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Crime & Deviance Flashcards

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Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

measuring crime - strengths of OCS

A
  • cheap (practical)
  • readily available (practical)
  • up to date & contemporary (valid)
  • collected in standardized, systematic & scientific way (reliable)
  • can be easily checked & verified (highly reliable)
  • cover a large population (representative)
  • collected by state and seen to be highly valid (valid)
  • few ethical issues
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2
Q

measuring crime - weakness of ocs

A
  • many crimes not recognised as such and therefore not reported to police (lack validity)
  • based on operational definitions that sociologists wouldn’t agree on (changed definitions of drug offences)
  • ‘coughing & cuffing’ - police encourage people to admit to crimes they haven’t done. they may not record some crimes if they think its unsolvable (low validity)
  • definitions, laws and police rules change so you cant really compare overtime. (low reliability)
  • many crimes aren’t reported even if they are aware it took place, due to proximity of station or too frightened to report.
  • statistics don’t really reveal why people have committed crimes.
  • don’t provide complete picture of all the crimes.
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3
Q

official crime statistics

A

police, court prison records, crime survey (CSEW)
- collected by home office
- functionalists would agree with ocs bc we live in a value consensus and the police is one of us, the quantitative data is reliable and representative
- new right & right realists support
- left realists recognise these figures aren’t perfect
james patrick whistleblower - worked as a police officer and analysed crime statistic for 12 months and found many serious sexual offences were ‘no crimed’ and burglary was seen as a lower type offence

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4
Q

victim surveys

A

police, court, prison records and csew data. victim reports the crime eg islington crime survey
- collected by home office

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5
Q

self report studies

A

people are asked about the crimes they’ve committed themselves. quantitative & longitudinal.
eg cambridge study & edinburgh study

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6
Q

victim survey strengths

A
  • good picture of extent and patterns of victimisation (Valid)
  • overcomes significant proportion of events that arent reported by police (valid)
  • 10-15 yr olds can be included(representative)
  • carried out annually, (reliable)
  • largest social survey (representative)
  • high response rates of 75 and 68% in 2013-14
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7
Q

victim survey weaknesses

A
  • even though they are anonymous, victims under report sexual offences. (invalid)
  • interviewer effects (invalid)
  • young - there is still dark figure of crime present, there will be occasional inaccuracies (invalid)
  • crimes such as fraud not includes also victimless crimes like drunkenness (invalid)
  • some crimes depend on the victims definition of crime (invalid)
  • inaccuracy of crime categories
  • problem with basing statistics on victims memories.
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8
Q

self report surveys strengths

A
  • ethical and valid because they stress confidentiality and anonymity for the respondent
  • findings from self reports challenge the picture of a typical criminal. eg campbell found the statistics of crime by men and women are closer than police figures suggest
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9
Q

self report surveys weakness

A
  • interviewer effects
  • high dropout rate, high attrition rate more likely to miss out on frequent offenders (farrington et al)
  • response rates from those with a criminal record was lower than those without
  • distributed amongst young people, harder to record white collar crime (unrepresentativeness)
  • impossible to include all criminal acts in a questionnaire, researcher must be selective (invalid, unrepresentative)
  • inaccuracy of crime categories
  • some exaggerate offences to give tough impression
  • people may under report as it requires offenders memories
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10
Q

existence of dark figure of crime

A

1) white collar crime (big corporations, politicians)
2) coughing and cuffing through police
3) institutions avoid bad publicity (royal family prince andrew sexual offender claims)
4) victims may fear humiliation or feel powerless.

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11
Q

relativity of crime and deviance

A

1) time - when the act takes place (alcohol consumption in the US in 1920s, legal now over 21)
2) location - where the act happens (naked in public vs in bathtub)
3) social situation - the context (killing on the street, killing in army)
4) culture - different cultures have different expectations (women exposing legs in islamic countries v in western societies)

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12
Q

crime

A

a legal wrong followed by criminal proceedings which may result in punishment.

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13
Q

deviance

A

behaviour that does not conform to dominant norms of a specific society. not always law breaking

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14
Q

ways to create conformity

A

1- social order, general conformity to shared norms and values.
2- social control, the process which people are persuaded to conform and obey rules (informal and formal)
3- formal social control, carried out by gov,police etc
4- informal social control, carried out by education system and families

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15
Q

social class : offending and victimisation

A

offending: increase in lower socioeconomic classes in prison 67% compared 5%.
- 32% population of prisoners have been homeless compared to 0.9% general population.
:( - these statistics may be unequivalent because some are underreported
:( class bias in criminal justice system

victimisation: young, unemployed, lone parents more likely to be robbed. they’re more vulnerable and criminals have easier access and can steal easily from lower socioeconomic class.
‘myth of an equal victim’

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16
Q

gender : offending and victimisation

A

offending:
-police recorded crime figures show that males commit 80% of crimes
-females only accounted for 18% arrests in 2013
ocs suggest peak age of offending for girls is 15 whereas males is 18. however as girls grow older crime rates drop significantly.
victimisation:
-csew shows fewer women are victims of crime compared to men
- men are more likely to be victims of violence but women are more likely to report abuse and sexual abuse
-Stanko- during 1 hr period violence was reported every second but few led to an arrest
-hammen + saunders found 20% of women had been sexually assaulted & reported it.

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17
Q

age : offending and victimisation

A

offending : young people more likely to offend than adults
23% in 2009-10 was 10-17 yr olds.
Juvenile offenders more likely to receive a caution compared to adult offenders
Victimisation: older people have a fear of crime whereas younger people are more likely to be victims of crime. Somewhat supported by islington survey.

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18
Q

ethnicity : offending and victimisation

A

more people from asian & black backgrounds get stopped and searched and arrested compared to their white counterparts.
- black people 3x more likely to get arrested than white people
- black people compromised 3.1% of population but 14.2% were accounted for stop and searches
victimisation:
-adults from mixed, black and asian groups were more likely to be victims of crime compared to whites. home office suggests black people are 5x more likely to be murdered than their white counterparts.

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19
Q

Functionalism Durkheim AO1

A
  • crime is integral part of healthy society. eg suffragette movement, we cannot easily move towards independence without crime
  • crime is inevitable, there will be a lack of value consensus and this will cause chaos.
  • members of society must have boundary maintenance by learning what is acceptable and what isn’t. They are condemned if people go against these boundaries
  • state of anomie: if society allows too much crime and deviance it results to a breakdown of social order. eg major economic upheaval
  • safety valve: allowing individual to let off steam to prevent worse deviance eg prostitution leads to lack of sexual assault from men
  • social solidarity: crime brings people together as they have a collective anger towards the crimes. community will police itself
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20
Q

functionalism merton ao1

A

strain theory - clear goals in any structured society. strain occurs when the goal is emphasised more than the means
eg ‘american dream = success, cars etc’ however lack of means to to achieve this goal.
5 adaptations or reactions to strain:
- conformity, next step to achieving the goal
- ritualism, same activity everyday like a routine
- innovation, alternatives to achieve the goal
- retreatism, someone that may start gambling etc
-rebellion, becoming a dropout

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21
Q

ao3 durkheim

A
  • marxists would criticize durkheim because they would argue there isnt value consensus. the laws are made by the state in interest of the ruling class. there is hegemony, not consensus
  • realists would criticise the idea of crime being functional, as crime creates issues for victims and society and we should focus on how to stop it
  • some functionalists would criticize why some society has more crime than others. he doesnt consider why some people may commit crime while others dont. most people in society dont commit crime.
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22
Q

ao3 merton

A

taylor - whole game could have been rigged to guarantee the powerfuls success by enforcing laws
walton & young - cannot account for politically motivated criminals, who break the law bc of commitment to their cause rather than anomie effects.

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23
Q

subcultural theory ao1 : cohen

A
  • wc boys are denied status in society and have middle class values and aspirations but lack the means to achieve success.
  • this leads to status frustration as they feel failure.
  • they react to this by rejecting social values and mainstream culture.
  • as a result value is placed on stealing, truancy, vandalism etc
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24
Q

subcultural theory ao3 : cohen

A

too much focus on working class boys
pearce and pitts - 12,500 girls have lose involvement with gangs
harding - girls join gangs to become fixers

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25
Q

subcultural theory ao1: cloward and ohlin

A

crime is a reaction to not being able to achieve mainstream goals such as money success, so individuals turn to criminal subcultures or conflict subcultures
retreatist subcultures emerge when they are ‘double failures’ and failed to succeed in both mainstream society and in crime so as a response retreat into drug addiction and alcoholism

26
Q

subcultural theory ao3: cloward and ohlin

A

burke - the idea of criminal subculture is based on gangs from 1920s and 30s, not much applicable today
False assumption that wc is homogenous group
Argues that C+O offer a simplistic view of drug misuse and its also common in middle class.

27
Q

subcultural theory ao1: miller

A
  • focal concerns, saw WC as a subculture with its own values

- values held by WC boys included ‘excitement, risk taking, toughness and streetwise’.

28
Q

subcultural theory ao3:

A

matza: delinquency and drift
people drift in and out of crime, its not a continuous act.
at some point criminals regret their actions. deviants arent in opposition of society’s norms and values. techniques of neutralisation eg denial of responsibility or denial of the act being wrong.
post modernists would overall disagree with subcultural theories because they are more common in today’s society. the theory assumes that mainstream norms and values cause subcultures whereas postmodernists argue in today’s society subcultures are normal.

29
Q

global organised crime ao1

A
  • global organised crime is the cross border activities of organised crime groups exploiting to their advantage increasing global interconnectedness.
  • Castells estimates global criminal economy is £1 trillion a year
  • eg dealing ellicit drugs, illegally trafficking human beings,terrorism etc
  • primary driver is consumption
  • transnational organised crime refers to structured group of 3 or more persons existing for a period of time for material benefit
  • free rein to market forces, allows them to work freely though the market. there is also deregulation and free trade.
30
Q

global organised crime ao3-

A
  • difficulty in providing estimates as they’re difficult to track and pursue.
  • gastrow argues that this view of globalised crime networks is outdated. Today these organisations turn billions of dollars
  • hard to catch, takes 6 vessels to catch one speedboat
  • robertsons glocalisation - there are different definitions of global organised crime. intertwining of global and local and the way local conditions impact global phenomena
  • global criminal organisations resemble well organised business networks. allows them to minimise risk and maximise profit
31
Q

green crime ao1

A
  • environmental crime, effects environment in some way.
    -its seen increasingly as a form of global crime as it demonstrates the interaction of local and global
    -carrabine et al- primary green crime: directly inflict harm on the environment and by extension on the people eg air pollution.
    secondary green crime: refers to actions committed as a response to commissioning of primary green crime, such as dealing aggressively with protestors
32
Q

ao3 green crime

A

hard to police, they’re seen as victimless crimes therefore may not be policed accordingly.

33
Q

marxist explanations of social class and crime

A

-marxists believe crime is only beneficial for upper class, laws work for the powerful class of society
-althusser
RSA: police criminal justice system, armed forces etc. directly controls the proletariat
ISA: isa controls more subtly through family, media, education etc.
-crime rates go up in economic depression because when people are poor they have to commit poverty crimes in order for survival etc.
box - crime is socially constructed by the powerful. murder can be seen as avoidable killings but there’s other crimes that don’t get classified as murder. those who are accused of murder are less powerful.
bonger-crime caused by poverty, in times of economic depression.
gordon- fear and governmental control of based on urban and violent crimes rather than giving attention to white collar crimes.
chambliss- structure of capitalism creates desire to consume but inability to earn enough money to consume

34
Q

3 main elements marxism ao1

criminogenic capitalism

A

criminogenic capitalism - exploitation of WC makes crime existent in capitalisms very nature. Its inevitable.

  • poverty means crime is means of survival, they’re victims of capitalism
  • commodity fetishism is emphasised, the only way the poor can obtain them is through utilitarian crime.
  • alienation leads to frustration which then leads to non utilitarian crime
  • competitive nature and greed making mentality leads to a selfish desire to succeed at all costs leading to white collar crime.
35
Q

3 main elements marxism ao1 the state and law making

A
  • all classes commit crimes however there is selective law enforcement.
  • police and courts tend to ignore crimes committed by middle class, and only focus on middle class making it seem like a middle class problem.
36
Q

3 main elements marxism ao1 - ideological functions of crime

A

laws that act as a form of ideology appear to benefit the working classes rather than capitalism
by giving a caring face it creates false class consciousness.
carson found 200 firms sample they all had broken laws but only 1.5% faced prosecution
selective law enforcement, they blame one rather than capitalism
media (owned by capitalists) further labels criminals as disturbed individuals and prevent us from seeing the problem

37
Q

marxism ao3

A

deterministic - not all poor people commit crime. Jones - switzerland has capitalist society but low crime rates.

  • laws also protect proletariat, eg criminalising rape etc.
  • feminists would argue its reductionist as they ignore role of patriarchy in influencing capitalist system. also ignore relationship between crime and cage
  • focus too much on structure, we live in an open society and are able to move through class.
38
Q

neo marxism taylor walton and young ao1

A

taylor, walton & young - marxism is too deterministic, people CHOOSE to commit crimes.
-choice to commit crime is meaningful eg people may choose to distribute from rich to poor
-people choose to express their frustration with crime. form of resistance
‘fully social theory of deviance’
-structure of society and where power lies
-wider origin of act
-immediate cause of deviant act
-impact of the act
-societal reaction to act
-impact of that reaction

39
Q

chambliss (neo marxism ao1)

A
  • selective perception means that visible, poor, outspoken, ‘tough kids’ will be noticed. those who have established a good reputation wont be noticed when they’re deviant.
40
Q

cccs ao1 neo marxism

A

argued youth subcultures were responses to the problems of growing up WC in a capitalist society. Brake argues this provides them a ‘magical solution’.

41
Q

cccs ao3 neo marxism

A

feminists criticised the concentration on males - McRobbie bedroom culture offers reasons for absence of girls from street culture.

42
Q

hall neomarxism ao1

A

-crisis of capitalism (Economic recession) which result in unemployment and have a disproportionate impact on black people. Some chose to enter ‘informal economy’ which included crime rather than doing white mans work. the ruling class therefore divided the working class to prevent anti capitalist political activism and turned white workers against black workers and created moral panic against black workers. This lead to police and media targeting black people for crime.

43
Q

ao3 neomarxism

A
  • left realists argue victims of crime are working class , therefore marxists should produce solutions to crime rather than trying to understand and excuse the criminals
  • most of its research was focused on male criminality.
  • romanticism towards crime, ‘robin hood’.
  • Burke argues this is too general to explain crime and too idealistic to tackle crime.
44
Q

gilroy ao1 neo marxism

A

argues that yes black men are targeted by police and media however black crime is different in that its conscious continuation of anti colonial struggles. therefore its political response to discrimination. eg rastafarianism isn’t only a religion but also includes political ideas about overthrowing white authority.

45
Q

interactionism ao1 BECKER

A
  • agents of socialisation (Esp media) shape the definitions of deviance and labels.
  • a label is a judgement of an individual before knowing them
  • once a label is applied it leads to a ‘master status’ and a deviant career follows.
  • this acts as a self fulfilling prophecy and they would associate with others of this same label creating a deviant career.
46
Q

interactionism ao3 young

A

there has been a lot of time spent on the labelling theory itself but it doesn’t explain the actual crime. eg property crime. there is a concentration on marginal forms of deviance

47
Q

lemert interactionism ao1

A

-crime happens due to societal reaction
-primary deviance: most people do this and it isn’t publically labelled and has little effect on individual.
secondary deviance: societal reaction and the individual is labelled as deviant, due to this they may commit more of the deviant behaviour. individual is consciously engaged as an expression of deviant self concept.

48
Q

interactionism ao3

A
  • oversimplified. some deviants have the conscious choice to take part in their behaviour, not due to labelling. also not everyone accepts a label 25% dont reoffend
  • ignores other structures. labelling theory forgets to analyse the structures of power and interest. people in power are more likely to get away with crimes and they only concentrate on middle level agencies of social control like police.
  • disregard of origins of deviant behaviour, too much emphasis placed on impact of societal reaction and thus on deviants present as opposed to their past.
49
Q

interactionism ao1 braithwaite

A

negative effects of labelling depend on how label is applied. disintegrative labelling shames both individual and crime and this leads to social exclusion as they cannot escape the crime.

50
Q

new right ao1 hirshi

A

attachment- to others in society
commitment- having responsibilities
involvement- being apart of a community
belief- subscribing to a common value system

51
Q

new right ao1 murray

A 
inadequate socialisation
lack of impulse control
laziness due to over generous welfare payments
low IQ
white working class
52
Q

new right ao3

A
  • although those from lone parent families are more likely to commit crime, they would commit low level, anti social behaviour rather than serious crime. it also impossible to isolate the factor of lone parent families from other factors eg ethnicity which may be more significant
53
Q

new right ao3 murray

A

gallie - most unemployed actually had strong work ethic and wanted to work. there was no evidence of dependency culture.
charlesworth - despite clear effects of poverty on mental health and physical health, most individuals still had strong moral values and did not commit crime even though it would’ve been an easy option.
young - groups such as teen mums, immigrants etc become easy targets and are portrayed as contributing to the problems of society and therefore are used as scapegoats

54
Q

left realists ao1 young 2003

A

-crime is emphasised through the medias hysteria about the underclass. this create moral panic and over policing of crime and denial of street crime. This means that it cannot explain the real, significant rise in levels of street crime and the severity is therefore ignored

55
Q

left realists ao1 lea and young

A
  • feelings of deprivation cause crime
  • media fuels this as they show individuals what they dont have. They feel marginalised as they arent represented in society and lack goals and involvement.
  • They then develop a subculture to cope with the deprivation
56
Q

left realists ao1 young exclusive society

A

link between social exclusion and crime and refers to huttons 40:30:30 society.
economic exclusion leads to social exclusion and break down of communities and families and then an increase in crime.
- this creates a culture of fear and leads to scapegoating and a less tolerant society.

57
Q

ao3 left realists

A
  • argue its idealistic rather than realistic.
  • feminists may criticise this because if social exclusion and marginalisation lead to more crime then women should commit more crime than men but they don’t
58
Q

ao1 right realists wilson (1975)

A

1) white males most likely to commit crime as they’re temperamentally aggressive
2) changes in availability of jobs which change rate of crime
3) changes in society which impact the norms and values taught.

59
Q

right realists ao1 wilson and kelling

A

community changes its behaviour in low level disorder. people stay indoors when crime happens and therefore nobody challenges it which causes it to flourish

60
Q

right realists ao1 broken windows wilson and kelling

A

when derelict building has one broken window, others will soon follow as they they view the building as uncared for and think its acceptable to vandalise it more. this applies to society

61
Q

right realist ao3

A
  • even though lone parent family more likely to commit crime, they engage in anti social behaviour
  • post modernists argue that the thrill of taking risks is part of what is alluring about criminal activity. crime is a rational choice

Sociology (2 decks)

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