Crime as a Social Construct

Question 1

what is a social construct

Answer 1

A social construct is an
idea that has been
created and accepted by
the people in a society

Question 2

what is deviance

Answer 2

Behaviour that does not conform to
society’s norms and values. It is
disapproved by many and could
lead to negative sanctions

Question 3

what is a consensus approach to crime

Answer 3

Takes an absolutist view to crime and
deviance.

Thus the same behaviour will always be
considered deviant in all societies and at all
times.

Question 4

what is an example of a consensus approach to crime

Answer 4

Stealing is an anti-social act in society,
but is also a crime as the act triggers
responses from the forces of social
control

Question 5

what is an interactionist approach to crime

Answer 5

Takes a relative view of crime and
deviance.

Thus the same behaviour, in different
societies and at different times, may be
considered either deviant or non-
deviant.

Question 6

what is an example of an interactionist approach to crime

Answer 6

Goffman argues that people develop a
sense of self by interpreting the actions
of others and then behave in ways that
make sense to them.

Question 7

what is a social constructionist approach to crime

Answer 7

Takes a relative view of crime and deviance.

The important feature of social constructionism is
that the same thing can be interpreted in different
ways.

Question 8

what is an agent of social control

Answer 8

An agent of social control is an individual or institution that enforces societal norms and laws to maintain order. Examples include law enforcement, schools, family, and the media.

Question 9

what did Becker say about labelling

Answer 9

deviance Is made
by defining someone as deviant

Question 10

what did Leslie Wilkins say about labelling

Answer 10

The response to deviance by agents of social
control can generate deviancy amplification.

When acts are defined as deviant the deviants become stigmatised and cut off from mainstream society.

Question 11

what did Young’s research conclude about cannabis smokers

Answer 11

Some individuals occasionally smoked
cannabis.

However after they were caught and labelled by
the police and courts their deviance became
worse.

Question 12

what did Cicourel find about official crime statistics.

Answer 12

Police are prone to judging people. The labels they apply
affect the official rates of offending (Official Crime Statistics)

High crime amongst ethnic minorities may be institutional
racism.

Question 13

what are the two main approaches the police take

Answer 13

Neighbourhood policing (Late
Modern Approach) : Teams of
police and community support
officers work in a geographic area.

Reactive policing: Police respond
to emergency calls from the public
for help.

Question 14

what is discretion

Answer 14

Discretion means freedom to act or judge but doing so wisely
and as objectively as possible

Question 15

what did Reiner say about police discretion

Answer 15

Discretion is the idea that the police
have some leeway as to when and
how seriously they will enforce the
law

Question 16

what did Reiner say the 3 basic explanation of police discretion are

Answer 16

Individualistic Discretion

Cultural Discretion

Structural Discretion

Question 17

what is individualistic discretion

Answer 17

A police officer may have a specific
interest and interprets and applies the
law according to this

This is not necessarily reflective of the
occupational culture of the police nor its
structural role in society

Question 18

what is cultural discretion

Answer 18

Police officers are overwhelmingly white and male.

Canteen culture of the police has an impact on discretion, they are more likely to be suspicious and hostile towards certain social groups

Question 19

what is structural discretion

Answer 19

Typical Marxist version where the police directly
represent the interests of the bourgeoisie and
therefore enforce law and order in their interests

Question 20

what did Colman and Gorman say about individualistic discretion

Answer 20

Surveyed police officers in inner London
noted that there were individual racist
police officer who would apply the law
more harshly on certain ethnic
minorities

Question 21

what did Skilnick and Graef say about canteen culture

Answer 21

4 main areas:
- suspicious
- internal solidarity and social isolation
- conservatism
- masculinity

Question 22

what did Tarlings say about structural discretion

Answer 22

65% police resources devoted to
uniformed patrolling of public space in deprived
neighbourhoods and city centres

Question 23

what did Morgan and Russel say about structural discretion

Answer 23

55% of prisoners in
police custody were unemployed and 30% in
manual working class jobs with POC
disproportionately represented

Question 24

what did Holdaway say about police and ethnicity

Answer 24

Older and more experienced
officers use racist language as a matter of
course in the presence of younger officers

Question 25

what did Bowling and Philips say absout police and ethnicity

Answer 25

Some police officers in London based decision to stop young black males in cars on a stereotype called ‘driving while black’, police officers assumed black youths were driving upmarket cars because they were either drugs dealers or had stolen the cars

Question 26

what did Reiner find about crime in newspapers

Answer 26

noted that more crime is featured in the more down market newspapers such as the sun compared to the independent. • This may be because of the differences in the newspapers audiences.

Question 27

why have news and newspapers been criticised

Answer 27

for deliberately giving certain impressions of particular social groups.

Question 28

what did Chibnall say about media coverage of the police

Answer 28

When the media discusses corruption within the police force, the officers involved are always presented as individuals rather than the police force as a whole

Question 29

what is Stan Cohens moral panic theory

Answer 29

A moral panic refers to intense public concern or anxiety about a social problem or group which has been focused on by the mass media. The moral panic amplifies the problem to make it seem more serious than it is.

Question 30

what did Furedi say about why moral panics happen

Answer 30

Society fails to adapt to dramatic social change and it is felt that there is a loss of control, especially over marginalised groups such as the young.

Question 31

what did Hall et al find about Afro-Caribbean muggers

Answer 31

Afro-Caribbean's were labelled as criminal by the media. They were portrayed as being involved in robbing, knifings and murders. This was a media exaggeration, but it was believed. Mugging came to be seen as a black crime, due to the coverage of the media.

Question 32

what is the dark figure of crime

Answer 32

The dark figure of crime describes the amount of unreported or undiscovered crimes which questions to accuracy of and usefulness of official crime statistics

Question 33

what is coughing in terms of manipulation of police recorded crime figures

Answer 33

Offender might be encouraged to admit a number of offences in return for being charged for less serious offences which would reduce sentence. This improves ‘clear up’ rates for police.

Question 34

what is Cuffing in terms of manipulation of police recorded crime figures

Answer 34

When crimes reported and initially recorded are removed from the statistics at a later date e.g. police reassess under further investigations

Question 35

what is Skewing in terms of manipulation of police recorded crime figures

Answer 35

Police put resources into those areas measured by performance indications to ‘skew’ figures

Question 36

what are victim surveys

Answer 36

Surveying people about which crime they have been victims of. The biggest example of a victim survey is the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) which is included as part of the official crime stats by the government

Question 37

what did Dobash and Dobash say about victim surveys

Answer 37

Researched into domestic violence using in-depth interviews with women at a refuge Qualitative research is not aimed at competing with police recorded figures Serves access to a particular group to understand the impact of crime on their lives

Question 38

what are self report studies

Answer 38

People asked about crimes they have committed Usually done through a tick list of what they have done – always anonymous and confidential

Question 39

what did Sutherland say about offending rates

Answer 39

Crime statistics have a higher incidence in the lower socio-economic class and a low incidence in the upper socio-economic class

Question 40

what did the Social Exclusion Unit say about offending rates

Answer 40

many prisoners have a history of social exclusion, grown up in care, grown up in poverty and/or have a family member convicted of a criminal offence

Question 41

what did Glueck and Glueck say about offending rates

Answer 41

in the first half the the 20th century statistics indicated that a disproportionate percentage of the prison population were poor, uneducated and unemployed

Question 42

what did Walmsley et al say about offending rates

Answer 42

disproportionate number of prisoners had formerly been employed in unskilled or partly skilled work

Question 43

what did William et al say about offending rates

Answer 43

Literacy and numeracy levels of prisoners are significantly lower than those found in the general population

Question 44

what did Cavadino and Dignan say about offending rates

Answer 44

The difference between the classes get magnified reasons included the types of offences committed but also class bias at various stages of the criminal justice process

Question 45

what is a Blue collar crime

Answer 45

crimes that cause injury to people or property, such as street crimes, sex crimes, assault, and drug crimes.

Question 46

what is a white collar crime

Answer 46

referred to those crimes committed by individuals with a higher social status or upper-level occupation. Crimes which are generally committed in a business setting and are considered to be non-violent, such as wire fraud, forgery, embezzlement.

Question 47

what did Sutherland say about white and blue collar crimes

Answer 47

Crime is not necessarily a working class phenomenon but the cost of white collar crime was likely to be much greater then the cost of blue collar crime

Question 48

what did Hughes and Langan say about white and blue collar crimes

Answer 48

white collar crimes are much less visible, and they are sometimes called victimless crimes because they may not be no individual victim. This results in an inequality in perceptions of the typical criminal and in the likelihood of conviction for those committing white collar crimes.

Question 49

what did Croall say about white and blue collar crimes

Answer 49

corporate crimes are potentially much more damaging to greater numbers of people than are street crimes and yet street crimes have a higher profile and are much more likely to result in convictions and imprisonment for the offender.

Question 50

what did the British Crime Survey 2010 - 2011 find about victimisation and social class

Answer 50

Young households, lone parents and the unemployed are all more than twice as likely to be burgled as the average household The unemployed are more than twice as likely to be victims and violence compare to the average person

Question 51

what did Young say about victimisation and social class

Answer 51

‘myth of the equal victim’ suggested that certain groups, such as the poor, are hit much harder when they become a victim so not all victims are equal

Question 52

what did Kinsey say about victimisation and social class

Answer 52

Merseyside Crime Survey (1984) found that the poor suffer more than the wealthy from the effects of crime

Question 53

what is the relationship between gender and offence rates

Answer 53

Police recorded crime figures consistently show that males commit around 80% of all offences.