crime and deviance

• crime


  illegal act that is punishable by police officers/law
• deviance


  behaviour that does not compile to society's norms and values
• why are crime and deviance seen as social constructs 


  because society has decided if it is deviant or not and it can change over time e.g smoking was seen as not deviant 50+ years ago but now it is seen as deviant
• social order


  society being predictable everyone should know what norms and values are
• anomie 


  a state of normlessness, basically not know what the norms and values of society are
• consensus approach 


  functionalists: people are working together for the same thing, belief that people share the same interests and goals, people agree on the norms and values, social order continues because most people agree to and abide by the rules
• conflict approach 


  marxist approach: conflict of interest between groups in society, clashes happen because people do not share common goals or interests, conflict between less powerful and powerful, social order is maintained because the bourgeoise have the power to maintain order e.g influence laws
• social control


  processes by which people are encouraged/persuaded to conform. if society breaks these rules there will be both positive and negative sanctions (informal sanctions)
• durkheim

  (social cohesion and boundary maintenance)

  strengthen social cohesion

  he pointed out that when particularly horrifying crimes have been committed, society comes together in shared outrage and the sense of belonging to a community is strengthened
• durkheim

  (social change)

  a degree of sympathy can sometimes occur for the person persecuted, leads to change in values, change in law to reflect the changing values
• durkheim

  (jobs)


  creates jobs for people, e.g in the police force, lawyers, barristers etc
• durkheim

  (safety valve)

  pressure release, deviance can allow individuals to express themselves in ways that may not be criminal
• criticisms of durkheim 


  interactionists argue that functionalists argue how crime and deviance is learned and transmitted by being with other deviant people

  some sociologist would that young people embrace mainstream values so much the turn to crime to get consumer goods

  marxists say durkheim ignores the sense of power in society
• merton

  (strain and anomie)

  explains crime and deviance in terms of the structure and the culture of society

  looked at the american society and the american dream

  crime and deviance were evidence of strain between the socially accepted goals of society

  the strain led to deviance, he referred this to anomie
• criticisms of merton 


  interactionists argue that functionalists ignore how crime and deviance is learned and transmitted

  instead of adopting a counter culture, young people embrace mainstream values, so then turn to crime to get consumer wants
• marxism 


  crime and the law works to keep the poor poor and the rich rich , it serves the need of capitalism
• capitalist society is based on three things


  materialism = valuing things/possessions

  consumerism = wanting to by things/material items

  competition = keeping up with others
• views of the law enforcement 


  the laws are made for the rich, by the rich

  they protect the interests of these people

  white collar crime goes undetected
• criticisms of marxism 


  not every law supports the dominant ruling class --> many are agreed on by most people

  functionalism -->society is based on agreement/norms and values

  feminist --> ignores issues of gender within discussions about crime and deviance

  not all people in poverty commit crime like marxist seem to suggest they will be forced in to doing TOO DETERMINISTIC
• feminism 


  until the 1970s there was almost no focus on women's involvement in crime and deviance

  feminists criticised sociology for being 'malestream' because of this and they wanted a change

  feminists now look at how women are treated within the criminal justice system
• the chivalry thesis 


  females are more likely to get away with crime as they may hold stereotypical beliefs about women and men

  e.g female offenders are seen as 'sad' rather than 'bad' and they need help rather than punishment
• heidensohn

  (control theory)

  explores crime from a feminist perspective

  focuses on control theory to explain her viewpoints

  heinensohn uses control theory to explain why this is

  --> social bonds (attachments between family and friends) acts as a form of social control

  --> in patriarchal society men are the public sphere (area) of work and women are in the private sphere (area) of home

  --> this explains the differences in the roles of men and women in social control
• role of women in social control


  they commit fewer crimes because the patriarchal society poses greater control over women and reduces their opportunity to offend
• control of women at home


  girls are controlled by fathers and male siblings

  must be home earlier than this brothers and have less time when unsupervised

  girls had a 'bedroom" culture
• control of women in public

  they go from being controlled by fathers to being controlled by husbands

  working men would socialise with fellow workers at the pub while working women would return home to carry out housework and childcare
• control of women at work 


  daughters are more closely controlled than sons, they have more limits when they should leave home

  women are controlled by the male-dominant hierarchy and workings organisation
• glass ceiling --> an invisible barrier in the workplace that stops when from gaining the higher position of power
• becker

  (labelling theory)

  becker believes everyone acts in ways that are deviant

  becker argues that society creates rules and anyone who acts outside of these rules are deviant

  interactionists say this labelling can lead to groups being victimised for crime

  this labelling can mean a person is singled out to be criminal or deviant and could result in the self-fulfilling prophecy

  this can lead to a master status and a deviant career
• criticisms of the interactionist approach 


  tends to be deterministic

  fails to explain why people commit primary deviance in the first place before they are labelled

  marxist --> not because of labelling instead it is because people are born disadvantaged
• arguments for young people being put in custody/prison

  they have committed the crime so they must take the punishment

  it is seen as a danger --> removed from society

  they need to learn the norms and values of society --> can learn how to be good adults
• arguments against young people being put in custody/prison 


  they should get educated so they can change their behaviours

  they won't socialise with other people which could have a negative effect on their mental health

  too many young people reoffend

  large sums of money are spent

  many children now being locked up for minor crimes
• public concern 


  server budget shortages --> things have been taken away

  self harm and suicide have increased

  mobile phone footage shows violence, drugs and chaos

  levels of violence has increased
• alternatives to prisons 


  fines

  electronic tags

  alternatives may be better because they don't take people away from their families and can continue with their education
• deviancy amplification


  the exaggeration of a particular social issues as a consequence of media coverage
• news value 


  the importance given to a particular event by newspaper editors or television producers

  usually the importance given links to how many customers/viewers they will get in return
• is the media biased

  the media set the agenda on what is considered important

  crime is in the news a lot

  can decide what does/doesnt get reported - the media is powerful
• moral panics 


  when a social problem is over exaggerated and therefore the public reaction is out of proportion
• folk devils 


  a group that poses a threat to societies norms and values and then portrayed in stereotypical ways by the mass media a
• violent crimes


  recored crimes against the person

  covers more than 30 offences
• perceptions 


  violent crimes may be reported to the police and recorded by them but not all violent crimes results in the offenders being punished

  the crime survey for england and wales examined how likely people thought they were to be a victim of crime and their worries about crime