sociological theories Flashcards
what are sociological theories?
focus on how society influences whether people become criminal
what is social structure?
refers to how peoples place in the socioeconomic structure of their society influences their chances of becoming a criminal
SS- what is a marxist view of crime?
criminal activity is inevitable in a capitalist society because of the ruling capitalist class exploiting the W-C
Marxism- reasons why crime is seen as inevitable
- exploited w-c driven into poverty
- capitalists create a desire for consumer goods through aggressive advertising
leads to crime such as violence, stealing, crimes for survival
why does a capitalist society lead to crime?
the ruling class are more likely to commit white collar crimes because they want to be better than everyone else, so they commit crimes such as tax evasion and corporate crime
what do marxists argue about white collar crimes?
they tend to be ignored, whilst street crimes are given a higher profile
what are corporate crimes frequently punished with?
fines rather than prison sentences when the consequence can be damaging for many people, called selective enforcement
evaluation of structural theories- STRENGTHS
explanation covers crime committed by all classes
theory had practical applications as it highlights impact of selective law enforcement
evaluation of structural theories- WEAKNESSES
focuses mainly on class inequality and doesn’t address ethnicity or gender inequalities
leads to possible exaggeration of the amount of crime committed by w-c
what views do right realists hold?
right wing conservative political viewpoints
what do right realists encourage?
getting tough on crime
what is crime linked to with right realists?
instead of rising unemployment or poverty, it’s linked to inadequate social control
what factors do right realists see crime as a consequence of?
biological differences- inherited personality characteristics
inadequate socialisation- coming from single parent family and lacking hard working male role model
offending as a rational choice- weighing up costs and benefits of offending
what would right realists believe about punishments?
too soft and need to be harder to deter more people from committing crime
evaluation of right realists- STRENGTHS
Bennet and Wright found by interviewing burglars that the risks of committing the crime was the biggest factor
Rettig found the degree of punishment affected whether or not people commit a crime by giving students a criminal scenario with differing levels of punishment for the crime
EV of right realists- WEAKNESSES
overlooks white collar crime
ignored left realist views that look at deprivation and poverty gaps
many violent crimes are impulsive reactions to events or a consequence of drugs and alcohol
what view do left realists hold?
left wing socialist political opinions
what do left realists see as the cause of criminal activity?
inequality within our society
what do Lea and Young argue?- LR
three related causes of crime:
Relative deprivation- looks at how deprived you feel e.g lifestyle, possessions etc
Subculture- people belong to a subculture in attempts to solve the problem of relative deprivation
Marginalisation- some groups in society are marginalised in that they lack organisations that lead to a sense of powerlessness and frustration which leads to likelihood of violence
EV of left realists- STRENGTHS
has practical applications, able to reduce crime if we reduce deprivation and poverty
EV of left realists- WEAKNESSESS
fails to explain white collar crime which is often committed by those who are not in deprived conditions
what does interactionism look at?
how people within a society interact with each other
e.g. labelling theory
what is labelling?
we give people labels and then how we interact with people is influenced by their label
what does the labelling theory argue about acts?
what is an example of this?
there are no act that is deviant or criminal in itself and only becomes one when we create rules and regulations around that act to make it crimnal
homosexuality was labelled a crime in the 1950s in the UK but no longer carries that label
what did Edwin Lemert identify?
Primary deviance- trivial deviant acts that tend to go uncaught and don’t see themselves as criminals e.g. stealing stationary from work
secondary deviance- involves acts that have been labelled as deviant
what can labels be a cause of?
a cause of crime as once someone gets labelled a criminal that becomes their master status
what is a master status?
the thing that most defines someone
what can happen to someone once labelled?
they can be rejected by society and being forces into a deviant subculture of other criminals with prisons being an extreme example
the person then identifies with the label and commits more crime (self-fulfilling prophecy) as the individual internalises the label and behaves in a way that mirrors the label
EV interactionism- strengths
practical applications
shows the role the media play in public perception of crime which could lead to tighter restraints on the media and calls for more responsible reporting
EV interactionism- weaknesses
fails to explain where the deviance originates in the first place
suggests lack of freewill where once someone has a label they WILL commit crime which isn’t true
takes focus away from the real victims of criminal behaviour as they are “victims” of being labelled which takes away responsibility for their actions from the criminal
