Crime and deviance definitions and methods

Question 1

What is crime?

Answer 1

A behavior or activity that is a legal wrong that is subject to change depending on the context and laws that can eventually lead to punishment

Question 2

What is deviance?

Answer 2

Behaviour which is disapproved of by most people in a society or group that helps to form crimal law, which does not conform to norms and values but not necessarily be criminal

Question 3

How can crime and deviance be relative?

Answer 3

• laws
• circumstance/social context
• time
• place
• the observer

Question 4

What is social order?

Answer 4

The general conformity to the shared norms and values so that society is peaceful and predictable characterises modern societies. Sociologists don’t always agree about how and why it is achieved and whose interests it works in. However, it allows a sense of belonging to be formed in society through maintenance by the agencies of social control

Question 5

What is social control?

Answer 5

When the agents of socialisation are used as mechanisms of social control as they control our behaviour through positive and negative sanctions.

Question 6

What is formal social control?

Answer 6

Controlling citizens by authorised agencies or groups that give out written, formal sanctions to deter certain behaviours. Groups involved in formal social control include the police, courts, and the government. This social control occurs through laws passed and enforced to citizens. This is also true for education, that provides sanctions like detentions for behaviour that goes against the written school rules.

Question 7

What is informal social control?

Answer 7

Controlling citizens in a more subtle way, by controlling their norms and values as opposed to their behaviours. Agencies of socialisation appear in the informal social control, such as: peer groups, family etc. Informal social control can be seen through means such as social exclusion, disappointed reactions, etc.

Question 8

What is police recorded crime?

Answer 8

• a traditional source of crime data as it is official
• evidence from vicitms, witnesses and police officers observing
• shows the type of crime committed, the date, time and location, information about suspect, details about the victim(s) and any propert involved
• only entered by police officers

Question 9

How do functionalists perceive police recorded crime?

Answer 9

• allows the identification of disruptive areas
• allows the comparision and tracking of crime trends
• addreses societal issues that may contribute to crime reducing social strain
• improves the allocation of resources

Question 10

What do Marxists and Interactionists both question?

Answer 10

How the police decide what crimes to record and how seriously they investigate them due to factors like social status

Question 11

What does Gill (1977) argue?

Answer 11

Working class victims received poorer treatment from the police compared to wealthier victims

Question 12

How does the Stephen Lawrence case and Marxism link?

Answer 12

• Stephen Lawrence was murderd in 1993 in a racially motivated attack in London. The metropolitan police were later criticised as they failed to capture the offenders and give punishments as institiutional rascism led to bias in police recording methods. Public outcry led to reforming towards more equitable treatment in investigation
• aligns with marxism as it implies the importance of power dynamics

Question 13

What documentary shows institutional racism?

Answer 13

The secret police officers

Question 14

What do marxists believe about police recorded crime?

Answer 14

• reflect the interest of the ruiling class as crimes threaten their domiance
• more likely to record and investigate crime in working class neighbourhoods upholding the stereotypical ctiminal diverting attention from white collar crime
• misses the root cause of crime in capitalism
• the police enforce social control for the rich
• laws themselves might be seen as tools to criminalise behaviours that threaten the ruiling class
  -capitalism in crimogenic

Question 15

What do left realists believe about police recorded crime?

Answer 15

• it under - reports crime due to a fear of retaliation, mistrust of the police and believing the crime is minor
• doesn’t address the root cause of crime
• identifying areas with high crime rates can effectively allocate resources, increased police presence or community - based programmes
• understanding the impect of the crime on the victim can create tailored victim support services and crime prevention strategies

Question 16

What do right realists believe about police recorded crime?

Answer 16

• paints an accurate picture of serious crime trends
• allows the indentification of repeat offenders and high crime areas to focus law enforcement strategies
• they acknowledge under - reporting and want to challenge it through public awareness campaigns ad improved victim support services
• there could be misinterpretations

Question 17

What do feminists believe about police recorded crime?

Answer 17

• it neglects crimes such as domestic violence, that dsproportionately affect women as it is under-represented due to fear of retaliation, shame and lack of trust
• ignores the emotional and psychological consequences
• the police are more likely to dismiss domestic violence or sexual harassment crimes leading to under-representation
• it leads to victim blaming creating a hostile environment for women seeking help

Question 18

What are victim surveys?

Answer 18

• a complementary source of data to show crimes not reported to the police
• every year, 50,000 people are anonymously surveyed about their experiences of crime such as minor crimes, reluctance of victims to involve the police and crime that are difficult for the police to track like stalking
• can provide a more complete picture of crime levels
• completed by the CSEW focusing on victims’ experiences

Question 19

What are the benefits of CSEW?

Answer 19

• a more accurate picture of crime trends
• helps policymakers understand the true scope of crime and develop effective prevention strategies
• can be easily tailored to a local community
• they cover newly emerging crimes
• they can help to identify social groups most at risk of being victims of crimes
• it measures people’s attitudes towards the police force and their methods

Question 20

What are the limitations of CSEW?

Answer 20

• victims may have issues recalling details about the crime leading to incosistencies in the data
• victims may be reluctant to acdmit a crime due to embarassment and shame leading to underestimates of certain crimes like stalking in data
• non - response bias
• it may not be accessible for those in marginalised communities
• there may be ambiguities due to difficulties interpreting responses

Question 21

What does Ellington argue about CSEW surveys?

Answer 21

They don’t represent the whole population as owner - occupiers and 16 to 24-year-olds are generally over-represented whilst the unemployment, homeless and those in inner city areas are under-represented

Question 22

What do Lea and Young argue about CSEW surveys?

Answer 22

They say very little about the day-to-day experience of living in high crime areas such as inner cities or problem council estates

Question 23

What do Marxists Watts, Bessant, and Hil argue about victim surveys?

Answer 23

Victims identified in crime surveys are the victims, “that the state officially chooses to see or recognise,”

Question 24

What are self - report studies?

Answer 24

• resarch studies where participants are asked to report on their own behaviours, attitudes or expriences
• use survey or questionaires to gather data anonymously

Question 25

What are the benefits of self - report studies?

Answer 25

• access to hidden behaviours like drug use
• large sample sizes
• in - depth data can be collected
• they challenge the validity of the stereotypical criminal presented in official crime statistics

Question 26

What are the limitations of self - report studies?

Answer 26

• recalling past behaviours accurately can be difficult leading to distorted data
• question phrasing can influence responses, leadintg to bias
• people might under report negative behaviours or over report positive ones to appear socially desirable especially within males to create an impression of being tough
• some crimes may be under represented
• limited representation of crime as they focus on petty offences
• aimed at young people which further limits the range