crime and deviance

It is a structuralist theory of crime 

Durkheim - C&D can only be explained by looking at  the way societies are socially organised (social structures), and how they cause crime. 

durkheim also argued the positive functions of crime: 

1. boundary maintenance - reaffirms value consensus and public faith in social controls 

2. functional rebellion - some deviance can cause much needed social change (suffragettes) 

3. social cohesion - horrific crimes can cause communities to come together 

4. early warning system - deviance can act as a warning that a social institution isn't functioning 

5. saftey valve - argue that relatively minor crimes can act as a saftey valve (**** might prevent more serious sexual offences)

ROBERT MERTON 

- crime is a consequence of strain 

five types of behaviour: 

1. conformity (++)  2. innovation (+-) 3. ritualism (-+) 4. retreatism (--) 5. rebellion (+/- +/-)

1. majority                 2. criminal         3. dead end job        4. drop-out           5. monk

AO3s

- doesn't explain why individuals choose the response that they do 

- fails to explain crimes which are not economically motivated 

-underestimates crimes which are not due to strain 

COHEN

tries to explain why juvenile deliquency has a collective or subcultural character (committed by large  groups)

deliquent boys are caused by strain from their goal of status and respect, goal is educattional success for MC, while WC gain this from subcultural success 

status frustration occurs for WC due to the poor access to good education and job opportunities, resulting in the devlopment of deliquent subcultures to gain status 

MATZA - interactionist critique - stated that there's an assumption that deliquent subcultures have different values while in reality they are very similar: 1. outraged by crime 2. express regret and remorse 3. use neutralisation techniques to justify behaviour. - Also argued minority of WC join gangs and commit crime, and usually grow out of deliquent behaviour 

OTHER AO3s: 1. ignores female crimes 2. WILLIS stated that WC saw educational failure as a success due to qualifications not necessary for jobs they wanted

CAPITALISM IS CRIMINOGENIC 

- Gordon argues the culture which underpins capitalism causes crime in all social classes, due to them being socialised into capitalist ideologies like individualism, materialism and money as a measure of success (which all promote greed and selfishness)

SELECTIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT 

- statistics would suggest that working class would commit more crime than MC. Reinman argued the more likely a crime is to be committed by MC the less likely it is to be treated as a criminal offence, E.G. tax evaders rarely face criminal prosecution 

SELECTIVE LAW MAKING 

- Box argues thats the law is a social construct used by the ruling class to protect capitalist ideologies, and believes that the ruling class has deliberately prevented laws being passed which might criminalise an employer 

AGREE WITH TRAD MARXISTS 

- capitalism is based on exploitation and can be characteristised by extreme inequalities

- state makes and reinforces laws in the interest of capitalism 

FULLY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY - taylor et al 

1. wider social origins of act, 2. immediate origins of the act, 3. the meaning of the act, 4. immediate reactions, 5. wider reacts and 6. impact of the reactions on the individual

hall et al - moral panics about crime have been used to reassert the dominance of ruling class hegemony, E.G. 1970's muggings justify the increase in police powers to deflect from the mismanagement of the capitalist society 

CRIME AS A FORM OF POLITICAL PROTEST 

-see criminals as revolutionaries - economic crimes seen to redistribute the wealth - vandilism is a symbolic reaction to ruling class obsession with property  

ROLE OF SOCIAL AGENTS 

- agents of social control determine what is labelled as crime and deviance. Agents usually label the behaviour of less powerful groups as a problem, and as a result their behaviour is subject to greater surveillance

E.G. police, teachers, mass media 

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF DEVIANCE 

Becker states that powerful groups create rules and laws in order to define crime and deviance, then they can label those who fail to conform. Also argues that no act is inherently criminal, but becomes criminal depending on societal reaction 

ROLE OF THE POLICE 

police socially construct official crime statistics by interpreting and labelling groups of people more or less criminal. Cicourel called these typifications - usually young, male, EM and WC (CAGE)

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY DEVIANCE - Lemert 

-PD, deviant acts which has not been labelled, so will have little impact on individuals self-image, while SD is labelled which means it is more likely to have an impact on an individuals self-image. 

-Hughes proposed the idea of a master status which is when a label overrides other labels leading to SFP

SELF FULFILLING PROPHECY 

-Becker believed that a label may force an individual to seek those in the company of those similiarly labelled, causing a higher chance of that individual joining a deviant subculture. Which increases chance of a self fulfilling the label 

DEVIANCY AMPLIFICATIONS 

-Wilkins suggests that when people are defined as deviant it increases as the deviant act is cut off from society. therefore the labelling theory believes that crime and deviance is caused by the way agencies of social control react to the initial deviant act 

- LEA & YOUNG 

claim that labelling theory neglects the victims of crimes 

- MARXISTS 

fails to explain why certain groups are more powerful 

- DETERMINISTIC 

too deterministic as it states that once an individual has been lablled then SFP and master status is innevitable, which is not the case 

- EXPLANATION INTO COMMITING CRIME 

fails to explain why people commit crimes before they are labelled 

TOUGH ON CRIMES TOUGH ON PUNISHMENTS 

CAUSES 

-biological differences, e.g. aggression 

-socialisation, Murray - underclass fails to socialise children causing an increase in crime 

-rational choice, Clarke - when pros outweigh the cons crime is more likely to occur 

PUNISHMENTS 

-zero tolerance, being tough on the minor of crimes 

-broken windows (wilson and kelling), target hardening making it tougher to commit crimes 

EVALUATION  -ignores structural causes -doesn't explain impulsive crimes -contradictory causes (bio and rational)

TOUGH ON CRIMES TOUGH ON THE CAYSES OF CRIME 

CAUSES

-relative deprivation, lea & young - living standards have risen causing people to turn to crime to achieve what they feel they deserve 

-marginalisation, don't feel a part of society which leads to frustration and resentment which can lead to criminal behaviour which they believe will improve their living standards 

-subcultures, cohen - unable to achieve goals people join deviant subcultures to gain status 

SOLUTIONS -community policing, strengthening ties between public and police, and Parenting groups to hep with socialisation 

EVALUATION - relative deprivation can't explain all crime as not all people who exerience it commit crime - left realism assumes value consensus