Sociological theories crim

• What is the Panopticon? - surveillance theories

  A prison where prisoners are visible to guards through a watch tower, but they cannot see the guards. This forces prisoners to always behave as if they're being watched.
• What does Foucault argue?

  He argues we are increasingly controlled through self surveillance, through disciplinary power in modern society.
• What is synoptic surveillance?

  synopticon - where everybody watches everybody

  we now also have surveillance from below,

  for example,

  - ringdoor bells.

  - motorists can monitor the behaviour of others by using dashboards, these may warn other road users that they're under surveillance which will make them self discipline.
• What is actuarial justice & profiling

  ACTURIAL - an actuary is someone who calculates the risks of certain events happening

  - Freely & Simon see ACTURIAL justice as a new for, of surveillance, its aim is to predict & prevent future offending. It does this by using statistical info to reduce crime by compiling profiles or likely offenders.
• What is Merton's strain theory?


  States that crime is caused by the failure to achieve the goals of the American dream through legitimate means. In his theory there are five different responses to the American Dream:

  Conformism

  Innovation

  Ritualism

  Retreatism

  Rebellion
• What does Becker say about deviance? -labelling theory

  What makes something deviant is not what's done, but how people react to what's done. The only thing that deviant acts have in common is that they're labelled as deviant by others
• What is right realism?

  considers crime from perspective of political conservatism, getting tough on crime

  They base their views on rational choice theory, criminals are rational actors who weigh up the risks and rewards before deciding to commit a crime or not
• What does right realism say about crime?

  - we need to be tough on crime

  - The underclass are the cause of crime (young, single parent fatherless boys)

  - crime is just the boys ways of proving theyre men

  - poverty doesn't cause crime, weak moral standards do

  - crime is linked to inadequate social control

  
  

  They question the view that economic factors like poverty are the reason behind high crime rates. They instead believe crime is linked to inadequate social control
• What does Charles Murray say ? - right realism

  States that everyone is tempted to commit crime but its the amount of social bonds that prevent us.
• What does left realism say about crime?

  - Crime is due to inequalities Created from a capitalist society

  - we can solve crime by creating a more equal and caring society

  - people are motivated by consumerism and materialism, they commit crime to gain wealth

  - gradual social change will solve crime.
• What is a strength of right realism?

  Many studies support rational choice theory.

  Feldman found that people made rational decisions, if the rewards were high and risks were low they said the crime was worth committing.
• What is a weakness of right realism?

  Retting & Feldman studies were experiments.the results may not apply to real offenders

  Bennet and wright studied unsuccessful burglars - we dont know if successful burglars also think like this.
• What is a strength of left realism?

  Left realism draws attention to the importance of poverty, inequality and relative deprivation as the underlying structural causes of crime

  It draws attention to reality of street crimes and its effects, especially on victims from deprived groups
• What is a weakness of left realism?

  Over predicts the amount of working class crime: not everyone who experiences relative deprivation and marginalisation turns to crime.

  Focuses on high crime inner city areas it gives an unrepresentative view and makes crime appear a greater problem than it is.

  Henry and Milovanic argue that left realism acccepts the authorities definition of crime as just being the street crimes of the poor. It fails to explain white collar and corporate crimes and ignores the harm done to the poor by the crimes of the powerful.
• What do Marxists argue ? -social structure theory

  That the economic system of capitalism itself causes crime. The whole system is based on the exploitation of the working class by the ruling class, leading to the ever in easing wealth of one class and ever increasing poverty of the other.

  They argue that different social classes are policed differently with the working class, or proletariat, heavily policed in the expectation that they'll be more criminal and therefore raising the chance of their crimes being detected.

  OVERALL Marxists argue that a disadvantaged social class is the primary cause of crime and that criminal behaviour begins in youth, this is because the disadvantaged social class has unfavourable living conditions like unemployments, single parent families.
• What is a strength of Marxism, social structure theory

  It shows how poverty and inequality can cause working class crime, and how capitalism promoters greed and encourages upper class crime.

  Shows how both law making law enforcement are biased against the working class and in favour of the powerful. For example, corporate crime is rarely prosecuted.
• What is a weakness of Marxism, social structure theory

  Focuses on class and largely ignores the relationship between crime and other inequalities like gender and ethnicity

  Over predicts the amount of working class crime ; not all poor people turn to crime

  Not all capitalist societies have high crime rates
• What is Durkheims functionalist theory?

  Crime is inevitable and has a function in society, when crime is too high or low, then it cannot serve its function and becomes dysfunctional

  In this theory, society is seen as a stable structure with shared norms, values and beliefs about right or wrong. This creates social solidarity. Majority of people conform and dont deviate to ensure it all runs smoothly BUT not everyone has the same norms, values and beliefs about right or wrong