theories and crime Flashcards
Functionalism - Durkheim
Crime is inevitable - Poor socialisation results in not everyone being taught the same norms and values.
The inevitability of crime stems from the inequality that exists in society.
crime can be positive - ‘Boundary maintenance’- crime is functional in society when there is the right amount. When people are punished for committing crimes, it teaches the rest of society not to go against norms and values, in turn strengthening boundaries and preventing further crime.
Functionalism - Davie
Davis agrees with Durkheim in that crime can be positive, but in a different way. He believes prostitution provides positive functions because it allows men to express sexual frustration without threatening the nuclear family.
Functionalism - Merton
‘strain theory’ - crime is caused by the failure to achieve the goals of the American dream through legitimate means. In his theory there are five different responses to the American Dream:
Conformism - accepting the goals and legitimate means to achieve them
Innovation - subscribe to the goals of the American dream but use illegitimate means to achieve them
Ritualism - reject the goals but conform to the means
Retreatism - reject both the goals of the American dream and subscribe to illegitimate means
Rebellion - replace the goals and means with their own
Functionalism - Cohen
‘status frustration’ theory focuses on WC boys in schools who fail to succeed in middle-class environments, consequently form delinquent subcultures that go against middle-class norms and values.
Working-class boys try to succeed within subcultures by trying to rise in the hierarchy, which they have more chance of succeeding in. This explains why people commit non-utilitarian crimes.
Functionalism - Cloward amd Ohlin
Criminal subcultures - provide ‘apprenticeships’ for utilitarian crime. Exist in areas with stable criminal cultures, with hierarchies of professional criminals (e.g. drug dealers).
Conflict subcultures - exist in areas of high population turnover. There is social disorganisation and only loosely organised gangs (e.g. postcode/turf wars).
Retreatist subcultures- formed of people who fail in both legitimate AND illegitimate means and may turn to illegal drug use (e.g. ‘junkies’).
interactionalist approach - Becker (1963)
social construction of crime - there is no such thing as an inherently deviant act. an act which harms and individual or society only becomes criminal if those in power label that act to be criminal,
interactionalist theory - Cicourel
not everyone who is devient gets the label. negavtive labells are often given to the powerless by the powerful. circumstance of act, the way they interact with Police, apperance and background are all factors to whether a label is given to an individual
Interactionalist - Lemert
two types of devience: primary devience- devient acts not publically labbeled as criminal
secondary devience- devient acts and individuals which are labelled
interactionalist - braithwaite
two types of shaming:
reintergrative shaming - punishment in a way which strengthens bond with society
disintergrative shaming - punishment which isolates the individual cauing secondary devience
interactionalist - Douglas
rejects the use of OCS when examining suiside. Whether a death is labelled as a suicide depends on the interactions and negotiations between social actors (doctors, the coroner, family). Statistics therefore tell us nothing about the meaning behind an individual’s decision to commit suicide
