Sociological theories

• Organic analogy


  Society functions like the body- all institutions work together in harmony, like organs, for the health of the world
• Durkheim


  Functionalism- crime is inevitable, positive and important for healthy societies
• Functionalism- Durkheim- 4 specific functions


  Boundary maintenance, social change, safety valve, warning light
• Boundary maintenance


  The ways in which societies maintain distinctions between themselves and others, which helps to build up communal ties and solidarity when people resist crime/speak out
• Social change


  sometimes, societies norms and values need to be challenged and changes need to be made
• Safety valve


  allows expressions of certain impulses without breaking down institutions in society
• Warning lights


  crime shows there's something wrong with an institution- lots of kids in schools truanting
• Durkheim strengths


  first to suggest crime has positive effects- brings societies together- Manchester concert/9/11
• Durkheim weaknesses


  -doesn't look at the causes of crime

  -overlooks disfunctions for victims, even if functional for society

  -argues certain amounts of crime/deviance healthy for society -doesn't indicate how much
• Merton's Strain Theory


  Explains crime happens when all people want the American dream but the only ways to gain this are through ambition, effort or talent. People with low backgrounds are unequal in opportunities, therefore resort to crime/deviance
• 5 ways to adapt- strain theory

  Conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, rebellion
• conformists


  no crime
• Innovaters


  Accept goals and find illegal means to achieve them
• Ritualism


  Give up striving for success- reject law but accept means, dead end job
• Retreatism


  giving up on both the goals and the means- drop out- vagrancy/drug addicts
• Merton strengths


  -shows how the same goals can lead to different behaviours

  -statistics show property crime is the most common, with higher rates in working class
• Merton weaknesses


  -overpredicts working class and ignores higher class

  -ignores deviance of subcultures

  -ignores crimes with no material motive
• Marxism


  argue the unequal structure of capitalist societies shapes peoples behaviours, rich get rich and poor get poorer, poor brainwashed and too busy fighting each other to realise
• Bourgeoisie


  upper class, all wealth and power in society
• Proletariat


  working class, exploited, sell labour to survive
• working class cause of crime

  -desire for consumer goods=property crime

  -exploitation leads to poverty=crime to survive

  -alienation/exploitation leads to frustration=vandalism/assault
• upper class cause of crime

  'dog-eat-dog' system promotes greed=white collar crime
• Marxism-Reiman


  found street crimes, like assault/theft reported and pursued by police more than white collar crime
• Marxism-Chambliss


  laws made to protect properties of the rich- laws against vagrancy but not against owning multiple houses
• ideology


  set of ideals that conceal inequality in capitalist societies
• Marxism- ideological functions


  -selective law enforcement=makes seem like crime is the working classes fault

  -some laws benefit workers to limited extents- benefiting capitalism by giving it a caring face
• Marxism Strengths


  -explains why all social classes commit crime

  -highlights impacts of crimes and states why white collar crime is under-policed
• Marxism weaknesses


  -ignores non-class inequalities, like gender

  -not all working class commit crime and not all capitalist societies have high crime rates, like Japan
• left realism


  agree with Marxism, that inequality within capitalism is the main form of crime
• Marginalisation


  the process of being pushed to the edge of economic activity, with groups who are powerless and frustrated and express it through violence
• Relative deprivation


  how deprived someone feels in relation to others-factors like the media and cuts in benefits and unemployment increase this. People turn to crime to obtain what they feel is rightfully theirs
• Subcultures


  subgroups that share materialistic goals but lack the means to achieve them. A way for marginalised groups to cope with relative deprivation problems- crime only way to achieve the goals
• Left realism solutions to crime

  -community policing

  -community service

  -community centres

  -CCTV
• Left realism strengths


  -sees crime as a real problem and aims to find the roots

  -explores the roles of victims of crime
• Left realism weaknesses


  -over predicts- not all people in relative deprivation commit crime

  -fails to explain crimes of the rich, like white collar crimes
• right realism


  reject Marxist view, see crime as a growing problem and find practical solutions to reduce the crime, through control and punishment
• rational choice


  believe crime is a calculated decision based on cost-benefit analysis, suggesting crime happens because the perceived costs of crime are low
• inadequate socialisation


  children who are socialised inadequately are at more risk of offending, like single mothers, underclass, lack of social control
• biological differences


  Biological differences between individuals make some people more likely to commit crime than others. Right realists argue that the main cause of crime is low intelligence.
• Right realism solutions to crime

  -situational crime prevention

  -target hardening

  -zero tolerance policing