Evolution Of Sociological Theories

Question 1

What are 2 strengths of subcultural theories ?

Answer 1

• These theories show how subcultures perform s function for their members by offering solutions to the problem failing to achieve mainstream goals legitimately
• Cloward and Olin shows how different types of neighbourhoods give rise to different illegitimate opportunities and different subcultures

Question 2

What are 3 limitations of subcultural theories ?

Answer 2

• Like Merton, they ignore crimes of the wealthy and over-predict the amount of working class crime.
• They assume everyone starts with mainstream goals and turns to a subculture when they fail to achieve them. But some people don’t share those goals in the first place; they may be attracted to crime for other reasons.
• Actual subcultures are not as clear-cut as Coward and Ohlin claim. Some show characteristics of all three types: criminal, conflict and retreatist.

Question 3

What are 3 strengths of labelling theory ?

Answer 3

• Labelling theory shows that the law is not a fixed set of rules to be taken for granted, but something whose construction we need to explain.
• It shifts the focus onto how the police create crime by applying labels based on their stereotypes (‘typifications”) of the ‘typical criminal’. This selective law enforcement may explain why the working class and minority groups are over-represented in the crime statistics.
• It shows how attempts to control deviance can trigger a deviance amplification spiral (e.g. in a moral panic) and create more deviance.

Question 4

What are 3 limitations of labelling theory ?

Answer 4

• It wrongly implies that once someone is labelled, a deviant career is inevitable. (This is called determinism - as though the outcome is pre-determined.)
• It fails to explain why people commit primary deviance in the firs place, beture they’re labelled .
• it fails to explain why the labels are applied to certain groups

Question 5

What 2 strengths of Marxist theory ?

Answer 5

• It shows how poverty and inequality can cause working-class crime, and how capitalism promotes greed and encourages upper-class crime.
• It shows how both law-making and law enforcement are biased against the working class and in favour of the powerful. For example, corporate crime is rarely prosecuted.

Question 6

What are 3 limitations of Marxism ?

Answer 6

• It focuses on class and largely ignores the relationship between crime and other inequalities, such as gender and ethnicity.
• It over-predicts the amount of working-class crime: not all poor people turn to crime.
• Not all capitalist societies have high crime rates; e.q. Japan’s homicide rate is only about a fifth of the USA’s. (However, Marxists point out that capitalist societies with little welfare provision, like the USA, have higher crime rates.)

Question 7

What are 3 strengths of Right Realism ?

Answer 7

• Several studies support RCT. Rettig gave students a scenario of an opportunity to commit a crime. He found that the degree of punishment determined whether they chose to commit the crime.
• Feldman found that people made rational decisions: if the rewards were high and risks low, they said the crime was worth committing.
• Bennett and Wright interviewed convicted burglars. The burglars considered the potential reward, difficulty of breaking in and risk of being caught. Risk was the most important factor influencing their decision to commit the crime.

Question 8

What are 3 Limitations of Right Realism ?

Answer 8

• Rettig and Feldman’s studies were experiments; the results may not apply to real offenders.
• Bennett and Wright studied unsuccessful burglars. We don’t know if successful burglars also think in this way.
• Not all crimes are the result of rational decisions. Violent crimes are often impulsive. Offenders under the influence of drugs or alcohol may also be unlikely to calculate the risks and rewards before offending

Question 9

What are 2 strengths of Left Realism ?

Answer 9

• Left realism draws attention to the importance of poverty, inequality and relative deprivation as the underlying structural causes of crime.
• It draws attention to the reality of street crime and its effects, especially on victims from deprived groups.

Question 10

What are 3 Limitations of Left Realism ?

Answer 10

• Henry and Milovanovic argue that left realism accepts the authorities’ definition of crime as just being the street crimes of the poor. It fails to explain white collar and corporate crime and ignores the harms done to the poor by the crimes of the powerful.
• It over-predicts the amount of working-class crime: not everyone who experiences relative deprivation and marginalisation turns to crime.
• Its focus on high-crime inner-city areas gives an unrepresentative view and makes crime appear a greater problem than it is.