ac 2.3

• Functionalism


  A sociological theory that views crime as serving positive functions for society
• Functions of Crime in Functionalism

  • Boundary Maintenance
  • Adaptation and Social Change
  • Social Cohesion
  • Safety Valve
  • Warning Light
• Boundary Maintenance


  Crime produces a reaction that unites society's members against the wrongdoer, reminding them of the boundary between right and wrong, and reaffirming their shared rules
• Adaptation and Social Change


  For society to progress, individuals with new ideas must challenge existing norms and values, and at first this will be seen as deviant
• Social Cohesion


  Crime can strengthen social bonds by drawing together communities in shared outrage and a sense of belonging
• Safety Valve


  Conflict between man's instinctual need and society's need. For example, Davis argues that prostitution acts to release men's sexual frustrations without threatening the nuclear family
• Warning Light


  Deviance indicates that an institution isn't functioning properly, e.g. high truancy rates could indicate problems with the education system
• Merton's Strain Theory


  A theory that explains how the gap between societal goals and the legitimate means to achieve them can lead to deviance and crime
• Money Success


  The American structure of society, where everyone wants to achieve the 'American dream' (desirable things we can buy with money)
• Blocked Opportunities


  Not everyone has an equal chance of achieving success legitimately because society is unequal. Opportunities for working-class are blocked by poverty and inadequate schools. This creates a 'strain' between the goal society says they should achieve and the lack of legitimate means to do so, this causes crime and deviance
• Merton's Strain Theory Responses

  • Conformality
  • Innovation
  • Ritualism
  • Retreatism
  • Rebellion
• Conformality


  Follow society's legitimate ways of achieving money success
• Innovation


  Accept the goal of money success but use illegitimate means to achieve it, such as theft and drug use
• Ritualism


  They give up striving for success, and settle for a dead-end job
• Retreatism


  Dropouts who have given up that they can ever achieve the 'American Dream'
• Rebellion


  They seek to actively protest and replace society's current structure
• Cohen's Status Frustration


  Subcultures enable their members to gain status by illegitimate means, due to lower classes failure to achieve, and may be regarded as 'thick'. As a result, they suffer from status frustration-a feeling of worthlessness. The subculture offers a solution by providing them with an alternative status hierarchy in which they can win respect from their peers
• Cloward and Ohlin's Types of Subcultures


  • Criminal Subcultures
  • Conflict Subcultures
  • Retreatist Subcultures
• Criminal Subcultures


  Arise in areas where the longstanding criminal network. They recruit vulnerable youths for an apprenticeship in criminal crime and a future criminal career
• Conflict Subcultures


  These arise where only criminal opportunities are within reach. Violence provides a release for frustration and a source of status gained by winning territory from rival gangs
• Retreatist Subcultures


  They are made up of dropouts who have failed in both the legitimate and the illegitimate opportunity structures. They are often based on drug use
• Marxism


  A sociological theory that views crime as a product of the capitalist system and the exploitation of the working class by the ruling class
• Ruling class


  Bourgeoisie - own the means of production (businesses, banks, land etc)
• Working class


  Proletariat - whose labour the capitalists exploit to make profit
• Capitalist Causes of Crime

  The profit motive promotes greed, encouraging capitalists to commit crime to gain an advantage (money). Exploitation of working class drives people into poverty leading to illegitimate criminal acts. Inequality causes a feeling of alienation and frustration which leads to non-utilitarian crimes (e.g. violence and vandalism)
• Law making


  William Chambliss argues that the laws are made to protect the private property of the rich e.g. laws against homeless squatting empty houses, but no laws against the rich owning several houses. Few challenge unequal distribution of wealth
• Selective Law Enforcement


  How laws are enforced selectively (carried out unfairly), against the working class but not upper class. E.g. white collar and corporate crime of the rich is less likely to be prosecuted than working class 'street' crimes
• Ideology


  A set of ideas that are designed to benefit a powerful group (i.e., the bourgeoisie)
• How does school mirror the workplace? How does it benefit the bourgeoisie?
• Ideological Functions of Crime and Law

  Selective enforcement makes it look as if crime is the fault of the working class. This divides the working class, encouraging workers to blame working-class criminals for their problems, rather than capitalism. This also shifts attention away from much more serious ruling-class crime
• Interactionism


  A sociological theory that views crime as the result of how society labels and reacts to certain behaviours
• Differential Enforcement of the Law

  Where the law is enforced more against one group than against another. Police decisions to arrest were based on stereotypical ideas
• Labelling and Self-Fulfilling Prophecy


  Primary Deviance: Initial acts of deviance that have not been publicly labelled. Secondary Deviance: Deviance resulting from labelling. They become the label, become master status or controlling identity -more likely to result in further offending
• Deviance Amplification Spiral


  The attempt to control deviance through a 'crackdown' leads to it increasing rather than decreasing. This promotes greater attempts to control it, yet more deviance, creating a spiral
• Interactionists reject the use of crime stats compiled by the police. They argue that the stats measure what the police do rather than what criminals do. E.g. spending more time pursuing working-class males as typical criminals, rather than middle-class white-collar criminals, based on stereotypes</b>
• Right Realism


  A criminological theory that views crime as a growing problem that needs to be tackled through control and punishment, rather than addressing root causes
• Right Realism Causes of Crime

  • Biological Differences
  • Inadequate Socialization
  • Offending is a Rational Choice
• Biological Differences


  Genetic theory or biochemical could explain why certain individuals commit crime
• Inadequate Socialization


  A female-led lone parent family might be an ineffective way of raising a boy because he won't learn e.g. self-defence or physical abilities, he would be taught by the father figure. These types of young boys might get into gang crimes in order to gain status
• Offending is a Rational Choice


  Rational choice theory (RCT) assumes that individuals have free will and the power of reason, basing choices on a rational calculation of the consequences: weighing the risks/costs against the rewards/benefits. If the reward of crime outweigh the risks, people will be more likely to reoffend