SSCI

• Economic Structure & Crime

  Unequal distribution of wealth, power & prestige (stratification) cause 'social classes' to be created in society
• Poverty line


  Determined by 'Market Basket Measure' (MBM) - Calculation of essential needs reach a 'basic' living standard
• Poverty line is different across the country – approximately 9% (2018)
• Deep poverty = approximately 5% (2018)
• Inequality and Culture


  Lower-class areas exposed to possible crime-inducing factors and produces a 'culture of poverty'
• 'Underclass'


  Lack education and skills needed to successfully function in a modern society
• Long term impacts of economic strife

  • Inability to develop skills and habits to achieve academic success
  • Poor diet, lack of access to technology, crowded/dilapidated housing
• Adolescents living in concentrated poverty more likely to suffer; Poor cognitive development, sexual understanding, weak school attendance and so transition to employment
• Social Structure Theories


  Disadvantaged economic-class position seen by many criminologists as a primary cause of crime
• Branches of Social Structure Theory

  • Social Disorganization Theory
  • Strain Theory
  • Cultural Deviance Theory
• All 3 theories are independent of each other but overlap to help explain crime causation
• Social Disorganization Theory


  • Focus on urban conditions and break down of institutions, which create Inadequate social control (Family, commercial establishments and schools)
  • Characterised by high unemployment, high school dropout rates, low income levels, deteriorated housing and large number of single parent families
  • Areas of study concentrate on lack of social control, creation of fear, institutional weakness, poverty concentration, rapidly changing neighbourhoods – produce higher crime rates, lack of collective efficacy and broken windows theory
• Strain Theories


  • Crime viewed as a direct result of lower-class frustration & anger
  • Strain resulting from an inability to achieve personal goals legitimately - Not everyone who experiences strain will turn to criminal acts
• Anomie


  • Robert Merton's view one of the most influential theories of criminality
  • Lack of socially acceptable means (locked out) to achieve culturally defined goals – wealth, success and power
  • Individuals have their own concepts of society's goals and means to achieve them – social adaptations
• Social Adaptations


  • Conformity – Law abiding – embrace conventional social goals and have the means to achieve them
  • Innovation – Accept the goals of society BUT unwilling or unable to attain them through legitimate means, Adopt 'innovative' ways to achieve goals; Criminal activity
  • Ritualism – Pleasure from being involved with traditional ceremonies, regardless of purpose of goal attainment
  • Retreatism – Reject goals and means of society, Escape by withdrawing, taking drugs or becoming drifters
  • Rebellion – Substituting an alternative set of goals and means for conventional ones, Promote radical change to existing social structures, React to a corrupt or hated government or attempt to create alternative opportunities within existing system
• Cultural Deviance Theory


  • Combination effects of Strain and Social Disorganization theories
  • Due to lifestyle issues, lower-class create subcultures with own set of rules and values - Toughness, risk taking, excitement, immediate gratification
  • Elements include; poverty, socialisation, subculture, success goal, crime and delinquency, criminal careers
  • Middle-class measuring rods – lower-class children held back by an inability to achieve standards set by authority figures
• Lower-class subcultures


  • Corner Boy – Most common response to middle-class rejection, Petty delinquent whose values are those of the group, Aware of failure to achieve "American Dream' and retreats to normal life of the community
  • College Boy – Embraces middle-class culture and attempts to succeed by their standards…often results in failure due to a lack of means
  • Delinquent Boy – Oppose middle-class values and norms, Resist behaviour controlling resources and lives for today
• Upcoming Work: Quiz for Module 6, Review and complete assignment #3 (Module 5 and 6)
• Emile Durkheim's vision of crime


  Crime should be a part of a functional society
• Interactionist view of crime

  Deviants are those who are labelled as such by society
• Genetic theory regarding violence-producing traits

  These traits are passed on from generation to generation
• Factors linked to criminality in males and females

  • neurotransmitters
  • testosterone
  • monoamines
• The wealthy are less likely to become victims of crime than the poor
• UCR


  Summarizes the number of criminal incidents in a jurisdiction
• Chicago School sociologists' perspective

  Crime rates are higher in neighbourhoods where there is more evidence of poverty and disorder
• Victim precipitation theory


  Crime is not a random occurrence but rather a function of the victim's lifestyle
• Specific deterrence


  Criminal sanctions must be equally applied to all offenders
• Joe's intoxication and taking a shortcut through an unlit park may explain why he was targeted according to Victim Precipitation Theory
• Social Learning Theory


  Theory that explains the development of criminal behaviour through the influence of deviant and/or criminal friends
• Friends who are deviant and/or criminal is a factor likely playing a significant role in the development of Alex's criminal behaviour
• John


  • Struggles with impulsivity
  • Often makes hasty decisions without considering consequences
  • Did well at school but has not found a rewarding career
  • Friends are mostly law-abiding but seem to have more fun
• Trait theories


  Theories that emphasize innate characteristics that can predispose individuals to engage in criminal behaviour
• John's inability to think through his decision making is the trait most likely to be a contributing factor to him re-offending in the future
• Contemporary trait theory could help understand why John has an increased likelihood of re-offending
• The rewards that David receives for his deviant behaviour is a possible reason for Sarah contemplating getting involved with criminal behaviour according to Social Learning Theory
• The connection between contemporary trait theory and recidivism suggests that Alex is more likely to re-offend after serving a sentence
• Trait theory is the theory that Ravleen is looking at in her research on factors influencing criminal behaviour
• Disorganised community theory would connect the community turmoil described to increased crime rates
• Social structure theory


  Theory that explains crime as a product of strain, frustration and lack of options
• Penology


  Study of the correction and control of known criminal offenders in the hope of reducing recidivism rates