Functionalit Perpective Of Crime And Devicance

Question 1

What is crime

Answer 1

Behaviour that breaks the law such as shop lifting

Question 2

What is deviance

Answer 2

Behaviour which breaks the norms and values of society and faces negative reactions and disapproval

Question 3

What do functionalists believe why crime happens

Answer 3

Crime in inevitable

Some people will try achieve goals in legitimate or illegitimate ways

Culture shares a set of goals, value and norms

Question 4

What does Durkheim say why crime is found in society

Answer 4

Not everyone is effectively socialised as nuclear family is the best way for child to be socialised

Some will develop own subcultures

Question 5

What does Durkheim say about two positive functions of crime

Answer 5

Boundary maintenance

Adaptation and change

Question 6

What is boundary maintenance

Answer 6

Crime produces reaction from society

Society unites the wrongdoer

Reinforces the shared norms and values

Question 7

What is adaptation and change

Answer 7

Starts with an act of deviance by individuals with new ideas or values such as protests (eg suffragettes)

Question 8

Evaluation of functionalist view of crime

Answer 8

How much is the right amount of crime needed for society to work?

Too focused on society but not on individuals

Crime can cause isolation more than coming together (women may stay at home because of a fear of an attack)

Question 9

What is mertons strain theory (AD)

Answer 9

AMERICAN DREAM
- expected to pursue money success through legitimate ways

• means reproduces meritocracy

Question 10

What does Merton say about pressure to people because of their expectations

Answer 10

The pressure to deviate increases because American culture puts more emphasis on achieving success rather through legitimate means

Question 11

What are 5 different adaptations to strain

Answer 11

Conformity : accept culturally approved goals achieving them legitimately. Mostly middle class individuals having good opportunities

Innovation: accept the goal of money success but use illegitimate means such as theft or fraud. Mostly lower end of class structure as they experience the most pressure.

Ritualism: give up achieving goals but internalised legitimate means so they follow rules for their own sake. Lower - middle class office workers

Retreatism: reject both goals and legitimate means

Rebellions: reject existing societies goals and means and replace them with new ones in a desire to bring about revolutionary change and new kind of society

Question 12

Evaluation of mertons strain theory

Answer 12

good - supported by official statistics (e.g most crime is property crime because American society values material wealth very highly)

Bad - they over represent working class.

Bad - ignores ruling class to enforce laws to criminalise the poor and not the rich

Bad - everybody has different views on money success

Bad - doesn’t describe why murder and violent crime still happens

Question 13

What is a gang

Answer 13

a group of two or more individuals who have a relationship that support one another possibly due to family issues at home.

Question 14

What does A.K cohen say

Answer 14

He criticises meronv because of two grounds:

• Merton sees deviance as an individual response to strain
• Merton focuses utilitarian crime for material gain and ignores assault and vandalism

cohen focuses on working class boys as they face a middle class dominated school system

As they suffer from cultural deprivation they lack skills to achieve Which leads to frustration

They use an alternative status hierarchy
• the delinquent subculture inverts the values of the mainstream
• Boys create their own illegitimate opportunity structure in which they can gain status through bad action

Question 15

What are action theories

Answer 15

Action theories are also known as micro theories and refer to sociological theories that focus not on the structures of society or large scale trends and patterns but instead on small groups and individuals. Action theorists focus on people as social actors who have agency; they make their own decisions rather than being pushed along by forces beyond their control.

Question 16

What do labelling theorists say about crime

Answer 16

Labelling theorists are interested in how and why certain acts come to be defined and labelled as criminal in the first place

They argue that no act is inherently criminal, in all situations, at all times, but only when it is labelled as such

It is not the nature of the act, but the nature of society’s reaction to the act

No behaviour is a crime, unless someone else says that it is

Question 17

Officers labelling and stereotypes

Answer 17

Officers’ decisions to arrest are influenced by their stereotypes about offenders

Officers typifications led them to concentrate on certain ‘types’

This resulted in the law enforcement showing a class bias and the working-class being arrested more often

This led to police patrolling working-class areas more often

Other agents of social control, within the CJS, reinforced this bias

Probation officers often assumed that juvinelle delinquency was
as a result of broken homes

Question 18

Piliavin and Briar (1964)

Answer 18

police decisions to arrest a youth were mainly based on physical cues (manner and dress) from which they made judgements about the youth’s character. Officers decisions were influenced by their class, gender and ethnicity, as well as time and place

Question 19

Secondary deviance

Answer 19

Result of societal reaction of labelling

Caught and publicly labelled as a criminal - excluded from society

Becomes the label - master status or controlling identity

Can create a loss of sense of identity

An ex-convict finds it difficult to get a job = more likely to engage in criminal behaviour

Question 20

JOCK YOUNG

Answer 20

• used the study of hippy marijuana users in Nottingham hill
• Labelling by control culture led hippies to see themselves as outsiders
• Hippies create a deviant subculture - wear long hair and ‘way out clothes’
• drug use become a central activity for them
• Young illustrates the idea that it is not the act itself bit the hostile societal reaction to it.

Question 21

What is disintegrative shaming

Answer 21

the crime and the individual is labelled as bad and the offender is excluded from society

Question 22

What is reintegration shaming

Answer 22

labels the crime as bad, but not the individual e.g. he has done bad, rather than he is bad

Question 23

What do interactionalist say about suicide

Answer 23

Interactionists argue that to understand suicide, we must study its meaning for those who choose to kill themselves

Atkinson (1978) argues that it is impossible to know for sure what meanings the dead gave to their deaths

He focuses on the coroner’s assumptions that are made

Ideas about a ‘typical suicide’ were important e.g. how they committed suicide (hanging), the location, life history (bereavements) were typical of suicides

Question 24

What are the three main elements according to Marxists on crime

Answer 24

1) criminogenic capitalism
2) the state and law making
3) ideological functions of crime and law

Question 25

What is criminogenic capitalism

Answer 25

Crime is inevitable because capitalism is criminogenic
Capitalism is based on the exploitation of the working-class and is therefore damaging for them

● Poverty - crime is the only way for the working-class to survive

● Crime may be the only way to obtain consumer goods

● Lack of control of their lives may lead to frustration and lead to violent

Question 26

What is the state and law making

Answer 26

Marxist see lawmaking and law enforcement as only serving the interests of the capitalist class

Chambliss (1975) argues that laws to protect private property are the cornerstone of capitalist economy

The ruling-class also have the power to prevent the introduction of laws that might threaten their interests

Limited laws that regulate businesses profits or activities

Question 27

What is the ideological function of crime and law

Answer 27

The law, crime and criminals also perform an ideological function for capitalism

Laws are sometimes passed that appear to be beneficial of the working class (health and safety at work)

HOWEVER, Pearce (1976) argues that such laws often benefit the ruling class too e.g. by keeping workers fit for work