Crime - Theories on Crime - 4.1 (Functionalism & Strain Theories) Flashcards
Define Deviance
Actions going against norms and values of a society
Define Crime
Behaviour breaking law of a society
Define Social Control
How our behaviour is controlled by society to conform to norms & values e.g. government, police, media
Define Social Construction
Norms & values are created by society e.g. crime shaped by culture/historical period
General Functionalist view on Crime & Deviance
> See society based on value consensus, disrupted by Crime
> But crime inevitable & natural & sometimes good for society.
Functionalism Key Sociologists
> Durkheim (Inevitability of Crime, Boundary Maintenance & Change)
> Cohen (Warning)
> Erikson
> Davis (Prostitution)
> Polsky (Porn)
> Merton (Strain Theory)
> Hirschi (Control Theory)
Two Reasons for Inevitability of Crime (Durkheim)
> Not all socialised with same values, leading to differences & thus crime
> Anomie common in modernity
> Crime due to diversity and the creation of subcultures with different norms from mainstream society
Two Positive Functions of Crime (Durkheim)
> Boundary Maintenance
> Adaptation & Change
Boundary Maintenance (Durkheim)
> Crimes unites members to reject deviance, reinforces value consensus & collective conscience
> Society’s rejection of deviance is distinctive from law breaking, we understand behaviours are wrong & shouldn’t be repeated
> Boundary maintenance is good versus evil
Example of Boundary Maintenance
e. g. public reaction to Manchester attacks
e. g. public reaction to murder of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes by his father and step-mother
Adaptation & Change (Durkheim)
> All changes begin with deviance, and a need for people to challenge values
> Without deviance there is no change.
> If new ideas are rejected, society stagnates, unable to make the necessary changes.
Examples of Adaptation & Change
Votes for women - violent and criminal acts by Suffragettes
Rosa Parks - Civil Rights Movement
Insulate Britain blockading motorways??
Cohen view on Crime
Warning signal, something in society is not working properly to policymakers/leaders.
e.g. certain aspect of law needs reform
Erikson view on Crime
> Institutions e.g. police actually ensure crime occurs
> e.g. festivals & carnivals rules are relaxed (public drunkeness, drug use) & they turn a blind eye to deviant behaviour.
> So we can let off steam and don’t do darker crimes
> Also eases transition from childhood to adulthood, through sanctioned rule-breaking.
Davis view on Prostitution
Safety valve for men’s sexual frustration, not threatening monogamous nuclear family as it’s one off.
Polsky view on Pornography
Safe channel for sexual desires, not threatening monogamous nuclear family as adultery would.
General Criticisms of Durkheim’s view
> Doesn’t say how much crime there should be
> Causes fear & isolation in individuals e.g. rape so not functional and positive for society
> Crime is functional for society but not for the victims
> Crime doesn’t always create social solidarity, it can divide people
How is Adaptation & Change a flawed idea?
Deviance doesn’t always lead to social change e.g. Black Lives Matter
Background to Hirschi’s Theory
Not why people do crime but why they don’t do crime.
Reasons For Not Doing Crime (Hirschi)
Individuals are controlled by bonds of attachment (to family, job, society etc) so don’t deviate.
Hirschi’s four Bonds
Attachment
Belief
Commitment
Involvement
Attachment - Hirschi
> People conform to value consensus as criminality could disrupt vital bonds
> e.g. education & family, employment.
Belief - Hirschi
Extent of people’s belief in values e.g. crime as morally wrong, stops people doing crime.
Commitment - Hirschi
People are committed to society so unlikely to undermine wishes of others.
Involvement -
People with extensive commitments, have no time to do crime.
Why does Hirschi believe Crime still occurs?
Lack of social bonds do lead to crime, but also poor socialisation & integration, impacts on a person’s desire to conform to values.
Criticisms of Hirschi
> No explanation for why some people don’t integrate into society & how crime is caused?
> Ignores pull factors e.g. peer pressure
Why does Merton believe people engage in deviant behaviour?
> Unable to achieve socially approved goals by legitimate means.
> Strain between the goals, society encourage us to achieve & what society allows us to achieve (means).
Two Factors for Engagement in Deviance (Merton)
> Structural; societies unequal opportunity structure
> Cultural: emphasis on success & less emphasis on how to achieve it legitimately.
Merton & American Dream as Flawed
> Values success, expected to be pursue legitimately
> Belief in meritocracy, but in reality poverty & discrimination block opportunities.
> This leads to stress & pressure to resort to illegitimate means.
> Due to emphasis on success at all costs - anomie
Merton’s 5 Responses to Strain
> Conformity > Innovation > Ritualism > Retreatism > Rebellion
Conformity - Merton
Accept goals & try to achieve them legitimately e.g. middle class people
Innovation - Merton
Accept goals & but try achieve them illegally e.g. theft, drug dealing - working class
Ritualism (Merton)
Give up on goals & simply plod on trying to achieve knowing they never will. e.g. people on minimum wage
Retreatism (Merton)
Rejects goals & legitimate means & drop out of society e.g. alcohol & drug abusers
Define Rebellion with an example
Replace existing goals & means with new ones with aim of social change e.g. protests, environmentalists
How does Merton’s Theory explain Trends in Crime?
> Property Crime is high, as America values material wealth highly.
> Working class crime rates support this, they are higher as they lack chance to succeed legitimately.
Merton A03 (KS)
> Marxism
Marxists - A03 Merton
Ignores powers of middle classes, who enforce laws in ways that criminalise the working class not the ruling class
How is Merton too deterministic?
Takes official crime statistics at face value, the working class experience most strain but don’t all deviate.
Outline the General Criticisms of Merton
> Assumes that there is value consensus, everyone strives for material success, not all share society’s goals, people have individual motivations - not necessarily the American Dream.
Only focuses on crime for material gain and doesn’t explain crimes of violence, vandalism etc
Explains individual not group deviance.
Subcultural Strain Theories - Key Sociologists
> Cohen (Status Frustration) > Cloward & Ohlin (3 Subcultures) > Messener & Rosenfeld (Institutional Anomie Theory) > Savelsberg (Impact of Communism) > Downes & Hansen
Cohen & Reasons for Occurrence of Deviance
> Due to status frustration, mainly from working, due to inability to achieve success goals by legitimate means.
Cohen - Alternative Status Hierarchy
> Working class boys rejected from middle class culture so suffer status frustration
> Form Alternative Status Hierarchy- invert mainstream values winning status from peers through delinquency
> What society praises, the alternative status hierarchy condemns e.g. respect of property, but boys gain status vandalising it.
Impact of Alternative Status Hierarchy towards Crime
> Leads to criminal behaviour - non utilitarian crime is most common
> e.g. graffiti, anti social behaviour, joy-riding, given status & form of revenge against society.
Cohen - Status Frustration & Contemporary Applications
> Status frustration can explain an increase in the number of students excluded from school who commit crime
> Crime rates higher among underachievers at school.
Criticisms of Cohen
> Assumes working class boys shared middle class values initially, but they may have never shared these in the first place
> Rejection from society doesn’t always led to rebellion e.g. retreatism/ritualism
> Focuses only on youth crime
Cloward & Ohlin agree with Merton
Agree that working class youths frozen out of chances to achieve & deviance comes from this.
How do Cloward & Ohlin disagree with Merton?
> Not all engage in utilitarian crime e.g property crime.
> Not everyone who fails legitimately, succeeds illegitimately.
Cloward &Ohlin & Variation of Crime in different areas
Different areas give different illegal chances to learn criminal skills & develop criminal careers.
Cloward & Ohlin’s 3 Subcultures
> Criminal
Conflict
Retreatist
Criminal Subcultures
Youths get apprenticeship in crime they learn from experienced members how to do crimes & slowly work their way up the criminal career ladder.
Conflict Subcultures
Areas of high population with loose ties between individuals fighting for territory to gain status from other gangs.
Retreatist Subcultures
> People who failed in legitimate & illegal opportunity structures ‘’double failures’’
e.g. drug abusers or alcoholics.
Criticisms of Cloward & Ohlin
> Ignores powers of ruling class, who make laws to criminalise poor & not rich.
> Too deterministic & overexaggerates extent of working class crime & opportunities available to youth.
> Ignore crimes of wealthy
A03 Cloward & Ohlin Key Sociologists
> South (Overlap)
Matza (Commitment)
Miller (Subcultures)
South Criticisms of Cloward & Ohlin
3 subcultures overlap, drug trade is a mixture of disorganised crime & professional mafia style.
Matza Criticisms of Cloward & Ohlin
Delinquents aren’t really committed to subcultures, but drift in & out of delinquency, membership’s often short lived.
Miller Criticisms of Cloward & Ohlin
The Working Class have their own subculture & values separate to mainstream culture not valuing success in the first place so not frustrated by failure.
Savelsberg - Impact of Fall of Communism on Crime Rates
After fall of communism in 1989, crime rates increased in Eastern Europe, due to collective values being replaced by money success goals.
Downes & Hansen
Countries spending more on welfare had lower imprisonment
Messener & Rosenfeld (Institutional Anomie Theory)
American dream creates pressure for crime, leading to widespread anomie, where people have anything goes mentality to get wealth, so high crime rates are inevitable.
