sociological theories of criminality

• marxism

  capitalism is criminogenic. capitalist systems exploit the working class and make them poor so crime becomes the only way to survive. capitalism promotes the profit motive which promotes crime amongst business people. selective law enforcement disproportionately prosecutes working class people
• marxism strengths

  shows how inequality and poverty cause working class crimes and how capitalism promotes greed and encourages crime amongst business people.
• marxism weaknesses

  focuses on classes but fails to consider other factors that may cause crime eg inequalities based on gender or ethnicity. over predicts the amount of working class crime:not all poor people commit crime. not all capitalist societies have high crime rates. Japans homicide rate is 1/5 of USAs
• functionalism

  durkheim suggested everything in society has a function including crime and crime only becomes dysfunctional when it’s too high or too low. crimes function is: boundary maintenance, social change, safety valve and to act as a warning light. cohen suggests status frustration leads to crime, when an individual cant achieve societies goals by legitimate means they turn to alternative methods to gain status in wider society or in subculture
• functionalism strength

  durkheim first to realise crime has positive functions eg reinforcing the boundary between right and wrong by uniting against the wrongdoer. cohen status frustration helps to explain non profit crimes such as vandalism and fighting as well as offering an explanation to non utilitarian crime amongst working class boys
• functionalism weakness

  doesnt explain why crime exists in the first place. says we need the right amount of crime to function as society but doesnt offer how much that is. crime doesnt always promote solidarity but instead fear and isolation. status frustration assumes all working class boys start off with the same values for success as middleclass
• right realism

  blames crime on an individual rather than society. broken windows theory suggests that if an area experiences crime and becomes neglected then this draws other criminals in as they believe they wont be caught and then this area builds up crime. RCT is weighing up costs an benefits before making choices, crime rates are high if costs of being caught are low
• right realism strength

  has supporting research. Rettig gave students a scenario of an opportunity to commit crime and found that the degree of punishment determined whether they would commit crime. bennet and wright interviewed convicted burglars who said they considered the potential reward,difficulty of breaking in and risk of being caught which was most important factor influencing decision to commit crime
• right realism weakness

  fails to consider causation of crime eg inequality not all crimes are a result of rational decision, violent crimes are often impulsive and offenders under the influence may also be unlikely to calculate risks and rewards before offending
• left realism

  focuses on prevention rather than punishment. agrees with marxist theory that capitalism causes crime however focuses kn solutions to problems rather than waiting for revolution. 3 main causes of crime: relative deprivation (someone feels deprived relative to those around so may resort to crime), subculture (group solution to relative deprivatio), marginalisation (groups are treated as insignifican)
• left realism strength

  focus on crimes which impact everyday people so decreases crime against working class such as burglary
• left realism weakness

  it overlooks the importance of crimes of the powerful eg corporate crimes. criticised as overly deterministic as not all who experience relative deprivation commit crime.
• interactionism


  labelling. crime is a social construct meaning crime is a subjective theiry and a label overrides other characteristics so if a person is labelled a criminal this will lead to self fulfilling prophecy and they will then commit crime. interactionists argue that differential enforcement occurs where social control agencies label certain groups as criminal more than others
• interactionism strength

  labelling theory shows law isnt a fixed set if rules to be taken for granted but something whose construct we need to explain.

  shifts the focus onto how police create crime by applying labels based on stereotypes of typical criminal. selective law enforcement explains why working class people are over represented in crime stats
• interactionism weakness

  wrongly implies that once someone is labelled then crime is inevitable which is deterministic.

  fails to explain why people primarily commit crime before they are labelled.