CRIME & DEVIANCE

Question 1

what is crime?
- definition
- example
- responses

Answer 1

Crime is an illegal act that is punishable by law
e.g. murder, rape etc

• a person committing crime can be:
  punished by law
  charged
  persecuted
• they can receive a sentence such as community order, fine or imprisonment

Question 2

what is legal deviance?
- example
- responses

Answer 2

legal Deviance is an act or behaviour that goes against the norms or rules of society BUT is not always illegal and is seen as abnormal by people
e.g. pushing in a queue, belching loudly etc

• a person who behaves deviantly can lead to:
  negative responses
  &
  negative sanctions
• such as being told off or shouted at
  ignored and ridiculed

Question 3

what is extreme deviance?
- example
- responses

Answer 3

Extreme deviance is when a person acts so far out of the norms and rules of society
e.g. excessive drinking, being completely tattooed

• extreme deviance generates very strong negative reactions from others

Question 4

what does socially constructed mean?

Answer 4

this is when something is defined and created by wider society
e.g. crime

Question 5

why is crime socially constructed?

Answer 5

because it differs according to time place and culture

a crime or deviant act is not always a crime, it depends on how other people react to it.

for example selling drugs in a pharmacy is okay HOWEVER selling drugs on the street is illegal

Question 6

how does crime/deviance differ through time

Answer 6

depending on the historical time period not everything is a crime
e.g. in the past homosexuality was seen as a crime however due to changes in laws and attitudes it is now legal

another example is abortion

Question 7

how does crime/ deviance differ through place/culture

Answer 7

depending on the place and culture not everything is viewed as a crime
- every society has a different set of norms
e.g. America allows citizens to carry around guns
whereas in the UK it is illegal

another example is euthanasia (assisting someones death) is legal in Switzerland while other countries it is not legal

Question 8

what is social order?
- 2 theories on how it is achieved

Answer 8

this is how people live/work together in order for society to run smoothly

1. • Functionalists - Parsons - consensus approach-
2. Marxists - karl Marx - conflict approach

Question 9

describe the consensus approach to social order

Answer 9

functionalist
parsons argues that
society runs smoothly due to shared norms and values via socialisation

people support these rules and norms hence we can achieve social order

Question 10

describe the conflict approach to social order

Answer 10

Marxist
Karl Marx argues that
society is based on class divisions
bourgeoisie’s have their own means of production so have the POWER to control proletariats
e.g. laws are made in their interest

Question 11

what is social control ?
- two types of social control

Answer 11

social control is HOW social order is achieved

by controlling peoples actions and behaviours through rules which operate via sanctions and rewards

It is of two types
1. formal social control
2. informal social control

Question 12

describe what formal social control is
- give examples

Answer 12

Formal social control is based on laws and rules and how the government controls behaviour.

the agencies of formal social control are the places that make laws and regulate behaviour
e.g. house of parliament
police force
courts etc

Question 13

describe how the house of parliament is an agency of social control

Answer 13

the house of parliament decides on laws hence determine what is acceptable behaviour and what is not acceptable behaviour

Question 14

describe how the police force is an agency of social control

Answer 14

as they target criminals who break the law when needed via arrests or warnings
they ensure that social control is maintained

Question 15

describe how the courts is an agency of social control?
- two types of courts

Answer 15

all courts involve a judiciary and magistrates
- judiciary is judges and magistrates who sentence criminals
- magistrates are volunteers who help sentence minor cases

the two types of courts are:
1. the crown court - judges and juries who deal with SERIOUS cases
2. magistrates court - judges and juries who deal with LESS serious cases

they decide the punishment for the criminals and decide weather they are guilty or not

Question 16

describe how prison’s are an agency of social control

Answer 16

they keep criminal in prison/help to rehabilitate them

Question 16

describe how probation is an agency of social control

Answer 16

probation is a service that supervises criminals in their community
e.g. criminals do unpaid labour/work

they enforce criminals to act in a socially acceptable way enforcing social control

Question 17

describe how the serious fraud office is an agency of social control

Answer 17

the serious fraud office deals with serious/complex fraud and corruption

ensuring that it does not happen again or they are punished rightly

Question 18

Describe what informal social control is?
- give examples

Answer 18

informal social control is based on unwritten rules and the approval of others to control behaviour

• family members
• friends/peers
• religious leaders e.g. Preists imaams
• media
• colleagues

Question 19

HOW is social control operated?

Answer 19

social control is enforced via;
NEGATIVE sanctions and POSITIVE rewards
e.g. a promotion at work - reward
or a prison sentence - sanction

Question 20

What is the functionalist view of crime and deviance?

Answer 20

Functionalists
Parsons and Durkheim claim that
ALL institutions and parts of society including crime provide POSITIVE functions by binding people together

Question 21

HOW does crime act as a positive function?

Answer 21

1. crime acts as boundary maintenance
2. crime acts as a safety valve
3. crime acts as social change

Question 22

what is boundary maintenance?
- definition
- example
- what view is it from?/what about it?

Answer 22

when a crime has been committed
people think it is wrong and would be outraged

this outrage reinforces the norms and values of society
REMINDING everyone the boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable behaviours
this brings people together (social cohesion/collective conscious)
(boundary maintenance is the responses of society to the crime)

e.g. after the London riots local communities organised a mass cleanup - reinforcing the boundaries that stealing under any circumstances is wrong

THIS IS A POSITIVE FUNCTION OF CRIME - FUNCTIONALISM - Durkheim

Question 23

what is meant by crime acts as a safety valve?
- deffiniton
-example
- what view is it from?/what about it?

Answer 23

criminal/ deviant acts can act as a form of pressure release(releasing the stresses of society)

initially meaning that a crime is sometimes committed to release stress or dissatisfaction about something
e.g. getting overly drunk to release stress about family or work

e.g. the Mark Duggan riots - started with the frustration at the police brutality to Mark Duggan. his family was frustrated as they had no information or apology from the police so created riots to show their anger

THIS IS A POSITIVE FUNCTION OF CRIME - FUNCTIONALISM - Durkheim

Question 24

what is meant by crime acts as social change?
- meaning
- example
- what view is it from?/what about it?

Answer 24

a crime MUST occur in order for society to adapt and change laws if needed

e.g. homosexuality was not legal before but now it is due to more and more people committing crimes it eventually became legal

THIS IS A POSITIVE FUNCTION OF CRIME - FUNCTIONALISM - Durkheim

Question 25

what are the critiques of the functionalist idea that crime acting as a positive function?

Answer 25

crime DOES NOT act as a positive function
1. crime hurts the victim and damages communities, they do not bring people together and don’t reinforce boundaries

marxist claim that crime DOES NOT act as a positive function
2. as functionalists ignore the issue of power abs how crimes act to support the interests of one group not evryone

Question 26

in the functionalist view why do people commit crime?

Answer 26

1. Functionalist - Robert Merton - strain theory
2. Functionalist - Albert Cohen - subculture theory

Question 27

what is the strain theory?
- meaning
- example
- what view is it from?/what about it?

Answer 27

Functionalist sociologist Robert Merton
argues that crime occurs because:
everyone wants to achieve the American dream,
but not everyone CAN achieve it
due to unequal opportunities such as discrimination hence people live in poverty.
HOWEVER the working class would turn to crime to achieve the American dream
merton calls this criminal behaviour anomie

Question 28

what is an evaluation of functionalists Merton’s strain theory?

Answer 28

Merton’s strain theory isn’t necessarily true

1. merton ignores that its not only the working class that commit crimes but also the middle class even though they do not suffer from the same ‘strain’
2. merton’s theory only focuses on utilitarian crimes (money motivated crimes) ignoring why people commit crimes such as murder or rape

Question 29

what is the subculture theory?
- meaning
- example
- what view is it from?/what about it?

Answer 29

functionalist sociologist Albert Cohen
goes against the idea of Merton’s strain theory but instead argues that:
the working class commit crime NOT because of the strain that exists but
because they have a different set of values and norms from mainstream society.
this is known as subculture.

because of their low status they get frustrated and out of anger commit crimes such as vandalism joy riding etc to gain status from their subcultural group.
Cohen calls this status frustration

Question 30

what is an evaluation of functionalist Cohen’s subcultural theory?

Answer 30

whilst Cohen is right in what he says he ignores the root cause of crime
which is poverty and discrimination