Crime And Deviance Flashcards
Lombroso (Positivism)
Features: sloping forehead, long arms, large ears, asymmetrical face, likes tattoos
Durkheim (Functionalism)
Positive functions of crime
-boundary maintenance (punishment reinforces norms and values) exa: Sarah everard case
-adaptation and change (deviant acts move society forwards) eg stonewall riots
Polsky/Davis (Functionalism)
Positive crime:
Safety valve-Prostitution allows men to express sexual frustration without threatening the nuclear family… + polsky pornography
Cohen (Functionalism)
Positive crime:
Crime is a warning sign that institutions aren’t functioning properly
Evaluation Functionalism
-enforcing boundaries is beneficial for society but not for victims
-crime can promote fear and isolation
-crime enables change?- outdated
-don’t specify on what is too much and too little crime
-prostitution and pornography?- feminism
-police create and maintain crime.. unprofessional
Robert Merton (Strain theory)
American dream but unequal structural and cultural factors:
Conformity ++
Innovation +-
Ritualism -+ accepted their dead end jobs
Retreatism - - homeless
Rebellion +-+- cults
Strain Theory evaluation
-ignores laws criminalising the poor not rich
-assumes a value consensus
-only explains money gain crimes and not others
-focused on individuals, ignores group crimes
-too deterministic
Cohen (Subcultural strain theory)
Status frustration - w/c boys who fail to succeed in middle class environments are more likely to join delinquent subcultures
Cloward and Ohlin (Subcultural strain theory)
Three subcultures:
Criminal sub- utilitarian crime in criminal areas
Conflict sub- young ppl gangs territory war
Retreatist sub- double failures..drug users
Walter B Miller (Subcultural strain theory)
Focal concerns - middle class has its own autonomous subculture and norms
Evaluation Subcultural strain theory
Cohen- explains why ppl commit utilitarian crimes but assumes a M/C value consensus
Cloward and Ohlin - ignore crime of the wealthy by focusing on w/c, ignores wider social structures (law enforcers), boundary between subcultures is too established
Howard Becker (Labelling theory)
Ppl are labelled as deviant based on Gender, class and ethnicity. Laws are made by moral entrepreneurs. It creates outsiders (suddenly deviant ppl) and increased labelling
Lemert (Labelling theory)
Primary deviance: no witness no labelling
Secondary deviance: labelling, deviant career
Cicourel (Labelling theory)
Class bias:
Feds patrol w/c areas more due to stereotypes (selective law enforcement). M/c are more likely to negotiate their way out of punishment. (negotiation of justice)
Eg. Lavinia Woodward case
Jock Young (Labelling theory)
Moral panics (about drug takers)
Folk devils (drug takers)
Deviance amplification spiral (the harder Feds crack down the more organised drug crime)
Stanley Cohen (Labelling theory)
Supported Jock’s Moral panic and folks devil theory with his study “mods and rockers” involving teenagers at seaside
Braithwaite (Labelling theory)
+Reintegrative shaming: labels the act but not the actor, avoids stigmatisation, person apologises
-Disintegrative shaming: crime and criminal labelled as bad, offended excluded from society