crime and deviance theories

Question 1

What is deviance ?

Answer 1

Deviance refers to non-conformist behaviour; but the behaviour does not have to constitute an illegal act (which is why this is seen as informal deviance).

Question 2

what are the three categories of deviance?

Answer 2

(a) An act can be deviant but not criminal:
Only breaking social but not legal rules

(b) An act can be criminal but not deviant:
Some crimes become so normalised and routine that they become acceptable.

(c) An act can be both criminal and deviant:
Some acts break both legal and social rules reflecting a widespread consensus.

Question 3

What is the difference between formal deviance and informal deviance?

Answer 3

Informal deviants are people whose behaviour might raise an eyebrow but would not encourage a person to call the police. Whereas formal deviance describes an act committed by a person or group of persons that contravenes (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.

Question 4

State the three different functionalist theories on crime and deviance

Answer 4

There are three different functionalist theories on crime and deviance:

Traditional functionalist theory: Durkheim
Strain theory: Merton
Subcultural theories: Cohen, Cloward & Ohlin and Miller

Whilst there are common assumptions central to functionalism throughout each theory, each one represents a development and modification of the other

Question 5

Summarise Durkheim’s functionalist theory

Answer 5

A major concern of Durkheim’s (1893) was to analyse social order and understand how stability was created, how the collective will of a society was maintained in the face of individualism.

Therefore it is to be expected that he would regard crime and deviance as a negative threat to society, disrupting social order and stability.

However, while Durkheim would see too much crime as destabilising, he regarded it as inevitable, universal and even beneficial feature of all societies.
According to Durkheim, crime and deviance are inevitable as all people cannot be equally committed to the value consensus; not everyone is equally effectively socialised and there is a diversity of lifestyles and values in modern societies.

Modern societies are more pluralistic and this can lead to anomie (normlessness): where the rules
governing behaviour become weaker
and less clear-cut.

Anomie weakens the collective conscience (shared culture) and results in deviance.

For Durkheim, crime is inevitable as it fulfils important positive functions:

Question 6

How do other sociologists support Durkheim’s idea that deviance has positive functions?

Answer 6

Others have developed Durkheim’s idea that deviance can have positive functions. For example:

Davis (1961) argues that prostitution can act as a safety valve for the release of men’s sexual frustrations without threatening the monogamous nuclear family.
Polsky (1967) argues that pornography safely ‘channels’ a variety of sexual desires away from alternatives such as adultery, which would pose a greater threat to the family.
Erikson (1966) argues that if deviance performs positive functions, then perhaps society promotes it, e.g. the police act to sustain and manage crime rather than eradicate it. For example, demonstrations, festivals, carnivals, sport and student rag weeks all license misbehaviour that in other contexts would be punished.

Question 7

For Durkheim what two positive functions does crime fulfil?

Answer 7

• BOUNDARY MAINTENANCE - reinforces the collective conscience and promotes social cohesion
• ADAPTATION AND CHANGE - promotes societal change and progress and identifies dysfunctions in the social system

Question 8

Explain how the function of boundary maintenance reinforces the collective conscience

Answer 8

Boundary Maintenance:

Reinforces the collective conscience - through the identification and punishment of deviants and criminals strengthens and reinforces the collective conscience and ensures that deviance does not become so high to be dysfunctional for society. This is functional because it ensures that boundaries of acceptable behaviour are clearly defined and known to all. If criminals are identified and punished others may be deterred from committing crime. Degradational ceremonies also act as a deterrent e.g through attendance in court, throwing objects, public hanging, wanted posters, tv programmes etc.

Question 9

Explain how the function of boundary maintenance promotes social cohesion

Answer 9

Boundary maintenance promotes social cohesion as a crime produces a reaction from society; the discussion and scandal generated by some highly publicised crimes serves to cement, unify and integrate the social group. A sense of social solidarity emerges amongst the community due to the group being united in their condemnation of the crime. This is functional because as through their condemnation of criminals, people are alerted to their common morality and are united in their mutual contempt and grief - Durkheim society can be united through the effects of crime

Question 10

Explain how the function of adaptation and change promotes societal change and progress

Answer 10

Adaptation and change promotes societal change and progress as Society consists of shared beliefs and norms reflecting the value consensus however, all societies experience deviation from these. For Durkheim all change starts with deviance. This is functional because without deviance there would be little change or progress within society as Deviance/criminals are often are expressing, morality and behaviour that will be accepted in the future e.g. homosexuality in the past was criminalised but now is widely accepted within society.

Question 11

Explain how the function of adaptation and change identifies dysfunctions in the social system

Answer 11

Adaptation and change identifies dysfunctions in the social system as Crime and deviance can serve as a signal or warning that there is some defect in the social organisation which may lead to changes that enhance efficiency and morale. This is functional because crime and deviance can expose problems, inadequacies and discontentment and can allow for these problems to address before they escalate further and threaten social mobility e,g mass shootings has led to gun restrictions/tight gun controls and riots occurring shows there is a clear problem within society.

Question 12

Evaluate Durkheim’s functionalist theory of crime

Answer 12

• It provides a useful contribution in that it highlights how deviance can have latent or hidden functions for society.
• COHEN (1968) states that Durkheim’s ideas on crime and deviance are teleological - where he assumes there is a purpose to the existence of all social phenomena e.g. because crime exists there must be a good reason for this.
• Explaining the functions of crime is not the same as explaining its origins or cause. According to DOWNES and ROCK (1988), to argue that crime and deviance has certain social functions and consequences, does not explain their presence in the first place. Here Durkheim is guilty of being tautological. Just because crime serves a particular function (e.g. social solidarity) does not explain why it exists in the first place.
• Crime does not always produce solidarity, it may have the opposite effect in that it may fragment and divide communities and isolate people.
• Critics suggest that Durkheim’s notion that punishments act as a functional deterrent breaks down, if there is no consensus that punishments (sentences) generally do not fit the crime.
• Although critics acknowledge that some good can come from the changes implemented in society as a result of certain crimes and deviance, they claim that he failed to focus on the dysfunctional consequences of crime for the victim/s. Durkheim fails to consider that crime is not functional for the victim/s. Furthermore, crime does not always promote solidarity. It may have the opposite effect leading to people becoming more isolated and communities becoming more fragmented.
• For Durkheim, society requires a certain amount of deviance to function successfully. However, he does not state how much is required.
• Critics point out that Durkheim does not explain why particular individuals or groups seem (at face value) more prone to crime and deviance than others. Nor does he explain why certain forms of deviance appear to be associated with particular groups in population.

Question 13

What is Functionalist strain theory? (MERTON)

Answer 13

In the 1930s MERTON provided a functionalist analysis of the origins and functions of crime and deviance and at the same time, explained why certain types of crime and deviance seem to be linked with certain groups in society. His theory has come to be known as Strain Theory or Anomic Paradigm and although he focused on American culture his work has been applied to other similar societies.

Question 14

Explain Merton’s strain theory

Answer 14

He based his analysis on the link between a society’s shared goals and its opportunity structure. From a standard functionalist perspective, he argued that everyone in society is committed to shared values and goals – in modern western society these include wealth and material possessions as indicators of success and achievement. Society also provides the accepted institutionalised means of achieving these goals – educational qualifications, hard work and motivation, ambition, career progression etc. The ideology of the ‘American Dream’ tells Americans that their society is a meritocratic one where anyone who makes the effort can get ahead – there are opportunities for all. Merton argued that in a balanced society these two aspects will be equally emphasised, people will be committed to the goals and have equal opportunity to achieve them legitimately.

However, he recognised that in a number of modern societies there is an imbalance – emphasis is still placed on the cultural goals but access to the legitimate institutionalised means of achieving them is limited. For example, poverty, inadequate education, a lack of employment opportunities, discrimination etc. may deny disadvantaged groups from legitimate success. Merton recognised, that since people are located at different positions in the social structure there is unequal access to the means of achievement – as a result of this strain in the structure of society people become dis-enchanted. Therefore, it is society’s unequal opportunity structure, according to Merton which leads to a situation of anomie and pressure to turn to deviance.

According to Merton, the pressure to deviate is more pronounced due to the fact that American culture puts more emphasis on achieving success at any price - winning the game becomes more important than playing by the rules. Merton examined the links between society’s goals and means and claimed that where there is equal emphasis, a balanced society – there will be conformity. Where there is an imbalance, a strain in the social structure, he claimed there are a number of individual deviant adaptations/response. He also emphasised that an individual’s position in the social structure affects the way they adapt or respond to the strain of anomie and whether the individual accepts, rejects or replaces approved cultural goals and the legitimate means of achieving them.

Question 15

Explain the types of adaption to the strain to anomie according to Merton

Answer 15

Conformity: Individuals accept the culturally approved goals and strive to achieve them legitimately. This is most likely among the middle class who have good opportunities to achieve, but Merton sees it as the typical response of most Americans.

Innovation: Individuals accept the goal of money success but use ‘new’ illegitimate means such as theft or fraud to achieve it. Those at the lower end of the class structure are under greatest pressure to innovate.

Ritualism: Individuals give up on trying to achieve the goals, but have internalised the legitimate means and so they follow the rules for their own sake. This is typical of the lower middle class.

Retreatism: Individuals reject both the goals and the legitimate means and become dropouts, e.g. drug addicts, alcoholics, homeless, outcasts etc
.
Rebellion: Individuals reject the existing society’s goals and means, but they replace them with new ones in a desire to bring about revolutionary change and create a new kind of society. Rebels include political radicals and counter-cultures such as hippies.

Question 16

Evaluate Merton’s strain theory

Answer 16

• recognise the clear link between socio-economic factors and the ability to achieve goals in society
• strain theory can be criticised for being classist as innovation may happen among the top of hierarchy
• not everyone who rejects the goals become the retreatist
• innovation - focuses on WC doing white-collar crime but white collar crime tends to be among upper-class - he does not account for this
• does not account for other reasons for crime beside social class
• achievement for some people may come from contentment or other sources of reason - not everyone feel success or satisfaction from money and may feel satisfaction through other methods.
• Merton’s theory is only plausible for utilitarian
  crime - people commit crime for a monetary reward but does not account for recreation crime or non utilitarian crime
• recognises the reality that poverty and inequality can lead to crime but it could be argued that it is a generalisation as not all those in poverty commit crime
• no one strain in the system causes crime as greed can also be a cause of crime which he fails to account for
• his theory largely assumes that crime is a working class problem/phenomenon

Question 17

Explain functionalist’s Cohen’s subcultural theory

Answer 17

In ‘Delinquent Boys: The Culture of the Gang (1955) COHEN was the first sociologist to use subcultural theory to explain deviance.

A subculture is: a subgroup that has different (sometimes oppositional) values from mainstream culture

His work represents a modification and development of Merton’s structural strain theory. He makes two major criticisms of Merton’s views on the nature of working class deviance:

1. He argues that deviance is a collective rather than an individual response 2. He believes that his theory is highly plausible for some crimes but it fails to account for some innovative non-utilitarian deviance (where there is no monetary reward e.g. vandalism)

COHEN argues that young working class males initially accept wider social and cultural goals (middle class values), but become increasingly aware of their inability to achieve these goals via the institutionally available legitimate means. This failure can be explained by their position in the social structure. COHEN supports the view that cultural deprivation accounts for the lack of educational success of members of the lower working class and as a consequence they are often labelled and found in lower streams, thus denying them status and success.

Cultural deprivation suggests: as a result of socialisation into working class culture they are inadequately equipped with the norms, values and behaviours that are essential for success within the education system.

Question 18

what is meant by a subculture

Answer 18

A subculture is: a subgroup that has different (sometimes oppositional) values from mainstream culture

Question 19

what does cultural deprivation suggest

Answer 19

Cultural deprivation suggests: as a result of socialisation into working class culture they are inadequately equipped with the norms, values and behaviours that are essential for success within the education system.

Question 20

According to Cohen’s how do the working class resolve their frustration?

Answer 20

They resolve their frustration, not by turning to utilitarian criminal paths to success as Merton suggested, but by rejecting the success goals of mainstream society. Although seemingly irrational and destructive in nature, COHEN argues that gang delinquency is indicative of a reversal of acceptable forms of behaviour – rudeness, violence, vandalism, malicious and negativistic behaviour etc. – all condemned in society are elevated to a central position in the subculture.

COHEN sees the subculture as a reaction-formation to status frustration and as a means of hitting back at a (middle class) society that has condemned them to failure. Deviance therefore can be explained as a consequence of pressure from the social structure (Merton) and then this is reinforced from the subculture (Cohen).

Question 21

What is meant by subculture

Answer 21

Subculture: creates an alternative set of norms and values in terms of which they can judge and evaluate their behaviour and achieve success and gain prestige

Question 22

what is delinquency

Answer 22

Delinquency: represents a reaction to failure in and against middle class goals/society

Question 23

what is status frustration

Answer 23

Status frustration: dissatisfaction with low status/position/their lot within society

Question 24

Explain Cloward and Ohlin’s subcultural theory

Answer 24

They argue that the illegal opportunity structure runs parallel to the legal structure of society. Cloward and Ohlin argued that just as opportunities to be successful by legitimate means vary, so does opportunity for success via illegitimate means - and this explains the different forms that deviance takes. They claim that the illegal opportunity structure has three levels each giving rise to its own subculture:

• Criminal subcultures: emerge in areas where there is an established pattern or adult crime providing role models and a learning environment for the young, who can learn the ‘tricks of the trade’ The successful have access to the illegitimate opportunity structure and the chance to rise in the criminal hierarchy. Criminal subcultures are mainly concerned with utilitarian crime
• Conflict subcultures: emerge in areas where the conditions outlined above are absent - access to illegitimate means are limited as there is little organised adult crime. In frustration, a subculture emerges around meaningless deviance e.g. gang violence which provides a mean of obtaining prestige in terms of the value of the subculture
• Retreatist subcultures: are inhabited by those unable to success legitimately or access criminal or conflict subcultures. They are characterised by drug or alcohol abuse, financed by petty theft and prostitution

Question 25

Explain Miller’s subcultural theory

Answer 25

MILLER’s (1962) subcultural theory develops out of his criticism that other subcultural theories assume that delinquent subcultures only emerge in reaction to the failure to achieve mainstream goals – he argues that not everyone accepts these goals in the first place.
Therefore, he rejects the reactive element of these theories. A subculture of crime and delinquency cannot be understood as a response to status frustration.
In contrast, MILLER argues that lower class has its own independent culture, with its own values – this subculture does not value success in the first place, so its members are not frustrated by (supposed) failure.

MILLER supports the notion of a subculture, but he argues that crime and deviance in the lower class is a result of conformity to their class values – their own focal concerns (such as wanting to look tough, macho and smart; seeking autonomy, excitement and thrills etc.) which may lead them to being more criminal.

Therefore, delinquency can be viewed as an expression of conforming behaviour; an attempt by some, to live up to lower class values and not a reaction to or turning away from the values of the wider community.

Therefore this subcultural theory differs from previous versions. He claims that is a subculture exists, it only does so in the wider sense of there being different class subcultures.

Question 26

Sociological evaluations of subcultural theory

Answer 26

MATZA - delinquency and Drift

Matza argues that subcultural (and structural strain theory) are too deterministic in how they see deviance as the result of forces beyond the control of individuals.
He rejects such explanations arguing that they ignore the choices that people have over their actions.

Matza begins with the concept of subterranean values (underlying values that emphasise self-expression, fun, spontaneity etc.) which coexist alongside formal values.

He sees the ‘deviant’ as someone who acts on these values, often in extremes, in the wrong place and at the wrong time.

He claims that most delinquents are not strongly committed to their subculture but merely drift in and out of delinquency as a result of triggers in their lives.

He sees the period of youth as a time of drift – a state of limbo where the boundaries constraining behaviour are loosened and certain triggers for deviance become pronounced.
Having drifted into delinquency, he argues that individuals are aware that their behaviour is inappropriate and justify their actions through techniques of neutralisation.
Far from being committed to delinquency, delinquents intermittently and transiently ‘dip into’ deviance as a result of an over-emphasis of subterranean values, but just as easily drift out of this phase.

Subcultural theories have been criticised for being gender-blind, however supporters argue they are a product of their time and culture.

With their preoccupation with lower class criminality they have been accused of class bias. However supporters respond by arguing that it does not pretend to be a general theory of crime, its main concern was to explain working class crime.

Question 27

evaluation of the influence of subcultural theory

Answer 27

Whatever its strengths and weaknesses, subcultural theory has had an impact on later theories of crime and government policy.
For example, in the US in the 1960s, CLOWARD and OHLIN’s work helped form the basis of President Johnson’s ‘War on Poverty’ policies. OHLIN was also appointed by the U.S attorney-general to help develop a new federal policy on juvenile delinquency under President Kennedy. This led to the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Act (1961) and a programme designed to deter young people committing crime.

Question 28

Evaluation of strain theory

Answer 28

MESSNER and ROSENFELD (2001) support the view that obsession with money success and a ‘winner takes-all-mentality’ in America (and arguably the UK too), exerts pressure towards crime by encouraging an anomic cultural environment where people are encouraged to adopt an ‘anything goes’ mentality in pursuit of wealth.

They conclude that in societies based on free-market capitalism and lacking adequate welfare, high crime rates are inevitable.

DOWNES and HANSEN (2006) back up Messner and Rosenfeld’s 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 imprisonment.

Question 29

Contrast the functionalist and interactionist perspective to crime

Answer 29

Functionalists take it for granted that the official statistics provide a reasonably valid picture of the real patterns of crime and who commits it. The main aim of the theories is to discover the causes of crime.

Interactionists take a very different approach. Instead of seeking the causes of crime, they ask how and why some people and actions come to be labelled as criminal and deviant and they study the effects of these labels.

They do not accept the official statistics as hard facts, providing a valid picture of crime, but as social constructs.

This reflects the origins of labelling theory in symbolic interactionism.

From this constructionist view, crime is the product of interactions between suspects and the police rather than the result of wider external forces such as blocked opportunities.

Question 30

Explain the interactionist perspective (labelling theory) in relation to the social construction of crime

Answer 30

Interactionists (Labelling theorists) move away from looking at the reasons why people commit crime and deviance (they regard this as fruitless, as we all break rules), and focus instead on the people who are defined/labelled as deviant and the consequences of this labelling. They urge us to ask why it is, that behaviour in some contexts committed by some people or social groups comes to be labelled as deviant, yet other behaviours and other people, escape this labelling process.

In his influential work ‘The Outsiders’, BECKER (1963) argues that social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them as outsiders’. Therefore according to BECKER, deviance is not a quality of an action, but a label chosen to be applied to certain behaviour and individuals in certain circumstances. He states that ‘deviance is not a quality that lies in behaviour itself, but in the interaction between the person who commits an act and those who respond to it’. Deviance is therefore, the result of a complex process of interactions between an individual or social group and the agencies of social control. It is for this reason that BECKER believes that any analysis of deviance should begin with the people who make and enforce the rules, rather than those who break them.

BECKER was interested in the role of moral entrepreneurs and how their activities can lead to new laws, which in turn creates a new group of ‘outsiders’ and new pressure placed on the agencies of social control to enforce the new rules. Invariably, this leads to deviance amplification. Furthermore, PLATT (1969) argues that the idea of ‘juvenile delinquency’ was originally created as a result of a campaign by upper class Victorian moral entrepreneurs. This established ‘juveniles’ as a separate category of offender with their own courts and it enabled the state to extend its powers beyond criminal offences involving the young, into so-called status offences such as truancy and sexual promiscuity. BECKER notes that social control agencies themselves, may also campaign for a change in the law to increase their own power.

Question 31

define agencies of social control

Answer 31

Agencies of social control: formal officials such as police, courts, probation officers etc. whose role is to enforce the law.

Question 32

define moral entrepreneurs

Answer 32

Moral entrepreneurs: efforts of powerful individuals and groups to define and redefine the behaviour that is defined as unacceptable. They can lead a moral ‘crusade’ to change the law.

Question 33

define deviance amplification

Answer 33

Deviance amplification: the process whereby attempts to control deviance actually produce an increase in it, leading to more controls and even higher levels of deviance.

Question 34

Why do interactionists argue that not everyone who commits an offence is punished for it?

Answer 34

Interactionists highlight that not everyone who commits an offence is punished for it. Whether a person is arrested, charged and convicted depends on factors such as: (a) their interactions with agencies of social control; (b) their appearance, background and personal biography and (c) the situation and circumstances of the offence. This leads labelling theorists to look at how the laws are applied and enforced.

Question 35

What is meant by Cicourel’s concept of typifications in relation to arrests

Answer 35

CICOUREL (1968) highlights how police officers’ decisions to arrest are influenced by their stereotypes about offenders. He found that their typifications led them to concentrate on certain ‘types’. This resulted in law enforcement showing a class bias, as working class areas and people fitted the police typifications. In turn, this led to police patrolling working class areas more intensively, resulting in more arrests (deviance amplification) and confirming their stereotypes. He found that other agents of social control in the criminal justice system reinforced this bias - probation officers held the common-sense theory that juvenile delinquency was caused by broken homes, poverty and poor parenting. Therefore they saw youths from such backgrounds as likely to offend in future and were less likely to support non-custodial sentences for them.

Question 36

Why does Cicourel argue that justice is negotiable rather fixed for certain groups within society

Answer 36

In Cicourel’s view, justice is not fixed but negotiable. For example, when a middle class youth was arrested, s/he was less likely to be charged. This was partly because his/her background did not fit the idea of the police’s ‘typical delinquent’ and partly because his parents were more likely to be able to negotiate successfully on his/her behalf, convincing the agencies of social control that s/he was sorry, that they would monitor him/her and ensure that s/he stayed out of trouble in future etc.

This study has implications for the use we make of official crime statistics. Cicourel argues that these statistics do not give us a valid picture of the patterns of crime and cannot be used as a resource to understand the ‘facts’ on crime. Instead he argues that we should use them as a sociological ‘topic’ in their own right to study – to investigate the processes that created them. This will highlight the activities of the agencies of social control and how they process and label certain types of people as criminal, hence crime is a social construction.

Question 37

How does Interactionist Lemert distinguish between primary and secondary deviance

Answer 37

Interactionists are interested in the effects of labelling upon those who have been labelled. LEMERT (1951) distinguishes between primary and secondary deviance. Primary deviance refers to deviant acts that have not been publicly labelled. He argues that is it pointless to seek the causes of these as they are so widespread, often trivial, are unlikely to have a single cause and mostly go uncaught. These acts have little significance for the individual’s status or self-concept because primary deviants do not generally see themselves as deviant. However, some deviance is labelled. Secondary deviance is the result of a societal reaction, that is, of labelling. Being caught and publicly labelled as a criminal can involve being stigmatised, shamed, humiliated or excluded from mainstream
society, because once labelled, others come to see this person, only in terms of the label. Therefore, the label becomes their master status.

Question 38

define Master Status

Answer 38

Master status: controlling identity, overriding all other aspects of the person’s status or identity. In the eyes of the world, s/he is no longer a colleague, parent, friend, neighbour; but a thief, junkie, paedophile – in short, an outsider.

Question 39

Explain how master status can negatively impact on an individual in relation to crime

Answer 39

The master status can negatively impact on the individual’s self-concept and may lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. LEMERT refers to the further deviance that results from acting out the label as secondary deviance.

Question 40

define self-concept

Answer 40

Self-concept: the picture that individuals have of themselves, their sense of identity – which they obtain through their interactions with others.

Question 41

define self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer 41

Self-fulfilling prophecy: where an individual conforms to the label. They fulfil the expectations that were attached to them; the prophecy comes true.

Question 42

define primary deviance

Answer 42

Primary deviance: deviant acts that have not been publicly labelled e.g. fare dodging

Question 43

define secondary deviance

Answer 43

Secondary deviance: deviance that occurs as a result of labelling.

Question 44

Which deviance is more likely to promote hostile reactions from society?

Answer 44

Secondary deviance is likely to provoke further hostile reactions from society and reinforce the deviant’s ‘outsider’ status. This may lead to more deviance and push the individual into a deviant subculture and a deviant career.

Deviant subculture: a collective of like-minded individuals who are part of an
alternative/oppositional culture that and has role models, rewards deviant behaviour and confirms and reinforces the deviant identity.

Deviant career: individual with a criminal record may have difficulty securing employment.
This may make it difficult for them to ‘go straight’ so they make seek support from other outsiders and also reoffend. They may get locked into a deviant career that offers deviant career opportunities.

Question 45

How do interactionists explain rising crime and who do they blame within their theory?

Answer 45

Interactionists highlight how attempts made by formal agencies of social control (primarily the government, police and the media) to reduce crime can ironically lead to an escalation and amplification of it. This in turn can lead to further attempts to control it, which in turn produce higher levels. This is known as the deviance amplification spiral. The role of both the police and the media as amplifiers of deviance will be assessed here. Interactionists argue that both contribute to the creation of moral panics (fear and concern is whipped up about a group or behaviour which is disproportionate to the problem) and folk devils (sensationalism and myth-making leads to a group being perceived and labelled as a threat to social order).

Question 46

Why does interactionist Young argue the police has a role in deviance amplification (Explain his story on hippie marijuana users in London)

Answer 46

The value of Becker’s labelling theory can be seen from its application by JOCK YOUNG in his study of hippie marijuana users in Notting Hill, London. In ‘The Role of the Police as Amplifiers of Deviance’ (1971), YOUNG examined the meanings which coloured the police view of the hippies, how their reaction to the hippies was directed by those meanings and the effects of this reaction.

According to YOUNG, increased police activity led to drug use amongst the hippie community being driven underground and this in itself had the effect of isolating drug users into a drug subculture. He argued that the intensive police action served to increase the organisation and cohesion of the ‘bohemian’ drug-taking community uniting its members in a sense of injustice felt at the harsh sentences and mass media distortions regarding their behaviour and identity. YOUNG found that all this interest and activity generated much introspection. This caused the groups to evolve theories to explain the nature of their position in society – thereby further heightening their consciousness of themselves as a group with definite interests over and against those of wider society.

YOUNG found that the rise in police action increased the necessity for the drug user to segregate him/herself from wider society of non-users. Therefore, in this way police action against the drug users tended to unite them and make them feel different. As such they began to rationalise and accept their difference. Having been defined, labelled and treated as outsiders, YOUNG found that the hippies tended to express and accentuate this difference. This resulted in drugs

becoming more central to the community and the creation of a culture around them.

As the police reacted more strongly against the deviance they played a part in creating, he found that their drug use was transformed from a peripheral to a central activity. In this way a deviant subculture evolved wherein deviant self-concepts were reinforced and drug use came to represent more than just its intrinsic value – it became a symbol of their bohemianism and rebellion against an unjust system. Therefore, drug use moved from being a peripheral activity – a mere vehicle for the better realization of expressive goals to a central activity of symbolic importance. The stereotype originally held by the police was therefore realised and fantasy was translated into reality.

According to YOUNG, once out of the system and labelled in this manner, it became very difficult for the ‘deviants’ to re-enter it. The label and the subculture which developed around it stood in opposition to gaining regular employment and this reinforced the subculture.

Question 47

Why does Cohen argue that the media have a role in deviance amplification

Answer 47

During Easter Sunday 1964 some spasmodic and isolated incidents of fighting broke out amongst bored youths in Clacton. Although neither serious nor noteworthy, 24 youths were arrested. Yet short of hard news journalists covered the incident and exaggerated and distorted what had occurred to increase interest. Reports stressed that violence had been caused by two clearly identifiable groups – mods and rockers – and much emphasis was placed on the ‘hostility and hatred’ between these groups who had gone to Clacton to create trouble.

Newspaper articles generated considerable interest in the groups, they profiled and discussed the culture and lifestyle of each group and interviewed members. Yet according to COHEN before the media coverage divisions did exist between the mods and rockers but they were of little real significance to the mods and rockers themselves. However, according to COHEN the media coverage had an impact on many young people at the time - British youth became sharply polarized and began to associate with either mods or rockers.

Newspapers predicted that there would be scenes of blood and violence amongst mods and rockers over the next bank holiday weekend in May. Many young people, including many mods and rockers did turn up in large numbers over this weekend. However according to COHEN many milled around uncertain of what exactly they should be doing. He claims that the media had provided the narrative, they had

created the show, the performers had turned up and were on stage, but it was as if no script had been provided. Nevertheless, newspapers still managed to create headlines suggesting excitement and violence.

Additionally, the exaggerated media interest and sensationalised reporting had a major impact on the agencies of social control. The police and the local magistrates had become sensitised to events by the newspaper predictions. COHEN found that the police reacted at the slightest hint of trouble and as a result more people than usual were arrested because the police were more likely to arrest youths that fitted the stereotype of the mod or rocker. This process of sensitization also influenced the magistrates who imposed heavy penalties in an attempt to combat the perceived crime wave. Yet according to COHEN this was a process by which the media actually created crime. Through exaggeration and distortion the media amplified crime.

COHEN concluded that the media, lacking other newsworthy stories, built up mods and rockers into folk devils – that is, groups who are labelled as troublemakers. The media made mods and rockers more significant and pertinent simply by covering and drawing attention to them. The media defined the subcultures, publicised them and nurtured the differences between them. It actually helped to create the violence that took place between them, which also confirmed them as troublemakers in the eyes of the public. As a result a moral panic developed, the public (the social audience) and the police and the magistrates (the agencies of social control) united in their reaction against the perceived threat to law and order and deviance was amplified

Question 48

explain the interactionist sociology of deviance in relation to mental illness and deviance

Answer 48

MENTAL ILLNESS:

As with crime, Interactionists reject OS on mental illness as they regard them as social constructs – that is, they are simply the record of the activities of those such as psychiatrists with the power to successfully apply labels such as ‘depressed’ or ‘schizophrenic’ to others. Therefore, from this perspective, crime, mental illness and suicide are artefacts, not objective social facts.

Interactionists focus on the process of labelling an individual mentally ill and the effects of this labelling. Lemert’s (1962) study of paranoia highlights that some individuals don’t fit easily into groups and as a result of this primary deviance, others label the person as odd and different and start to exclude him/her. His/her negative response to this label is the beginning of secondary deviance and it provides further reason to exclude him/her. This confirms their suspicions that people are conspiring against him/her and his/her reaction justifies their fears for his/her mental health. This may lead to psychiatric intervention which results in the person being officially labelled and possibly placed in a hospital against their will.

As a result, the label ‘mentally ill’ or ‘mental patient’ becomes his/her master status and everything they do in the future will be interpreted in this light as a symptom of their mental health problem.

Goffman’s (1961) classic study ‘Asylums’ shows some possible effects of being admitted to a total institution such as a psychiatric hospital. On admission patients undergo a mortification of the self’ in which their ole identity is symbolically ‘killed off’ and replaced by a new one: ‘inmate’. This is achieved by various ‘degradation rituals’, such as confiscation of personal effects. (Goffman observes the similarities with other total institutions such as prisons, armies, boarding schools and monasteries).

He points out that while some inmates become institutionalised, internalising their new identity and unable to re-adjust to the outside world, whereas others adopt various forms of resistance or accommodation to their new situation. Braginski et al’s (1969) study of long-term psychiatric patients illustrates this. They were able to manipulate their symptoms so as to appear ‘not well enough’ to be discharged but ‘not sick enough’ to be confined to the ward. As a result, they were able to achieve their aim of free movement around the hospital.

SUICIDE:

Suicide has been a very important topic in sociology. Durkheim (1897) studied it with the aim of demonstrating that sociology is a science. Using official statistics he claimed to have discovered the causes of suicide. However, interactionists reject his positivistic approach and his reliance on official statistics. They argue that they are socially constructed and therefore tell us more about the people who construct them (coroners) rather than the real rate of suicide in society. Douglas (1967) claims that the decision as to whether a sudden death is officially labelled and classified as a suicide is made by a coroner and this decision depends on the interactions between him/her and relatives, friends, doctors etc. For example; if a person is well integrated into a group, members of that group are more likely to deny the possibility of suicide – both to themselves and the coroner. However, with less integrated people, this is less likely to happen. Therefore according to Douglas, the statistics, tell us nothing about the meanings behind an individual’s decision to commit suicide. He claims that qualitative methods would enable this.

For Atkinson (1978) the official statistics on suicide are part of the social world; they reflect the subjective interpretations made by coroners and other officials of what is seen as an unnatural death. Since the objective of sociology is to comprehend the social world, that world can only be understood in terms of the categories, perceptions and interpretations of its members. Therefore, reflecting this perspective, the question according to Atkinson that sociologists should be asking is ‘How do deaths get categorised as suicide?’ In his research he focused on the taken-for-granted assumptions that coroners make when reaching their verdicts and found that their ideas about a ‘typical suicide’ were influential: certain modes of death, location and circumstances of the death and particular life histories were viewed as more likely to be viewed as indicative of suicide.

Question 49

What are three main questions that are fundamental to the Marxist theory of crime and deviance

Answer 49

For Marxists, the structure of capitalist society explains crime. Their theory of crime has three key elements to it, which reflect three fundamental questions which have guided their analysis:

1. Who makes the law and who benefits?
2. Who breaks the law and who gets caught?
3. Why break the law and how is it enforced?

Question 50

According to Marxists who makes the law and who benefits? Reference thinks such as Chambliss, Mannheim and Snider

Answer 50

The state and law making: The starting point for Marxist analysis is that all laws are made by the state, essentially for the benefit of the RC and therefore reflect their interests. Therefore, unlike functionalists, who see laws reflecting a value consensus, Marxists believe they are part of the superstructure and therefore are an instrument of the RC designed to maintain their power and control.

Mannheim (1960) notes that the history of legislation in capitalist countries shows the excessive prominence given by the law to the protection of property.

Chambliss (1976) claims that the increasing importance of trade and commerce during industrialisation, was mirrored in the increasing number of laws designed to protect the interests of the emerging capitalist class. He argued that ‘the heart of a capitalist economic system is the protection of private property, which is by definition, the cornerstone upon which capitalist economies function. It is not surprising then to find that laws reflect this basic concern.

Snider (1993) observes that capitalist governments are often reluctant to pass laws which regulate large capitalist concerns and threaten their profitability. After offering large sums of money (tax concessions, cheap loans and grants etc.) to attract inward investment by corporations, governments are unwilling to risk alienating them.

The law, crime and criminals also perform an ideological function for capitalism. Laws are occasionally passed that appear to be for the benefit of the working class rather than capitalism, such as health and safety legislation. However, Pearce (1976) argues that such laws benefit the RC – by keeping workers fit for work. By giving capitalism a ‘caring face’, such laws also create a false consciousness.

Question 51

According to Marxists who breaks the law and who gets caught?

Answer 51

Marxists agree with Interactionists, that although all classes commit crime, when it comes to the application of the law by the criminal justice system, there is selective law enforcement. While powerless groups such the working class and ethnic minorities are criminalised, the police and courts tend to ignore the crimes of the powerful. However, the occasional prosecution of their crimes provides the fiction that the law operates for the benefit of society as a whole and reinforces the myth that the extent of RC crime is small.

Crime is not confined to the working class. Reflecting this, Gordon (1976) argues that crime is a rational response to the capitalist system and hence it is found in all social classes – even through the official statistics make it appear to be a largely working class phenomenon. Capitalism is a ‘dog eat dog’ system of ruthless competition and the profit motive encourages a mentality of greed and self-interest which encourages capitalists to commit crime. In an attempt to expose the myth that crime is solely a working class phenomenon Marxists focus much of their analysis on illuminating the nature and extent of the crimes of the powerful, including white collar, corporate and state crime (see work on ‘Crimes of the Powerful’)

Question 52

According to Marxists who breaks the law and how is it enforced within a capitalist society

Answer 52

Criminogenic capitalism: From a Marxist perspective this question leads to an analysis of the relationship between capitalism and crime. They claim that capitalism is criminogenic: the system generates and produces crime by its very nature - crime is a natural outgrowth of capitalism. Bonger (1916) provides an explanation for criminal motivation which is firmly rooted in the economics and culture of capitalism. He argues that the capitalist economic infrastucture has a major influence on behaviour, social relationships, beliefs and values which contribute to criminal behaviour:

(a) The capitalist mode of production emphasises the maximization of profits and the accumulation of wealth;

(b) Behaviour is motivated by economic self-interest rather than public duty;

(c) Personal gain rather than collective well-being is encouraged.

Therefore for Bonger, crime is a perfectly normal outcome of these values which stress looking after oneself at the expense of others. The very same values that are celebrated and encouraged in capitalist societies are the same values that encourage criminal behaviour. Therefore the culture of capitalism encourages individuals to break the law.

Question 53

Why Chambliss argue that the crime is motivated by the culture and economics of capitalism?

Answer 53

Reflecting Bonger’s ideas CHAMBLISS (1975) argues that the culture and economics of capitalism motivates crime on all levels of society. Members of each class use whatever means and opportunities their class position provides to commit crime. Therefore in low income areas, the mugger, burglar, shop-lifter, drug dealer, pimp, prostitute etc. use whatever they have to get what they can. Similarly, in high income areas people in business, politicians, lawyers, accountants etc. use the more effective means they have at their disposal ‘to grab a larger share of the cake’. Therefore most crime represents a rational response to the competitiveness and inequalities of life in a capitalist society.

Question 54

What does Marxist Gordon argue about selective law enforcement in relation to crime within a capitalist society

Answer 54

Selective law enforcement: Contrasting to functionalist ideas, Marxists argue that the law is enforced selectively in a systematically class biased fashion, which according to Gordon (1976) serves a number of important functions:

(a) By punishing individuals, the system that is primarily responsible for their criminal behaviour is protected. Blame and condemnation are directed at the individual rather than the institutions of capitalism and this serves to reinforce a prevalent ideology – that individuals rather than society are to blame for social problems.

(b) It diverts attention away from the exploitative nature of capitalism and focuses on the evil and frightening nature of criminal individuals, thereby concealing the nature of capitalism that makes people criminals.

(c) The targeting of and imprisonment of selected members of the subject class neutralises opposition to the system as working class areas and black communities more specifically, house the most potentially revolutionary sections of the population.

(d) The selective application of the law reinforces the idea that crime is a largely working class phenomenon and serves to divide and fragment the working class where there is a tendency for people to see their enemies as criminals within their own class, rather than the RC. Therefore frustration and hostility is directed towards criminals and this provides a safety valve, releasing aggression which might otherwise be directed against the RC.

Question 55

How is the Marxist explanation for crime and deviance been useful in our understanding?

Answer 55

Marxism offers a useful explanation of the relationship between capitalism and crime and shows the link between law making and enforcement. By doing so it puts into a wider structural context the insights of labelling theory regarding the selective enforcement of the law. This approach has also influenced recent approaches to the study of the crimes of the powerful, particularly Neo-Marxism and Critical Criminology.

Question 56

According to Marxists what is the true conventional cost of crime?

Answer 56

Many sociological approaches focus on the enormous costs of ‘conventional’ crime to society, as well as the damage it does to the quality of people’s lives. However, Marxist sociologists argue that the costs of ‘conventional’ crime are actually dwarfed by ‘the crimes of powerful’, particularly white collar and corporate crime. Furthermore, in the eyes of the law all people may be equal, but the government’s treatment of different type of offenders suggests there is one law for the rich and another for the poor. For example, Reinman and Leighton’s (2012) book, ‘The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison’, shows that the more likely a crime is to be committed by higher class people, the less likely it is to be treated as an offence. e.g lavinia woodward oxford girl deemed to smart to go prison. There is a much higher rate of prosecutions for the typical ‘street’ crimes that poor people commit, such as burglary and assault. Yet with crimes committed by higher classes such as serious tax evasion, the criminal justice system takes a more forgiving view.

Question 57

Explain the Marxist view on white collar and corporate crime

Answer 57

White collar and corporate crime are examples of the crimes of the powerful. Sutherland (1949) first coined the term ‘white collar crime’. His aim was to challenge the stereotype that crime is purely a lower class phenomenon and defined it as ‘a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation’. Therefore, it is essentially a form of occupational crime committed by employees simply for their own personal gain, often against the organisation for which they work, e.g. stealing from the company or its customers. This can be contrasted with corporate crime which is committed by employees for their organisation in pursuit of its goals, e.g. deliberately miss-selling products to increase the company profits.

However, many of the harms caused by the powerful do not break the criminal law. For example, some may be administrative offences such as a company failing to comply with codes of practice laid down by government regulators. To address this problem, Pearce and Tombs (2003) widen the definition. They define corporate crime as ‘any illegal act or omission that is the result of deliberate decisions or culpable negligence by a legitimate business organisation and that is intended to benefit the business’. This includes breaches of civil and administrative law, not just criminal law. Tombs (2013) argues that the difference between these types of offences is more about who has the power to define an act as a crime than about how harmful the act is: powerful corporations can influence the law so their actions are not criminalised

Question 58

Explain James Ball’s research on corporate crime

Answer 58

According to James Ball (The Guardian 03/02/13), the British public believe benefit fraud is a big problem. However, according to the DWP’s estimates last year only 0.7% of total benefit expenditure was overpaid due to fraud. This totaled £1.2 billion over the year. But how does it compare to another textbook villain: tax avoidance? Put simply, it is comparatively tiny. HMRC consistently estimates the UK’s tax gap (the gap between what HMRC thinks it should receive versus what it actually gets) at more than £30 billion per year. However, Labour MP Michael Meacher reported that for 2012 HMRC figured that £42 billion was lost through tax avoidance and evasion by multinational corporations and super-rich individuals. Yet it was reported in ‘The Observer’ that for every individual pursued through the courts for tax fraud, on average 700 people are prosecuted for welfare offences.

Question 59

How does Pearce, Snider and Tomb explain how the extent of corporate crime is hidden away from society?

Answer 59

Despite the enormous costs of corporate crime, both the penalties and the likelihood of prosecutions for those involved in it are relatively small. According to Pearce (1976) prosecutions are rare and this creates the impression that the extent of corporate crime is minimal. He argues that revelations of the widespread nature of corporate crime could threaten capitalist power. When prosecutions are brought, Pearce claims the purpose is to maintain the myth that the law applies equally to the rich and poor and that the state is a neutral body guarding the welfare of society.

Snider (1993) argues that many of the most serious and predatory acts committed in modern industrial countries are corporate crimes. She argues that corporate crime does more harm (physical: deaths, injuries and illnesses and environmental: pollution) and costs more in terms of money (to taxpayers, consumers, workers and government) than street crime which is usually seen as more serious. Reflecting on the enormous costs of corporate crime, Tombs (2013) argues that it is not just the work of a few ‘bad apples’, but rather it is ‘widespread, routine and pervasive’

Question 60

Explain types of corporate crime and omissions

Answer 60

(a) Financial crimes: include tax evasion, bribery, money laundering and illegal accounting. Victims include taxpayers, other companies, shareholders and governments.

(b) Crimes against consumers: such as false labelling and selling unfit goods. (In 2011 the French government urged women with breast implants from the manufacturer Poly Implant Prothese to have them removed as they were filled with a dangerous silicone. Some 300,000 implants had been sold in 65 countries).

(c) Crimes against employees: such as sexual and racial discrimination, violations of wage laws, of rights to join a union or take industrial action and of health and safety laws. Tombs (2013) calculates that up to 1,100 work related deaths a year involve employers breaking the law - this is more than the annual total homicides. Palmer (2008) estimates that occupational diseases cause 50,000 deaths a year in the UK.

(d) Crimes against the environment: include illegal pollution of air, water and land, such as toxic waste dumping. Following an investigation by US authorities in 2015, Volkswagen admitted installing software that could detect when the engines were being tested and disguised emissions levels that were 40 times above the US legal limit in 11 million of its diesel vehicles globally.

(e) State-corporate crime: according to Kramer and Michalowski (2006) refers to the harms committed when government institutions and businesses cooperate to pursue their goals. This is an increasingly important area as private companies now work alongside government in many areas, for example in marketised or privatised public services. For example, private companies contracted to the US military have been accused of involvement in the torture of detainees during the American occupation of Iraq.

Question 61

Explain how corporate crime is an abuse of the trust of society

Answer 61

High-status professionals occupy positions of trust and respectability. As Carrabine et al (2014) note, we entrust them with our finances, our health, our security and our personal information. However, their position and status give them the opportunity to abuse this trust. For example, the multinational accountancy firm KPMG admitted in the US to criminal wrongdoing and paid a $456m fine for its role in a tax fraud, while a UK tribunal found a tax avoidance scheme devised by accountants Ernst and Young for wealthy clients unacceptable. Described by a Treasury spokesperson as ‘one of the most blatantly abusive scams of recent years’, the scheme could have cost the taxpayer over £300m per year. In the same way, accountants and lawyers can be employed by criminal organisations, to launder criminal funds into legitimate businesses, acting corruptly by inflating fees, committing forgery, illegally diverting clients’ money etc. The respected status, expertise and autonomy of health professionals also provides scope for criminal activity. The US has seen huge numbers of fraudulent claims to insurance companies for treatments that have not actually been performed, while in the UK dentists have claimed payments from the NHS for treatments not carried out.

Crimes of this kind violates the trust that society places in professional. In Sutherland’s view, it promotes cynicism and distrust of basic social institutions and undermines the fabric of society.

Question 62

Explain how corporate crime is an abuse of the trust of society

Answer 62

High-status professionals occupy positions of trust and respectability. As Carrabine et al (2014) note, we entrust them with our finances, our health, our security and our personal information. However, their position and status give them the opportunity to abuse this trust. For example, the multinational accountancy firm KPMG admitted in the US to criminal wrongdoing and paid a $456m fine for its role in a tax fraud, while a UK tribunal found a tax avoidance scheme devised by accountants Ernst and Young for wealthy clients unacceptable. Described by a Treasury spokesperson as ‘one of the most blatantly abusive scams of recent years’, the scheme could have cost the taxpayer over £300m per year. In the same way, accountants and lawyers can be employed by criminal organisations, to launder criminal funds into legitimate businesses, acting corruptly by inflating fees, committing forgery, illegally diverting clients’ money etc. The respected status, expertise and autonomy of health professionals also provides scope for criminal activity. The US has seen huge numbers of fraudulent claims to insurance companies for treatments that have not actually been performed, while in the UK dentists have claimed payments from the NHS for treatments not carried out.

Crimes of this kind violates the trust that society places in professional. In Sutherland’s view, it promotes cynicism and distrust of basic social institutions and undermines the fabric of society.

Question 63

How does corporate crime remain invisible within society?

Answer 63

When compared with street crime, the crimes of the powerful are relatively invisible and even when visible, they are often not seen as ‘real’ crime at all. There are several reasons for this:

(a) The media: reinforce the stereotype that crime is a working class phenomenon by giving very limited coverage to corporate crime. They neutralise its severity by using sanitised language to describe it as a technical infringement rather than a crime, e.g. embezzlement becomes ‘accounting irregularities’; defrauding customers is mis-selling’; deaths at work are ‘accidents etc.

(b) Lack of political will: to tackle corporate crime, with the focus placed on street crime. The Home Office use crime surveys to discover the true extent of ‘ordinary’ crime, but not corporate crime.

(c) The crimes are often complex: and law enforcers are often understaffed, under-resourced and lacking technical expertise to investigate effectively.

(d) De-labelling: At the level of laws and legal regulation, corporate crime is consistently filtered out from the process of criminalisation. Investigation and prosecution are limited and offences are often defined as civil not criminal and penalties are often fines rather than a custodial sentence. For example, in 2010, French authorities provided their British counterparts with a list of 3,600 UK citizens holding secret bank accounts with the Swiss subsidiary of the UK based bank HSBC. The accounts were believed to be a means of evading tax, however, UK tax authorities secured only one prosecution and no action was taken against HSBC.

(e) Under-reporting: Often the victim is society at large or the environment, rather than an identifiable individual and even when individuals have been victimised they may not be aware of this or regard it as a ‘real crime’. Equally, they may feel powerless against a big organisation and so may never report the offence to the authorities.

Question 64

How has corporate crime become partially visible?

Answer 64

since the financial crisis of 2008, corporate crime has become more visible as a result of campaigns against corporate tax avoidance by Occupy and UK Uncut, investigative journalists, whistle-blowers inside companies and the media. Similarly, neoliberal policies such as marketization and privatisation of public services mean that large corporations are much more involved in people’s lives and therefore more exposed to scrutiny than in the past.

Question 65

state further examples of white collar crime and corporate crime

Answer 65

Further examples of white collar and corporate crimes:

1. The Guinness case involved fraudulent leaks to the financial markets by Guinness directors which artificially boosted the price of the Guinness shares. The directors made sizeable profits for the company and for themselves. One of the convicted offenders, Gerald Ronson (one of Britain’s 100 richest people at the time) received a 1 year sentence in Ford Open Prison, but was released on parole after serving 6 months. During the time in prison he had access to a phone and his wife continued to run the group of companies that he owned. After his release he continued to be a successful businessman. Another director, Ernest Saunders received a 5 year sentence but was released after 18 months as a result of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. However, this was proven to be a misdiagnosis and he continued to be a successful business consultant on his release.
2. Robert Maxwell, the owner of the Mirror Group Newspapers and numerous other businesses drowned off the Canary Islands in 1991 just before it came to the public’s attention that he had used money from the Mirror Group employees’ pension fund to prevent the collapse of his business empire. When it finally collapsed it left debts of two billion.
3. Conklin (1997) pointed out that the collapse of the US stock market at the end of the 1980s, the result of financial mismanagement and fraud, cost in the region of a trillion dollars. This was largely covered by a US government ‘loan’ that covered the deficit. According to the Treasury Committee 2009 report into the origins of the banking crisis in the UK in 2008, a culture of overconfidence, over-optimism and the stifling of contrary opinions meant that many of the banks were the principal authors of their own demise. The culture within parts of British banking had increasingly been one of risk taking leading to the economic crisis. The report concluded that bankers made an astonishing mess of the financial system. However, this was a failure not only within individual banks but also of the supervisory system designed to protect the public from such systemic risk. The government financed by taxpayers bailed the banks out of their mess.
4. In 1984 an escape of poisonous gas from a chemical plant in Indian killed more than 3000 people and caused permanent injury to a further 20,000. The escape of gas was caused by inadequate safety procedures at the plant which was owned by a subsidiary of the US multinational corporation Union Carbide. No criminal charges were brought against the company as it agreed to pay $470 million in compensation to victims and their families.
5. Thalidomide was manufactured by a large German company and was used as a sleeping pill/tranquillizer. However, the use of the drug by pregnant women led to over 8000 seriously deformed babies being born throughout the world. Despite numerous examples of adverse reactions from clinical tests the drug was marketed with little delay and the advertising proclaimed the drug was completely safe. The company was slow to withdraw the product even when the drug’s disastrous effects were known.
6. The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion and subsequent fire in 2010 killed 11 workers and injured 16 others. The explosion caused the offshore drilling unit (owned and operated by Transocean and drilling for BP in an oil field 40 miles of the Louisiana coast) to burn and sink, resulting in a massive offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which continued unchecked for 86 days. It is considered to be the largest accidental marine oil spill in the world and the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history.
7. In 2000 the Swiss and German industrial giants, Nestle and Adidas refused to send representatives to the European parliament that heard a litany of accusations against them and other producers of popular branded goods. The hearing was told that workers manufacturing Adidas goods in Indonesia were forced to perform more than 50 hours of overtime a week while being paid less than the legal hourly rate. Nestlé’s team in Pakistan was accused of offering anything from small incentives to pieces of large medical equipment to boost sales of formula milk. The use of breast milk substitutes is discouraged by most aid workers in undeveloped countries because with water supply so unreliable, artificially fed infants are about 25 times more likely to contract fatal illnesses.
8. In 2012 it emerged that the coffee giant Starbucks paid just £8.6m in corporation tax in the UK over 14 years and nothing in the last four years - despite sales of £400m last year. As part of its tax affairs, the firm transferred some money to a Dutch sister company and bought coffee beans from Switzerland. During an investigation into corporate tax avoidance, the company’s global chief financial officer told a committee of MPs in 2012 that the tax deal struck with Dutch authorities was “an attractive reason” for basing operations there. However, a company spokeswoman said it had listened to its customers and would pay another £5m later this year. The move follows pressure from politicians and campaigners, and an agreement by world leaders to clamp down on corporate tax avoidance

Question 66

state strengths of the Marxist view on crime

Answer 66

Traditional Marxism offers a useful explanation of the relationship between crime and capitalism and shows the link between law making and enforcement.

By doing so it puts into a wider structural context the insights of labelling theory regarding the selective enforcement of the law.

This approach has also influenced recent approaches to the study of the crimes of the powerful.

Question 67

state criticisms of the marxist view on crime

Answer 67

It largely ignores the relationship between crime and non-class inequalities such as ethnicity and gender.

It is too deterministic and over-predicts the amount of crime in the ruling and working class; not all rich or poor people commit crime, despite the poverty and/or greed caused by capitalism.

Not all capitalist societies have high crime rates; for example, Japan and Switzerland have much less crime than the US (however the US has little state welfare provision).

The criminal justice system does sometimes act against the interests of the capitalist class.

Left Realists argue that Marxism focuses largely on the crimes of the powerful and ignores intra-class crimes (where both the criminals and victims are working class) such as burglary and mugging, which cause great harm to victims.

Question 68

Summarise Merton’s strain theory as an explanation for corporate crime

Answer 68

STRAIN THEORY:
Merton’s anomie or strain theory is based on the notion that deviance results from an inability to achieve goals through the prescribed legitimate means, so people innovate and use illegal methods. Although he applied his concept of innovation to account for working class crime, others have used it to explain corporate crime:

Box (1983) argues that if a company cannot achieve its goal of maximising profit by legal means, it may resort to illegal methods. In a study of corporate crime, Clinard and Yeager (1980) found law violations by large companies increased as their financial performance deteriorated - suggesting a willingness to innovate to achieve profit goals.

Question 69

summarise differential association as explanation for corporate crime

Answer 69

Sutherland (1949) sees crime as behaviour learned from others - the more we associate with people who commit crime, the more likely we ourselves are likely to commit it. Therefore, if a company’s culture justifies committing crimes to achieve corporate goals, employees will be socialised into this criminality.
The idea of differential association can be linked to two other concepts:

(a) Deviant subcultures: share a set of norms and values at odds with society. The culture of business may favour deviant solutions and promote competitive, aggressive personality types who are willing to commit crime to achieve success.

(b) Techniques of justification: Sykes and Matza (1957) argue that individuals can deviate more easily when their justifications neutralise moral objections to their misbehaviour. Therefore, white collar criminals may say they were carrying out orders, blame the victim or normalise their deviance by claiming ‘everyone’s doing it’. Learning these techniques is an important part of socialisation into a deviant subculture.

Question 70

summarise labelling theory as an explanation for corporate crime

Answer 70

Cicourel (1968) demonstrated that middle class deviants are more able to negotiate non-criminal labels for their mis-behaviour. Sociologists have applied this to white collar and corporate crime, in an approach that Nelken (2012) calls de-labelling.
Professionals often have the power to avoid labelling as they can afford expensive lawyers and accountants to help them avoid activities they are involved in, such as tax avoidance schemes. Likewise, the reluctance or inability of law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute also reduces the number of offences officially recorded as such. This means that sociologists who rely on official statistics will inevitably underestimate the extent of these offences.

Question 71

summarise the marxist view on corporate crime

Answer 71

For Marxists, corporate crime is a result of the normal functioning of capitalism which has its goal as the maximisation of profit. This inevitably causes harm.
Capitalism has successfully created what Box (1983) calls a ‘mystification’; that is, it has spread the ideology that corporate crime is less widespread or harmful than working class crime. Capitalism’s control of the state means that it is able to avoid making or enforcing laws that conflict with its interests. While some corporate crime is prosecuted this is only ever the tip of the iceberg. This, according to Pearce (1976) sustains the illusion that it is the exception rather than the norm and avoids causing a crisis of legitimacy for capitalism.

Question 72

Explain what is neo-marxist / criticial criminology

Answer 72

Partly as a response to some of the limitations of the traditional Marxist approach to criminology a number of sociologists developed an alternative conflict approach to crime.

These sociologists do not accept that there is a simple and straightforward relationship between the infrastructure and crime – therefore the theory that they developed is viewed as being less economically deterministic.

Neo-Marxists developed a critical criminological approach where they combined the structural insights of traditional Marxism with the insights provided by Interactionist criminology.

They attempted to analyse both the social and economic forces that compel people into crime with a study of the individual motivations behind crime too.

Many emphasise that crime is politically motivated.

Question 73

summarise new criminology by taylor, walton and young

Answer 73

Taylor et al recognise that:

Capitalism is based on exploitation and extreme inequalities and that understanding this is the key to understanding crime;

The state makes and enforces laws in the interests of the capitalist class and criminalises members of the working class;

Capitalism should be replaced by a classless society. This would significantly reduce the extent of crime.

However, their views also differ significantly from those of Marxists and they describe their approach as critical criminology.

They argue that Marxism is deterministic. For example, it sees workers as driven to commit crime out of economic necessity.

They reject this explanation, along with theories that claim crime is caused by other external factors (anomie, subcultures, labelling etc.) or biological and psychological factors.

Taylor et al take a more voluntaristic view and see crime as a meaningful action and a conscious choice by the actor.

In particular they argue that crime is often politically motivated, for example to redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor.

Criminals are not passive puppets whose behaviour is shaped by capitalism: they are deliberately striving to change society.

Question 74

What do neo-Marxist / critical criminology believe about crime and deviance

Answer 74

In ‘The New Criminology’ (1973), TAYLOR, WALTON and YOUNG outline what they see as a ‘fully’ social theory of deviance, explained from a number of angles simultaneously. This became a very influential book and approach because it combined some of the insights provided by Interactionists and Marxists. In doing this, it successfully fused together the two most prominent sociological theories of the time. It was seen as offering a highly sophisticated approach to the study of deviance and they described their approach as critical criminology: they are critical of capitalism and believe the state makes and enforces laws in the interests of the capitalist class and criminalises members of the working class. However, they reject the deterministic nature of Marxism and adopt a more voluntaristic view – they see crime as meaningful action, a conscious choice by the actor. Crime often has a political motive, where criminals are actively trying to reshape society.

Question 75

Explain the six aspects model that is central to the neo-marxist and critical criminology view on crime and deviance

Answer 75

The model has six aspects to it which are interrelated and need to be understood together as part of a unified ‘fully’ social theory of deviance:

1. The wider origins of the act: locate crime within the wider social system, this involves assessing the way wealth and power is distributed.
2. The immediate origins of the act: the particular social circumstances within which individuals choose to commit crime.
3. The actual act: its nature and its meaning to the individual.
4. The immediate origins of the social reaction: how people such as family, friends, community and the police react to the crime.
5. The wider origins of the deviant reaction: the immediate reaction needs to be located within the wider social system focusing on who has the power to label.
6. The outcomes of the social reaction: the effects of labelling.

Question 76

Explain Hall et al’s policing the crisis theory

Answer 76

In ‘Policing the Crisis’ (1978) HALL et al attempted to develop a ‘fully’ social theory of mugging, reflecting the aspects outline by TAYLOR et al: their study of the moral panic around mugging deals with the origins and nature of this crime, the social reaction to it and the distribution of power in society as a whole. However, they depart company with other Marxists by rejecting the idea that crimes are political acts, largely because victims of a lot of crimes – particularly street crimes such as mugging – are from similar disadvantaged social positions as the offender. Muggers rarely choose the rich as their victims and cannot be positioned as modern day ‘Robin Hoods’ who fighting capitalism by redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor. Additionally, HALL et al are more directly influenced by the Italian Marxist GRAMSCI and the concept of hegemony, rather than Marx himself. However, they develop a critical criminological explanation of crime, influenced by the ideas outlined by HALL et al.

In the early 1970s, newspapers were filled with dramatic stories of mugging. Police, judges and politicians lined up with the media stressing the threat this crime posed to society. The Home Secretary reported that there had been a 129% increase in muggings over the previous four years. There were calls in Parliament and the media for a strong police presence in inner cities and a tough crackdown on groups most likely to be involved in mugging – most newspapers implied that muggers were predominately black.

HALL et al argued that there was a moral panic around mugging and attempted to explain the origins of this reaction. They rejected the view that the moral panic was an inevitable and understandable reaction to a new and rapidly increasing form of violence. They claimed that mugging was not a new phenomenon and neither was it on the increase – the 129% reported increase was arrived at by adding together a number of different forms of street crimes. They argued that the answer for the outcry and moral panic around mugging had to lie elsewhere.

Question 77

Explain how Hall et al’s concept of hegemony and moral panic can be explained in a political and economic context

Answer 77

According to HALL et al, the moral panic could be explained in the context of the problems that were faced by British capitalism at the start of the 1970s. the British government faced an economic crisis and a ‘crisis of hegemony’ (a challenge to the authority of the state and the ideology of the ruling class), seen in the conflict in Northern Ireland, an increase in strikes and growing trade union power and a growth in student militancy. There was much evidence that suggested that the ideological control (hegemony) over sections seemed to weakening. Since the government was no longer able to govern by consent, it turned to the use of force. It was therefore in this context that street crime became an issue – mugging was presented as a key element in the breakdown of law and order. HALL et al state that violence was portrayed as a threat to society and the black mugger symbolised this threat. In this way, the public could be convinced that problems in society were caused by immigrants, rather than the faults of the capitalist system. It also made the more general point that there were subversive groups in society which needed to be confronted by force.

The outcome was a greatly increased police force in the inner cities, operating most forcibly against young black males. Additionally, the British Transport Police set up a special squad to deal with violent crime on the London underground. HALL et al concluded that the police in general and this special squad in particular, created much of the mugging which was later to appear in the official statistics - the police amplified or at least made worse the deviance they were supposed to be controlling. The social reaction to the threat of violence led to the labelling of large numbers of young black males as criminal and in turn justified stronger police measures

Question 78

state Hopkins Burke criticisms of critical criminology

Answer 78

However, HOPKINS BURKE (2005) argues that critical criminology is both too general to explain crime and too idealistic to be useful in tackling crime. DOWNES and ROCK (2011) argue that HALL et al are inconsistent in claiming that black street crime was not rising, but also that it was rising because of unemployment. Furthermore, they have been criticised as they do not show how the capitalist crisis led to a moral panic, nor do they provide evidence that the public were in fact panicking or blaming crime on black men. Left Realists argue that inner city residents’ fears about mugging are not panicky, but realistic.

Question 79

How was Gilroy influenced by Hall and Taylor et al’s ideas

Answer 79

Like HALL et al, GILROY in ‘The Myth of Black Criminality’ (1982) attempts to apply the ideas outlined in ‘The New Criminology’ in his analysis of the relationship between crime and race. In keeping with the ideas of TAYLOR et al he claims that crimes committed by many sections of the black community are deliberate political acts and can only be fully appreciated and understood once the existence of racism in society is acknowledged.

Question 80

How does Gilroy view crimes committed by ethnic minorities?

Answer 80

GILROY sees crimes committed by many members of ethnic minority groups as evidence of a political struggle. He claims that the problems in capitalist society in the 1970s and 80s (the UK was experiencing an economic crisis and in this context ethnic minority groups were blamed for problems which in reality were the problems of capitalist society), created revolts by many blacks and Asians who were hitting back at society that treated them unjustly. When members of these communities visibly and forcibly took to the streets as they did in these decades, they were hitting back at racially motivated attacks and widespread discrimination.

Most members of the black community in the UK originated in the former British colonies, where their anti-imperialist struggles taught them how to resist oppression, for example through demonstrations and riots. When they found themselves facing racism in in Britain, they adopted the same forms of struggle to defend themselves, but their political struggle was criminalised by the British state.

However, he rejects the idea that ethnic minorities more generally and black men in particular are more prone to crime. GILROY claims that many widely held beliefs about black criminality were and are mythical and he points to a racist criminal justice system and substantial evidence of police bias as amplifying and perpetuating the idea of the ‘black criminal’. Since the police are largely responsible for enforcing the law, their racist stereotypes lead them to stopping and searching more black men and by implication increasing the likelihood of arrest. In this context, ethnic minorities come to be criminalised.

GILROY therefore attempts to explain crime in terms of the social structure of society and in terms of labelling and amplification, reflecting the ideas outlined by TAYLOR et al in ‘The New Criminology’

Question 81

Evaluation of Taylor et Al’s critical criminology

Answer 81

Feminists criticise the approach of critical criminology for being gender-blind as it focuses excessively on male criminality as the expense of female criminality.

Left realists criticise the approach for romanticising working class crime as robin hoods who are fighting capitalism whereas in reality these criminals prey on the poor. They also criticise taylor et al for not taking crime seriously and ignoring the effects on working class victims.

Question 82

Why do Lea and Young criticise Gilroy ?

Answer 82

However, LEA and YOUNG criticise GILROY on three grounds:
1. First generation immigrants in the 1950s and 60s were very law-abiding, so it is unlikely that they passed down a tradition of anti-colonial struggle to their children.

2. Most crime is intra-ethnic (criminals and victims are drawn from the same ethnic background), so it can’t be seen as an anti-colonial struggle against racism. They claim that as a critical criminologist, GILROY romanticises street crime as somehow revolutionary, when it is nothing of the sort.
3. Asian crime rates are similar to or lower than whites. If GILROY were right, then the police are only racist towards blacks and not Asians, which seems unlikely.

Question 83

Explain realist approaches to crime

Answer 83

Realists believe they approach the study of crime realistically – they accept that it is a real problem and argue that there has been a significant rise in crime, particularly street crime, burglary and assault.

They are also concerned about the widespread fear of crime and the impact that this has on its victims.

They argue that other theories have failed to offer valid explanations and realistic solutions to the problem of crime.

Therefore, their aim is to formulate effective, practical and successful policies which would help to reduce crime.

Question 84

What is the difference between left and right realism?

Answer 84

There are two realist approaches: Left Realism and Right Realism:

Left Realists: are socialists and reformists rather than revolutionists. They believe that a gradual reduction in inequality, along with practical strategies will reduce crime.

Right Realists: share the New Right or neo-conservative political outlook and favour a ‘get tough’ stance on crime, with increased use of prison and a ‘short, sharp, shock’ approach to dealing with young offenders.

Question 85

Why are left realists critical of the marxist approach to crime

Answer 85

This contemporary left-wing approach can be contrasted with other critical conflict approaches. LEA and YOUNG (1984 and 1993) are socialists rather than Marxists and are critical of what they see as left idealism – reflected in both Marxism and Neo-Marxist approaches to crime and deviance.

Marxist (and interactionist) approaches have traditionally rejected the idea that crime is a working class phenomenon and have interpreted the high working class crime rates as evidence of harsher policing and selective law enforcement

Question 86

Explain left realist aetiological crisis

Answer 86

Part of the left realists’ project of taking crime seriously is to recognise that, from the 1950s on, there was a real increase in crime, especially working class crime.

YOUNG (2011) argues that this led to an aetiological crisis: a crisis in explanation for theories of crime in that they tend to deny that the increase in crime was real – arguing instead that it was just a result of increased reporting or targeting of the working classes.

Question 87

Explain why left realists criticise Gilroys assumptions

Answer 87

Left Realism starts from the position that official crime rates, whilst not an objective indicator of the true nature and extent of crime, accurately reflect the higher rate of criminality amongst the working classes. This is seen as a major step in left-influenced theory.

LEA and YOUNG are critical of the likes of GILROY and his notion of the ‘myth of black criminality’. They seriously question his view that police racism accounts for the statistics which suggest that blacks are more prone to crime - 92% of crimes known to the police are brought to their attention by the public.

They concede that policing practices and police racism exaggerate the black crime rate but question why GILROY has difficulty accepting that racial discrimination and higher rates of unemployment might result in higher rates of black criminality.

They claim that street crime is a serious problem and has to be recognised as such by criminologists on the left.

They take the view that although white collar and corporate crime rates are significantly higher than the official statistics suggest, the type of crime which worries people the most, is street crime – which just so happens to be committed by the working classes, black and white.

Question 88

summarise functionalist, strain and subcultural theory

Answer 88

For functionalists, society is based on a value consensus which deviance threatens but it also performs positive functions such as reinforcing solidarity and adapting to change.

Strain theories argue that deviance occurs when people cannot achieve society’s goals by legitimate means. Merton argues that this produces a ‘strain to anomie’ that may result in innovation, ritualism, retreatism or rebellion.

Subcultural theories see much deviance as a collective rather than an individual response. Cohen argues that subcultural deviance results from status frustration and takes a non-utilitarian role. Cloward and Ohlin see through different deviant subcultures arising from differences in access to illegitimate opportunity structures.

Recent strain theories argue that capitalist economies generate greater strain to crime

Question 89

state criticisms of labelling theory

Answer 89

Strength - labelling theory shows that the law is not a fixed set of rules to be taken for granted but something whose construction we need to explain as it shows that the law is often enforced is discriminatory ways.

Strength - Labelling theory also highlights how society’s attempts to control deviance can backfire and create more deviance, not less.

Criticisms:

• labelling theory tends to be deterministic, implying that once someone is labelled a deviant career is inevitable
• emphasises the negative effects of labelling giving the offender a kind of victim status which in the view of realist sociologists ignores the real victims of crime
• tends to focus on less serious crimes such as drug-taking
• assumes that offenders are passive victims of labelling, ignores the fact that individuals may actively choose deviance
• fails to explain why people commit primary deviance in the first place
• implies without labelling, deviance would not exist which would not make sense
• Marxists argue that they recognise the role of power in creating deviance but fail to analyse the source of power as they focus on middle range officials rather than capitalist class who in their view makes the rules in the first place. They also fail to explain the origin of labels or why these labels are applied to the working class