Sociology Crime: Class, Power And Crime And Realist Theorys

Question 1

Sociology crime: class,power and crime
Criminogenic capitalism WC

Answer 1

Marxists
-poverty may mean crime is the only way WC can survive
-alienation may lead to distraction and aggression leading to non-utilitarian crimes like violence

Question 2

Sociology crime: class,power and crime
Criminogenic define

Answer 2

By it’s very nature it causes crime

Question 3

Sociology crime: class,power and crime
Criminogenic capitalism MC

Answer 3

Marxists
-‘dog eat dog’ among competition while profit motives encourages greed
-win at any cost
-leading to white collar crimes like tax evasion

Question 4

Sociology crime: class,power and crime
Laws

Answer 4

Marxists
-laws are passed that appear to benefit the WC like safety laws
Pearce-argues such laws benefit ruling class too by keeping workers fit for work

Question 5

Sociology crime: class,power and crime
Critique of Marxists

Answer 5

-not all capitalist society’s have high crime rates like Japan has a homicide rate a fifth of the US

Question 6

Sociology crime: class,power and crime
Neo-Marxism-Critical criminology

Answer 6

Taylor
-disagrees with Marxism as it’s too deterministic e.g out of econmic necessity
-he states a more voluntaristic view
-see it as a meaningful action e.g to distribute wealth
-they’re trying to change society

Question 7

Sociology crime: class,power and crime
Critique of Critical criminology

Answer 7

-romanticises working class criminals as ‘Robin Hoods’ fighting capitalism by redistributing wealth
-but criminals mostly pray on the poor

Question 8

Sociology crime: class,power and crime
Occupational crime

Answer 8

Committed by employees simply for personal gain

Question 9

Sociology crime: class,power and crime
Corporate crime

Answer 9

Committed by employees for their business in pursuit of its goals

Question 10

Sociology crime: class,power and crime
Abuse of trust

Answer 10

-high status professionals occupy positions of trust and respectability
-e.g KPMG admitted in the USA to criminal wrongdoing and paid 456million for its role in tax fraud

Question 11

Sociology crime: class,power and crime
Types of corporate crime

Answer 11

-financial crimes
-crimes against employees
-crimes against the environment

Question 12

Sociology crime: explanations of corporate crime
Stain theory

Answer 12

Box
-if a company cannot achieve its goals of maximising profit by legal means it will break the law

Question 13

Sociology crime: explanations of corporate crime
Differential association

Answer 13

Sutherland
-sees crime as behaviour learned from others
-the more we associate with people with criminal attitudes the more likely we are to deviate
-thus if a company’s culture justifies committing crimes to achieve goals employees will be socialised into crime

Question 14

Sociology crime: explanations of corporate crime
Labelling theory

Answer 14

Nelken
-calls de-labelling when business and professionals have the power to avoid labelling for example they can afford expensive lawyers

Question 15

Sociology crime: explanations of corporate crime
Marxist

Answer 15

Box
-‘mystification’ wide spread ideology that corporate crime is less harmful then working class crime
-capitalisms control over the state means it’s able to avoid laws that conflict with interest’s

Question 16

Sociology crime: Realist theory’s
Right realism

Answer 16

-see crime as a real problem that destroys communities
-influential in UK and USA
-‘zero tolerance’
-Best way to reduce crime through control and punishment

Question 17

Sociology crime: Right Realism
The Causes of Crime
Biological reasons

Answer 17

Wilson
-crime is caused by biological and social factors
-e.g traits such as aggressiveness and risk taking out some people at higher risk of offending
Murray agrees it’s due to low intelligence

Question 18

Sociology crime: Right Realism
The Causes of Crime
Socialisation

Answer 18

Murray
-‘underclass’ people do not socialise their children properly
-walfare state has created dependency culture and decline in marriage and increase In lone parents
-lone parents can’t socialise children properly lack of discipline

Question 19

Sociology crime: Right Realism
The causes of crime
Rational choice theory

Answer 19

Clarke
-argue the decision to commit crime is choice based on rational calculation of consequences
-if the rewards of crime out weight the costs then will be likely to offend
-argued the costs are low and therefore crime has increased

Question 20

Sociology crime: Right Realism
Criticisms of right realism

Answer 20

-rational choice theory may explain utilitarian crime but not explain impulsive or violent crime
Lilly- IQ differences account for less then 3% of differences in offending

Question 21

Sociology crime: Right Realism
Tackling crime

Answer 21

-seek practical measures to make crime less attractive
-advocate ‘zero tolerance’ policy
-controlling the streets so that law-abiding citizens feel safe
-huge reductions in crime after being introduced in New York

Question 22

Sociology crime: Right Realism
Critique of zero tolerance

Answer 22

-preoccupied with petty street crime and ignore corporate crime which can be more costly and harmful
-gives police a chance to discriminate against minorities or youths

Question 23

Sociology crime: left Realism
Genral

Answer 23

-like Marxists see society as unequal
-but reformists rather then revolutionists
-belive we need to find the explanations of crime that they can reduce it

Question 24

Sociology crime: left Realism
Taking crime seriously

Answer 24

-taking crime seriously also involves recognising who is most affected by crime
-stats show disadvantaged groups have a greater risk of becoming victims

Question 25

Sociology crime: left Realism
The causes of crime
Relative deprivation

Answer 25

Young
-how deprived someone feels in relation to others
-leads to crime to obtain what people feel they’re entitled to
-people are generally better off but due to media and advertisements rise everyone’s expectations for material possessions

Question 26

Sociology crime: left Realism
The causes of crime
Relative deprivation
However

Answer 26

Young
-not just relative deprivation but on its own doesn’t lead to crime
-individualism is concern with the self rather then a group
-causes crime by encouraging the pursuit of self interests at the expense other

Question 27

Sociology crime: left Realism
The causes of crime
Subculture

Answer 27

Young
-criminal subcultures still subscribe to the values and goals of mainstream society such as materialism
-USA ghettos are ‘immersed in the American dream: a culture hooked on Gucci and Nikes’
-can’t achieve these goals legitimately so resort to crime

Question 28

Sociology crime: left Realism
The causes of crime
Late modernity, exclusion and crime

Answer 28

Young
-more insecurity and unemployment which has destabilised the family
-this has made inequality rich and poor with the widespread free market values encouraging individualisation increases relative deprivation

Question 29

Sociology crime: left Realism
Tackling crime
Policing and control

Answer 29

Young
-they argue that the public must become more involved in determining the polices priorities
-the police depend on the public to provide them with information about crimes (90%)
-but the police are losing public support among ethic minority’s

Question 30

Sociology crime: left Realism
And government policy

Answer 30

-influenced policy’s with new Labour in 1997-2010 of being ‘tough on crime, tough on causes of crime’
-firmer approach to policing hate crimes, sexual assaults and domestic violence

Question 31

Sociology crime: left Realism
The causes of crime
Critiques

Answer 31

-interactionists belive left realists rely on quantative data meaning they cannot explain the offender motives