Crime and Deviance Topic 1 Flashcards
Key Items
Crime
Deviance
Durkheim - Value Consensus
Anarchy/Anomie
Crime - Broken Criminal Law
Deviance - Actions against the norms and values of society
Value Consensus - The normative view on society
Anarchy/Anomie - Society loses function due to crime
Strain Theory
We have shared goals which link to money, strain occurs when there is a mismatch between the memes and goals
The 5 main responses to strain
Conformists, Innovators, Ritualists, Retreatists and Rebel’s
Criticisms of strain
Cohen (1955) Argues the working class experience status frustration where they have no means to achieve the same goals. Leads to AA subcultures
Box (1981) - Cohen’s theories only apply to a minority of offenders who turned against the mainstream
Illegitimate Opportunity Structures (Cloward and Ohlin)
Not everyone has the same criminal opportunities for example those that live in the city and countryside etc.
The three deviant subcultures
1) Criminal - Organised gangs
2) Conflict - Street gangs
3) Retreatist Subcultures - Failure to succeed
Khan (2007)
110 drug dealers interviewed, illegal crime careers available
Focal Concerns
Miller - Norms and values of the working class are different than those of wider society
Focal Concerns evaluation
Connel - Working class values can be applied to men in general
Matza - Subterranean Values
Everyone has different values under the surface therefore there are no outright subcultural values
Seductions of Crime
Katz (1988) - Young men drawn to crime
Lyng (1990) - Edgework - People enjoy the risk of crime
Neo tribes
Maffesoli (1996) - Rather than subcultures, people just look similar but have different values
Gangs
Marshall (2005) Gangs can be split into three groups
- Peer groups usually teenagers
- Gangs - e.g. Violent street gangs
- Organised - Mafia
