Sociological

• Factors that may cause criminality

  • Poverty
  • Unemployment
  • Social Disorganization
  • Family Dysfunction
  • Peer Influence
  • Educational Disadvantage
  • Community Violence
  • Substance Abuse
  • Cultural Norms and Values
  • Discrimination and Marginalization
• Synoptic Links - Think back to Unit 1 AC 1.6 'Evaluate methods of collecting statistics and the criticism about the accuracy of crime statistics
• Sociological theories of criminology

  Believe that society influences a person to become a criminal
• These theories argue social factors play a decisive part in crime
• Sociological theories of criminality that will be considered

  • Functionalist and Subcultural Theories
  • Interactionism
  • Labelling Theory
  • Marxist Theory
  • Left and Right Realism
  • Surveillance Theories
• Structural theories


  Focus on the structure of society and how it is organised
• These theories

  Focus on how equal/unequal society is, what holds it together and what might cause conflict
• Essentially society is the underlying cause of all crimes according these theories
• Durkheim's Functionalist Theory


  Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) - Crime is inevitable as not every member of society can be equally committed to collective sentiment/values/beliefs
• Socialisation and social control


  Helps achieve solidarity in society
• All members of society feel they belong to the same harmonious unit under this theory
• Common social values

  • Diversity
  • Tolerance
  • Equality
  • Fairness
  • Individualism
  • Personal Freedom
  • Democracy
• The Functions Of Crime (Durkheim's Functionalist Theory)


  • Boundary Maintenance
  • Social Change
  • Safety Valve
  • Warning Light
• Boundary Maintenance


  Crime produces a reaction that unites society's members against the offender. Reminds people of the boundaries between right and wrong – reaffirms their shared rules
• Social Change


  For society to progress, individuals must challenge existing norms and values. It would commonly be seen as deviant at first
• Safety Valve

  Davis: Prostitution acts to release men's sexual frustration without threatening the nuclear family
• Warning Light


  Deviance would indicate that an institution isn't functioning properly. For example, high truancy rates would indicate problems with the education system
• 1. year-old girl, disappeared in February 2008. Largely a plan by her mother to stage her kidnapping – incentive of financial reward. Extensive media coverage of a genuine abduction – not long after Madeleine McCann. Community support including widespread searches – highlighted the concern. Significant shift from empathy to condemnation afterwards
• Merton's Strain Theory


  Society encourages us to subscribe to the goals of success. However, society is unable to provide everyone with the legitimate means to achieve success. People therefore experience strain when they are unable to achieve their goals through legitimate means
• Possible responses to not achieving goals

  • Accept the situation
  • Find criminal ways to gain material success
  • Because ritualistic, lose sight of their goals
  • Because retreatists and drop out of society
  • Become rebels who set alternative opposing goals
• Anomie


  Loss of shared principles or norms
• Ritualistic


  Performing in the same way
• Retreatist

  Rejection of society's prescribed goals and the conventional means of attaining them
• Merton's Strain Theory Responses


  • Innovation - Accept the goal but find illegal ways to achieve it
  • Ritualism - Give up striving for success
  • Retreatism - Rejects both the goal and means
  • Rebellion - Reject existing goals and means and find new ways to change society
• Albert Cohen: Status Frustration


  Subcultural deviance = a group response to failure. Focuses on crimes that are not for a financial gain. Working class boys struggle to achieve status in school, placing them at the bottom of the school's status. Boys begin to experience status frustration and create an alternative hierarchy allows them to achieve status (from their peers) through delinquent behaviour.
• Cloward and Ohlin


  Different Neighbourhoods = Different Types Of Deviant Subcultures: 1) Criminal Subcultures: Areas of longstanding criminal networks. Suitable for young people as an introduction/taste of crime. 2) Conflict Subcultures: Criminal opportunities through street gangs. Violence provides a source of status. 3) Retreatist Subcultures: Dropouts who have failed at legal and illegal opportunities in life. Often using drugs
• Interactionism


  Refers to how people in society interact with one another. For instance, a criminal is a label attached to someone (largely be police officers) based on interactions. Would argue that crime is socially constructed. This interpretation of crime stems from Howard Becker's theory of labelling theory
• Primary Deviance


  An act of deviance that has not been socially labelled as deviant
• Secondary Deviance


  An act of deviance that has been socially labelled as deviant. Once someone has been labelled as deviant them view themselves as such. This becomes their 'master status' and can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy
• Folk devils


  The media can have an influence and create stereotypes of people
• Mods and Rockers
• Hippies use marihuana as a peripheral part of their lifestyle.
• A common stereotype of drug-takers is established by the mass media.
• The police share this common stereotype of hippies and label them as deviant.
• Based on this stereotype, the police start
• Primary Deviance


  An act of deviance that has been socially labelled as deviant
• Master Status


  Once someone has been labelled as deviant, they view themselves as such
• Being labelled as a trouble-maker


  Can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy
• Folk Devils


  The media can influence and create stereotypes of people
• Labelling Theory - The Hippies

  1. Hippies use marihuana as a peripheral part of their lifestyle (I)

  2. A common stereotype of drug-takers is established by the mass media (C)

  3. The police share this common stereotype of hippies and label them as deviant (H)

  4. Based on this stereotype, the police start to act against hippies to control marihuana use (A)

  5. The hippies respond to this action by retreating into a small isolated group, excluding others (K)

  6. This reinforces the police stereotype and leads to more persecution of the hippies (G)

  7. The hippies develop a deviant self-concept, including distinctive clothes and long hair (B)

  8. Police arrest more hippies on drug charges (D)

  9. Drug-taking now becomes a central activity for the hippy culture (J)

  10. The drug squad now become involved in further arrests of hippies for drug-taking (F)

  11. A fantasy crime wave has been produced because of the increase in arrests for drug-taking (E)