Crime - Theories of Crime - 4.1 (Interactionism)

Question 1

General Interactionist view on Deviance as a Social Construct

Answer 1

No act is deviant, but labelling makes it so, so is a social construct.

Question 2

Crime as Social Construct Key Sociologists

Answer 2

> Becker (Crime as Social Construct & Moral Entrepreneurs)

> Platt (Moral Entrepeneurs)

> Briar (Differential Enforcement)

> Circourel (Typfications, Negotiation of Justice, Crime Stats)

Question 3

Becker view on Crime as Social Construct

Answer 3

> Groups create deviance through rules, applying them to people they see as outsiders.

> People only become deviant when labelled as so.

Question 4

Who are Moral Entrepreneurs?

Answer 4

> People who decide what’s morally acceptable in society e.g. government & parents.

> Begin a mission to see new laws created then policed in the belief that it will benefit in particular vulnerable groups in society.

Question 5

Platt view on Moral Entrepreneurs

Answer 5

> Juvenile delinquents, campaign by upper class Victorian moral entrepreneurs, wanting to protect young people.

> Made juvenile courts & extended powers to status offences e.g. truancy.

Question 6

Becker view on Social Control Agencies as moral entrepreneurs to increase own powers

Answer 6

> US Bureau of Narcotics, campaigned for Marijuana Tax Act, to protect young people, but really to expand influence.

> Not harmfulness of behaviour, leading to new law, but efforts of powerful individuals.

Question 7

Briar view on Differential Enforcement

Answer 7

> Social Control Agencies label certain groups as criminal, decisions to arrest based on appearance, gender, class, ethnicity.

> e.g. ASBO’s commonly given to BAME.

Question 8

Circourel’s Idea of Typifcations

Answer 8

> Police have idea of the working class as typical delinquent individuals, so police these areas more, leading to more arrests, confirming stereotype.

> Held view that there youth delinquency, due to lone parent families & poverty, so stigmatise working class & unlikely to give non-custodial sentences to them.

Question 9

Marxist Criticisms of Cicourel - Typifications

Answer 9

Fails to locate origins of labels in unequal capitalist society.

Question 10

Cicourel - Negotiation of Justice (Difference between working class and middle class children)

Answer 10

> Middle class: parents are able to negotiate the child out of the justice system, convincing them, it won’t occur again, so likely to see it as a one off & let them go.

> But working class parents are less likely to do the same & actually feel they deserve to be punished.

Question 11

Cicourel - Crime Statistics as a Topic Not a Resource

Answer 11

> Crime statistics aren’t valid, so shouldn’t be taken at face value.

> Should look at how they’re socially constructed, don’t tell us about the dark figure of crime.

> Victim surveys & self report studies should be used instead.

Question 12

Criticisms of Cicourel - Crime Stats as Topic Not Resource

Answer 12

Limitations of alternatives to official crime statistics - people may lie in self-report studies.

Question 13

Effects of Labelling Key Sociologists

Answer 13

> Lemert (Primary and Secondary Deviance)

> Young (Hippy Marijuana Users)

> Cohen (Deviancy Amplification)

> Triplett (Labelling & Criminal Justice System Policy)

> Braithwaite (Reintegrative Shaming)

Question 14

2 Types of Deviance - Lemert

Answer 14

> Primary

> Secondary

Question 15

Primary Deviance - Lemert (1)

Answer 15

Not publicly labeled, unnoticed & meaningless ‘’moment of madness’’ - so people don’t self identify as deviant.

Question 16

Secondary Deviance - Lemert (2)

Answer 16

Results from societal reaction, caught and labelled as criminal, excluded from normal society. E.g. as thief, junkie, pedo

Question 17

How does Master Status occur as Reaction to SD (Lemert) (3)

Answer 17

> People see offender only in terms of label, excluded from society & becomes master status

> Begin to act up to label & becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 18

How does Deviant Career as Reaction to Master Status (4)

Answer 18

> Promotes further hostile reactions from society, hard to make amends e.g. lack of employment.

> Become an outsider & join deviant subcultures for status, confirms deviant identity.

Question 19

Define Deviancy Amplification

Answer 19

Where a group becomes more deviant, as result of media exaggeration of deviance, in attempts to control them leads to an escalating spiral.

Question 20

Who are Folk Devils?

Answer 20

Scapegoat, group media focuses on as outsiders & deviant, blamed for social problems, subject of moral panic

Question 21

Young - Hippy Marijuana Users

Answer 21

> Drugs were minor part of hippies lifestyle, policies persecution of them as junkies.

> So develop deviant subcultures, where drug use became central activity

> Actions of police caused more crime - deviancy amplification.

Question 22

Mods & Rockers as example of Deviancy Amplification

Answer 22

> Media exaggeration began moral panic with growing public concern.

> Moral entrepreneurs called for crackdown, so police arrested more youth, leading to more concern.

> Seeing Mod and Rockers as folk devils, marginalised them further, resulting in more deviance.

Question 23

Labelling & Criminal Justice Policy - Triplett

Answer 23

> Tendency to see young people as evil & less tolerant of minor deviance, which creates more deviance

> So logical to have fewer rules e.g. decriminalising soft drugs

> Solution is to reduce number with convictions & end shame culture.

Question 24

2 Types of Shaming - Braithwaite

Answer 24

> Disintegrative Shaming

> Reintegrative Shaming

Question 25

Disintegrative Shaming

Answer 25

Where crime & person is shamed & they’re excluded from society

Question 26

Why is Reintegrative Shaming better than Disintegrative

Answer 26

Label act but not actor, so opportunity for person to be forgiven, stops labelling & secondary deviance, so no self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 27

Examples of Reintegrative Shaming

Answer 27

> Rehabilitation

> Restorative Justice

Question 28

Criticisms of Braithwaite

Answer 28

Focus on how to rehabilitate offenders, not why they offend in the first place.

Question 29

Strength of Labelling Theory

Answer 29

Links to Education

Question 30

A03 Criticisms of Labelling Theory - Key Sociologists)

Answer 30

> Downes & Rock (Determinism)

> Marxism (Power Structures)

Question 31

Downes & Rock (Determinism)

Answer 31

Not everyone who’s been labelled will follow a deviant career, free to chose to not deviate more.

Question 32

General Criticisms of Labelling Theory

Answer 32

> Why do people commit primary deviance in the first place, some actively chose deviance without labelling.

> Deviant becomes the victim & thus not to blame for behaviour.

Question 33

General Interactionist view on Mental Health & Suicide

Answer 33

Rejects reliance on official statistics , to understanding suicide, we need to study meanings of those who do it.

Question 34

Mental Health & Suicide Key Sociologists

Answer 34

> Douglas (Meaning of Suicide)
Atkinson (Coroners Commonsense Knowledge)
Lemert (Paranoia as a self-fulfilling prophecy)
Goffman (Institutionalisation)

Question 35

Douglas - Meaning of Suicide

Answer 35

> Rejects official statistics, as they’re social constructs, don’t give us a full picture, only tells about label applied by coroners & opinions of friends & family.

> Suicide notes, diaries, letters & interviews better for true meanings.

Question 36

Criticisms of Douglas

Answer 36

No reason to believe sociologist interpretation, will be truer than coroners.

Question 37

Atkinson - Coroners Commonsense Knowledge

Answer 37

> Official statistics based on coroners with taken for granted assumptions, when reaching verdicts on suicide, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy

> Ideas on typical suicide effected verdict e.g. types of death, locations seen as typical of suicides.

Question 38

Criticisms of Atkinson

Answer 38

> If all we have are interpretations & not facts about social world.

> His theory itself is a interpretation & there is no good reason to accept it.

Question 39

Interactionist view on Mental Illness & official statistics

Answer 39

> See use of official statistics on mental illness as social construct

> Just recording activities of doctors with the power to attach labels e.g. depression.

Question 40

Lemert - Paranoia as a self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer 40

> People may not fit into groups, due to primary deviance so they begin to be excluded

> Their negative response leads to secondary deviance, others are concerned about his mental health

> So this leads to a medical label of paranoia & label mental patient becomes the master status.

Question 41

Example of Total Institution

Answer 41

Psychiatric Hospital

Question 42

Goffman on Institutionalisation - Effects of being admitted to Total Institutions

Answer 42

> Patient undergo mortification of self, where prior identities killed off.

> Replaced with identity of inmate, through degradation rituals e.g. confiscation of personal possessions.