Functionalist, Strain Theory And Subcultural Theory Flashcards
What is crime?
An act which breaks the law
What is Deviance?
deviance is when one doesnt follow the norms and values of society but doesnt break the law
What is anomie?
the lack of social and ethical standards of an individual or group
What are the two mechanisms required to achieve solidarity society?
- socialisation
- social control
What is socialisation?
Learning the norms and values of society
What is social control?
rewards positive behaviour and punishment negative or deviant behaviour
what ae the three functions of crime according to durkheim?
- social intergration
- social regulation
- social change
what is social intergration / boundary maintainment?
bonds that members of society have when they share a expectation of the norms and values within their community.
People tend to come together in this way when, for example, someone has committed a terrible crime. There is a shared sense of anger towards the breach of morals that the criminal has committed.
what is social regulation?
regulation government establish to protect the publics interest and social bonds
By punishing someone for their crimes, law enforcers are sending a warning message to the rest of society that such deviant behaviour won’t be tolerated.
what is social change / adaptation to change?
deviant behaviour causes reflection on whats allowed and whats not in society resulting in legal reform that benefits the community
what is the strain theory?
according to merton - the pressure to those who have trouble in achieving their goals
results in there being a strain between society’s expectations, and to live up to it
causing people turn to crime to achieve material success
what are the 5 potential responses to strain?
according to merton
1. conformity
2. innovation
3. ritualism
4. retreatism
5. rebellion
what is conformity?
achieve success traditionally despite the setbacks
what is innovation?
turning to criminal activity to achieve success.
ritualism
abandoning the goal of success but still conforming to the means to achieve it.
what is retreatism?
rejecting both the goal and the means to achieve it.
what is rebellion?
adopt alternative goals and aim to bring revolutionary change to society.
what is the fustration theory - (part of the subcultural theory)
according to cohen - working-class males experience status frustration,
channelled frustration create subcultural solution - deviant subculture turns the norms of the dominant culture upside down.
what does gelsthorpe argue about subcultures?
knowledge, beliefs, or opinions shared by members of a group regarding social objects with an inconsistent social attitudes and avoid established order
what is the structures theory?
according to cloward and ohlin - working-class males can have a variety of responses to being denied opportunities for success depending on how and where delinquents grow up
different places have different opportunities which might allow different forms of deviance. This results in different types of delinquent subcultures.
what are the 3 kinds of delinquent subculture
according to cloward and ohlin -
1. criminal subcultures
2. conflict subcultures
3. retreatists subcultures
what is criminal subculture?
according to cloward and ohlin -
Emerge in areas with high adult crime rates.
Experienced deviants become role models and mentors to new delinquents.
what is conflict subculture?
according to cloward and ohlin -
Emerge in areas with little social solidarity, where adult crime levels are low - delinquents engage in gang violence to gain status from other members of the gang.
what is retreatist subcubculture?
according to cloward and ohlin -
Emerge among those who have failed to succeed through legitimate means, criminal subcultures and conflict subcultures - delinquents engage in drug use.
what is social bond theory?
according to hirschi -
those who do commit crimes are most likely to have weak social bonds to members and institutions of society
what are the 4 types of bonds in the social bond theory?
- Attachment: psychological affection for members and institutions of society
- Commitment: not wanting to jeopardise the social bonds that people value by committing crime and risking important relationships
- Involvement: people who are willingly engaged in cementing the social bonds that they value
- Belief: people agree with the morality/value behind norms and laws imposed by wider society.
is merton an interpretivist or positivist?
POSITIVIST
is cohen an interpretivist or positivist?
INTERPRETIVIST
What is the safety valve theory?
According to Davis - another function of crime is release frustration.
Prostitution acts as a safety valve for men to release their sexual frustration
Functionalist crime and deviance act to highlight problems/lack of norms values in society and eradicate them via sanctions
what is punishment?
can be either retribution or rehabilitation
how can you evaluate boundary maintainment?
marxists argue that crime doesnt reinforcethe boyndaries/ acts as a form of social solidary but is a form of social control. when a crime is committed it enables the ruling class to punish working class while they ignore corporate crimes.
actor may still reoffend
how can you evaluate adaptation and change?
marxists / labelling process / social construction of crime
changes to legislation only impact working class crminiality
how can you evaluate mertons strain theory?
fails to take into account that official statistics are socially constructed - offical stats examines that working class have the highest strain ignoring middle class crime such as fraud.
its too deterministic, working class experience most strain yet they dont all deviate
how does chambliss evaluate mertons strain theory?
ignores the power of the ruling class to make and enforce the laws in ways that criminalise the poor.
consensus overvalues money as success and ignores the fact that others may not share these goals
what is the biological theory of crime?
lombroso - criminality is inherited and that someone “born criminal” could be identified by the way they look.
criminals were not to blame for their criminal activities as their behavior was determined by their physiology.
how can you evaluate the biological thoery of crime?
It suggests that having certain physical traits makes someone likely to commit crimes, ignoring free will and moral values. This makes it less useful because it can’t explain why individuals behave differently.
what does eugnics mean?
Eugenics is a philosophy arguing that those who are born with genetic advantages should be allowed to breed for the good of society but those who are born with genetic disadvantages should be eliminated to improve the genetic quality of the human population.
