Crime and Deviance

• Lombroso 


  Atavistic form - there is a biological component to criminality which is reflected in facial features.

  e.g. murderers have curly hair etc

  AO3 - criticised for scientific racism (many factors identified are common of African American individuals)
• Durkheim (positive functions of crime)


  Boundary maintenance & social cohesion -> crime reinforces what is acceptable behaviour in society as the public nature of punishment shows society what will happen if they commit a crime

  Adaption and change -> without some deviant and criminal behaviour, society will become stagnant and die
• Clinard / Cohen (positive functions of crime)


  Warning sign -> increase in certain types of crime or deviant behaviour can be an indication that something in society is not functioning as it should and so change needs to occur.
• Davis / Polsky (positive functions of crime)

  Safety valve -> Some minor crimes and acts of deviancy can prevent larger, more serious crimes

  Polsky - accessing pornography can prevent more serious sexual crimes
• Strain theory - Merton

  Crime is a response to the strain placed on people to achieve the goals and values of society (American Dream)

  Types of strain;

  1. Conformity; accepting the goals set out and agreed by society and the means to achieve them
  2. Innovation; choosing alternative means to achieve goals set out and agreed by society
  3. Ritualism; following means to achieve goals but believing you will never achieve them
  4. Rebellion; rejecting societal goals and creating your own as well as the means to achieve them
  5. Retreatism; react the goals of society and don't replace them
• Strain theory AO3

  • Fails to explain non-utilitarian crime
  • Over exaggerates the importance of monetary success
  • Underestimates the amount of crime committed by those who have achieved societal goals
  • Doesn't explain why groups choose the response they do
• Sub-cultural theories 


  Cohen - status frustration

  • Ignores female delinquency, Willis (differing ideas of status)

  Cloward and Ohlin -> illegitimate opportunity structures

  • Assumes oficial stats are accurate, exaggeration

  Miller -> focal concerns (class differences in values)

  • Not all w/c are criminals, Matza; subculture membership is short
• Control theory - Hirschi 


  Asks why people don't commit crime - strong bonds with society prevent people from committing crime

  AO3

  • Assumes all people are naturally bad and it is society that keeps people good
• Marxist views on crime

  Gordon; crime is a rational reaction to capitalist foci

  • Greed, profit, competition and materialism
  • As a result it can be found in all social classes

  Chambliss; the law is shaped to protect the rich

  Pearce; laws are often passed which appear to benefit the wc but through loop holes and a lack of prosecution, the ruling class benefit

  • 2007 corporate homicide law - 1 successful prosecution in 8 years
• Neo - marxist views of crime

  Rock; overly romantic view of criminals e.g. Robin Hoods who are fighting the unjust system (left realism = most crime against the wc is committed by the working class)

  Feminist criticism; gender blind theory
• Labelling 


  Lemert - primary deviance and secondary deviance

  • PD - individual commits an act they know is criminal but no one knows so no label is attached
  • SD - deviant act is witnessed so the person is labelled

  Cicourel - labelling leads to selective law enforcement and the negotiations of justice - focus on the group labelled (typification)
• Left Realists - gradual change is necessary to move capitalism


  Lea and Young - deprivation is the root of criminality
• Right Realists - more concerned with practical and realistic solutions to crime rather than the cause of crime


  Charles Murray - crime rates are increasing due to the growing underclass of people who are dependent on the state

  Wilson and Herrnstien - crime is caused by a combination of biological and social factors; some people are more predisposed to crime through personality traits (aggression, extroversion, risk taking) which is mixed with poor socialisation / lack of role models
• Gender and Crime 


  Pollack - Chivalry thesis; CJS is chivalrous towards women

  Parsons - females commit less crime due to the socialisation they received and their access to adult role models. Boys have less access to adult role models and so are more likely to turn to gangs for masculine identity

  Heidensohn - women commit less crime due to the amount of patriarchal control they are subject to - less opportunity

  Messerschmidt - men commit crime to show their masculinity
• Ethnicity and crime 


  Morris - disproportionate number of young BAME people = more ethnic crime due to younger people being more likely to be criminals

  Waddington et al - densely populated areas with ethnic minorities leads to higher stop and search stats, lack of social cohesion = crime

  Sewell - lack of father figure, negative experiences of white culture and the media are risk factors for crime amongst black boys
• Social Class and Crime

  Murray - underclass is responsible for the majority of street crime

  
  

  Messerschmidt - middle class men may engage in white collar crime to show off their masculinity

  
  

  Gordon - wc commit utilitarian crime to survive in a capitalist society and commit non-utilitarian crime to express their frustration at being oppressed.
• Media and crime


  Postman - media coverage of crime is increasingly a mixture of entrainment and sensationalism which leads to 'infotainment'

  Baudriallard (postmodernist) - media creates reality, people have no understanding of crime only the representations of crime they experience through the mass media
• Globalisation and crime 


  Castells - global crime economy of over £1 trillion per annum

  Beck - growing instability has led to people becoming more risk conscious

  Taylor - new patterns of inequality

  Glenny - McMafia 1980s

  Bauman - cost benefit analysis leads to people taking part in criminal activity in order to achieve the consumer lifestyle which is otherwise unobtainable
• Green crime 


  South - types of green crime

  • Primary - direct result destruction and degradation of the earths resources e.g. air pollution, deforestation
  • Secondary - crimes that directly break the law e.g. hazardous waste and organised crime

  Beck - global and manufactured risk; increase in technology and manufacturing developments has increased societal risks

  • Bhopal, India 1984 - 20,000 people died from a gas leak explosion, children are still being born deformed and severe blindness
• Green crime 2


  White - transgressive criminology

  • Focus on the harm the act causes
  • Green crime = action that harms the physical environment and or those living in it EVEN if a law is not broken
• State crime 


  McLaughlin - types of state crime

  • Political crimes; censorship or corruption
  • Crimes by security, military and police; genocide, torture, imprisonment without trial
  • Economic crimes; official health and safety violations, harmful policies
  • Social and cultural crimes; institutional racism, destruction of native cultures and heritage

  Ardono - authoritarian personality, F-scale
• Cyber crime 


  Wall - 4 types

  • Trespassing
  • Theft
  • Pornography
  • Deception
• Crime prevention - types

  Situational - pre-emptive approach to make it harder to commit crime

  Environmental - improve local area and deal with low level criminal activity e.g. vandalism, graffiti

  Social and community - left realist, deal with social inequalities to reduce the crime rate
• Crime prevention - strategies

  Situational - target hardening, CCTV, police presence, hostile architecture

  Environmental - zero tolerance policing

  Social and community - youth and community centres that create a sense of community
• Crime prevention evaluation 


  Situational - displacement theory, doesn't address corporate crime, unfairly targets wc

  Environmental - symptom not cause, targets wc people, displacement

  Social and community - ignores corporate, relative deprivation
• Criminal Justice System 


  Key agencies - police, courts, crown prosecution service
• Punishment 


  Purpose of punishment - Newburn

  • Rehabilitation - discourage reoffending
  • Deterrence - prevent future offending
  • Restorative justice - force criminals to make amends
  • Protection of society - incapacitation protects society
  • Boundary maintenance - reinforce social norms and values
  • Retribution - deserving
• Foucault - postmodernist


  Panopticon

  Bauman - liquid surveillance
• Victimology 


  Mendelsohn - certain people could be identified to be more likely to be the victim of crime = partly guilty themselves