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social distribution Flashcards

1
Q

what does social distribution of crime refer to?

A

the patterns in which criminal behaviour is distributed across various social categories?

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2
Q

what elements does social distribution of crime consider?

A

age, gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and location

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3
Q

what may different societies and cultures exhibit?

A

different patterns of crime distribution, reflective on their unique social structure and economic conditions

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4
Q

what is an example of different society’s and cultures exhibiting different patterns of crime?

A

urban environments tend to have higher crime rates compared to rural ones

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5
Q

what is the social disorganisation theory?

A

proposes that societies structure may influence crime rates. it suggest that crime is most likely to occur in communities with weak social ties and the absence of social control

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6
Q

what do conflict theorists argue?

A

the social distribution of crime often reflects power struggles and social inequalities

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7
Q

what is the impact of social status on crime rates?

A

individuals from various socioeconomic backgrounds aren’t equally represented in crime statistics

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7
Q

what does social status refer to?

A

the relative rank that an individual holds in society

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8
Q

what is social status accossiated with?

A

education level, occupation, and income

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9
Q

why are lower socioeconomic groups more likely to engage in crime?

A

they are more susceptible to situations where criminal behaviour is seen as a possible solution for survival or advancement

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10
Q

what does the report of Sweden show?

A

examined 2.5 million individuals, indicated that individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds were more likely to be convicted of violent crimes and substance abuse

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11
Q

what is a blue-collar crime?

A

often associated with lower social classes, these crime include burglary, theft, assault, drug-related offences, and other street crimes

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12
Q

what is white-collar crime?

A

associated with higher social classes. they often go unreported or are less likely to result in punishment, includes fraud, embezzlement, and various forms of financial crimes

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13
Q

what did the 2012-13 Crime Survey of England and Wales show?

A

that adults from mixed, black and Asian ethnic groups were more at risk of being a victim of personal crime than adults from the white ethnic groups

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14
Q

how was ethnicity seen until the 1980s?

A

it was overlooked

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15
Q

what occurred in from the 197-s onwards?

A

there was a breakdown in relations between minority ethnic communities and the police and growing tension in communities between some ethnic groups

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16
Q

when was the Scarman Report developed?

A

1981

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17
Q

what was the Scarman report about?

A

the Brixton Riots

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18
Q

what did the report into the Brixton riots show?

A

the role of resentment felt by African-Caribbean communities against the police as a result of perceived harassment.

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19
Q

in 1981 what did the Home Office revel?

A

Asian people were 50 times more likely to be victims of racially motivated crime than the white population

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20
Q

when was the Macpherson Report concieved?

A

1999

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21
Q

what was the Macpherson report on?

A

the police investigation into the murder of teenager Stephen Lawrence

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22
Q

what did the Macpherson report reveal?

A

institutional racism in the police force was widespread

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23
Q

what is institutional racism?

A

discrimination against particular ethnic groups or individuals at an organised level, intentionally or unintentionally

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24
what does Macpherson argue?
it may not be outright discrimination but rather the collective failure of the police and criminal justice system in a subconscious way.
25
what is the main race that the police are?
white
26
what does Reiner (2000) argue?
among the police there are exists a racist 'canteen culture'
27
what is a 'canteen culture'?
culture which sexist and discriminatory values are seen acceptable, which reinforces a mistrust of particular groups and consequently shapes racist police practises
28
what do cultural deprivation theorists argue?
one reason for current patterns may be inadequate socialisation among minority ethnic groups
29
what type of theorist is Paul Gilroy (1983)
a neo-marxist
30
what does Paul Gilroy present?
a strong argument against the view that black criminals are inadequately socialised, leading to them becoming criminals
31
what does Paul Gilroy believe?
people from minority ethnic groups become criminal as a result of needing to defend themselves against a society that discriminates against them
32
what type of sociologist is Reiner?
Marxist
33
what does Reiner (1993) argue?
a combination of discrimination and victimisation leads to the over representation of minority ethnic groups in crime statistics
34
who supports Reiners idea?
Lea and Young (1982)
35
what type of theorists are Lea and Young?
left realists
36
why do Lea and Young believe that crime rates are higher for ethnic groups?
because some ethnic minority groups are likely to be marginalised, which is made worse by discrimination
37
what does marginalised mean?
to treat a person/group as insignificant
38
what is relative deprivation?
feeling of being deprived or lacking in comparison to others
39
what does arrest data from 2008-09 show?
majority of serious crimes are committed by men
40
what percentage of adults were arrested for violence?
83%
41
what percentage of adults were arrested for sexual offence?
97%
42
what percentage of adults were arrested for robbery?
91%
43
where are the above states from?
the Ministry of Justice, 2010
44
until the 1990 what were women overrepresented in?
victimisation statistics
45
since the 1990s how has crime committed by women changed?
slightly increase, revealing changing patterns
46
who is an example of a sex role theorist?
Parsons (1995)
47
what does parsons argue?
girls and boys are socialised into particular roles, which reinforce behaviour that lends itself towards more or less criminal behaviour
48
what roles are boys socialised into?
physical, competitive, aggressive, macho and risk taking
49
what roles are girls socialised into?
compliant, conformist, and reserved
50
according to parsons why are Women less likely to commit crime?
they are the caregivers and responsible for domestic tasks in the family meaning they have less opportunity or ability to commit certain crimes
51
why does parsons argue that men are more likely to commit crimes?
men are typically the providers who spend much of their time in private domain, so have greater access to and time to commit certain types of crime
52
What does Messerschmidt (1993) argue?
men commit crime in order to assert their masculinity in a way that might otherwise be blocked for them.
53
what is an example of med asserting their masculinity through crime?
men with low-status/low-paid jobs do not gain validation of their masculinity through their jobs and lives so they look other validation through crime
54
what does Lyng argue?
young men of all backgrounds are likely to want to engage with risk taking which may lead to crime
55
who develops 'Edgework'
Lyng (1990)
56
what does Lyng mean by edge work?
young males are not seeking material reward in committing crime, rather they seek excitement and risk taking
57
what is an example of Edgework?
climbing high buildings or taking risks on the stock market
58
what do feminists argue?
patriarchal ideology encourages men to dominate women. resulting in women more likely to be the victim of crime
59
what does Feminist Pat Carlen (1988) argue?
women's crimes reflect their powerlessness as they lack the opportunity to change their repressed position
60
why does Carlen say they women are likely to experience abuse by men?
men use violence to assert their control over women
61
what does Carlen say about women having powerlessness in their jobs?
there is little legitimate opportunity to improve their situation
62
in patriarchal control and rational choice theory, how do feminists think women make their decisions?
based on the level of control they feel men have over them and in terms of the risk of getting caught and what they potentially have to loose
63
what doe feminists Carlen and Heidensohn (1996) say about patriarchal control and rational choice theory?
women have less opportunity to commit crime, as they are often caring for children or husbands explaining their lower crime rates
64
what does Heidensohn say about women committing less crime?
it is because of gendered patterns of social control, formal and informal, which reinforce the control that men have over women
65
what is an example of gender patterned social control?
it is not usual for a women to go out at night on their own, but it is more acceptable for men
66
who came up with Liberation thesis?
Adler (1995)
67
what does Adler predict?
as women become more equal with men, their crime rates will increase, and as a result will become similar to the crime rates of men
68
how many women make up the criminal justice system?
10.5% of all judges
69
what does smart argue about male judges?
they regard rape trials very differently between men and women, seeing mens needs for sex acceptable
70
what do feminist say women feel when they are victims of sexual violence?
they feel they are going to trail themselves
71
what does women being treated in paternalistic way by police and the courts lead to?
them being treated more leniently (chivalry thesis)
72
what does a paternalistic mean?
treated in a fatherly way
73
what is chivalry thesis?
idea that legal systems treat women more leniently than men
74
what did the British Crime Survey find in 2014?
households owned by someone who was unemployed were over twice as likely to be victims of domestic burglary compared with households owned by employed people
75
what do functionalists argue about working class people living in poverty?
they have weak ties with society
76
what is the result of small groups being marginalised and experience social deprivation?
they face social exclusion
77
what is social exclusion?
idea that people are unable to access service, employment and a good education, prevents them participating fully in society
78
what dies Merton mean by a strain in society as innovation?
reaching societal goals by not abiding to the rules e.g stealing, selling drugs
79
what does Cohen argue working class men feel?
status frustration
80
what does status frustration lead to?
men wanting ti seek out others who share this frustration, to engage in criminal behaviour
81
what does Cloward and Ohlin argue?
when working class are unable to achieve the goals of society, it is likely that members of this group will turn to crime in areas where there are high levels of social deprivation
82
what does Miller identify?
a set of values which are developed amount the working class which make crime more likely
83
what does Miller mean by working class subcultures having 'focal concerns'?
shared values such as excitement and toughness that lead to crime
84
what does New Right thinker Charles Murray argue?
the group of people who do not work and share similar values, known as the 'underclass' of society, are likely to turn to crime
85
what does Murray say about the lack of male role model leads to?
means young boys are more likely to turn to a life of crime to seek the 'role model'
86
what does the Marxist thinker Pearce argue?
laws are created by the ruling class to protect their private property
87
where does Pearce and other Marxists say crime occures?
amongst all social classes
88
what type of crime do Marxists say is ignored?
middle-class, corporate crime
89
what does Marxist Gordon argue?
the police practice selective law enforcement in the USA, leading to attention being turned from the ruling class to the working class. this prevents the system being challenges for being unfair and ensures status quo is maintained
90
what is status quo?
existing state of affairs, especially regarding social or political issues.
91
what does left realist Lea and Young argue?
that social class is very much linked to crime
92
what do left realist argue relative deprivation and marginalisation leads to?
them being more likely to commit crime
93
what does Lea and Young say happens when living standards increase and the media reinforces relative deprivation?
crime increases too
94
what type of crime are the people living in poverty more likely to commit?
more visible crimes such as vandalism, anti-social behaviour, and theft
95
what type of crime are the middle-class more likely to commit?
fraud and embezzlement which are very hidden from the public
96
why are all the above explanations problematic?
they do not explain why many poor people do not commit crimes, and why are some are more likely to then others. theses theories ignore the fact that the working class people are also disproportionally more likely to be the victims of crime
97
who was one of the first sociologists to identify crimes committed by those with power, status, and money?
Sutherland (1960)
98
what does Sutherland call crimes committed by the powerful?
white-collar crimes
99
what doe corporate crimes refer to?
crime carried out at an organised level, using the business as a front behind which lays criminal behavior
100
what do Marxist believe white-collar and corporate crime is?
inevitable in a capitalist system that creates a drive for profit
101
who is an example of a control theorist?
feminists
102
what do control theorist argue about corporate and white-collar crimes?
as people become more wealthy, they can begin to feel above the law. individuals may forget or overlook the fact that there are victims of their crimes
103
what are some different types of corporate crimes?
1. tax evasion 2. breaking employment laws 3. ignoring/avoiding policies 4. misinforming and dangerous good and services 5. breaking trade agreements

sociology- Crime & Deviance (8 decks)

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