Social action theory and crime Flashcards
How is social action theory different to the other theories covered so far?
- official statistics aren’t the truth
- argue the vast majority of the population have broken the law and could be seen as criminal rather than just WC + boys [police are discriminate]
- focus on how the WC, men + ethnic minorities are labelled by the police
What sociologists do we look at?
Becker
Jock Young
Chambliss
Braithwaite
What key terms does Becker talk about?
Labelling
Master Label
Self fulfilling prophecy
Deviant career
What is meant by the term ‘labelling’?
The process by which agents of social control (police + courts) attach negative stereotypes to less powerful groups.
Why is the concept of cultural capital important here?
Middle class can use their cultural capital to talk their way out of trouble and negotiate with the police.
What is the master label?
The label that overrides all other labels. Those with a master label will be treated negatively which leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy where the master label becomes internalised.
What is the deviant career?
When a person is given and accepts the master label. Negative master labels are rejected by wider society and they can’t find work which leads to further crime.
How does Jock Young put the theoretical ideas of Becker into practice?
Studied hippie marijuana users in Notting Hill London. Young said this was a minor + insignificant event but overtime the police labelled them as hippies so they accepted the master label of hippie drug user and developed a deviant career of buying and selling drugs.
This is an example of deviancy amplification - the actions of the police caused more crime.
What are the names of Chambliss’ 2 studies?
- Saints and Roughnecks
- The RDU (Rapid Development Unit)
Describe the sample of Chambliss’ Saints + Roughnecks study
The Saints were 8 middle class delinquent boys and the Roughnecks were 6 wc delinquent boys.
Summarise what happened in Chambliss’ Saints and Roughneck’s study
They both committed the same antisocial behaviour but the saint weren’t seen as delinquent and didn’t engage with police because their crime took place out of town. The roughnecks were labelled as criminal because their crime took place in the local area. The saints used their cultural capital to get out of trouble with the police.
Summarise the result of Chambliss’ Saints and Roughneck’s study
A SFP took place and the roughnecks accepted the negative label. All the saints graduated and gained MC jobs. 2 of the roughnecks escaped their label / 2 were arrested and 2 regularly got into trouble with the police.
Summarise Chambliss’ Rapid Development Unit study
Washington DC policed black areas of the city with more aggression, labelled black men as criminals + stopped expensive cars driven by black people. They were racist and treated people differently based on their ethnicity.
What does Braithwaite talk about?
Disintegrative shaming
Reintegrative shaming
Describe disintegrative shaming
The offender is made to feel an outsider and not worthy of reintroduction into normal society. This makes it more likely they will rejoin a criminal subculture and continue to break the law. More likely to happen in the UK + US.
