Sociological Theories Flashcards
What kind of theory is Functionalism?
Structuralist Theory
What does value consensus mean?
Sharing the same norms and values to create social solidarity
Who argued that crime is an inevitable feature of life?
Durkheim
What does anomie mean?
A sense of normlessness
What are the 4 functions of crime that Durkheim outlined?
Boundary maintenance, enables social change, acts as a safety valve, acts as a warning light
Give a strength and weakness of Durkheim’s theory
Crime is inevitable, beneficial for the future and first to find positive, however unusual to the majority to see it as good, where is the line drawn?
Who came up with the Strain Theory?
Merton
What reason does Merton give for crime occurring?
Occurs due to a clash between the means and goals in society, cannot achieve material success like they have been taught
Name the 5 modes of adaptation
Conformity, Innovation, Ritualism, Retreatism, Rebellion
Give a strength and weakness of Merton’s theory
Recognizes the effect of social status and supported by statistics, however people can change over time, fit into more than one group or have different goals than material success
What is a subculture?
A small group in society, usually working class, that develop their own norms and values
What is status frustration?
When individuals want status and respect but cannot achieve it
What is meant by the term cultural deprivation?
Where a person has inferior norms, values, knowledge and skills to others because of their social class
How can we apply status frustration?
Murder in Milwaukee, people living in the poorest deprive area forced into crime, can’t get out
Who came up with the illegitimate opportunity structure?
Cloward and Ohlin
Outline the three delinquent subcultures
Criminal, utilitarian crimes with career path for criminals, Conflict, lack of cohesion with gangs and violence, Retreatist, double failure with drug and prostitution common
Give a strength and limitation of subcultural theory
Focuses on the wider culture and people unlike Merton and shows how different areas lead to crime, however actual subcultures aren’t as clear and Cohens initial work focused only on working class boys
What are the two classes in a Marxist society?
The bourgeoisie (ruling class) and the proletariat (working class)
What is the superstructure?
The institutions laid out in society with a base made of the means of production and relations, and the superstructure includes ideology (art, family, media, law)
Why do Marxists say that crime is inevitable?
Because capitalism is criminogenic and its very nature causes crime
What are the four ways that capitalism can lead to crime?
Poverty, need to obtain consumer goods advertised, alienation, capitalism has a dog eat dog nature
Who argued that laws are in place to protect the property of the rich and that organized crime is a major part of capitalist societies?
Chambliss
How does this apply to HSBC?
HSBC had been moving money and money laundering for drug cartels and terrorists, however avoided prosecution by paying a lot of money despite having clear evidence and people to prosecute
What did Carson discover?
Selective law enforcement, only 3 out of 200 companies were prosecuted for breaking health and safety laws
What does ideological functions mean?
When laws appear to be for the benefit of the working class, creates a caring face and leads to false class consciousness (Pearce)
Give a strength and weakness of Marxist theory
Explains why the working class commit crime and supported by real life examples, however over generalizes working class crime, some commit for the thrill
What kind of theory is interactionist theory?
Social action theory
What is another name given to interactionist theory and why?
Labelling theory, sees interactions as being based on meanings and labels
Who came up with the idea of police stereotypes, similar to Cicourels police typifications
Piliavin and Briar
What did Lemert say labelling leads to?
Self-fulfilling prophecy
What is primary deviance?
Insignificant acts that have not been publicly labelled, no consequences if no one finds out
What is secondary deviance?
Result of labelling, publicly shamed and sometimes the offender will only be seen in this way, it becomes their master status
What is the deviancy amplification cycle?
Where a crackdown on deviance increases crime, more labelling causes more issues (Jock Young, marijuana users)
What do interactionists think about statistics?
Reject the use of police stats, only tells us about who they arrest not who commits crime
Give a strength and weakness of interactionist theory
Focuses on crime and deviance and explains over representation in prison, however deterministic as people could reject labels and doesn’t explain the power to label
What do right realists say will deter criminals?
Harsher punishment
What are the 3 factors right realists focus on when explaining crime?
Biological (intelligence, risk-taking, Wilson & Herrnstein), inadequate socialization, rational choice
What did Murray argue?
Said welfare dependency created an underclass of people who fail to socialize with their children (blames single mothers)
What is the routine activity theory created by Felson?
Three factors needed for crime to occur, motivated offender, suitable target and lack of capable guardian
Give a strength and limitation of right realism
Feldman agrees people make a rational choice when they weigh up risks, rational thinking doesn’t have to be massive, however not all crime is rational and experiments done in artificial settings
What do left realists argue is the cause of crime?
Inequality, crime is a real problem committed by the working class and victims are ignored
What did Lea and Young identify as the three related causes of crime?
Relatively deprived (being generally worse off), marginal (minor and unimportant in society) and subculture (smaller group with alternative beliefs and norms)
What does Young mean by a bulimic society?
Media shows us what our life should be like, even if we cant afford it, therefore we gorge ourselves on these media images and are then forced by economic circumstance to vomit out raised expectations (London Riots)
Give a strength and limitation of left realism
Focuses on the victims of crime and shows the importance of poverty, however focuses heavily on working class crime and fails to consider WC and corporate crime
How did Foucault demonstrate disciplinary power?
The Panoptican, central watch tower that can see all cells, prisoners cant see them, never know if they are being watched so they develop self-discipline
What is synoptic surveillance and who came up with the argument?
Mathiesen, surveillance comes from everyone watching everyone else rather than authority (e.g. dashcams) seeing this causes us to have self-discipline
What did Lyon argue?
Airports go through a process of categorical suspicion of who to stop because they are deemed a risk to the country
Give some examples of factors used in this process
Dress, country they’re visiting from, reason for visit and body language
What did Feeley and Simon argue as a new form of surveillance?
Actuarial, calculating the risk and probability that an event will happen (e.g. house being burgled)
Give a strength and weakness of surveillance
Researchers have used this to identify other forms of surveillance and self-discipline prevents re-offending, however, too much surveillance can cause people to rebel and breach rights (Goffman) and doesn’t always change behaviour, as CCTV is normalized
What are the general criticisms of sociological theories?
No underlying cause with all factors, over prediction especially with the working class and fails to consider biological and psychological factors
