Crime - Year 2 Flashcards
What did Durkheim say in his functionalist explanation of deviance and its relationship to crime?
Durkheim suggests that every society shares a set of core values, which he called collective conscience. The more behaviour differed from these core values, the more likely it was to be viewed as deviant.
What 2 sides of crime and deviance did Durkheim say influence the functioning of society.
Positive side - which helped society change and remain dynamic.
Negative side - which saw too much crime leading to social disruption.
What are the 3 elements according to Durkheim that are positive aspects of crime?
Reaffirming the boundaries
Changing values
Social Cohesion
How is Reaffirming the boundaries a positive aspect of Crime (Durkheim)
As the publicity of being take to court or public punishments can do the role of publicly reaffirming existing boundaries.
How is changing values a positive aspect of crime? (Durkheim)
As it can change the collective conscience when it comes to laws that will be outdated.
How is social cohesion a positive aspect of crime? (Durkheim)
Particularly when bad crimes are committed, the entire community comes together in social outrage, which makes the sense of belonging to a community strengthened.
What did Durkheim say that excessive crime could be the result of which 2 problems with the collective conscience ?
Anomie and egoism
What is anomie ? (Durkheim) (negative)
Occurs when there are periods of great social change or stress and the collective conscience becomes unclear. In this situation there is uncertainty over what behaviour should be seen as acceptable and people may be partially freed from the social control imposed by the collective conscience.
What is Egoism (durkheim) (negative)
When the collective conscience becomes too weak to restrain selfish desires of individuals.
What did Newburn argue about Durkheim work on aspects of crime?
He said that Durkheim placed to much extent on the collective conscience/value consensus. Others also argued that Durkheim was vague in identifying specific crimes which would be beneficial for society.
What was Merton strain theory
Merton said crime and deviance were evidence of a poor fit (or strain) between the socially accepted goals of society and the socially approved means of obtaining those desired goals. This resulting strain laid to deviance.
Example of Merton strain theory in America.
Merton saw their main goals as wealth and power, as represented in the American dream, which said the poorest had the opportunity to reach the highest levels of society. In this scenario it wasn’t true as those in higher classes had more of an opportunity to succeed than others. This meant that people weren’t able to achieve the goals and sought out alternative (often deviant) ways of behaving.
What was Mertons 5 different forms of behaviour that could be understood as a response between the goals and means?
Conformity
Innovation
Ritualism
Retreatism
Rebellion
Who came up with the illegitimate opportunity structure?
Cloward and Ohlin (1960)
What was Cloward and Ohlins illegitimate opportunity structure about?
That for some subcultures in society, a regular illegal career was available, with recognised illegal means of obtaining society’s goals (money,power etc.).
According to Cloward and Ohlin (1960) what are the 3 possible adaptations or subcultures within the illegal opportunity structure?
Criminal - thriving young local criminal subculture with successful role models. Normally get recruited when they are young.
Conflict - territorial gangs, recruit young people in neighbourhood. Violence = respect. Respect substitutes qualifications or a job.
Retreatist - double failures, result is a retreat to alcohol and drugs with others who have dropped out of society.
Evaluation of Cloward and ohlins illegal opportunity structure?
- difficult to accept a neat distinction into 3 clear categories occurs in real life. E.g overlaps between all 3.
- no discussion about female deviancy
- no discussion of crimes committed by higher social classes
What is Cohens idea of status frustration and subculture
He suggested lower class boys wanted middle class values but lacked the means to attain them - which lead to status frustration. Therefore, they rejected that ‘middle class’ behaviour and in an attempt to gain status they ‘invert’ the values through behaving badly. Together peers who are doing the same form a subculture of anti-school values. This was the reason crime was attractive as it gave them a chance to have their crimes witnessed and gain respect/status.
What did Durkheim say crime can do?
Crime can strengthen collective values, enable social change, act as a safety valve and act as a warning device.
What did Merton say leads to crime?
Merton that strain, or not being able to meet shared goals of society due to eg blocked opportunities, leads to crime - individual response.
What did Cohen suggest about why group crime happens?
Status frustration can lead to the formation of delinquent subculture, with alternative status hierarchies.
Why did Miller criticise Cohen idea about how status frustration leading to delinquent subcultures?
Crutches cohen and argues that working class boys do not subscribe to mainstream values in the first place.
What did Hall et Al say there was a moral panic about?
Moral panic about black crime
What did Cicourel say about how police treat people from certain backgrounds?
Police treated youths who they perceived as being from a good background (white and middle class) more leniently.
What did Lea and young suggest are the main causes of crime?
Marginalisation, subcultures and relative deprivation.
What did Hall et Al say why the moral panic was created - crime,ethnicity
The folk devil of the ‘black mugger’ exaggerated to create a moral panic and scapegoat economic and political crisis of 1970s Britain.
Who said that men turn to crime to assert their masculinity?
Messerschmidt
What did Nelken say about white collar crime
That white collar offences are less likely to be labelled as criminal.
What did Castells say about globalisation and crime?
That globalisation has led to the creating of a new criminal economy and created transnational networks of organised criminals.
What did Taylor say about globalisation and crime
That economic globalisation has led to new opportunities for crime for the rich and the poor.
How can Hall et Al moral panic link to media and crime?
The folk devil of a black mugger presented in the media
What did cohen say about the relations of media and crime?
He noted the moral panic and deviancy amplification of the mods and rockers within the media.
Evaluation of Cohens idea of moral panic - media and crime.
Mcrobbie and Thornton suggests the idea of moral panic is outdated in the age of the new media.
What did Durkheim say is the positive of punishment of crime?
positives of punishment, in that they provide an outlet for anger and reaffirm boundaries
What would Althusser suggest punishment in prison is a form of?
Repressive state apparatus.
