The Social Construction Of Crime Flashcards
What is a moral entrepreneur?
People who lead a moral ’crusade’ to change law- enforcement e.g making cannabis legal
What is typification?
Common sense theories are stereotypes of what the typical delinquent does
What is the ‘dark figure of crime’?
The difference between the official crime statistics and the ‘real’ rate of crime
E.g rape and police brutality are not always reported
What is a victim survey?
People are asked what crimes they have been victims of
What do labelling theories argue?
That no act is inherently criminal or deviant in itself- it only becomes criminal when others label it as such.
What does Becker argue about what makes someone deviant?
Someone whom the label has been successfully applied to, deviant behaviour is simply behaviour that people label as deviant.
What 2 effects does Becker argue the ’new law’ has?
Creates a group of outsiders- outlaws who break the new rule.\
Creates or expands social control agencies to enforce the rule and impose labels on offenders.
Who gets labelled? (Piliavin and Briar 1964)
Police arrest youths based on their manner and dress, from which they made judgements.
Gender, class and ethnicity, as well as time and place impact officers’ decisions.
Late at night, in high crime areas are at greater risk of arrest.
Ethnic minorities are specifically at risk of arrest.
How do MC people avoid arrest/charges?
They are more likely to have been taught how to negotiate with authority to avoid punishment.
“It won’t happen again” is more likely to be believed by an officer if a MC person says it.
What did officer’s typifications lead to?
Law enforcement showing a class bias. WC areas and people fitted the police typifications most closely. Police patrol WC areas more intensively, resulting in more arrests, confirming their stereotypes.
How does the criminal justice system reinforce bias?
Probation officers held the common sense theory that juvenile delinquency was caused by broken homes, poverty, and lax parenting.
Explain Cicourel’s view that justice is negotiable rather than fixed
MC youths are less likely to be prosecuted after arrest, their background does not fit their idea of the police’s typical delinquent and their parents could negotiate their children out of it.
