Theories Flashcards
define crime
an act which breaks the formal, written laws of a given society
Define Deviance
an act which stray from the set standards in society
How does functionalist see society to be, why is this important?
functionalist see society to be a stable system based on meritocracy , creating social solidarity via mechanisms of social control and adequate socialization and the lack of this leads to crime
why is crime inevitable, and particularly in modern society?
What does Durkheim coin this as?
in every society, some individuals will be inadequately socialized, so crime is inevitable because not everyone is committed to equal norms and values, particularly in modern society where there is more diversity and higher division of labour. Hence, the norms in society become increasingly different and rules of behaviour become less clear. Durkheim coin this as anomie - normlessness.
Summarize Durkheim view of crime
Crime can be positive. While believing that crime disrupts social stability, argues tis inevitable and normal
Evaluations of durkheim’s view
- some crimes are not useful - for instance sex crime have horrendous effects on its victim, there are never benefits of crime on a victim
- useful because Durkheim explains how crime can lead to change
outline 3 positive functions of crime and explain each
- social cohesion: punishing criminals to reinforce social solidarity and Value consensus - courtroom publicly stigmatize offenders
- Acts as a Warning Device : that society isn’t working well. Cohen argues that deviance indicates institution malfunctioning -
e.g. high truancy rate may indicate problems with education system - Enabling social change: Deviance is necessary to allow new ideas to challenge existing norms
Summarise Merton strain theory
- Importance of social goal
argues that people are socialized to pursue success, such as monetary wealth, but not everyone has the same opportunities to do so, creating a strain that thereby causes some to resort to illegitimate means to obtain their goals. For example, the American Dream emphasize money and status, though structural factors such as poverty and discrimination block opportunities for people to achieve cultural goals. Hence, the imbalance between the cultural goals and institutionalized means produces anomie.
When faced with strain, individuals respond in either 5 main ways : conformity, innovators, rebellion, retreatism, ritualist
Evaluation of Mertons theory
- Cohen critic Merton for focusing too much on utilitarian crime for material gains, which in process omit non-utilitarian crime such as assault and vandalism which have no economic motive
- Explain different forms of deviance
Whose theory fall under subcultural strain theories of crime?
Cohen - status frustration
Cloward and ohlin - 3 subcultures
Explain cohen status frustration theory
cohen status frustration theory explains working class male delinquency as being a reaction formation toward middle class value of succcess, as embodied in the school.
According to cohen, deviant subculture emerge because people within working class are denied status in society. These delinquents band together and devise their own values contrary to those of greater society, known as the illegitimate opportunity subculture, thus permitting the attainment of Alternative status hierarchy
Explain Cloward + ohlin theory - 3 subculture
- cloward + ohlin argue that not everyone turns to utilitarian crimes when adopting their new subculture - e.g. some turn to violence while others turn to drug. This is because, not only is there unequal access to legitimate opportunity structure but also to illegitimate opportunity structure. For example, some may live in areas where an existing criminal subculture already exist while others do not. Hence, proposing 3 main forms of delinquent subcultures: criminal, conflicts, and retreatists.
distinguish the difference between 3 main forms of delinquent subcultures proposed by cloward + ohlin ?
Criminal subculture: youths get apprenticeship in utilitarian crime. - e.g. the neighborhood with organized crime groups, like the mafia, select and train youths with right abilities, providing them with opportunities on the criminal career ladder
Conflict subculture: arise in highly populated areas, joining gangs and releasing frustration through violence and earn status via winning “turf” from their rival gang
Retreatist subculture: failure in both legitimate and illegitimate opportunity subculture, in turn, turning to “dropout” subcultures based on illegal drug use
Evaluate subcultural strain theories of crime
- cloward + ohlin ignore the crimes of a capitalist society and over predict the working class
-katz refute that some commit crime for adrenaline and thrill-seeking
- Rosenfeld argues that this strain exists not only for the working class but all social classes as identity is based on the purchasing of consumer goods thus economic goals are valued as society now has an “anything goes” mentality. Furthermore, individualism of identity makes social causes of crime undiscoverable as each crime is a unique event - lifestyle choice motivated by multitude of factors.
Miller critic the presumption that everyone shares the same mainstream goals by noting that lower working class young males do not share the same mainstream goals, just the same concerns.
What the post modernist theories of crime
Generally : the individualism of identity in postmodern society means the social causes of crime are undiscoverable it lies within the individual and not society
some such as henry believe that crime is perceived to be people using power to cause harm to others whether the act is illegal or not
