Functionalist, Strain Theory And Subcultural Theory

Question 1

What is crime?

Answer 1

An act which breaks the law

Question 2

What is Deviance?

Answer 2

deviance is when one doesnt follow the norms and values of society but doesnt break the law

Question 3

What is anomie?

Answer 3

the lack of social and ethical standards of an individual or group

Question 4

What are the two mechanisms required to achieve solidarity society?

Answer 4

• socialisation
• social control

Question 5

What is socialisation?

Answer 5

Learning the norms and values of society

Question 6

What is social control?

Answer 6

rewards positive behaviour and punishment negative or deviant behaviour

Question 7

what ae the three functions of crime according to durkheim?

Answer 7

1. social intergration
2. social regulation
3. social change

Question 8

what is social intergration / boundary maintainment?

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

what is social regulation?

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

what is social change / adaptation to change?

Answer 10

deviant behaviour causes reflection on whats allowed and whats not in society resulting in legal reform that benefits the community

Question 11

what is the strain theory?

Answer 11

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

Question 12

what are the 5 potential responses to strain?

Answer 12

according to merton
1. conformity
2. innovation
3. ritualism
4. retreatism
5. rebellion

Question 13

what is conformity?

Answer 13

achieve success traditionally despite the setbacks

Question 14

what is innovation?

Answer 14

turning to criminal activity to achieve success.

Question 15

ritualism

Answer 15

abandoning the goal of success but still conforming to the means to achieve it.

Question 16

what is retreatism?

Answer 16

rejecting both the goal and the means to achieve it.

Question 17

what is rebellion?

Answer 17

adopt alternative goals and aim to bring revolutionary change to society.

Question 18

what is the fustration theory - (part of the subcultural theory)

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

what does gelsthorpe argue about subcultures?

Answer 19

knowledge, beliefs, or opinions shared by members of a group regarding social objects with an inconsistent social attitudes and avoid established order

Question 20

what is the structures theory?

Answer 20

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.

Question 20

what are the 3 kinds of delinquent subculture

Answer 20

according to cloward and ohlin -
1. criminal subcultures
2. conflict subcultures
3. retreatists subcultures

Question 20

what is criminal subculture?

Answer 20

according to cloward and ohlin -
Emerge in areas with high adult crime rates.
Experienced deviants become role models and mentors to new delinquents.

Question 21

what is conflict subculture?

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

what is retreatist subcubculture?

Answer 22

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.

Question 23

what is social bond theory?

Answer 23

according to hirschi -
those who do commit crimes are most likely to have weak social bonds to members and institutions of society

Question 24

what are the 4 types of bonds in the social bond theory?

Answer 24

1. Attachment: psychological affection for members and institutions of society
2. Commitment: not wanting to jeopardise the social bonds that people value by committing crime and risking important relationships
3. Involvement: people who are willingly engaged in cementing the social bonds that they value
4. Belief: people agree with the morality/value behind norms and laws imposed by wider society.

Question 25

is merton an interpretivist or positivist?

Answer 25

POSITIVIST

Question 26

is cohen an interpretivist or positivist?

Answer 26

INTERPRETIVIST

Question 27

What is the safety valve theory?

Answer 27

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

Question 28

what is punishment?

Answer 28

can be either retribution or rehabilitation

Question 29

how can you evaluate boundary maintainment?

Answer 29

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

Question 30

how can you evaluate adaptation and change?

Answer 30

marxists / labelling process / social construction of crime
changes to legislation only impact working class crminiality

Question 31

how can you evaluate mertons strain theory?

Answer 31

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

Question 32

how does chambliss evaluate mertons strain theory?

Answer 32

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

Question 33

what is the biological theory of crime?

Answer 33

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.

Question 34

how can you evaluate the biological thoery of crime?

Answer 34

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.

Question 35

what does eugnics mean?

Answer 35

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.