Midterm Crim #2 Flashcards
Durkeim: The rules of the sociological method? 3 points
- social factors control individual behaviour
- without crime in society, society would be abnormal
- what function does crime serve? : crime defines what is socially acceptable and what is not, creating boundaries and defining laws and order
Society of saints
durkheim predicted that in a perfect society with “perfect indivuduals” where crime doesnt exist. there would still be crime (because we would need to define deviance as something), and instead what we consider small transgressions would be major threats
What is abonormal in a society
- too much crime
- too little crime
- too much control
- too little control
Anomie is a product of / what is anomie (5 points)
- sense of normlessness and rules are broken
- evolution of a society creates a loss of equilibrium or balance
- industrial process where changes are too fast or rapid
- social components become isolated
- Without a regulated society as a guide, individuals are confused and can’t adjust, this is anomie
Durkhiems view of social history (explain)
due to the industrial process society went from mechanical solidarity to modern organic solidarity
Mechanical solidarity (4 points)
- everyone performs the same task
- society is self-sufficient group with the same values
- goal is to protect society and fufill group needs
- argarian foundation,, everyone behaves the same
modern organic solidarity (5 points)
- labour division (not everyone is doing the same tasks)
- goal is to protect the individual not the group
- use of law to regulate society
- society runs on contract relationships
- people behave differently
argarian foundation
everyone behaves the same
Societal changes disrupts the equilibrium of mechanical solidarity by: 4 points
- production becomes unbridled (uncontrollable) and unregulated
- separation of owners, workers and consumers
- disasters, economic crises and commercialism cause breakdown of norms
- markets grow too fast
____ societies have a continual state of anomie
modern organic societies
Robert Merton social structure and anomie 3-4 points
- 1938
- he uses aggregate (collective) rates of crime and suicide attempts to explain
- durkheims rapid industrial development is like our modern society
- societal level events explain how changes affect groups (classes) of people
- deviant behaviour is based on different types of social adaptation
Anomie Theory Foundations (goals and means)
- focuses on imbedded social structure and cultural disparities (imbalance) in society
- saw strain and social disjuncition (lack of consistency) between goals and the means in a society
Goals: what one should strive for (money, success, status)
Means: the way of attaining goals (acceptable or not)
American Dream and Anomie (3 points)
- society tells us what we should desire, but not everyone has access to these socially approved means
- access to these means are limited and unequally distributed by class
- social class pyramid keeps poor on the bottom
Social Disorganization and common values
- societal members share common values
- value system gives us goals and means through appropriate and institutionalized ways of achieving these goals
- social disorganization creates differing access to goals and mean as they are unequally distributed
- availability and unavailability in goals and means creates pressure towards deviance
- anomie is then a result of society overemphasizing success and goals
Modes of adaptation (5 types)
- conformity: accepts goals and means, most common adaptation
- innovation: accepts goals, rejects means and makes up their own (most crimes are this way)
- ritualism: reject goals as unreachable and focuses on means (bueareacrat and someone graduating hs then going to uni bc it is expected)
- retreatism: rejects both means and goals (drop out)
- rebellion: accepts own goals and means // replaces original goals and means (example left and right extremists)
5 steps of anomie
- common value system is established
- value system tells us goals and means to use to achieve success
- there is structural disorganization in a complex organic society
- lack of equilibrium results in differential access to opportunities
- disjunction between goals and means results in deviant behaviour
The functions of adaptations
- the typology of behavioural choices
- drives and desires aren’t habitual but influenced by societal and cultural pressures for monetary success
- lower class is caught in a bind, thus more likely to perform deviant acts
- societies overemphasis on economic goals is pathological (habitual)
- this causes anomie, an overemphasis on achievement as “success”
Critisim of Mertons Anomie Theory: 3 points
- too much focus on lower class crimes
- more of a logical explanation of property crimes
- assumes everyone feels pressured to have social goals
what did Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin believe?
- existing theories were too deterministic (relied on other causes and factors)
- they believed social factors / pressures and strain are not the only causes of deviance
- access to illegitimate means may also cause someone to deviate
Illegitimate and legitimate opportunities
- legitimate opportunities: (zoning, politics, laws, businesses, structures) upper to middle class people who have primary access
- illegitimate opportunities: (organized crime, drug dealing networks) lower, poor class people and kids, dont have access to means, had to work harder to get ahead
Three types of gangs
Criminal Subculture: well developed illegitimate opportunities, organized and integrated. little violence, gangs serve apprenticeship, profit making, high respect for territories and traditions
Retreatist subculture: raising money for drugs or selling drugs, unable to succeed in either opportunity structure
conflict subculture: non-integrated, gangs are unrestrained, violent, competitive, focus on getting respect and there is property damage
