sociological theories AC2.3 Flashcards
functionalism: background context
- Structural consensus theorists
- ideas are passed down meaning control is exerted from the top
- This is positive as it works successfully
funstionalists opinions on crime
- Crimes becomes dysfunctional when its too high it can lead to “anomie” or too low for example when its too low there is no change in society so homosexuality would still be considered illegal
- Durkhiem compared society to a human body meaning they believe everything in society has a function and so does crime as long as its the right amount and it will bring society together
durkiems four functions of crime
- Boundary maintenance
- Social change
- Safety valve
- Warning light
functionalism: boundry maintenance
Crime produces a reaction that unites society’s members against those who do wrong reminding society what is right and wrong
functionalism: Social change
For society to progress individuals with new ideas must challenge existing norms
functionalism: Safety valve
Crime can release the stresses of society
Example: prostitution allows men to release their sexual frustration without threatening the nuclear family
Warning light
Deviance indicates that an institute isn’t functioning correctly
Example: high truancy rate could indicate problems with the education system
strengths of functionalism
- Crime serves beneficial functions for society
- Shows how different institutions operate to produce overall social stability
limitations of functionalism
- Fails to explain how much crime is functional
- Assumes that everything in society is largely positive
- Ignore the victims of the crime the focus is on society rather than the individual
marxists opinions on crime
- they believe crime as a result of capitalism
- the frustation from the exploitation can amke people act in deviant ways
- capitalism is criminogenic because the capitalist system exploits people and makes them poor thus crime becomes a way to survive
what are the two social strcture theories
- marxism
- mertons strain theory
marxists background context
- structural conflict theorists
- believes there are two classes: bourgeoisie and proletariat
- the bourgeoisie exploit the proletariat
althusser believes we are controlled in two ways…
Ideological state apparatus > manipulating people’s ideas and convincing them life is fair
Repressive state apparatus > through force and control such as the police and the army. The role of the repressive state apparatus is to punish those that don’t follow the rules of capitalism
criminogenic meaning
likely to cause criminal behaviour
marxism: chambliss
argued that the law protects the wealthy and their property ensuring the wealth is passed down to the next generation without any loss
marxism: carson
- found that out the 200 breaches of safety by businesses only 3 were prosecuted
- for example white collar crimes are less likely to be prosecuted than working class “street crime”
strengths of marxism
- Shows how poverty and inequality cause working class crime and how capitalism promotes greed and encourages corporate crimes
- Gordon - points out that there is a clear difference in how the law is enforced between “street crimes” and “corporate crimes” he calls this the “selective law enforcement”
marxism: snider
- claims “street crime” is less harmful than “corporate crimes” but is portrayed as more serious in the media
- Marxism argues that this is a way of diverting attention away from other forms of crime
limitations of marxism
- Overpredicts the amount of working class crime
- Focuses on class ignoring the link between crime and other inequalities e.g. ethnicity
- Not all capitalist societies have high crime rates e.g. japan homicide rates are ⅕ of the USA
mertons strain theory
- Merton suggested that society sets goals this is referred to as the “american dream”
- However not everyone can reach them using legitimate means those who can not achieve this can turn to crime
mertons five responses to this strain:
- Conformity
- Innovation
- Ritualism
- Retreatism
- Rebellion
merton: conformity
accept the goals and work hard legally
merton: ritualism
give up on success but still follow the rules
merton: innovation
accept the goals but use crime to achieve them
