Crime & Deviance

• What are the two mechanisms Functionalists argue society has to maintain solidarity?

  • Socialisation
  • Social Control
• Who said, “Crime is normal …. An integral part of all healthy societies”?

  Durkheim
• What are the two reasons why crime is considered inevitable according to Functionalists?

  Different lifestyles and complex division of labour
• Why does Durkheim argue there is greater anomie in modern society?

  Increased individualism undermines shared culture
• What are the two positive functions of crime according to Durkheim?

  Boundary maintenance and adaptation/change
• What does Durkheim mean by adaptation and change?

  Deviance challenges norms, creating new culture
• What does Durkheim mean by boundary maintenance?

  Deviance unifies society through punishment
• What does Stanley Cohen argue to support Durkheim's boundary maintenance theory?

  The media dramatizes crime to create folk devils
• What are Durkheim’s reasons for saying that too little and too much crime are equally bad?

  Too little crime represses members; too much tears society
• What does Kingsley Davis mean by prostitution as a safety valve?

  Prostitution allows men's frustrations without family threat
• What does Polsky argue to support Durkheim’s view that crime has positive functions?

  Pornography channels sexual desires safely
• Who argues that deviance helps recognize dysfunctional institutions?

  Albert Cohen
• Who argues that society is organized to promote crime?

  Erickson
• Which sociological theory shows deviance is integral to society?

  Functionalism
• What are three criticisms of the functionalist perspective on crime?

  • Fails to specify how much crime is needed
  • Ignores that crime doesn't benefit everyone
  • Assumes just societies produce crime
• What anecdote can be used to remember the three criticisms of functionalism?

  1. WHO. WHY
• Why do people commit crimes according to strain theories?

  Unable to attain goals through legitimate means
• Who were the first strain theorists?

  Robert K. Merton
• Which of Durkheim’s concepts does Merton use to explain structural and cultural factors?

  Anomie
• What does Merton mean by structural factors?

  Society’s unequal opportunity structure
• What does Merton mean by cultural factors?

  Emphasis on success over legitimate means
• How does Merton explain deviance as due to strain?

  Strain between legitimate means and accepted goals
• Why does Merton argue the American Dream causes strain to deviance?

  Unequal opportunity structure in America
• What are the five adaptations to strain according to Merton?

  Conformity, Innovation, Retreatism, Ritualism, Rebellion
• How can we remember the five adaptations of strain?

  Can I Really Run Right
• Give two ways Merton’s strain theory explains patterns in official crime statistics.

  Most crime is property crime; lower class crime rates are higher
• Give three criticisms of Merton’s strain theory.

  Ignores power of ruling class; only accounts for utilitarian crimes; takes statistics at face value
• Why does crime occur according to subcultural strain theories?

  Deviance is a product of delinquent subcultures
• In what two ways does Cohen criticize Merton’s strain theory?

  Merton focuses on individual response; ignores group crime
• How does status frustration lead to crime according to Albert K. Cohen?

  Forces rejection of mainstream values, forming delinquent subcultures
• What does Cohen mean by alternative status hierarchy?

  Delinquent subcultures gain status by inverting mainstream values
• Give one limitation that Cohen shares with Merton’s strain theory.

  Assumes working-class boys share middle-class values
• Who argues about the three types of criminal subcultures?

  Cloward and Ohlin
• How does unequal opportunity to illegitimate opportunity structure lead to differences in subcultural responses?

  Access to illegitimate opportunities shapes subcultural responses
• What are the three types of subcultural responses?

  Criminal, Conflict, Retreatist subcultures
• What do Cloward and Ohlin mean by criminal subculture?

  Provides youth with apprenticeship in utilitarian crime
• What do Cloward and Ohlin mean by conflict subculture?

  Memberships into gangs and turf wars
• Give two criticisms of Cloward and Ohlin's subcultural explanations.

  Ignore wider power structure; draw boundaries too sharply
• Who shows how the education system in America pressures youth to commit crimes?

  Messner and Rosenfield
• Which sociologist argues that the replacement of capitalism in former communist countries led to an increase in crime?

  Savelsberg