Crime & Deviance

• Deviance


  Behaviour that differs from the norms of a particular group or society.
• How is crime relative/a social construction

  changes depending on place, time, gender etc

  
  

  For example, the death penalty is illegal in UK but legal in USA, homosexuality used to be illegal.
• Criminal justice system - courts

  weigh up the evidence to decide if someone is guilty or not

  
  

  Police and crown prosecution service - Get the evidence to give to the correct people and enforce the law (build the cases)
• Criminal justice system - Rehabilitation Schemes

  rehabilitate criminals to avoid recommitting
• Criminal justice system - Prison and probation service

  carry out the punishments and reintegration into society
• Criminal justice system - magistrates

  deal with 97% of criminal cases, no jury, unpaid volunteers with no formal training
• AO3 of criminal justice system juries

  people who have more time e.g. older people, retired, middle class are likely to volunteer
• Functions of punishment -Incapacitation


  - Taking away criminals freedom
• Functions of punishment - retribution

  justice for the victims
• Functions of punishment - protection


  Protect society from criminals
• Durkheim view on punishment

  reinforce boundaries of acceptable behaviour and maintain social order.
• Functionalist view on punishment

  Old view: retributive justice - desire for revenge against the wrongdoers

  
  

  New view: restitutive justice - form of compensation for the damage caused
• Marxist view on punishment

  Laws are created and enforced in ways to benefit the ruling class. For example, it is more of an offence to drive without insurance than to drink drive.

  
  

  Other laws criminalise working class behaviour which makes it easier for ruling class to control them.

  
  

  Laws created based on capitalist principles. For example, imprisonment creates a financial punishment as you can no longer earn money, leading to lose of house, job etc.
• New right view on punishment

  all crime is a rational choice. If the punishment outweighs the benefits, the crime won't take place.

  
  

  All punishments for crime should be harsh.
• AO3 of rational choice theory/new right view on punishment

  What if people don't think rationally? Drunk, mental health.
• Post modern view on punishment

  Foucault - theorised perfect prison where prisoners are all watched by one guard but they have no idea when they're being watched

  
  

  In the 20th century, there is control over all aspects of society and all people through surveillance (disciplinary power).

  
  

  Control takes place in non-criminal areas all the time.
• Panoptican


  prison where prisoners are all watched by one guard but they have no idea when they're being watched

  
• post modern view on punishment similar to CCTV


  This is similar to CCTV, if people believe they're always being watched they will behave well. This is 'reform' however they haven't changed their norms and values.
• How prisons have changed

  Previously, it was a holding place before the punishment whereas now prison has become the punishment.

  Role of the prison is to act as the punishment in today's society

  David Garland: serves an ideological function to decrease unemployment in society

  30%-40% are unemployed in jail

  Transcarceration: a cycle of agencies e.g. care ➞ juvenile ➞ prison

  Alternatives to prison: welfare, treatment, non-custodial sentencing, electronic tagging
• King's cross example': situational crime prevention


  - Kings Cross: security cameras ↑ near King's Cross as the eurotunnel now came into King's cross = ↑ tourism. People were less likely to commit crime in these areas however, displacement of crime occurred to places such as Camden
• Conflict style policing


  Imposing M/C values on W/C and ethnic minorities

  Higher levels of patrol rates

  Imposes laws which reflect ruling class interests

  Link to Chambliss - The RDU

  Crime is prevented by coercion rather than working as a community

  Them vs Us
• Consensus style policing


  close relationship between the area and the police

  Represents the interests of majority

  Police come from the community

  individuals are caught as a result of complaints from the community
• Positivist victimology


  Aims to identify the patterns of victimisation

  Aims to identify victims that have contributed to their own victimisation

  Attempts to identify victim proneness: potential victims are different to non-victims making crime more likely against them
• AO3 of positivist victimology

  Ignores the structural causes that may contribute to crime e.g. poverty

  Can tip into victim blaming

  Can't account for victimless crimes e.g. vandalism
• Critical criminology


  Structural factors that place poor or powerless people at the bottom of society means they are at greater risk of being victims

  The state has the power to apply/deny the label of victims

  For example, teenage girls joining ISIS

  Criminal label: they decided to join ISIS

  Victim Label: victims of grooming
• Judge Dewar


  Rape victims are blamed for the attack: Judge Dewar

  Had to resign after he let a rapist go free because 'sex was in the air
• Patterns of victimisation


  The average chance of someone being a victim is 1:4 but the risk isn't evenly spread
• Indirect victims - Pynoos


  Friends, relatives and witnesses to crimes taking place e.g. stress
• Fear of victimisation


  Surveys show this can be irrational e.g. women are more likely to be scared of being attacked but men are more likely statistically
• Durkheim view on crime and punishment (functionalist)

  Argued norms, custom and laws define acceptable behaviour and have coercive power over people.

  
  

  The rules for conformist behaviour are passed on from one generation by socialisation e.g. media, family, education.

  
  

  Values become internalised into everyone's mind as collective conscious (collective idea of what is wrong/right)

  
  

  When we deviate/commit crime, our behaviour will attract a range of negative sanctions from agents of socialisation (social control).
• Society of saints (functionalist)

  if everyone is expected to behave perfectly, any sign of behaviour that is seen as 'different' or 'not normal' would be classed as deviant.
• Crime is inevitable (functionalist)


  'society of saints' - if everyone is expected to behave perfectly, any sign of behaviour that is seen as 'different' or 'not normal' would be classed as deviant.

  
  

  Unsuccessful socialisation - not socialised into the same norms/values as as everyone else has, may not fit in the social cohesion and may commit crime due to different values
• Crime as a result of social change (functionalist)

  Can perform a positive function to allow society to recognise that it's 'unwell' and can adjust/change in order to maintain an equilibrium.

  
  

  Social change means individuals may become unsure of the norms and values of society

  
  

  Therefore, they are consequently breaking them creating a weaker collective conscious.

  
  

  Durkheim saw anomie expressed through crime and suicide, marital breakdown etc.
• AO3 of society with no crime

  Society with no crime = no social change e.g. North Korea - people are too scared to commit crime due to social control and dictatorship.
• Anomie

  When there has been a collapse of the collective conscious so people begin to act in their own self interest because they aren't sure/can't relate to the shared norms and values
• Crime is beneficial and functional (Functionalist)

  If crime occurs, it can alert social problems that can then be fixed
• AO3 of crime being functional and beneficial

  - Ignores white collar crime (financial crime)

  
  

  Some groups see prison as a status symbol, not a punishment

  
  

  Ignores the social structure in creating crime e.g. poverty

  
  

  Ignores the victim saying that crime is beneficial
• Modern functionalist view on crime - Ned Polsky

  Pornography is good for the family, prevents sexual violence and adultery as males are less likely to carry it out.
• AO3 of Ned Polsky

  watching sexual violence in porn can normalise it.
• Modern functionalist view on crime - Kingsley Davies


  Prostitution is good for nuclear families as it prevents divorce and family break. It allows the man to release sexual frustration