

The victims of corporate, white-collar, state or green crimes are unlikely to appear in positivist victim surveys because questions are not included which cover these types of offences. Safety crimes are often explained by blaming “accident prone” workers.

Question 52

durkheim (social control and crime)

Answer 52

Punishments create social solidarity by punishing the offender and bringing people together. Benefits society through deterrence.

Question 53

althusser (social control and crime)

Answer 53

Punishments are a form of repressive state apparatus and punishments are used to control the proletariat.

Question 54

foucault (social control and crime)

Answer 54

Surveillance is a form of ‘disciplinary power’ which is more effective than brute force as citizens are more likely to conform if they were being watched. (Panopticon society)

Question 55

s cohen (social control and crime)

Answer 55

Stages of denial - it didn’t happen, it’s not how it looks and it had to be this way. Four key changes have occurred: 1 - The locus of social control moved from informal social institutions to the state 2 - Deviants are classified and differentiated in various categories. 3 - Different types of custodial institution have emerged 4 - Policy now focused on changing the hearts and minds of offenders rather than inflicting pain and suffering.

Question 56

wilson and kelling (social control and crime)

Answer 56

‘Broken window theory’ - focus on the decline of community in inner-city areas. Believe that if a community allows its physical environment to decline, such as not fixing broken windows, it signals that low level deviance is tolerated.

Question 57

crime

Answer 57

any form of action that results in breaking a written or formal rule in society. e.g. bank robbery or murder

Question 58

deviance

Answer 58

behaviour that does not conform to the dominant norms of a specific society. e.g. not wearing a tie in school

Question 59

5 functions of crime

Answer 59

- remarking social boundaries - media coverage (warning) - social bonds (disapproval) - safety valve (reduces more serious crimes) - social change

Question 60

anomie

Answer 60

condition of instability from a breakdown of standards and values due to too much crime in an area

Question 61

conformists

Answer 61

they have a strong belief in their cultural goal and accept the structural means to achieve their goal

Question 62

innovators

Answer 62

have a strong belief in their cultural goal and reject legitimate means to achieve their goals

Question 63

ritualists

Answer 63

have a weak belief in their cultural goal and accept the structural means but lack ambition to achieve their goals

Question 64

retreatists

Answer 64

reject their cultural goal and reject the structural means to achieve their goal

Question 65

rebels

Answer 65

reject all cultural goals and aim to tear down and replace the existing social means to achieve their goals

Question 66

status frustration

Answer 66

working-class men feel frustrated by an inability to achieve the same status as members of the middle or upper class and so turn to crime to reach a sense of place and belonging in society.

Question 67

criminogenic capitalism

Answer 67

capitalism causes crime

Question 68

ideological state apparatus

Answer 68

institutions such as the media, the education system and religion. These work gradually to shape and maintain the way people think so that there is a reduced need for physical means of oppression.

Question 69

corporate crimes

Answer 69

- Crimes against employees - Crimes against customers - Environmental offences - Financial fraud

Question 70

primary deviance

Answer 70

a violation of norms or expectations that does not result in a deviant being labeled with deviant behaviour

Question 71

secondary deviance

Answer 71

an individual violating social norms and expectations because they were labeled and stigmatized due to the behaviour

Question 72

self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer 72

shows how a belief or expectation of a person/group whether correct or not, affects the way a person/group will behave.

Question 73

BAME

Answer 73

black, asian and ethnic minority people

Question 74

moral panic

Answer 74

a widespread fear and often an irrational threat to society's values, interests, and safety. Typically, a moral panic is perpetuated by the news media, most times engaged by politicians, and can result in increased social control

Question 75

anthropocentric

Answer 75

humans have the right to dominate nature to their own ends.

Question 76

ecocentric

Answer 76

humans and their environment are interdependent.

Question 77

positivist victimology

Answer 77

there is a certain type of victim that can be identified prior to victimisation (hans von hentig)

Question 78

white collar crime according to chapman

Answer 78

'Crime committed in the course of legitimate employment by managers, executives, directors etc. that involves the abuse of power and trust to financially benefit themselves'

Question 79

crime survey on england and wales

Answer 79

An annual survey in which a random sample of 47,000 people are interviewed face to face about their experiences of crime in the previous calendar year.

Question 80

self-reports

Answer 80

A type of confidential and anonymous questionnaire which asks people whether they have committed particular crimes for which they have not been caught or punished.

Question 81

hales self report study

Answer 81

Found that males engaged in substantially more serious criminality than females.

Question 82

self report study on female crime

Answer 82

Found that the ratio of male crime to female crime is 1.33 to 1 rather than 9 to 1 as found in official statistics

Question 83

percent of serious crimes committed by men

Answer 83

80%

Question 83

typical characteristics of criminals

Answer 83

OS suggest that the 'typical' criminal is likely to be young, male, working class, and in some urban areas from BAME backgrounds.

Question 84

walkate - shoplifting and prostitution

Answer 84

Notes that shoplifting and prostitution are often motivated by economic necessity - to provide children with food, toys and clothes

Question 85

three risk factors for levels of crime against black boys

Answer 85

1 - Lack of father figure 2 - Negative experience of white culture 3 - Media See street culture as more important than education and jobs

Question 86

primary green crime

Answer 86

The direct result of the destruction and degradation of the planet's resources e.g. air pollution from carbon/ greenhouse emissions, deforestation

Question 87

secondary green crime

Answer 87

Involves breaking existing laws and regulations e.g. avoidable disasters, such as Bhopal (1984) and Chernobyl (1986)

Question 88

marxist cause/solution on crime

Answer 88

Cause: inequality, poverty, criminogenic culture Solution: politics need to make structural adjustments to the organisation of capitalist society: - e.g. reduce poverty, unemployment, homelessness

Question 89

left-realist cause/solution on crime

Answer 89

Cause: relative deprivation and marginalisation Solution: - remove institutional racism of CJS - govt investment in inner-city schools - legislation to raise minimum wage - businesses invest in poor areas and create more jobs

Question 90

interactionists cause/solution on crime

Answer 90

Cause: Labelling Solution: - CJS treat all equally - root out discrimination - Monitor sentencing - Introduce restorative justice

Question 91

restorative justice

Answer 91

A system of criminal justice that focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community at large.

Question 92

right-realist cause/solution on crime

Answer 92

Cause: an immoral and idle underclass which is unwilling to work and is too dependent on an over-generous welfare state Solution: members of the underclass need to be weaned off benefits. Murray advocates reducing benefits and introducing penalties which force people to look for jobs

Question 93

critical victimology

Answer 93

structural factors in a society can force people into being a victim, such as being powerless (women/poor)