Crime and Deviance- Sociologists Flashcards

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1
Q

Durkheim- What crimes have in common

A

They’re all acts that are disapproved of by the society in which they take place.

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2
Q

Durkheim Key Functions of Crime

A

Functionalist

  • Reminds everyone of boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour
  • Creates social cohesion in the unified sense of shock a community feels.
  • Safety Valve- for example prostitution saving a marriage if one of the partners sleeps with someone else.
  • Adaption and change- creating change in a society- for example people questioned why homosexuality was wrong and it went on to become legal.
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3
Q

Criticisms of Durkheim

A
  • that many crimes damage communities and harm victims, as opposed to performing a positive role
  • that his functions are relevant to a smaller scale society as opposed to large scale, modern, industrial societies
  • Marxists would say it ignores the functions of crime concerning power, and how the law functions in the interest of the bourgeoisie.
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4
Q

Merton’s Strain Theory

A
A structural theory explaining the causes of crime and deviance in terms of anomie.
Culturally defined goals (of economic success)-> Limited opportunities to access the means (opportunities)-> strain and anomie (working class people who don't have the means (opportunities) to succeed through legitimate (socially acceptable) mean, so there is a mismatch between goals and means, leading to a condition of anomie, leading to the person turning to crime to achieve the goals.
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5
Q

Anomie

A

a situation of normlessness in which the norms that regulate people’s behaviour break down.

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6
Q

Responses to Strain (Merton)

A
  • Conformist
  • Innovator
  • Ritualist
  • Retreatist
  • Rebel
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7
Q

Marxism- Capitalist Values

A
  1. Materialism- having as much money and possessions as possible
  2. Consumerism- having the newest stuff
  3. Competition- that we’re in competition with eachother to have the best stuff
    -Media fuels this (adverts etc)
    People then think to be the best they have to have the best and newest stuff, so they break the law, eg steal stuff instead.
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