Theory that focuses on what holds society together, interested in how we are socialised into the morals and values that we have
Strain theory
Theory that focuses on what holds society together, interested in how we are socialised into the morals and values that we have
Functionalist theory
Society is seen as a stable social structure based on shared norms, values and beliefs about right and wrong - value consensus
Value consensus binds people together and creates a social solidarity
Anomie
Normless state where shared rules become less clear
Functionalist view of crime
Crime is inevitable because some people will not be socialised enough and will deviate from norms and laws
Society contains subcultural groups who have different norms and values to the majority
Functions of crime
Boundary maintenance
Punishing offenders
Public shame
Adaptation and change
Safety valve
Warning sign
Some crime is inevitable because every society has some sort of crime and deviance, in a healthy society deviants test the boundaries and laws may be changed on the public's reaction
Too much crime is a threat to society and will lead to anomie, social breakdowns and a more dangerous society
Merton's Strain Theory
Focuses on the goals people are socialised to achieve and the means they are supposed to use to achieve those goals
Merton's modes of adaptation
Conformists
Innovation
Ritualism
Retreatism
Rebellion
Merton's Strain Theory
Not everyone has an equal chance of achieving their goals because of certain factors e.g being working class
This creates a 'strain' between the goals and the means, despite this people will still find a way to achieve their goals i.e cheating the system
Cohen's Status Frustration
Sees subcultural deviance as a group response to failure, rather than an individual one, focusing on non-utilitarian crimes (not for financial gain)
Cloward and Ohlin's deviant subcultures
Criminal subcultures
Conflict subcultures
Retreatist subcultures
Interactionism
Believes we create society through our day to day interactions with other people, based on shared meanings or labels
Labelling theory
There is no such thing as a deviant nor a deviant act, acts only become seen as crimes once society has reacted and decided they are offended by the behaviour
Primary deviance
Acts that have not been publicly labelled, often trivial and go uncaught
Secondary deviance
Results from labelling - The individual is labelled a thief, for example, this becomes their master status overriding the idea they could be a father, churchgoer workmate etc.
Labelling theory
If the negative label is successfully applied to the offender, the label may produce a self-fulfilling prophecy in which the offender lives up to the label
The criminal label then becomes their master status – it overrides all other labels a person may have
Crime becomes a person's deviant career – as society is hostile to them, they may find it hard to get a normal job and so turn to more crime
The labelling may also lead to the creation of deviant subcultures – as society is hostile to them, they seek other outsiders for support
Self-fulfilling prophecy
When a false definition of the situation evokes a new behaviour that makes the original false conception come true
Marxist theory of crime and law
Capitalism causes crime (criminogenic)
Law making and law enforcement is biassed against the working class and in favour of the powerful
Crime and the law perform ideological functions to protect the interests of the ruling class
Types of crime in Marxist theory
Blue collar crimes (crimes of the powerless)
White collar crimes (crimes of the powerful)
Right Realism
Crime is real and a growing issue
Crime statistics are giving an accurate representation of crime
There are realistic social policies that the government should introduce to address crime
Causes of crime in Right Realism
Biological differences (e.g. impulsivity)
Inadequate socialisation (e.g. poor parenting, lack of male authority figures)
Rational choice (humans have free will and choose to commit crime)
Inadequate socialisation
Parents are not socialising children properly
Divorce
Poor family socialisation and no male authority figures
Rational choice theory
Humans have freewill and they have chosen to commit crime
Several studies support rational choice theory, the main supporting theory for right realism
Rettig gave students a scenario of an opportunity to commit a crime and found the degree of punishment determined whether they said they would go ahead
Feldman found people made rational decisions, if a crime was considered low risk, high yield they said it would be worth committing
Bennett and Wright interviewed convicted burglars and found the burglars considered the potential reward, difficulty of breaking in and risk of being caught, with risk being the most important factor influencing their decision to commit crime
Right realism
Explains opportunistic petty crimes such as theft
Rettig and Feldman's research was based on experiments which lack environmental validity, the result may not apply to real offenders
Bennett and Wright studied unsuccessful burglars, we don't know if successful burglars think the same way
Not all crime is the result of rational decisions, violent crimes are impulsive
Offenders acting under the influence of drugs or alcohol may not be capable of making rational decisions
Left realism
Has a socialist view of criminality, seeing inequality in society as a root cause of crime, with the majority of victims coming from disadvantaged groups, working class, ethnic minorities and women
Main factors in left realism
Working class people commit crime due to relative deprivation
Individualism
Marginalisation
Surveillance theories
Look at ways surveillance is carried out e.g CCTV, tagging
On average we are under surveillance 70 times a day
Panopticon
An 18th century prison design by Jeremy Bentham where prisoners could be constantly watched without knowing if they were being watched at any given moment, leading them to self-monitor their own behaviour