Crime and deviance: theories Flashcards
Durkheim’s idea of crime
Durkheim believes that crime is an inevitable and normal aspect of life
Anomie
State of normlessness
Durkheim’s positive functions of crime
Boundary maintenance and social change
boundary maintenance (outline and example)
social reaction to crime and deviance by media and courts reaffirm societies shared values
E.g. Lucy Letby
Social change
Deviance brings out social change - new ideas or institutions always initially appear as deviance.
E.g. Rosa Parks, led to bus boycott, segregation ended
Kingsley Davis
Minor deviance acts as a safety valve.
- diverts potentially dangerous motivations into less harmful channels.
E.g. Polsky argues accessing pornography and prostitution is better than rape.
Albert Clinard and Cohen
Acts as a warning - high level of deviance indicates an institution is not functioning properly and needs to reform
E.g. truancy
Ignores the victims (evaluation)
Ignores the impacts of crime on a victim. for the victim crime is unlikely to be a positive experience.
E.g. Manchester attack
How much crime is beneficial (evaluation)
Durkheim nor any other sociologists have quanitified how much crime is needed in society. they all state crime is necessary but also say that too much crime leads to anomie.
Marxists disagree (evaluation)
Argues crime is only positive for the ruling class as they determine the norms and values
does all crime lead to social solidarity? (evaluation)
Crime doesn’t always lead to social cohesion. in fact, it may lead to isolation for both the victim and the criminal
Merton Strain theory
Concluded that Americans were socialised into believing in the American dream. However equal access to these goals did not exist
What affects peoples ability to achieve the American dream?
Social class and ethnicity can affect someone’s ability to achieve it. some people have more opportunities than others to achieve it
Utilitarian crimes
Crimes that give us material gain
non - utilitarian crimes
crimes that don’t aim to gain profit
Conformity
Pursuing cultural goals through socially approved means
E.g. middle class jobs
Innovation
Using socially unapproved or unconventional means to obtain culturally approved goals.
E.g. theft, fraud
Ritualism
Using the same socially approved means to achieve less elusive goals (more modest and humble)
E.g. dead end jobs, routine e.g. working in a factory
Retreatism
To reject both the cultural and the means to obtain it
E.g. drug addicts, alcoholics
Rebellion
To reject the cultural goals and means, then work to replace them
E.g. political radicals, hippies
Criticism of Merton (deterministic)
The theory is deterministic as it suggests that it is not individual choice that leads to criminal behaviour but external factors which leads to criminal and deviant behaviour