Sociological theories of Criminality

Question 1

Sociological theories of criminology believe that…

Answer 1

…society influences a person to become a criminal.

Question 2

Name three main types of sociological theories, and give examples

Answer 2

• Structuralist, e.g. Marxism, Merton’s strain theory etc.
• Functionalist, e.g. Durkheim
• Realist, e.g. Left Realism, Right Realism

Question 3

What do Marxists believe?

Answer 3

Marxists (supporters of Karl Marx’s political and economic theories), see crime as a tool used by the ruling class (bourgeoisie) to maintain social control over the working class (proletariat).

Question 4

How do Marxists believe that the ruling classes enforce social control?

Answer 4

Marxists believe that institutions such as the police, justice system, prisons, schools, the family and religion are there to encourage you to conform and thereby enforce social control.

Question 5

What is capitalism?

Answer 5

Capitalism is the social system in which the means for producing and distributing goods are controlled by a small minority of people for profit (the capitalist class/bourgeoisie). The majority of people must sell their ability to work in return for a wage or salary (the working class/proletariat).

Question 6

Marxists would argue that different social classes are policed differently…

Answer 6

• The working class, or proletariat, are heavily policed in the expectation that they will be more criminal, and therefore raising the chances of their crimes being detected.
• In contrast, white-collar crimes, which tend to be committed by the more powerful in society, are ignored.

Question 7

What percentage of government statistics do Marxists believe are false and misleading?

Answer 7

Marxists believe that on average 42% of the statistics presented by the government are false and misleading.

Marxists believe that when it comes to crime, governments fabricate statistics to suit their purposes and get public support for any action taken by that government that might be construed as trespassing on freedoms.

Question 8

Give three strengths of Marxism

Answer 8

• Marxism does provide an explanation for crime that covers all social classes and a variety of offences.
• Marxism highlights the impact of selective law enforcement and how white-collar crime is under-policed.
• It demonstrates how the law reflects differences in power between the social classes. It also shows how inequality in society can lead to criminal behaviour.

Question 9

Who is the main theorist behind labelling theory, and what type of sociological theory is this?

Answer 9

Howard Becker is the main theorist behind labelling theory, which is an interactionist theory (it refers to how people in society interact with one another).

Question 10

What ideas underpin Becker’s theory?

Answer 10

Becker did not focus on what causes people to behave in a deviant way, but instead he focused on why people choose to label their behaviour as deviant and what effect the label has on the individual and/or society.

For instance, killing someone would usually be considered highly deviant, but in a war killing is normalised and may even be labelled as heroic.

Question 11

Explain Becker’s Labelling Theory

Answer 11

• 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)
• Labelling can be amplified by the media, as they may ‘demonise’ people who have been socially labelled as deviant, creating moral panic in society, and making those labelled as deviant appear as ‘folk devils’ - deviancy amplification. This makes it more difficult for the deviant person to change public opinion towards them and can often lead to stereotyping.

Question 12

Give three strengths of Becker’s Labelling Theory

Answer 12

• Labelling Theory shows how law is often enforced in a discriminatory way, and highlights the consequences of labelling.
• Becker’s theory emphasises the media’s role in defining and creating deviance and in producing moral panics.
• Labelling Theory also highlights weaknesses in official statistics, which allow bias in law enforcement.

Question 13

Give three weaknesses of Labelling Theory

Answer 13

• Labelling Theory fails to explain why deviant behaviour happens in the first place. There is no acceptance that some people may choose deviance.
• Labelling does not guarantee a follow-on to self-fulfilling prophecy, and criminals don’t need a label to know they are doing wrong.
• It ignores the victim of crime, just focusing on the ‘criminal’, so there is a potential to romanticise crime.

Question 14

What two types of deviance did the sociologist Edwin Lemert refer to?

Answer 14

Primary deviance: an act of deviance that has not been socially labelled as deviant.

Secondary deviance: an act that has been labelled as deviant.

For instance, a teenager might start shoplifting. This first act of deviance is primary deviance, however, if they continue and get caught, they will be labelled as deviant (secondary deviance).

Question 15

Right Realism considers crime from which political perspective?

Answer 15

Right realism considers crime from the perspective of political conservatism (the Right),i.e. being tough on crime and the causes of crime.

Question 16

What does the Right Realist, Charles Murray, attribute rising crime rates to?

Answer 16

Murray states that everyone is tempted to commit crime, but it is the amount of social bonds that often prevent us from doing so.

Murray talks about the development of the ‘underclass’, such as single parent families, where boys grow up without appropriate role models to learn good behaviour from.

Inadequate Socialisation - Murray (1990)

Question 17

According to Right Realists, what are the three causes of crime? Which cause do they focus on as a way to reduce criminality?

Answer 17

• Biological differences
• Inadequate socialisation
• An individual’s rational choice to offend

Right realists don’t believe they can make any changes to biological differences, and perceive that inadequate socialisation is too difficult to tackle, so they focus on rational choice to offend as a way to reduce criminality, (making the consequences of committing crime greater than the rewards it may offer).

Question 18

What is Rational Choice Theory?

Answer 18

Rational Choice Theory states that everyone has free will and the power of reason.

Clarke (1980) argues that the decision to commit a crime is based on a rational calculation of the consequences. If it is thought that the rewards outweigh the cost then someone may turn to crime.

Question 19

To what do right realists attribute rising crime rates?

Answer 19

Poverty and the break-up of the traditional family unit.

Question 20

Give two strengths of Right Realism

Answer 20

• Right Realism has been a contributory factor to the shaping of government research into the causes of crime.
• Right Realist theories have gained practical support. Research by Flood-Page et al. for the Home Office offers partial support for Murray’s views on ‘family decline’. They found that children (especially males) from lone parent backgrounds and step-families were more likely to offend than those who lived with two natural parents. This suggests there is some validity in the right realist ideas.

Question 21

Give four weaknesses of Right Realism

Answer 21

• Right realism ignores white-collar crime and the causes of it. Right realists are often accused of too readily accepting official statistics, despite knowing they have problems such as ignoring white-collar crime.
• It does not appreciate the growing divide between the rich and poor in society.
• Right realism does not look to the resentment which is caused by the circumstances arising from an increasing void between the ruling and working classes.
• Although Food-Page et al. confirm a link between family structures and offending, they suggest that single parenthood or belonging to a step-family is not itself a cause of crime. There are other key factors to consider, such as the quality of family relationships and levels of parental supervision.

Question 22

In which ways are Right Realism and Left Realism in agreement about the causes of crime?

Answer 22

• All realists believe that crime is a real problem to be tackled, and not just a social construction created by control agencies.
• All realists argue that there has been a significant rise in the crime rate, especially in street crime, burglary and assault.
• Realists share a concern about the widespread fear of crime and the impact of crime on its victims.
• Realists argue that other theories have failed to offer realistic solutions to the problem.

Question 23

Left realism has 3 explanations of crime (Lea & Young, 1984). What are they?

Answer 23

• Relative Deprivation
• Subcultures
• Marginalisation

Question 24

What does the term ‘Relative Deprivation’ mean?

Answer 24

Lea and Young argue that crime has its roots in deprivation, but deprivation itself is not directly responsible for crime – for example, living standards have risen since the 1950s, so the level of deprivation has fallen, but the crime rate is much higher today than it was in the 1950s.

Left Realists draw on Runciman’s (1966) concept of relative deprivation to explain crime. This refers to how someone feels in relation to others, or compared with their own expectations.

The concept of relative deprivation helps to explain the apparent paradox of increasing crime in the context of an increasingly wealthy society. Although people are better off today, they have a greater feeling of relative deprivation because of the media and advertising have raised everyone’s expectations for material possessions – we are wealthier, but we feel poorer, and thus there is more pressure to get more stuff to keep up with everyone else, which generates historically high crime rates.