Structural Sociological Theories

Question 2

Strain theory

Answer 2

Crime occurs when people can’t achieve society’s goals (wealth)

Question 3

Four deviant adaptations to the strain

Answer 3

Innovation- accept the goal but find illegal ways to achieve it
Ritualism- give up striving for success. Plod along in dead-end job
Retreatism- reject the goal and means to achieve. Drop outs
Rebellion- reject the goal and means, replacing them with new ones in order to change society.

Question 4

Strengths of strain theory

Answer 4

Shows how normal and deviant behaviour arise from the same goals
Explains why most crimes in statistics is property crime and why working class crime rates are higher

Question 5

Limitations of strain theory

Answer 5

Ignores crime of wealthy
Only sees deviance as an individual response
Focuses on utilitarian crime only

Question 6

Labelling theory

Answer 6

No act is deviant or criminal in itself- it only becomes so when others label the person as criminal. The self fulfilling prophecy occurs which makes them more likely to commit crime.

Question 7

Strengths of labelling theory

Answer 7

Shifts focus onto how police create crime by applying labels- may explain why some groups are overrepresented in statistics

Question 8

Limitation of labelling theory

Answer 8

Deterministic as it assumes we have no choice but live up to our labels
Doesn’t say where power to apply labels comes from
Fails to explain why labels are applied to some groups but not others