Crime & Devience Flashcards
What is the functionalist perspective of crime?
That crime is inevitable in society, poor socialization and inequality result in the absence of norms and values being taught.
Crime is also positive as it allows boundary maintenance, and allows a scope for adaptation and change.
What is boundary Maintinance ?
When crime produces a reaction from society causing all its members to reinforce their commitment to the correct norms and values
What does Durkheim argue about crime?
Crime is inevitable - Poor socialization results in not everyone being taught the same norms and values.
Crime is positive - Boundary maintenance helps keep crime to the right amount
What is Durkheims ‘Society of Saints’ ?
A ‘society of saints’ populated by perfect individuals. In that society there would be no murder or robbery but still deviance. The general standards of behaviour would be so high that the slightest slip would be regarded as seriouse
What does Davis Argue?
Supporting Durkheim that crime can be positive. Prostitution is functional for society as it allows men to display their sexual frustration
What does Hirschi Argue?
humans are naturally weak-willed & through a process of socialization acquire social bonds that deter them from engaging in criminal activities
What are Hirschis 4 socialisation bonds?
Attachment - we care about other people’s opinions and wishes
Commitment - Personal investment within our lives, the person with less to lose commits more crime
Belief - a persons beliefs, attitudes and values, if positive crime will not be committed
Involvment - a person who is extremely busy with a wide range of activities may be too preoccupied to engage in deviancy
What does Merton Argue?
Capitalist societies suffer from Anomie between legit goals and achieving them. He also claimed that this strain was a product of an unequal social class structure
What is Mertons Strain theory?
that crime is caused by the failure to achieve the goals of the American dream through legitimate means. there are five different responses:
Conformism - Accepting thr goals and legitimate means to achieve them
Innovation - subscribe to the goals but use illegitimate means to achieve them
Ritualism - Rejects goals but conform to the means
Retreatism - Rejects both the goals of the American dream and subscribe to illegitimate means
Rebellion - Replace the goals and means with their own
What does Cohen Argue?
Status frustration theory which focuses on working class boys in schools who fail to succeed in middle class environments and in turn form delinquent subcultures that go against middle class values. Subsequently, working-class boys try to succeed within the subcultures by trying to rise in the hierarchy, which they have more chance of succeeding in
What does Cloward and Ohlin argue?
Critisises Cohens status frustration theory by suggesting there are 3 tyoes of subculture:
Criminal subcultures - Providing apprenticeships for utilitarian crime, exisiting in areas with stable criminal cultures
Conflict Subcultures - In areas of high population, social disorganization and loosely organised gangs
Retreatist subcultures - formed of people who fail in both legitimate and illegitimate means and may turn to illegal drug use.
What does Walter Miller argue?
Rejects cohen, Cloward And Ohlins views on the structural origins of crime. criticizes the idea that subcultures emerge as a reaction to anomie. lower-class youths never accept mainstream norms and has an alternative cultural view of crime.
Lower class youths are socialized into a set of lower class values. These values include toughness, smartness excitement and fatalism
Some lower class youths over conform to lower class values due to a concern to gain status within their peer group resulting in crime
What does Becker Argue?
social groups create deviance by creating rules and applying them to particular people whom they label as “outsiders”
What does Piliavin and Briar argue?
That police decisions to arrest were based on stereotypical ideas about manner, dress, gender, class, ethnicity, place and time
What does Cicourel Argue?
that police use stereotypes of the typical delinquent.
Working-class and ethnic minority groups are more likey to be arrested
Middle Class Juveniles are less likely to fit the stereotyping therefore less likely to be charged
What does Matza Argue?
Everyone has Subteranian values and has the potential to act deviant
What are the critisisms of Durkheim?
It is not clear what the right amount of crime is
The very idea that crime can be beneficial is questionable
The functionalist approach always assumes if something exists it needs to serve a purpose
the approach doesn’t explain why people commit crime
What are the critisisms of Merton
Not all crime is for economic gain and Merton’s framework cannot explain this.
What does Althusser Argue?
That the law is an ideological state apparatus, it functions in the interests of the capitalist class to maintain class inequality
What do Marxists Argue on the functionalist view of crime?
That the appearance of consensus is an illusion, its conceals the reality of one class imposing on thew rest of socierty
What do interactionalists Argue on functionalists?
That their approach ignores processes of negotiation that take place in the creation of crime
What does Taylor Argue?
Merton Fails to identify wider power in society
What does Taylor Et Al Argue?
That Mertons Theory cannot account for politically motivated crime
What does Reiner Argue?
That Mertons Theory can be adapted to suit other motivation behind crime
What does Savelsburg Argue?
Mertons theory can support the reasons for increases in crime within post communist countries which experience anomie with the introduction of capitalism
