sociological theories if criminality

• Durkheim functionalist theory

  emile Durkheim - see society as a stable structure based on shared norms, values and beliefs abour right and wrong.

  produces social solidarity or integration, where all members of society feel they belong to same harmonious unit.

  most people conform to society's shared norms and do not deviate. Crime is inevitable
• Functions of crime

  1. Boundary maintenance- crime produces a reaction that unites society‘s members against the wrongdoer, reminding them of the boundary between right and wrong, reaffirming their shared rules
• function of crime

  2. social change. for society to progress, individuals with new ideas must challenge existening norms and values, and at first this will be seen as deviance. e,g Nelson mandela
• function of crime

  3. safety valve- e.g Davi’s argues that prostitution acts to release men’s sexual frustration without threatening the nuclear family
• function of crime

  4. warning light - deviance indicates that an institution isn’t functioning properly.
• Merton strain theory - book
• interactionism - labelling theory

  states no act is deviant or criminal in itself. only becomes so when we create rules and apply them to others.

  e.g act of smoking cannabis. only counts as a crime because society decides to make a law criminalising it.
• interactionism - differential enforcements of the law

  argue that social control agencies such as the police label certain groups as criminal. the results in differential enforcement- where the law is enforced more against one group than against another
• labelling and the self-fulfilling prophecy

  lemert argues, labelling is the cause of crime and deviance. by labelling certain people a s deviant, society encourages them to become more so. he explains this by distinguishing between primary and secondary deviance.
• primary deviance: involves acts that have not been publicy labeled. They are often trivial and mostly go uncaught, such as travelling on public transport without paying. Those who commit these acts do not usually see themselves as criminals.
• secondary deviance: results from labelling. People may treat the offender solely in terms of his label, which becomes his master status or controlling identity. The individual is seen as, say, a thief, overriding all his other statuses, such as father, churchgoer, workmate etc.
• Marxist theory-

  argues unequal structure of capitalist society shapes peoples behaviour. Includes criminal behaviour and how society deals with it
• capitalist is divided into 2 classes

  • ruling capitalist class/ bourgeoisie- who own the means of production (businesses, landmark, bank)
  • the working class/ proletariat- labour is exploited but the bourgeoisie to make profit.
• all institutions of capital society work to maintain the inequality and exploitation .

  especially true in the law and the criminal justice system.

  marxists- law and enforcements by court and police are means to keep the w/c in their place
• Marx’s view of crime have three main elements

  • capitalism causes crime
  • law making and law enforcement are biased
  • crime and the law perform ideological functions
• Capitalism


  Causes crime
• Crime is inevitable because capitalism is a criminogenic (crime-causing) system
• Exploitation of the working class

  Drives many people to poverty which results in crime as their only way to survive
• Capitalism continually pushes consumer goods at people through advertising


  Results in crimes like theft to obtain them
• Inequality


  Causes feelings of alienation and frustration, resulting in crimes like violence or vandalism
• Capitalism


  Causes crime in the capitalists themselves - profit motive promotes greed and encourages capitalists to commit corporate crime like tax evasion or breaking health and safety laws to gain advantage
• making and enforcing the law

  See as serving the interest of the capitalist class

  law making- argues that law made to protect private property of rich. E.g laws against homeless squatting empty houses.

  selective law enforcement- law enforced on w.c not upper class. White collar and corporate are less likely to be prosecuted than e/c street crimes
• ideological functions of crime and the law

  argues ideas about crime and law are ideology. - set of ideas the conceal inequality of capitalist society

  e.g - selective enforcements, encourages w/c to blame other w/c. shifts attention awash from much more serious ruling- class crime.

  • some laws do benefit w/c - health and safety laws

  encourages w.c to accept capitalism
• Right realism

  have a right wing, conservative political outlook. See street crime as a growing problem. Mainly concerned with practical solution to reduce crime- control and punishment.
• cause of crime - RL

  reject marxist view. argue crime is product of 3 factors:

  • biological differences between individuals
  • inadequate socialisation
  • offending is a rational choice
• Biological differences between individuals- Rl

  wilson and herrnstein- some individuals more likely to commit crime. In their view, personality traits associates with criminality, aggressiveness, risk-taking/ low intelligence are inborn
• inadequate socialisation - rl

  effective socialisation can reduce the chances of some1 offending by teaching them, self-control an correct values. see nuclear family as best agency for socialisation.

  murray: nuclear family is undermined by generous welfare benefits, claims this led to steady rise in # of welfare dependant lone parent families
• the underclass: Murray argues welfare dependency is creating ‘underclass’ who fail to socialise their children properly.

  absent fathers mean boys lack discipline an an appropriate male role model, cuz they don’t see a man who works hard to support his family. as a result , boy turn to delinquent role models in street gangs and young men to gain status through crime rather than through supporting family
• offending is a rational choice: assumes we are rational begins with free will. Deciding to commit a crime is a choice based on a rational calculation of the consequences.

  RL- argue crime rate is gig because perceived cosy of crime is low. Criminal see little risk.
• Left realism and crime

  left wing, socialist political outlook .

  see inequality in capitalist society as root to crime.

  main victims= disadvantage groups, w/c, ethnic minorities and women.

  propose to reduce crime by making society fairer and more equal
• cause of crime -LR

  lea and young identify three related causes of crime:

  • relative deprivation
  • subculture
  • marginalisation
• relative deprivation

  crime has roots in relative deprivation, how deprived or badly off someone feels in relation to others. lea and young argue 2 factors increasing peoples sense of relative deprivation.
• lea and young 2 factors of increasing sense of relative deprivation.

  • one 1 hand, Media continually pump out message urging everyone to aspire to material possessions, promoting what young calls ‘ a culture hooked on gucci, BMW, Nike
  • on other hand , society is becoming more unequal due to cuts in benefits, unemployment, job insecurity and low pay
• subculture- LR

  groups way of solving the problem of relative deprivation. some turn to crime.

  criminal subcultures share society's materialistic goals, but because legitimate opportunities are blocked, they resort to crime.

  Not all turn to crime some will turn to religion to find comfort.
• marginalisation - LR

  process of social exclusion in which individuals or groups are relegated to the fringes of a society.
• surveillance theories

  monitoring people to control crime. look at the method by which surveillance is carried out , tech like CCTV, tagging and database that produce profiles.
• foucault: the panopticon

  argues in modern society, we‘re increasingly controlled through through self- surveillance. ‘disciplinary power’. reference to prison design known as panopticon - all-seeking
• synoptic surveillance

  Mathiesen argues there’s surveillance from above, we have surveillance from below. 'Synopticon' -everybody watches everybody. e.g motorists/cyclists can monitor the behaviour of others using dashboard or helmet cameras. may warn other road users they are under surveillance = result, them exercising self-discipline.