Crime + Deviance Flashcards
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crime
- The breaking of the written laws e.g.murder
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deviance
- breaking the social norms and values e.g. teenage pregnancy
formal social control
- is based on written rules and laws.
- it is usually associated with the ways in which the state requires and control peoples actions and behaviour
- e.g. police
Informal social control
- Is based on unwritten rules and processes such as the approval of other people.
- it is enforced via social pressure.
- This may be through family, freinds religion etc
functionalist theorist of crime
- durkeim
- merton
- cohen
- cloward
Durkhiem
He argues that crime is healthy for societies, too much crime leads anomie
he identifies 4 functions to crime
- reaffririmg boundaries
- social cohesion
- safety vale
- changing values
- Durkheim has helped us understand how anomie occurs. He discusses the dangers of weakening the collective conscience
4 functions
reaffirming boundaries
public shaming is a way of showing society what will happen if laws are broken, therefore reminding poeple that they must be law abiding
e.g. shamima begum = left the UK at 15 to join ISIS, resulting in her never being able to join the UK
suggests that we must conform to the socially approve ways of society so that we dont get sanctioned
Changing values
- Every so often when people are taken to court, important questions are raised about the justice system reflecting the changes in time, values and ideas.
E.G. Aluwahila, was charged with murder and imprisoned for life on the ground of ‘provocation’ (After she set her husband on fire after suffering abuse and brutality for 10 years). But government replace this law with a new defence of ‘killing in response to a fear of serious violence’
Social cohesion
- crime also strengthens social cohesion, while office crimes are committed, the community comes together
- George Floyd = made an impact around the world of the deep systemic realities underlying black life. It brought a call for actions, bringing communities of all races. - hoping to stop police brutaility
Evaluation of Durkheim: weakness
- Lea and Young- Durkheim looks at how crime is useful for society but does not look at the harm is causes the victim. e.g. George Floyd
- Durkheim does not specify how much crime is functional. Negative backlash of BLM = Resulted in ALM
- Ignores the inequality between powerful groups. Marxist and Feminist analysis of crime demonstrates that not all criminal are punished equally and this crime and punishment benefit the powerful rather than the powerless
Merton’s Strain Theory
- strain (associated with struggle and or the inability to retain something)
- Individuals turn to criminal/deviant acts as a means of achieving goals (anomie)
Meetings 5 responses to strain:
- Rebellion
- Conformity
- Innovation
- Ritualism
- Retreatism
Rebellion
- Individuals creates new methods of achieving the same goals in society = doesn’t always have to be criminal e.g. business ventures
- E.g. London Riots = they were denied to opportunities to apply for jobs and rejected the societal norms. Made it difficult to live in conformity (material deprived). So they resulted in stealing to help their situations
- This could be due to institutional racism within school/labelling within school.
Conformity
Individuals conforms to the norms and values and continues with the same goals
Ritualism
Indivisible gives up on goals and norms and values of society e.g. homeless
Retreatism
Individuals abandon the goals but still conforms to societies norms and values
Evaluation of mertons strain theory weakness
1) Merton assumes that there is a value consensus and that people only deviate because of structural strain but in reality, people have different values. ⬇️
- For example, Westernised countries hold the point of view of material wealth being important (ethnocentric) but what about other party’s if the world
2) Mertons theory only accounts for utilitarian crime. What about crimes such as vandalism and violence
3) ignores the reason why people cannot gain material wealth e.g. alleviate opportunists and subcultures e.g drug dealing theft
Utilitarian crimes
Crimes committed for the acquisition of material reward e.g. theft
Non- Utilitarian crime
Crime that does not have a financial/ material reward (Murder, rape)
Status Frustration: Cohen
- describe how working-class men feel frustrated by the inability to achieve the same status as members of the m/c.
- Cohen argued that working-class boys often failed at school resulting in a low status.
- Therefore denied the opportunities/access for a job
- A response to this was the formation of subcultures or gangs where status is gained by breaking mainstream values = they express their resentment illegitmately e.g. stealing to attain the things like m/c ppl have
- developed a self-fulfilling prophecy = resulting of element of alienation = feel inferior
- links to Lacey’s study of polarisation and differentiation l.
- when teachers treat pupils differently & polarised them into different categories students act upon it.
- Students level of status will be threatened and they won’t be seen as worthy so they push alternative ways to gain status and perform non-utilitarian.
Evaluation: Cohen theory
- Middle class have abscribed status (given to them). Cohens theory is flawed because it only discuss about blue collar crime (performed by w/c delinquency) disregards white collar crimes such as corporate crime, (typically performed by the middle class)
- He assumes that all working class boys have the same aspirations as middle class boys. They have been raised with different values.
- Dahl found that working class boys generally just want a job where they can support their family , and aspirations of status are less of a focus
Functionalism: Cloward & Ohlin
(Used to support a paragraphs of cohen + Merton)
- They take Mertons ideas but say that not everyone turns to ‘money success’ as not all individuals have equal access to the illegitimate opportunity structure.
- they have 3 structures
Clowards & ohlin 3 structures (subcultures)
CRIMINAL SUBCULTURES
- creates a career in utilitarian crime. (deviant career) = this links to Mertons responses to strain more specifically rebellion = creates new goals
CONFLICT SUBCULTURES:
- Gangs organised by young people themselves, often based on claiming territory from other gangs in so called “turf-wars”
- Prevents a stable professional criminal organisation to emerge and instead forms a gang for releasing young men’s frustration. = aligns with cohens status frustration
RETREATIST SUBCULTURES
- Double failures that fail in legitimate and illegitimate opportunity structure. Usually turn to drug
Evaluation of Cloward & Ohlin
- As with other functionalist subcultural theories, Cloward and Ohlin write about working-class crime and predominantly about males, yet do not tackle broader issues relating to social class or gender. = They do not question why, in the meritocratic society (described by most functionalists), working-class youths are generally denied access to legitimate opportunity structures.
- they are more than 3 types of subcultures that w/c people can conform to.
Marxism & crime
- Marxism is a structural theory so it will always see the structures of society as an exploration for behaviour
- The economic base determines the superstructure (crime) and the superstructure maintains & legitimates the base.
Three elements in which it does this:
1. Criminogenic capitalism
2. The state & law making
3. Ideological functions of crime & law