Theories of Crime Flashcards
Durkheim view on the inevitability of crime
Crime is an inevitable part of a normal, healthy society because not everyone is successfully socialised into society’s norms and values, and instead have different norms, subcultures and lifestyles.
Chain of reasoning for Durkheim’s view on the inevitability of crime
Crime exists in all societies-normal and inevitable feature
Results from value diversity-modern societies are complex
necessary for social functioning-helps reaffirm social boundaries allows for social change
Positive Functions of Crime :Durkheim
:Adaptation and Change: crime/deviance gives us the scope to challenge current rules/laws/norms, which leads to society making necessary
changes. EG- legalising gay marriage.
Boundary Maintenance- unite its members in condemnation of the wrongdoer and reinforcing commitment to shared norms and values
Chain of Reasoning: Boundary Maintenance(Durkheim)
-reinforces social boundaries=helps society reaffirms moral boundaries such as whens laws are broken society reacts
-Punishment as a public spectacle-public trials media reports seen as deterrents and reinforce collective norms(harsh sentences on high profile cases highlight the act is unacceptable)
-strengthens social cohesion as people come together in a shared disapproval eg :public outcry after southport killer
-This reaffirms the values of the law abiding majority and discourages others from rule breaking”
-similarly cohen examied the important role played by media in dramatisation of evil which creates folk devils
Chain of Reasoning: Adaptation and Change(Durkheim)
-Crime is a necessary force for social change= Crime allows new ideas and values to emerge, pushing society toward necessary reforms.
-Deviance challenges outdated norms -although their actions may initially be seen as deviant or criminal, they can pave the way for progress. For instance-LBTQ+ Rights
-Society Initially Resists, Then Adapts-when people challengedominant norms, they are often met with hostility and punishment .Over time, if enough support builds, laws and moral values shift, and what was once considered deviant becomes socially acceptable. Example: Legalization of cannabis
Without crime and deviance, societies risk becoming oppressive and failing to adapt to new social needs.
⚠️ Example: Civil Rights Movement – Activists like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks engaged in civil disobedience (illegal protests) to challenge racial segregation, leading to legal reforms.
⚠️ If laws were never challenged, slavery, apartheid, and colonial rule would have persisted much longer.
other functions of Crime
Davis (1961)- prostitution is a safety
valve that helps release men’s sexual
frustrations without threatening the
monogamous nuclear family.
- Polsky (1967)- pornography safely
channels away desires that would
threaten the family, such as adultery.
Criticisms of Durkheims Theory
Crime doesn’t always promote solidarity- women may fear going out into society.
Marxists argue that crime does not always lead to progress—laws tend to evolve in ways that maintain the power of the ruling class rather than benefiting all of society.
Realists argue that crime is not always functional—some crimes (e.g., violent crime) cause suffering rather than positive change
strain theories view
Argues that people turn to deviance when they can’t achieve socially accepted goals by legitimate means.
* Merton combines structural factors (unequal opportunities) and cultural factors (strong emphasis on success goals, weak emphasis on achieving legitimately).
* American culture puts values on money success (wealth and high status), and this makes up the American Dream, based in meritocracy.
* However, we know that people in society are denied opportunities, which pushes them to deviance.
American Dream
Americans expected to pursue this goals by legitimate means(educational qualifications)
The ideology of the “AD” tells society that their society is meritocratic where anyone makes the effort can get ahead.
Reality is different: disadvantaged groups denied opportunities to achieve legit-due to poverty inadequate schools block opportunities for many .
Resulting strain between cultural goal of money produces frustration and in turn creates a pressure to resort to illegitmate means -called the strain to anomie
American culture puts more emphasis on success thereby based on winning rather than playing by rules.
Deviant Adaptations to strain
uses strain theory to explain patterns of deviance found in society, Argues an individuals position in social structure affects the way they adapt or respond to the strain to anomie.Five different types of adaptation depending on whether an individual accepts rejects or replaces approved cultural goals.
Conformity-Individuals accept the culturally approved goals and strive to achieve them most likely among middle class individuals who have good opportunities to achieve.
Innovation: Individuals accept the goal of money success but us new illegitimate means such as theft to achieve it lower end class structure
Rebellion: individuals reject the existing society’s goals and means but they replace them with new ones in a desire to bring revolutionary change
chain of reasoning for deviant adaptations to strain
Merton developed strain theory to explain why individuals engage in deviant behavior.He argues that crime results from a strain between society’s cultural goals (e.g., financial success) and the institutional means available to achieve them
. In societies like the USA and UK, the dominant goal is material success but not everyone has equal access to legitimate opportunities (e.g., education, stable employment)
🔹 This creates anomie
leading individuals to adapt in different ways—some conform, while others turn to deviance.
Merton’s theory explains working-class crime – they experience blocked opportunities, leading to innovation
Merton assumes everyone shares the same goal of material success, but capitalism imposes this ideology, and crime benefits the ruling class (e.g., corporate crime is often ignored).
Evaluations of Merton:
Strengths:
* Most crime is property crime, supporting his idea of people trying to reach the American Dream illegitimately.
* Lower class crime rates are higher as they have less opportunity for wealth.
Weaknesses:
* Theory takes official stats at face value, ignoring that they over-represent the WC.
* Assumes value consensus when not all people strive for society’s goals.
* Only explains individual adaptation to strain, not group deviance like subcultures.
* Only explains utilitarian crime.
Subcultural strain theories view:
See deviance as a product of a delinquent subculture who’s values are opposed to mainstream society. Providing an alternative opportunity structure for those who are denied the chance to achieve by legitimate means.
Cohen:status frustration
Agrees with Merton that deviance is largely a working class phenomenon. Results from the inability of those in the lower class to achieve mainstream success goals by legitimate means*, but criticises him for seeing deviance as an individual response(instead of being committed by groups) and non-utilitarian crime.
Cohen focuses on WC boys in a MC dominated school system, as they are culturally deprived and lack skills to achieve in this environment.
* This puts them at the bottom of the status hierarchy, they are unable to achieve legitimately via education and now have status frustration.
* Here, they reject mainstream MC values and turn to other boys and join a delinquent subculture.
Alternative status hierarchy
Thee subculture’s values are malice, spite and hostility to those outside of it.
* They invert mainstream society’s values, making an illegitimate opportunity structure that allows the boys to get status and approval through peers via delinquent behaviour.
* This explains why people may commit non-utilitarian crime such as vandalism.
However Cohen assumes working class boys follow middle class success goals in the first place only to reject these when they fail. Ignores the possibility they didnt share goals in first place
Cloward and Ohlin: three subcultures
Argue that different subcultures emerge not only from unequal legitimate opportunities, but unequal illegitimate opportunities .Different subcultures resplond in different ways to the lack of legtitmate opportunities..
Ideas of Chicago school argue different neighborhoods provide different illegitmate opportunities to learn skills for criminal acts.
Criminal
Retreatist
Conflict
Evaluation of Cloward and Ohlin
Strengths:
- Unlike Cohen, they explain why there’s
different types of WC deviance/subcultures.
Weaknesses: - South (2020)- argues the lines between subcultures are too tightly draw, while in
reality the drug trade is a mix of disorganised
crime and professional mafia style crime. - Matza (1964)- delinquents aren’t as
committed to a subculture as this theory
portrays, and instead drift in and out
delinquency. - Ignores crime of the wealth and the larger
power structure making/enforcing laws
Criminal Subculture
youths with an apprenticeshp for a career in utilarian crime, Only arise in hoods with stable criminal culture an established hierarchy. Allows the young to associate with adult criminals who can select those with the right aptitidude and provide them with training as well as opportunities.
Conflict subcultures
rise in areas of high population turnover. Results in high levels of social disorganisation and prevents a stable professional criminal network develping.
Retreatist subculture
In any neighbourhood not everyone who aspires to be a professional criminal or gang leader actually succeeds leads to double failures leads to illegal drug use
Recent strain theories
Young people may pursue a variety of goals other than money success these include popularity with peers, autonomy from adults or the desire of some young males to be treated like “real men”.
Failure to achieve these goals may result in delinquency. They also argue that middle class juveniles too may have problems achieving such goals thus offering an explanation for middle class delinquency.
