theories from week 12 Flashcards
4 categories of theories
4 categories:
Functionalist (Strain Theory, Opportunity Theory, Social Control/Social Bonding)
Functionalism = a perspective that regards society as a complex system composed of interdependent systems working together to provide order and sustainability
Symbolic interactionist (Different association, labelling theory, primary/secondary deviance)
Conflict (conflict/feminist approach)
Postmodern = knowledge as power
functionalism
Functionalism
Views society as a complex system made up of interdependent parts that work together to maintain social stability and order
Emphasises the importance of social institutions and shared values in ensuring a functioning society
Ex. picture a mechanism of gears, many things that work together
Ex. the educational system works with the family, the economy, etc. to main stability and social order
symbolic interactionism
Symbolic interactionism focuses on how individuals create and interpret meaning through their interactions with others, emphasising the role of language, symbols, and communication.
We live in a world with signs and gestures that make statements, this depends on your environment and other contexts
Because we are symbolic animals, we can understand each other
conflict theory
Conflict theory
Conflict theory views society as a system characterised by inequality and competition for power and resources, emphasising the role of social institutions in perpetuating these inequalities.
Society has a system marked by inequality and power struggle
Unequal distribution of wealth and resources in capitalistic society
Think of Karl Marx - believe that there is an unequal wealth distribution
Exponential discrepancy between workers and capitalists
feminist theory
Feminist theory
Feminist theory aims to address unequal power dynamics between genders, and promote gender equality and the empowerment of women by challenging societal structures and norms that perpetuate gender inequality.
Goal to promote equality - idea that there is female empowerment that needs to be in society
Criminal groups based on a concept of whoever must join, they must prove their ability to be a man, this places women in an uncomfortable situation
Society considers violence as an asset, but not always brain power
postmodern theory
Postmodern theory emphasises the constantly changing and diverse nature of the social world, challenging the idea of a stable and objective reality.
Power, knowledge, and social control are intertwined
It highlights the role of language, discourse, and power in shaping our perceptions of reality, and calls for critical examination and subversion of dominant discourses and power structures.
Panotical system - you have all the inmates in front of you that you look at to get them to behave in a certain way
Position to watch over others to control them
michel foucault
Michael Foucault
Michel Foucault was a postmodern philosopher and social theorist who focused on the relationship between power and knowledge, emphasising the role of power in all social relationships, interactions, and discourses.
He coined the term “power/knowledge” to describe the interconnection between these two concepts.
Postmodern dude - POWER HAS KNOWLEDGE, KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
strain theory
Strain Theory
Deviance occurs when access to the approved means of reaching culturally approved goals is blocked.
Robert Merton: Anomie (from Greek lawless) suggests a strain between societal expectation for success and limited opportunity that causes a certain person to innovate in the form of organised crime.
Part of functionalism
STRAIN BETWEEN SOCIETAL EXPECTATION FOR SUCCESS AND LIMITED OPPORTUNITY
THIS CAUSES PEOPLE TO JOIN OC TO REACH SUCCESS
Everyone has a goal/target they wish to reach - not everyone has the resources to achieve these
This leads to people joining OCG
Ex. education into law
Lots of schooling, work, etc. on your part
If someone else with better opportunity is in your same type of goal, you won’t be able to achieve these goals
We all have different abilities and opportunities to reach goals
If I have the goal but not the opportunity, I INNOVATE in the form of OC
I want a BMW, I can sell narcotics = goal achieved
Using shortcuts to innovate through OC
merton’s device criteria (CIRRR)
Merton’s anomie theory acknowledges the strain lower-class youth felt in attempting to achieve middle-class aspirations and outlines five ways to adapt to this strain.
They could conform to the universal goals and attempt to reach them using legitimate means.
More difficult, more work, to make your goals a reality to do things legally
1 -Conformity to reach goals
They could use innovation and reach the goal using means other than those generally used by society (i.e. gain money by robbing a bank rather than working for it).
The deviance allows goals to be reached
2 - The option to conform to goals by
3. They could use ritualism, rejecting the goal and focusing instead on the means of achieving it (focusing on keeping a job rather than achieving success in it).
Ex. working a job hoping to get a promotion to make a living and live in peace
4 and 5 - They could retreat, altogether rejecting both the goals and the means of society, or they could rebel against the society that has denied an individual opportunities for success.
Ex. the idea that OMGs rebel, this is part of their narrative
They do this to combat their marginalisation against institutions
Ex. Colombians selling cocaine in the US by to fight cultural America
Justification of crime by rebelling
OPPORTUNITY MAKES THE THIEF
opportunity theory
Opportunity theory suggests that people engage in criminal or deviant behaviour because they have access to illegitimate opportunities.
According to this theory, individuals are rational actors who weigh the potential benefits and risks of different opportunities available to them.
Explains that the opportunity makes the thief
The theory emphasises the importance of situational factors, such as access to illegal markets or criminal networks, in shaping criminal behaviour.
Ex. gambling
The opportunity theory suggests that individuals engage in criminal or deviant behaviour when they perceive that the benefits of such activities outweigh the potential risks. In the case of gambling, the perceived benefits may include the excitement and thrill of winning, as well as the potential for financial gain. The availability of gambling opportunities and the perceived benefits of engaging in gambling activities can influence individuals’ decisions to engage in legal or illegal gambling.
Regular people look for excitement and money to continue the obsessive idea of gambling - this is an opportunity
Drug traffickers weight benefits (money, power) and potential issues (jail time, violence)
High risk high reward
rational choice theory
An individual might make a rational decision to join a gang not just through imitation but also based on past experiences to calculate the effectiveness of his future behaviours.
Making a rational decision among available alternatives: Risk and reward.
Economist Gary Becker was awarded the 1992 Nobel Prize for his work on rational choice in the prediction of crime.
Comparing risk and reward of crimes
Making the rational choice to commit a crime
Ex. choosing to do something where you may get caught because only 2 years in jail is doable
deterrence and rational choice
Deterrence and rational choice
A classical school approach is attractive to many because it is focused on choice. People choose to commit criminal acts.
Choice theory is attractive to politicians because it blames the crime problem squarely on the shoulders of the individual and not on society as a whole. The theory implies that the criminal must take responsibility and make better choices.
social control/social bonding
Social bonds keep people from becoming criminals.
When ties to family, friends, and others become weak, an individual is most likely to engage in criminal behaviour.
According to Travis Hirschi (1969), social bonding consists of attachment to other people; commitment to conventional lines of behaviour, such as schooling and job success; involvement in conventional activities; and belief in the legitimacy of conventional values and norms.
Ex. having strict parents can lead you to not being part of OC
Social bonding = having many opportunities to stay away from crime
Social structure that helps to shape the future, rather than following the easier path of OC
Family, school, and other social structures, that help us to make right decision, the reverse aspect of this theory is a lack of family/school/etc
This leads to people who have no feelings - much more likely to fall into OC
Most of people in OCs grew up in foster care
Foster care often neglects children that use the government money for personal use rather than to aid children they take in
“If this is what family is like, I will find it otherwise”
This means going into organised crime to find protection and belonging
external and internal restraints (social control/social bonding)
External restraints: social disapproval linked to public shame and/or social ostracism and fear of punishment.
In other words, people are typically deterred from criminal behaviour by the possibility of being caught and the punishment that can result, ranging from public shame to imprisonment.
Not wanting the label of a criminal from others, to bring shame onto family, etc.
Not everyone has restraint
Internal restraints include what psychoanalytic theory refers to as superego: an unconscious, yet powerful conscience-like mechanism that provides a sense of guilt.
Not everyone understands that moral law>state law
differential association
Claims that criminal behaviour is learned by people who want to imitate it and evolve into criminals.
Imitation is a form of social learning that evolves someone copying, mimicking, or emulating someone else’s behaviour.
In 1924 Edward Sutherland elaborated one of the first versions of this theoretical paradigm, called Differential Association, claiming that criminal behaviour is learned by constant contact with criminals or criminal groups. According to this theory, such behaviour is not innate but instead acquired in a social environment where criminals are perceived as having some distinction.
People are not born criminals, crime is about nature
Criminal behaviour is not passed on by genes, but is passed on through generations and copying of behaviour
The power of media on criminal behaviour
We learn by behaviour
Deviant behaviour is learned in interaction with others. A person becomes delinquent when exposure to law-breaking attitudes is more extensive than exposure to law-abiding attitudes.
Peer pressure (bad influences) - Peers can influence a young person to leave home, join a gang or cult, take drugs, or take upon themselves some perilous risk to display mettle to the peer group.
Deviant behaviour in learned from others - bad influences and peer pressure lead people to go into OC
