Crime And Deviance - The Social Construction Of Crime & Deviance & The Non-Sociological Theories Of Crime

Question 1

What is a crime?

Answer 1

Any act or failure that breaks the law of the land

Question 2

What is the category of the crime associated with?

Answer 2

Behaviours that are formally written laws of a given society

Question 3

Is a punishment for a crime more severe than deviance?

Answer 3

Yes but different crimes have different laws which are treated in varying ways

Question 4

Why are different crimes treated in different ways?

Answer 4

Some crimes are more serious than others

Question 5

What are two different crimes that are treated in different ways?

Answer 5

Murder & theft

Question 6

What is deviance?

Answer 6

Downes & Rock -> deviance may be considered as banned or controlled behaviour which is likely to attract punishment or disapproval
Wickmann -> deviance is behaviour that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society
Actions that offend conventional norms

Question 7

Is deviance more general than crime, and how is that used by sociologists?

Answer 7

Yes so sociologists use it to refer to behaviour that is different but not often controlled legally

Question 8

How is deviance & crime related?

Answer 8

All crime is deviant but not all deviant behaviour is a crime e.g. murder is deviant but adultery isnt a crime, despite being a deviant action

Question 9

How is deviance a social construct?

Answer 9

Social norms are products of social construction so they vary across time & space, so they vary historically & in different societies, so deviance isnt universal or fixed

Question 10

What are the 3 explanations for crime in sociology?

Answer 10

Sociological
Psychological
Physiological

Question 11

What is the sociological explanation for crime?

Answer 11

Crime & deviance is located as a response to the society in which the person occurs

Question 12

What is the psychological explanation for crime?

Answer 12

Crime & deviance is located in the psyche/the mind of the individual; the product of inborn abnormality or faulty cognition processes

Question 13

What is the physiological explanation for crime?

Answer 13

Crime & deviance is located within the biological makeup of the individual

Question 14

Who came up with the biological theory of the idea of the atavistic criminal?

Answer 14

Lombroso

Question 15

SOCIOLOGIST: What did Lombroso say about the atavistic criminal?

Answer 15

He suggested that in the process of human evolution some individuals can represent a genetic throwback
He argued criminals are born that way through physical characteristics and they suggest that the individual is different from ‘normal’ people which predisposes them to crime

Question 16

EVALUATION: What is a criticism of Lombroso’s theory?

Answer 16

It is unfair to say physical characteristics predisposes someone to be a criminal

Question 17

SOCIOLOGIST: What did Eysenck say about social psychology & crime?

Answer 17

He conducted tests on prisoners & they suggested that criminal are diffferent in the genetic & mental structure
He classified 2 personality types and argued all human personality types exist a the extremes of the continuum

Question 18

SOCIOLOGIST: What 2 personality types did Eysenck classify?

Answer 18

Introvert & extrovert

Question 19

SOCIOLOGIST: What did Eysenck say about extroverts?

Answer 19

Because of their genetic makeup they are more likley to be criminals & they commit crime because they are somehow damaged under “under socialised, quick tempered, unreliable, over excited etc.” views about them