Crime And Deviance Flashcards
Deviance is non-conformist behaviours
Continuous variable fluid.
Not a fixed concept
Based on time place and person
Becker: relative concept. Meaning influenced by situation. Subjective. Based on interpretation
Categories of deviance
Act can be deviant but not criminal
Act can be criminal but not deviant
Act can be both criminal and deviant
Crime (formal deviance)
Formal deviance describes an act committed by a person or group of persons that goes against the established laws of society. A formal deviant is therefore a criminal. Their actions are illegal and they are subject to punishment by formal agencies of social control
Informal social control
This form of control is therefore based on the approval or disapproval of those around us whose review of us we regard as important
Formal social control
Organisations or systems that exercise rigid rules we are compelled to obey.
Conflict policing
Scraton 1985 police seen as occupying force imposed on WC and ethnic minorities.
1984 Miners strike South Wales Valleys an us vs them mentality
Young 1984 military style policing large number of police patrol designated areas use technology for intelligence gathering
Consensus policing
Close relationship with local area. Police representing the interests of community as seen in TVs heartbeat
Approach felt among majority of law abiding people
Four types of sanctions exercised which ensure we conform to the expectations of society
Formal positive sanctions
Formal negative sanctions
Informal positive sanctions
Informal negative sanctions
Formal positive sanctions
Reward for good behaviour achieving something desirable
Formal negative sanctions
Punishment for bad behaviour
Informal positive sanctions
Pat on the back
Informal negative sanctions
Friend telling you off
Three functionalist theories on crime and deviance
Traditional functionalist theory- Durkheim
Strain theory- Merton
Subculture theories- Cohen. Cloward and Ohlin. Miller
Functions of crime and deviance
Boundary maintenance
Adaptation and change
Reinforces the collective conscience
Promotes social cohesion
Promotes societal change and progress
Identifies dysfunctions in the social system
Davis 1961
Prostitution acts as a safety valve for the release of men’s sexual frustrations without threatening the monogamous nuclear family
Polsky 1967
Porn channels variety of sexual desires away from alternatives such as adultery
Erickson 1966
Deviance performs positive functions then perhaps society promotes it. Police act to sustain and manage crime at her than eradicate it. Demonstrations carnivals and rag weeks all license misbehaviour
Messner and Rosenfeld 2001
Support the view that obsession with money and success and a winner takes all mentality. Exerts pressure towards crime by encouraging an anomic cultural environment where people are encouraged to adopt an anything goes mentality in pursuit of wealth
Downed and Hansen 2006
Back up Messner and Rosenfeld claim and argue that societies that protect the poor from the worst excesses of the free market by spending more on welfare have less crime and lower rates of in-prisoning
