CRIME AND DEVIANCE / THEORIES Flashcards
Do functionalists believe in social facts or social constructs?
Social facts. Crime is a social fact that can be objectively measured
Do functionalists adopt causal or non-causal approach?
Causal approach. Crime arises from the weakening of social cohesion
What are the 2 mechanisms that create social solidarity?
- Socialisation - teaching norms and values
- Social control - formal and informal that rewards conformity and punishes deviance
Why according to functionalism crime is?
1. Functional
2. Inevitable
3. Necessary
- Functional - has a warning function
- Inevitable - not everyone is socialised the same way
- Necessary - provokes social change and strengthens social solidarity
According to Durkheim, what is the difference between crime rates in pre-industrial and modern society?
There was less crime in pre-industrial society
1. Pre industrial - mechanical solidarity = severe punishment
2. Modern society - complex = high risk of anomie
According to Durkheim, what are the 2 reasons why crime would be present in all societies?
- Different socialisation
- Deviant subcultures
According to Hirschi’s control theory, what are the 4 bonds of attachment?
- Attachment - caring about others
- Involvement - level of business interest in social life
- Commitment - personal investment in our lives e.g. mortgages, careers
- Belief - conviction that one should abide by the law
According to Durkheim, what’s the role of punishment?
To reaffirm society’s values, reinforce social solidarity and mend the offender
What did Erikson use to demonstrate the warning function?
Truancy. if students are absent, it suggests that something is wrong
According to Merton’s strain theory, what are the 5 modes of adaptation?
- Conformity - accept goals accept means
- Innovation - accept goals reject means
- Ritualism - reject goals accept means
- Retreatism - reject goals reject means
- Rebellion - reject and substitute both
What is a safety valve according to Davis?
Prostitution serving a safety valve to protect the nuclear family (a man releases sexual tension without getting in a relationship with a prostitute)
According to Polsky, what is a safety channeling?
Watching pornography is a way of channelling sexual desires that would otherwise threaten nuclear families
According to functionalism (KA6) what are the ‘other’ functions of crime?
- Safety Valve
- Safety Channeling
How did Erikson called courtroom situations whereby the boundaries are reaffirmed?
Degradation Ceremonies
what are reactive subcultures?
those that are formed in response to the failure
according to Matza’s dift theory, what are the 5 techniques of neutralism?
- Denial of responsibility - in with a bad crowd
- Denial of injury - nobody was hurt so it’s ok
- Denial of the victim - the punishment was deserved
- Condemning the condemners - the police are corrupt and brutal
- Appeal to their duties - loyal to friends and family
how capitalism maintains control over people? (according to CCCS)
- Ideological dominance
- Economic pressure
What are the 6 focal concerns according to Walton Miller? (FATSET)
- Fate - little chance to overcome the fate that awaits them
- Autonomy - it is important not to be pushed around by others
- Trouble - ‘I don’t look for trouble, but it follows me’
- Smartness - looking and sounding good is the key
- Excitement - it’s important to search thrills
- Toughness - being physically stronger and showing it is important
What are the 3 subcultures according to Ohlin and Cloward and what are their characteristics?
- Criminal subculture - already established hierarchy
- Conflict subculture - in areas with high population turnover, no stable hierarchy
- Retreatist subculture - for double failures, based on illegal drug use
Which subcultural theory argues there’s unequal access to both: legitimate and illegitimate opportunity strucutre?
illegitimate opportunity structure - Ohlin and Cloward
which subcultural theory explains non-utilitarian crime?
Status frustration theory - Cohen
To support drift theory, give an example of the value that are present in mainstream society and in criminal groups
Toughness - a value in sport
What is the difference between the corporate and white-collar crime?
- Corporate crime is committing crime on behalf of the company
- White collar crime is office based crime including ripping from the company
Outline one of the 4 reasons why corporate crime is not seen as a serious problem in society
- They’re invisible by the public
- They’re complex and hard to identify
- Victimisation is indirect
Corporates are rarely taken to court
Outline 3 characteristic of global capitalism and how they lead to crime
- Shifting production to the countries with lower costs - increases unemployment making people turn to crime out of poverty
- Neo-liberal system based on less control allows for money to travel around the world - encourages tax evasion because finance is difficult to trace
- Capitalist values is greed which results in bribery and corruption
What is inverse victimisation law?
the paradox as to why poor people become the victims of crime more often than rich ones - as taking from the rich becomes harder and harder
Marxists want to overthrow the captalism and establish communism. What do neo-Marxists want? (2)
- Socialism
- Acceptance of deviant groups rather than prosecution
What are the 6 stages of the fully social theory of crime by Taylor, Walton and Young?
- wider origins of the deviant act
- immediate origins of the deviant act
- the actual act
- immediate origins of social reaction
- wider origins of social reaction
- impact of deviant’s future actions
What is the neo-marxist case study to illustrate that crime is an active political response?
Hong Kong protests - reflected extreme prices for housing
What do postmodernists believe are the root causes of crime?
They are undiscoverable in postmodern society and crime is merely a product of individual’s free will
What does Henry’s and Milovanovic’s transgressive approach to crime suggest?
That the definition of crime should be taken outside the boundaries of what’s legal and shouls account for any sort of social harm
What is meant by the term liquid surveillance? (Bauman & Lyon)
There are many forms of surveillance, sometimes we are not even conscious of being under surveillance. This erodes our sense of civil liberties
What is postmodernist solution to crime?
- Fragmentation in society should be reflected in fragmented organisation of crime prevention
e.g. private security firms controlling public places
According to Becker, what 2 effects does law creation have?
- Emergence of the new groups of outsiders
- The expansion of social control agents to enforce the rule and impose the label
What 3 factors determine who gets labelled? (Interactionism)
- Their interactions with the police and court
- Their appearance and background
- The situation and circumstances of the offence
What are the 2 types of deviance? (Lemert - Interactionism)
- Primary deviance - hasn’t been publicly defined as deviant
- Secondary deviance - gets public reaction and can lead to rule enforcement
What community Lemert researched and found that stutterring occurred as a result of the high pressure?
Coastal lnnuits in Canada
According to Becker, what are the 3 principles of labelling?
- Rule breaking isn’t always defined as deviant
- Someone has to have a vested interest in enforcing a certain rule
- If the person is successfully labelled, the consequences follow
What are the 5 steps in the process of labelling leading to self-fulfilling prophecy? (Becker)
- Individual is publicly labelled as deviant → rejection from some social groups
- Further deviance
- Official treatment also excludes the individual
- Individuals join the organised groups → accept deviant identity
- Within a group, a deviant subculture develops
What’s the example of self-fulfilling prophecy? (Young)
Hippies were stigmatised as dirty frug takers → they started accetuating their differences through the appearance and drug taking → this has become their symbol differentiating them from others
What 3 case studies deviancy amplification could be attached to? (Interactionsim)
- Jock Young - Hippies
- Lemert - Stuttering
- Cohen - Folk devils and moral panics (mods and rockers)
Interactionism key area 5 - ‘labelling and criminal justice policy’. What does it develop? What 3 principles does it include?
How labelling theory can be applied to criminal policies
1. Attempts to control offenders can have the opposite effect
2. Labelling theory should affect social policy making (decriminalisation)
3. Stop public shaming
According to Braithwaite (Interactionist), what are the 2 types of shaming? Which one he believes has a positive impact?
- Disintegrative shaming - crime and criminal are labelled as bed and the offender is excluded from society
- !Reintegrative shaming - the act is labelled, but the actor is not
Mix n Match
Study:
1. Physical cues
2. Typifications
3. Juvenile Delinquency
4. Common sense theory
Sociologist:
a. Platt
b. Cicourel
c. Piliavin and Briar
d. Cicourel
- Physical cues - Piliavin and Briar
- Typifications - Cicourel
- Juveline Delinquency - Platt
- Common sense theory - Cicourel
What’s the concept: ‘cultural inclusion, economic exclusion’ according to Young? (Left-Realism)
Media promotes cultural inclusion that even poor can access it, but in reality poor don’t have economic resources to achieve these lifestyles
What’s relative deprivation? (Runciman - LR)
How deprived you feel in relation to others
What’s the name for the concept describing people getting fed up on media messages and therefore being dissatisfied with their expectations being unachievable?
Bulimic Society - Young
What are the 3 features of relative deprivation + late modernity?
- Growing individualism
- Weakwning of informal social controls
- Growing economic inequality (globalisation)
What are the 4 components of the toxic mix? (Left Realism)
- Greater risk
- More uncertainty
- Less informal control
- Exclusion from aspirational lifestyles
According to Lea & Young, what’s the paradox of modern society?
Contradiction between more prosperity and more crime
According to Lea & Young, what is the main factor that helps groups avoid marginalisation?
Participation in production processes
According to Right Realism, what are the 3 factors affecting learning environment for boys making them to crime?
- Self-expression
- Low impulse control
- Immediate gratification
According to Murray (RR), what are the 3 features characterising the underclass?
- Crime
- Illegitimacy (children are born outside marriage)
- Economic inactivity
What historical event led to people becoming more dependent on the state? (RR)
Generous revolution - 1960’s
According to Wilson and Hernstein (RR), changes in what 2 factors will lead to changes in crime rates?
Costs and Benefits
What does Felson’s ‘routine activity theory’ suggest?
motivated offender + absence of guardian = crime
