Sociological theories of crime

Question 1

Social structure – Marxism (Marx)

Answer 1

Sees crime as a tool used by the ruling class to maintain social control over the working class.
* Core institutions (e.g. police, courts, schools) are geared to enforcing this control.
* Claims that white-collar crime is ignored whilst blue-collar crime is targeted by police and heavily punished.

Question 2

Interactionism – labelling theory (Becker)

Answer 2

Certain behaviours will be labelled as deviant or criminal by the police and courts.
* In time, those who assume those behaviours will class themselves as deviant, starting to act in a way that fits the label, becoming criminal (self-fulfilling prophecy).
* This can be amplified by the media.

Question 3

Realism – right realism (Murray)

Answer 3

Views crime from the standpoint of conservatism, i.e. being tough on crime and the causes of crime.
* Attribute rising crime rates to poverty and the break-up of the traditional family unit.
* Murray attributes crime to failing social bonds, where boys in a single-parent household do not have the role models to learn good behaviour from.

Question 4

Strengths of marxism

Answer 4

It has been a contributory factor to the shaping of government research into the causes of crime and solutions.
* Flood-Page et al support the link between single- parent backgrounds and the increased likelihood to criminality.

Question 5

Weakness of marxism

Answer 5

It ignores white-collar crime and the causes of it.
* It does not appreciate the growing divide between the rich and poor in society.
* It does not look to the resentment which is caused by the circumstances arising from an increasing void between the ruling and working classes.

Question 6

Strengths of Interactionalism

Answer 6

Emphasises the damage that the media can have by labelling people.
* Displays the bias that may be seen in both law and order.

Question 7

Weakness of interactionalism

Answer 7

It does not explain how the deviant behaviours originate.
* Labelling does not guarantee a follow-on to self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 8

Strength of Realism

Answer 8

It has been a contributory factor to the shaping of government research into the causes of crime and solutions.
* Flood-Page et al support the link between single- parent backgrounds and the increased likelihood to criminality.

Question 9

Weakness of Realism

Answer 9

It ignores white-collar crime and the causes of it.
* It does not appreciate the growing divide between the rich and poor in society.
* It does not look to the resentment which is caused by the circumstances arising from an increasing void between the ruling and working classes.

Question 10

Penal populism

Answer 10

The government will attempt to gain popularity with the public by introducing laws to punish offenders. This is usually in light of a serious crime highlighted by the media.
* An example of this is the ‘three strike’ compulsory prison sentence for a third burglary conviction created by the Labour Party in 2000.

Question 11

Zero tolerance

Answer 11

Policy that all crimes are responded to, no matter how trivial.
* Based on ‘broken windows’ theory whereby small issues remain unresolved.
* It can achieve positive results with significant drops in crime.
* Use of the policy can lead to accusations against the police of oppression.

Question 12

Restorative justice

Answer 12

A meeting between offender and victim to discuss what happened and how the situation could be remedied.
* This is voluntary and can take a long time to prepare both sides to talk. They will be led by a qualified facilitator.
* There is a high satisfaction rate, and it has been noted to reduce reoffending somewhat.