Topic 4 - Sociological Theories of Crime Flashcards
what are the sociological theories of criminality
Functionalist
Marxist
interactionist
realism
what is covered in functionalist theories
Durkheim’s functions of Crime
Social Solidarity
Social Change
Merton’s Strain Theory
what is covered in Marxist theories
Capitalism causes crime
The Powerful Dictate The Definition & Enforcement Of Crime
what is covered in interactionist theories
Becker’s Labelling Theory and Cicourel Typifications
Lemert: The deviant career
what is covered in Realism
Left Realism
Marginalisation
Relative Deprivation
Right Realism
Underclass
Rational Choice
what is the core knowledge functionalist theories (Durkheim’s approach to crime and deviance)
Durkheim argued that crime is inevitable, a normal and necessary aspect of social life
This because we are all socialised in slightly different ways
Therefore not everyone always agrees to the shared values
what is the expanded knowledge of functionalist theories (Durkheim’s approach to crime and deviance)
social solidarity & affirming social values
When people break the law, particularly in severe cases, society itself can become seen as the victim
There are examples where severe crimes help re-affirm the existing values of society
bring society together in a state of collective sorrow
The role of punishment is important to heal the wounds to society’s collective sentiments - express moral outrage
what is Durkheim’s social change
Deviance helps societies evolve
We review the way we do things and learn from mistakes – “yesterday’s deviance must become today’s normality.”
All change starts with acts of deviance - something new and challenging to an established system.
strengths and weaknesses for Durkheim’s approach to crime and deviance
weaknesses
Durkheim offers no guidance as to what is the ‘right’ amount of crime
Just because crime has these functions- there is not a reason for why it exists in the first place – does not explain the cause
Ignores its effect on different groups in society
Punishment might be functional for society, but not for the victim
weaknesses+
Crime is clearly not always positive and functional for society
A society with too much crime would be chaotic
Even Durkheim himself realised that too much crime would cause problems
This led to later functionalists who were critical of Durkheim’s work - because it would be silly to suggest that crime is always functional for society
what is an example of Durkheim’s approach to crime and deviance
Manchester Arena Bombing in 2017
what is the core knowledge of functionalist theories (Merton’s strain theory)
Merton’s explanation focused on the mismatch between the goals that people want in society and the means that society offers to get achieve those goals
Society sometimes evolves so quickly that it doesn’t always offer people what they need to feel like they belong (they experience anomie - uprooting or breakdown of moral values, standards and guidelines)
The Goals - the culturally accepted goals of society that we aim to strive for, or value consensus
The Means – the means of achieving these goals provided by society eg. education and employment. These are also culturally accepted as being the legitimate ways of reaching the goals
what is are the reactions to Merton’s strain theory
Conformity (Accept both – most common)
Innovation (Accept goals-Reject means , - illegitimate utilitarian crime)
Ritualism (Reject goals-Accept means – common passive acceptance of a mundane life)
Retreatism (Reject both - least common response eg. homeless, drug addicts)
Rebellion (Reject both – different from retreatism. A radical alternative replacing goals and means)
what is the expanded knowledge of functionalist theories ( Merton’s strain theory)
Not everyone has the same ability to achieve the culturally accepted goals – e.g education, job, money, house, family, buy lots of commodities
They may accept it, but not have the structural means available to them to reach it legitimately
This creates a strain between the goals and the means and can cause criminality
This is why we refer to this as Merton’s strain theory
This explains how crime is caused and how crime can be dysfunctional for society
strengths and weaknesses of Merton’s strain theory
Strengths:
Looks at social structures and how they affect individuals, rather than focusing solely on individual factors. It gives us a broader understanding of how societal factors impact criminal behavior.
Unlike other theories of criminality, Merton’s strain theory can also explain crimes such as drug use or gang involvement.
Weaknesses:
It is an incomplete and undeveloped theory of crime and deviance
It doesn’t explain why people adopt different responses to strain – not everyone who is poor, commits crime
what is the core knowledge of Marxist approach to crime (capitalism causes crime)
Capitalism causes crime
The class system, based around capitalism, causes crime in two ways:
Exploitation
The working classes experiences of oppression, poverty and alienation lead to frustrations or desperation that cause crime
Motivation & Desire
We must remember that all classes commit crimes
The working classes see what they do not have, but could have, and are tempted into crime (desire)
The middle and upper classes want more
what is the expanded knowledge of Marxist approach to crime (law & Enforcement is dictated by the powerful)
Law & Enforcement is dictated by the powerful
Snider (1993) argues that the powerful can prevent laws being made which threaten their interests eg. regulation of big business, tax havens
Furthermore, the powerful does not just decide the law, they also have significant influence on how it is enforced
The ruling class forces the working classes to accept their position through rigorously enforcing laws against the types of crime the working classes typically commit eg. street crime
pushing them into a cycle of criminality and imprisonment
one example of capitalism causes crime
people living in poverty may start to sell drugs or commit theft in order to make money to survive.
strengths and weaknesses
strengths
Offers a useful explanation of relationship between capitalist society & crime
Has influenced approaches to the study of crimes of rich and powerful
Draws attention to the importance of having welfare state provisions for the poorest in society – statistics show this helps reduce crime figures
Weaknesses
Ignores factors like ethnicity and gender when explaining crime
Too deterministic & overstates capitalism’s criminogenic potential - not all poor people commit crime
Not all capitalist states have high crime levels - Japan & Switzerland have lower rates than USA
Sometimes corporate crimes are prosecuted
Not all laws benefit the ruling class
Ignores intra-class crimes
what is the core knowledge of interactionist theories (labelling theory)
Labelling is attaching a meaning to someone
Becker’s labelling theory looks at how and why are certain acts defined as deviant
No act is inherently criminal - only becomes criminal when labelled so by others
Becker - “Social groups create deviance by creating the rules & laws whose infraction constitutes deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them outsiders”
one example of Becker’s labelling theory
Cicourel (1968) - Police officers’ decisions to arrest is influenced by stereotypes - so called typifications
what is the expanded knowledge of interactionist theories (deviant career)
Primary deviance - an initial act of deviance
Most of us have committed one of these at some stage, but without the labelling our lives go on undisturbed
If this act is labelled as deviant, this may lead to secondary deviance
Secondary deviance - an act that has been labelled as deviant and the person is now known as deviant - takes over other roles
Can lead to a deviant career
Shows that it is not the act itself but society’s reaction to it that creates serious deviance
strengths and weaknesses of interactionism
strengths
Shows that the law is sometimes enforced in a discriminatory way
Has drawn attention to importance of labelling and societal reaction
Shows that certain types of people are singled out for labelling
This results from definitions & perceptions of the agents of social control; the typical criminal
strengths and weaknesses of labelling theory
weaknesses
Deterministic - if you are labelled you will be a deviant
Ignores free will - some choose to be deviant
The emphasis in labelling gives the offender a ‘victim’ status. Realists argue they ignore the real victims of crime
Marxists criticise labelling theory for not showing where these labels originate from - unequal societal structure as they see it
Also, interactionists fail to explain why people commit crime before they are labelled as criminals
what is realism
Realism is a realistic approach to studying crime and deviance and is dedicated to making real changes – for that reason it has to try and influence policies
This made realism it deeply connected to British politics
Two branches of realism therefore formed:
Right Realism - ‘tough on crime’ and blames the individual
Left Realism - blames inequalities in society for crime
