Sociological Explanations Flashcards
functionalism - overview
.only explained by looking at social structures
.crime caused by soc. rather than in.
durkheim
.pre-ind. soc, crime rare bcs fam and religion powerful agencies of socialisation and social control - influential combination of consensus and continuity, powerful influence on personal beh.
.crime rates higher in cities - modern life undermined religion and family. consensus, community and social control weaker, more likely to experience anomie
anomie in context of crime
.sense of moral confusion that weakens commitment to shared values and rules - encourages crime and deviance
Durkheim - how crime functions to benefit societies
.can promote pos. social change by highlighting aspects of social structure/law that are inadequate - suffragettes
.some crimes (terrorism) create public outrage, rein. community solidarity
.pursuit, trial and punishment reassures ppl that soc. is functioning effectively
.reminds public of social boundaries of beh.
.minor crime = safery valve, prevents more serious crime
Durkheim eval
.issues w viewing crime as functional - child abuse
.marxisst reject view that soc. based on consensus - soc. reflects cap. patriarchal values and is based on conflict
.d. cant explain deviance e.g. why some subcultures more likely to commit crime
.assumes that criminal stats are accurate when they aren’t actually
Merton
.cause of crime lies in rel. between culture and social structure of soc. e.g cultural ins. (mass media) socialise in. into believing that material success is a realistic goal (cap. soc)
.resources and opportunities are not fairly distributed is cap. soc. - those at bottom experience strain between goals and legitimate ins. means (ed. and work) - chance of accessing them blocked by those w econ. and social advantages
.can produce anomie
the various ways merton states that in. respond to anomie
.conformity - mos of pop. cope, make best of what soc. offers them
.innovation - commitment to cul. goals may remain strong, some reject conventional, turn to illegal means
.ritualism - ppl lost sight of material goals, derive satisfaction form meaningless jobs
.retreatism - small no. reject both goals and means, drop out of soc.
.rebellion - seek to replace shared goals and ins. means w more radical alt, may use violent methods
what does merton overall believe
.criminals not that different from law abiding citizens - they have same goal to achieve material success
merton analysis - young
.influenced by m. - argues that ed. and media establishments stress meritocratic ideal
.meritocracy is a myth, ‘cos of inequality’ characterises financial reward in uk - business leaders and celebrities paid huge sums of money, hard-working ppl in full-time jobs struggle to survive
what does young believe there is a contradiction between
.there’s contradiction between culture (focuses on monetary success and acquiring material goods) and ins. that make up social structure (fault to deliver material success for most)
.this contradiction produces anomie and violent criminality is a response to this
evaluation of merton
.doesnt explain non-monetary crime (vandalism)
.ignores collective deviance
.assumed value consensus and accuracy of crime statistics
functionalists subculturalist theory
.focuses in why working ppl commit crime
.juvenile delinquency - often malicious in nature and not linked to material and financial goals
.tries to explain why jd has a collective/subcultural character - committed as a part of a larger group or gang
Cohen and fst
.delinquency caused by strain between cultural goals and ins. means of achieving them
what does Cohen argue abt how status affects ppl
.suggests young ppl want status, respect and feeling valued - mc youth usually attain these from parents, teachers and peers as they achieve educational success
.wc boys denied status at school bcs parents have failed to equip them w skills that they need - placed in bottom sets so unable to aquire knowledge and status that higher students have - may leave school with fewer qualifications, low-paid jobs and unemployed - denied status by wider soc.
what does Cohen state this results in
.low self esteem, feel alienated and angry at low-status that schools and soc. allocate them
.experience a form of anomie named ‘status fustration’
.respond by developing gangs/subcultures of like-minded boys who reverse norms and values of the dominant culture and award one another status on basis of ani school and delinquent beh.
evaluation of Cohen
.ignores gender differences - only looks at male delinquency
.marxists - wc youth didn’t have ‘status fustration’ - don’t see themselves as failures, they reject mc notions of success (willis and the lads)
.maj. of wc youth don’t commit crime
.mc youth can commit crime
cloward and ohlin
.type of crime committed by young ppl depends on illegitimate opportunity structure that is available to them in the area
.3 types of opportunity structures that produce 3 types of subcultures
cloward and ohlin first subculture
.some areas, there’s est. patterns of illegitimate opportunity in which ppl experience criminal ‘careers’ - organised types of criminal subcultures mirror legitimate businesses (employees have specific roles and can be promotes upwards to to executive statuses
cloward and ohlin second subculture
.inner-cuty areas may be dominated conflict sub-cultures which engage in highly masculinised, territorial/respect driven violence
.pitts - local youth in inner city London found it difficult to resist gangs membership bcs risk to themselves/family too great
cloward and ohlin third subcluture
.if young ppl fail to gain access to either criminal/conflict subcultures, ma form retreats subculture - major activities drug use, commit crime e.g. burglary and shoplifting to finance it
evaluation of cloward and ohlin
.subcultures overlap - gangs may also commit monetary crime
.assume value consensus and ignore conflict (issues w class and gender)
.matza - crit fst for suggesting that delinquents are different to other ppl - ‘delinquents’ drift in and out of delinquency - better explain. that ppl have subterranean values which might be attractive at certain points of someone’s life
overall functionalist evaluation
.assumes there is some value consensus that ppl deviate from in some way - not everyone committed to mainstream goals - hard to sustain view in multicultural and unequal societies like Britain
.subc. theories only explain wc delinquency snd down explain white collar crime
.rely on pattern of crime shown by official statistics (unreliable)
marxist explanation - overview
.see ppl beh. as moulded by the social structure based on conflict between lasses and social inequality as the driving force behind crime
trad marxist theory
.cap. is criminogenic - crime is inevitable in cap bcs it emphasises econ. self interest, greed and personal gain, crime rational response to competitiveness and inequality in a soc. where profit and in. gain are seen as most important
.not confined to wc
.law reflects ruling-class interests and ideology - law making and law enforcement only serve in the interest of the ruling class
what does Chambliss argue
.laws that protect private property are cornerstone of cap. econ. e.g. intro of English law into br. was African colonies , br, econ. interest lay in colonies tea, coffee and other plantations which need plentiful local labour
.br. intriduce tax, payable in cash, to a non-money econ. where pay punishable offence - cash only earned by working on plantations = law served interest of cap. plantation owners
trad marxists - what power do they believe ruling class own
.have power to prevent intro of laws that threaten their interests - few laws that challenge unequal distributions of wealth
.although all classes commit crime, selective enforcement when it comes to application of law
what does reiman argue
.more likely a crime is committed by higher class ppl the less likely the crime is treated as a criminal offence - street crimes disproportionately prosecuted whereas health and safety violations or serious tax evasion less so
tax and crime
.tax justice network - $21-32 trillion kept in tax havens in 2012 leading to loss of $250 billion in tax
.Owen jones - tax avoidance costs uk 20 times as much as benefit fraud
what do ruling class produce due to the difference between the amount of wc and uc crime reported and comvicted
.’ruling class ideology’ - dominant pro-cap. belief system through the ed. system, religion and mass media
.lead to constant attention on benefit-scroungers, public encouraged to believe that welfare is over-generous and poor enforced and easy to scrounge off of state
trad marxist view on corporations
.crimes by corporations often get off w/o punishments - HSE figures 2013-14 suggests their were 114 deaths a t work and 629,000 non-fatal injuries, only 547 prosecutions
valuation of trad. marxists
.aware of crimes of powerful and how CJS can be manipulated by rich
.recognises there is conflict between classes
.recognises that cap. soc. influences nature of crime
.one-dimensional - all laws benefit the ruling class, all crime is generated from criminogenic cap. system
.struggles to explain changing nature of crime
neo-marxism
.influenced by the many ideas of trad marxists but combine ideas from other approaches e.g. labelling theory
neo-marxists agree w trad. marxists on…
.cap. soc based on exploitation and class conflict and characterised by extreme inequalities in wealth and power
.state makes and enforces laws in interest of cap class, criminalises members of wc
.cap. should be replaced by classless soc - will help reduce/eradicate crime
neo-marxists disagree w trad. marxists on…
.reject deterministic approach that workers commit crime out of econ. necessity
.crime as meaningful action and conscious choice, crime has political motive
.see classless soc. as a goal, also emphasise liberty and diversity
what to neon-marxists create in their work
.’fully social theory of deviance’ - combines trad. marxist and labelling theory
.unlike functionalist view, looks at wider cap. soc e.g. wider and immediate origins of deviant act and act itself (meaning of it), immediate origins and wider origins of social reaction, effects of labelling
hall’s viewpoint
.sees moral panic act mugging as an ideological attempt to distract attention from the failings of cap.
.argues violent street crime nothing new and was in fact dropping in 70s (against media view)
.points out that there isn’t an easy way to measure it - nearest legal category ‘assault w intent to rob’
.claims that outcry of mugging triggered by newspaper reports, supplied by info from police - caused police force operating against black youth
.focus classically marxist - wider soc. and that crime seen as result of cap. - police provocateurs not agents of law responding to offences
veal of hall
.criticised for not looking at motives of ppl at centre of activity, young muggers themselves
.contradiction that increased police presence is necessary to maintain law and order - hall still states that there are no actual increase in street crime - if no increase, why threat to cap.
neo-marxist subcultural theory
.some focus on spectacular wc or ‘deviant’ youth subcultures e.g. mods and rockers
.suggest these can be seen as a form of ideological resistance to the dominant adult value system shaped by mc and cap. values
.brake - existence expressed through subcultures, is also a form of illusion that appears to solve their problems but actually does
cohen ‘skinheads’ study
.sometimes involved in football violence and hostile to ethnic minorities
.argued this subculture represented a ‘magical recreation of wc culture’ to reassert and relive lifestyle that was under threat from urban redevelopment, loss of jobs in manufacturing and heavy industry and settlement of ethnic minorities in previously white wc areas
.football violence attempt to defend ‘territory’
what did hebdige look at
.meanings behind style of punk rockers and late 70s
.argues that they set out to deliberately shock the establishment of soc by using everyday objects e.g. safety pins, deviant symbols - symbolically resist dominant cultural values of that time
.does note that cap. soc quickly adapts and incorporates youth cultural style which strips them of their ideological significance, becomes anther consumer item
evaluation of marxist subcultural theories
.cohen - writers were biased in that they wanted to prove that wc subculture were an attack on cap. and made sure they fixed ev of this
.blackman - emphasis on wc subcultural resistance ignores the huge variation of subcultures based on gender, ethnicity and locality
.thornton - no class basis to subcultures, simply creations of the media
evaluation of marxist approach
.powerful counterbalance to explanations of crime that focus on in, their fam/community
.force sociologists to explore wider social, economic and political factors that shape soc
.crime can only happens when ppl are defined as breaking the law, law reflects differences in power between groups
interpretivist approach - labelling theory - overview
.suggests that most ppl commit criminal acts but only some caught and stigmatised for it
what does bartlett find
.conducts survey on 2000 ppl.
.found average person commits 17 crimes a year - if ppl commit deviant acts of some kind then it is pointless to search for differences between deviants and non-deviants
becker study - ‘the outsiders’
.used an example from 1940s study - youth kill’s himself bbc’s publically accused of incest - when case malinowski first inquires a t case, islanders expressed horror and disgust, on further investigation - incest not uncommon nor frowned upon but if affair got public then islanders reacted w abuse
.becker argued - just bcs someone breaks a rule doesn’t mean others will define it as deviant, someone has to enforce rules, if person successfully labelled then consequences follow
what’s an issue with becker
.doesnt help explain why ppls commit crimes knowing their actions will be against law before they have been labelled
lemberg study
.distinguishes between ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ deviance - primary is so commonplace that it doesn’t need explaining - it is trivial
.‘secondary’ deviance result of societal reaction - being caught and public ally labelled as a criminal can involve being stigmatised, shunned or humiliated from normal society - once labelled, others only view them in terms of their label
.provokes crisis of identity where they have to accept/reject label - accepting may lead to self-fulfilling prophecy
.living up to deviant label provokes further reactions from soc. and this may lead to deviant career, seeking out others for support, maybe deviant subculture
