CRAM

• Durkheim?

  • Claimed crime is healthy for a society, so can be functional
• Durkheim two functions?

  • Boundary maintenance
  • Warning device
• Boundary maintenance?

  • Durkheim
  • Reminds other citizen of the value consensus
  • Creates social solidarity and a sense of togetherness
• Warning device?

  • Durkheim
  • Can show a current social policy has lost its function in society, a social institution is failing
• Davis?

  • Functionalist
  • Safety valve
• Safety valve?

  • Certain amount of deviant behaviour can be beneficial to the maintenance of social order
  • Continuation of prostitution supports this claim
• Merton?

  • Strain theory
  • Tried to focus on why people commit crime rather than the functions it performs
• The American Dream?

  • Merton strain theory
  • The cultural goal of material success through the means of hard work and determination
  • For individuals who can never achieve material success, they will begin to feel strain
• Merton's 5 responses to strain?

  • Conformists
  • Rebels
  • Innovators
  • Ritualists
  • Retreatists
• Conformists?

  Those who fail but still believe hard work will help them achieve
• Rebels?

  Those who react badly to not achieving material success, so abandon it and create new goals
• Innovators?

  • Those who realise they cannot achieve material success by conforming to the conventional means of hard work
  • Create new ways to achieve wealth eg criminal activity
• Ritualists?

  • Those who cope by forgetting the cultural goal
  • Obsess over the means and over work / become jobsworths who don't relate to other staff members
  • Irritate others and therefore do not progress in the workplace
• Retreatists?

  • Those who give up on goals due to a lack of self-believe to achieve them
  • Reject the means as they are no longer relevant to them
• Status frustration?

  • Cohen
  • Working class boys are unable to succeed in education due to middle class habitus
  • Places them at the bottom of the official status hierarchy
  • From delinquent subcultures with alternative values to school
• Cohen?

  • Status frustration
• Alternative status hierarchy?

  • Boys form subcultures based on their shared experiences
  • Conflicts with the middle class culture of school
  • Boys compete with each other to see who can be the best delinquent
• Cloward and Ohlin?

  • Not all respond to failure the same
  • Three pupil subcultures:
  • Criminal subcultures
  • Conflict subcultures
  • Retreatist subcultures
• Criminal subcultures?

  • Exist in inner-city estates
  • Easy for frustrated youths to learn criminal skills and practice their trade
  • Have criminal role models to look up to and learn from
• Conflict subcultures?

  • Emerge particularly in areas that suffer from a high social turnover
  • Difficult for criminal culture to develop as gangs battle each other for control
• Retreatist subcultures?

  • Not all youths who want to be criminals succeed
  • Become 'double failures', unlikely to succeed in professional or violent crime so turn to illegal drug use instead
• Box?

  • Claim the law is written by the bourgeoisie and therefore only reflects their interests
  • Ideological law making
• Chambliss?

  • Criminal justice system disproportionately focuses on the actions of the proletariat
  • Bourgeoisie acts are ignored
  • Selective law enforcement
• Ideological law making?

  • Box
  • Law is in bourgeoisie interest
• Selective law enforcement?

  • Chambliss
  • Justice system disproportionately prosecutes proletariat
• False class consciousness?

  • Maintained by the law
  • Bourgeoisie will sometimes make laws to seem to help the proletariat eg minimum wage
• Pearce?

  • Caring face of capitalism
  • Laws for workers are rarely enforced and benefit the bourgeoisie
  • Happy and healthy workforce is more productive and obedient
• Moral entrepreneur?

  • Becker
  • Someone who attempts to influence our reaction in order to change the law
  • Usually journalists, politicians, or members of the criminal justice system
• Cicourel?

  • Claimed police offers and judges use stereotypes of an offender
  • If the offender fits their expectations of a typical criminal, they are more likely to arrest them
• Lemert?

  • Primary and secondary deviance
• Primary deviance?

  • Criminal label is not attached
  • Does not affect the 'self-concept' of the individual
  • No labelling takes place
• Secondary deviance?

  • Act that generates a strong response and results in a label being attached to the offender
  • Offender may experience consequences such as punishment of humiliation
  • Label becomes the persons master status
  • Leads to self-fulfilling prophecy and more crime
• Deviance amplification spiral?

  • Moral entrepreneur - changes public perception on a particular act from primary to secondary deviance
  • Could lead to further crime
• The media?

  • Central to the deviancy amplification spiral
  • Represents the deviant group negatively
  • Self-fulfilling prophecy will take hold and more crime occurs
• Braithwaite?

  • Labelling can be used to reintegrate offenders rather than marginalise them
  • Refers to this as reintegrative shaming
• Reintegrative shaming?

  • More effective
  • Focuses on the act rather than the individual
  • More useful than disintegrative shaming for society
• Right realism - causes of crime?

  • Best way to cut crime is to take a tough stance on offenders through crime prevention mechanisms and tough punishments
  • Biological differences
  • Cultural deprivation
  • Rational choice theory
• Biological differences?

  • Some people are more prone to commit crime based on their genetics
• Herrnstein and Murray?

  Main cause of crime is low intelligence which is biologically determined
• Cultural deprivation?

  • Effective socialisation can control the risk of criminal behaviour