2.3 sociological

• Sociological theories of criminality

  The basic idea is that social factors play a decisive part in crime
• Sociological explanations of crime

  • Functionalist and subcultural theories
  • Interactionism and labelling theory
  • Marxist theory of crime and law
  • Left and right realist theories of crime
  • Surveillance theories
• Functionalist and subcultural theories

  • They are structural theories that focus on the structure of society and how it is organised
• Durkheim's functionalist theory


  Society is a stable structure based on shared norms, values and beliefs about right and wrong, producing social solidarity and integration
• Anomie (normlessness)


  Where shared norms become weakened
• Functions of crime (according to Durkheim)


  • Boundary maintenance
  • Social change
  • Safety valve
  • Warning light
• Merton's strain theory


  The root cause of crime lies in the unequal structure of society, where people have goals but lack the legitimate means to achieve them
• Merton's four possible deviant adaptations

  • Innovation
  • Ritualism
  • Retreatism
  • Rebellion
• Subcultural theories of crime

  • Delinquent subcultures are groups whose norms and values are deviant, enabling members to gain status through illegitimate means
• Interactionism


  Our interactions with one another are based on meanings or labels
• Labelling theory


  No act is deviant or criminal in itself, it only becomes so when we create rules and apply them to others
• Primary deviance


  Acts that have not been publicly labelled, often trivial and mostly go uncaught
• Secondary deviance


  Deviance resulting from labelling, where the offender is seen solely in terms of their label and forced into a deviant subculture
• Deviance amplification spiral


  Where attempts to control deviance through a 'crackdown' lead to it increasing rather than decreasing
• Interactionists reject the use of crime statistics compiled by the police, arguing they measure what the police do rather than what criminals do
• Marxist theory of crime and law


  • The unequal structure of capitalist society shapes people's behaviour, including criminal behaviour, and how society deals with it
• Marxist view of crime and the law

  • Capitalism causes crime
  • Law making and law enforcement are based on maintaining inequality
  • Crime and the law perform ideological functions
• Capitalism causes crime


  Marxists believe crime is inevitable in capitalist society because capitalism is a criminogenic (crime-causing) system
• Reasons why capitalism causes crime

  • Exploitation of the working class drives many people into poverty, meaning crime may be the only way to survive
  • Capitalism continually pushes consumer goods at people through advertising, resulting in utilitarian crimes (e.g. theft) to obtain them
  • Inequality causes feelings of alienation and frustration, resulting in non-utilitarian crimes (e.g. violence and vandalism)
  • Capitalism causes crime among the capitalists themselves due to the profit motive promoting greed, encouraging corporate crimes (e.g. tax evasion, breaking health and safety laws)
• Marxists see both law making and law enforcement as serving the interests of the capitalist class
• Law making


  Laws are made to protect the private property of the rich, with very few laws challenging the unequal distribution of wealth
• Selective law enforcement


  The law is enforced selectively against the working class but not the upper classes, with white collar and corporate crimes of the rich much less likely to be prosecuted than working-class 'street crimes'
• Despite the large number of deaths at work caused by employer negligence, there was only one successful prosecution of a UK firm in eight years for corporate homicide
• Corporate crime is often punished less severely, for example with fines rather than jail, even though it often causes great harm
• Ideological functions of crime and the law

  • Selective enforcement makes it look as if crime is the fault of the working class, dividing the working class and shifting attention away from much more serious ruling-class crime
  • Some laws that benefit workers to a limited extent also benefit capitalism by giving it a 'caring' face
  • These ideas encourage the working class to accept capitalism instead of replacing it with a more equal society
• Right realism


  Right wing, conservative political outlook that sees crime, especially street crime, as a growing problem and believes the best way to reduce it is through control and punishment rather than tackling causes such as poverty
• Causes of crime according to right realists

  • Biological differences between individuals, such as low intelligence or risk-taking
  • Inadequate socialisation, with the nuclear family seen as the best agency of socialisation
  • Offending is a rational choice based on a calculation of the risks and benefits
• Right realists argue that the crime rate is high because the perceived costs of crime are low, with criminals seeing little risk of being caught and not expecting severe punishments
• Routine activity theory - for a crime to occur


  A motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a 'capable guardian' are necessary
• Left realism


  Left wing, socialist political outlook that sees inequality in capitalist society as the root cause of crime, with the main victims being disadvantaged groups like the working class, ethnic minorities and women
• Causes of crime according to left realists

  • Relative deprivation - how deprived or badly off someone feels in relation to others, driven by media messages promoting materialism and increasing inequality
  • Subcultures turning to crime as an alternative means of achieving the consumer goods they desire due to blocked legitimate opportunities
  • Marginalisation of groups like unemployed youth who lack organisations to represent their interests and clearly defined goals
• There is evidence that the police take crimes against disadvantaged groups less seriously
• Surveillance theories


  Theories that look at the methods by which surveillance is carried out, including technology such as CCTV, tagging and databases that produce profiles of individuals and groups
• Foucault's Panopticon


  A prison design where prisoners' cells are visible to guards from a central viewing point, causing prisoners to constantly behave as if they are being watched and leading to self-surveillance and self-discipline
• Synopticon


  Surveillance from below, where everybody watches everybody, such as motorists and cyclists monitoring each other's behaviour
• Actuarial justice


  A new form of surveillance that uses statistical information to predict and prevent future offending by compiling profiles of likely offenders