Key Crime Points And Sociologists Flashcards
Durkeheim - crime is inevitable and functional
- Crime is a Norma part of society - reinforces social norms and values.
- Functions of crime:
- Boundary maintenance - stregnth ends collective conscience.
- SOcial change - challenges outdated norms.
- Criticism: ignores how crime affects victims/ can be dysfunctional.
Merton - strain theory
- People turn to crime when they can’t achieve societal goals through legitimate means.
- Adaptation to strain:
- Conformists - accept goals and means.
- Innovators - accept goals but use illegal means.
- Ritualists - reject goals and means.
- Rebels - reject society’s values creating new ones.
- Criticism: doesnt explain non-utilitarian crime.
Cohen - status frustration
- W/c boys experience stratus frustration due to school failure.
- Form delinquent subcultures rejecting mainstream values.
- Criticism: doesnt explain female delinquency or m/c crime.
Cloward and Ohlin - 3 subcultures
- Different illegitimate opportunity structures lead to:
- Criminal subcultures - organised crime.
- Conflict subcultures - violence due to frustration.
- Retreatists subcultures - drug addiction and homelessness.
- Critcism: south - argues subcultures over lap.
Gordon
Crimes a rational response to capitalism.
Chambliss
Laws protect ruling class
Snider
State avoids laws that regulate business to protect wealthy.
Neo- Marxism - Taylor, Walton and Young
- Crimes a conscious choice - resistance against capitalism e.g. Black Panther movement resisted oppression through illegal means.
- Criticism - romanticises criminals as robin hoods when crime harms the w/c.
Becker
- No act is inherently criminal - depends on social reaction.
- Moral entrepreneurs create crime through media and laws.
Lemert
- Primary deviance - small rule-breaking.
- Secondary deviance - when a label leads to SFP.
Cicourel
- m/c criminals avoid harsh punishment as police view them as good people who made a mistake e.g. Lavinia Woodward.
Wilson and Kelling
- Disorder leads to more crime - if small crimes ignored bigger crime follow.
- Solution - zero tolerance policing e.g. NYC 1990.
Murray
- single-parent families and welfare dependency creates a culture of crime.
Clarke
- Criminals weigh up risks vs rewards before committing crimes.
Lea and Young - 3 causes of crime
- Relative deprivation - people feel poorer compared to others.
- Marginalisation - groups feel excluded.
- Subcultures - groups form criminal cultures to cope.
Solutions
- Neighbourhoods watch and community policing prevent crime.
- Tackling poverty and inequality is the best long term solution.
Clarke, Wilson and Kelling - situational crime prevention
- Target hardening e.g. CCTV
- Environemntal crime prevention - tackle small crimes early.
- Social and community prevention - focus on reducing inequality to prevent crime.
Foucault
Panopticon - society is moving towards constant surveillance e.g. CCTV
Garland
Mass incarceration - UK and US have turned to prison as social control.
Castells
Global criminal economy - trafficking, cyber crime, terrorism are global issues.
Beck
Risk society - global warming and green crime are new risks.
McLaughlin
State crime - governments commit human rights abuses.
