Crime & Deviance

• Crime as a social construction:

  HISTORICALLY

  • Behaviour changes over time - what once was accepted may not be now and vice versa
  • EG. Cocaine in medicine, homosexuality being illegal
• Crime as a social construction

  CONTEXTUALLY

  • Behaviours accepted in certain situations would not be in others
  • EG. Bikini on a beach vs school
• Crime as a social construction

  AGE

  • Some behaviours are/are not accepted in some ages
  • EG. 8 year old gambling
• Functionalist View


  DURKHEIM

  4 Functions of crime:

  • Boundary Maintenance - crime in society reinforces what is acceptable by showing punishments
  • Social Change - some deviance is necessary to allow society to progress (Sarah's Law)
  • Warning Device - an increase in a certain crime can be an indication that society is not functioning properly
  • Safety Valve - minor crimes can prevent larger crimes from happening
• A03 Of Durkheim's View

  Marx - Ignores the role the powerful have in shaping what is criminal

  • Also doesn't quantify how much crime is beneficial.
• Functionalist View

  MERTON

  Strain Theory:

  • Based on the 'American dream' - crime is a response to the strain placed on people to achieve the goals of society

  TYPES OF STRAIN:

  • Conformity - accepting goals and means
  • Innovation - accepting goals, using a different set of means
  • Ritualism - following means to achieve goals, but giving up
  • Rebellion - rejecting the goals of society, using your own means to reach your own goals
  • Retreatism - reject goals and means completely
• A03 Of Merton's Theory

  • Overexaggerate the importance of monetary success
  • Doesn't explain why the groups choose the different responses
  • Fails to explain non-utilitarian crime
• Functionalist View

  HIRSCHI

  • Asks why people do NOT commit crime, those with strong bonds in society are less likely to commit crime

  4 BONDS:

  • Belief
  • Attatchment
  • Involvement
  • Commitment
• A03 Of Hirschi's View

  • Doesn't explain why the bonds are weak or strong, or how they become so
• Functionalist View

  COHEN (1971)

  • Working class youths believe in the success goals of mainstream culture, their experiences strip them of the opportunity to. They experience status frustration and form a delinquent subculture

  LINK TO WILLIS - 'THE LADS'
• Subcultural Theories


  COHEN:

  • Argues that individuals want status, respect and to feel valued. If this is not achieved it leads to status frustration.

  A03 - Only focused on youth crime, ignores female delinquency.

  A03 - Willis - W/C Boys do not share the same ideas of status as M/C.
• Subcultural Theories

  CLOWARD & OHLIN:

  • Illegitimate opportunity structures - joining a gang and working up the hierarchy.

  3 TYPES:

  • Criminal - characterised by crimes like theft, provides a structure for young criminals
  • Conflict - usually in socially disorganised areas, engage in violence due to status over power
  • Retreatist - emerges amongst the lower classes, failed in crime and legality

  A03: South - 3 subcultures are too distinct, one subculture often emerges into another
• Subcultural Theories


  MILLER:

  • Identified 6 types of 'focal concerns' of the working class.
  • Smartness, trouble, excitement, toughness, autonomy, fate

  A03 - Not all w/c are criminals
• Marxist View

  GORDON:

  • Capitalism is criminogenic - by its very nature it leads to crime as it is exploitation of the W/C. The poor may turn to crime to afford necessities.
  • Crime is a rational response to capitalist focus. It is found in all classes despite what official statistics say

  A03 - Not all crime is rational, MAINLY found amongst w/c
• Marxist View

  REIMAN:

  Selective law enforcement

  • The ruling class are more likely to commit crime and get away with it - EG. PartyGate
  • The CJS system applies the law to classes in different ways. 'One law for one, one for another'
• Marxist View

  CHAMBLISS:

  Selective law making

  • Laws to protect private property are the cornerstone to a capitalist society
  • Organised crime is a major operation in western capitalist society
  • The ruling class do not introduce laws that will affect them
• Marxist View

  SNIDER:

  Selective law making

  • Governments are reluctant to pass laws that will affect profitability
• Marxist View


  BOX:

  • The rich engage in activities that result in death/injury. They are protected with health/safety laws
• Marxist View


  PEARCE:

  Ideological functions

  • Laws are passed to look like they are a benefit to the W/C. 'Caring face of capitalism'.
• A03 Of Marxism

  • Ignores other causes of crime - only focus on class, ignores other inequalities eg. gender & ethnicity
  • Crime in communist states - if crime was a sign of capitalism, then communist states would be crime free, not true in EG Russia
  • Ignores victims of crime - most victims are w/c and poor, if Marx's views were accurate then ruling class would be victims
• Neo-Marxist View


  Agrees with traditional Marxism:

  • Capitalism is based on exploitation and class conflict, understanding this is key to understanding crime
  • The state enforces laws beneficial to the ruling class
  • Capitalism should be replaced with a classless society to reduce crime
• Neo-Marxist View


  Crime considered voluntarist:

  • Criminals are rational
  • Political motives behind crime
  • Free will
  • Criminals are not passive puppets of capitalism
• Labelling/Interactionist View


  LEMERT:

  • Primary Deviance: an individual commits an act they know is deviant, no one else knows so no label is attatched
  • Secondary: the act is witnessed so a label is attatched
• Labelling/Interactionist View

  CICOUREL:

  • Labelling is what leads to selective law enforcement
  • 'Typifications' - police stereotypes of what is a typical criminal
• Consequences of labelling

  • Self-fulfilling prophecy: Once a person has been labelled, they take on the label and begin to act in that way
  • Deviancy Amplification: An attempt to control crime and deviance leads to more deviance - EG. Mods & rockers (Cohen)
  • Master Status: An individual is identified by a particular aspect of themselves - EG. being arrested once so seen as a criminal
• Labelling/Interactionist View


  'Moral Entrepreneurs'

  • Those who decide what is morally acceptable in society.
  • Ruling class, governments
• Labelling/Interactionist View


  Agencies of social control:

  • Informal - Family, friends
  • Formal - Police, CJS, courts
• A03 Of Labelling/Interactionism


  STRENGTHS:

  • Emphasises the social construction of crime
  • Identifies the roles of the powerful in crime & deviance

  LIMITATIONS:

  • Doesn't explain where the stereotypes came from
  • Doesn't explain why people commit the original deviance
• Left Realism View

  • Follow the Marxist view that society is unequal - this is what causes crime and deviance.
  • Believe that gradual change is necessary
• Left Realism View - Causes

  Relative Deprivation

  Lea & Young:

  • Deprivation is the root of crime, not poverty. Living standards rising -> more feelings of deprivation and resentment
• Left Realism View - Causes

  Marginalisation

  • Leads to frustration and resentment which can turn to crime which they believe will improve their situation
• Left Realism View - Causes

  Subcultures

  • A subculture is a collective response to relative deprivation
  • Cloward & Ohlin, Cohen
• Left Realism View - Tackling Crime

  • Need to tackle social inequality and issues that lead to crime - eg. SureStart
  • Should focus on better relationships between police and communities
  • Restorative justice - encouraging offenders to take responsibility
• A03 Of Left Realism

  STRENGTHS:

  • Has been praised for recognising crime is a real problem, not just people being labelled
  • Has attempted to suggest ways crime might be reduced - practical not theoretical
  • Does not appear as sympathetic to criminals as Marxists

  LIMITATIONS:

  • Marxists criticise them for ignoring really serious crimes of the powerful
  • Some of their solutions to crime appear to be either very long term or expensive
• Right Realist View

  • Less concerned with causes, more concerned with solutions
  • Street crime destroys communities
• Right Realist View - Causes

  Biological Differences

  Wilson & Herrnstein:

  • Some people are more predisposed to crime through personality traits such as aggressiveness
• Right Realist View - Causes

  Socialisation & The underclass

  • Underclass fail to adequately socialise their children.
  • Increasing crime - U/C being dependent on the welfare state
• Right Realist View - Causes


  Rational Choice

  Clarke:

  • Individuals have free will, criminals have the choice to commit crime.
  • 'Benefit outweighs the cost'
• Right Realist View - Causes

  Broken Windows Thesis

  Wilson & Kelling:

  • Unless anti-social behaviour is kept to a minimum, there will be gradual deterioration of neighbourhoods.
  • EG. If a criminal sees a smashed window/graffiti, it is an excuse to create more
• Right Realist View - Tackling Crime

  • 'Zero Tolerance Policing' - Wilson & Kelling - Low level crime should not be tolerated
  • Target hardening - shutters, windows, locks, anti-climb paint
  • CCTV - Individuals should be constantly monitored in public places
  • Deterrence Sentencing - punishing the individual to discourage them from future offending