A subcultural explanation of why young working-class males commit crime centres on the idea that they are socialised into a particular set of norms and values that he calls focal concerns.
Back
Card 27
Front
Cohen argued that when the media reports on deviant behaviour they construct a narrative which features a clear villain: the folk devil. In the case of his study, the folk devils were the violent youth subcultures
Back
Card 28
Front
Social control can be both formal and informal. While we control the behaviour of others informally through exhibiting disapproval and censure, society also has formal mechanisms (most obviously the police) to prevent significant deviance
Back
Card 29
Front
refers to crimes committed against the environment.
Back
Card 30
Front
efer to crimes where the motive for the crime is discrimination against individuals because of certain characteristics such as ethnicity or sexual orientation.
Back
Card 31
Front
Because material wealth was difficult to come by (see strain theory), some groups saw ways to develop crime as an alternative career path which might accrue significant rewards.
Back
Card 32
Front
when the police choose whether or not to enforce the law in certain situations
Back
Card 33
Front
a concept developed by Foucault to describe how we are now so conscious of constant surveillance that we have internalised it
Back
Card 34
Front
developed by Howard Becker and is based on the simple idea that deviance is not a characteristic of an act, but instead a label that is placed on an act.
Back
Card 35
Front
Many traditional sociological theories of crime are criticised for being too theoretical and abstract, not useful in terms of developing social policy. For realists, crime is a real social problem that requires solutions and therefore sociological theory
