Crime And Deviance Flashcards Preview

Sociology > Crime And Deviance > Flashcards

Flashcards in Crime And Deviance Deck (71)
Loading flashcards...
1
Q

Explain Official Crime Statistics (OCS) and Explain Victim Surveys

A

Statistics produced by police, court and prison records. As well as data from the CSEW which asks questions about experiences of crime.

Victim surveys are conducted by a structured interview. These crimes are those that individuals have been victim of in a given period. Including crimes that haven’t been reported e.g. CSEW

2
Q

Explain Self Report Studies and explain Other Victim Surveys

A

Surveys and interviews carried out on young people. Focus on types of crimes and deviance on longitudinal studies and pick up on minor offences that were not recorded by crime figures of CSEW.

Other victim surveys include the Islington crime survey conducted in inner city London which focus on geographical location and the impact of crime on individual lives and vulnerable groups.

3
Q

Explain the positives and negatives of the OCS

A

✅positivists argue OCS is useful in making comparisons and spotting trends to make predictions about crime.
✅covers a large population and therefore there’s good representation
✅retrospective aspect of OCS allows patterns and trends to be established
❌Interpretivists argue OCS doesn’t provide insight into people’s experiences of crime as there’s a dark figure of crime presented as not all victims report crime
❌feminists argue OCS is manipulated by police and CJS which are patriarchal institutions (double deviance and chivalry thesis)
❌ Marxists argue OCS is socially constructed as they are controlled by RC and WC are criminalised to maintain RC ideology. White collar crimes are rarely prosecuted compared to WC crime

4
Q

Explain the positives and negatives of Victim Surveys

A

✅Feminists argue VS provide insight into female victims as they highlight underrepresented crimes such as domestic violence
✅Left Realist: useful way to find out real experiences of people. Lea and Young carried out VS in Islington using unstructured interviews asking victims of sexual assault. Found that Crimes affected their lives for eg some didn’t feel safe in their own homes and avoided going out in the dark
✅CSEW carried out annually - up to date

❌likely to be interviewed effect eg socially desirable answers
❌some crimes are not included eg white collar as there’s no direct victim.
❌dark figure of crime still present as it relies on victims to be retrospective and therefore enables inaccuracies

5
Q

Explain the positives and negatives of the Self Report Studies

A

✅Stresses confidentiality and anonymity of the respondent to improve validity
✅Campbell found that levels of c+d admitted to by females and males were much closer than police figures suggest. Therefore, it challenges the typical criminal

❌people may underreport in SRS as it is retrospective and depend on respondent remembering crime they have committed
❌some exaggerate offences to give a tough impression therefore questioning validity
❌offenders are likely to drop out and as hard to find. Therefore attrition rate is high suggesting the survey misses out frequent offenders

6
Q

Explain Social construction in reference to interpretivists, the dark figure of crime, stitching, skewing and nodding.

A

For e.g. Interpretivists sociologists argue that the OCS are of limited usefulness and are in fact a social construction as the BCS suggests ethnic minorities don’t trust Report crime as they have little trust in the police.

Dark figure of crime: all unrecorded crime

Stitching: offenders are charged with crime when there’s insufficient evidence

Skewing: police activity is directed at easier to solve crimes to boost detection rates

Nodding: persuading convicted offenders to admit to committing crimes they have not committed in exchange for lower sentences

7
Q

Explain the general public and victims of crime: in reference to Andy Pilkington and the police

A

Andy Pilkington suggests that the OCS may not be useful as statistics only tell us about particular crimes that are reported by general public and victims rather than actual increases in crime itself. Victims don’t always report crimes as they may feel humiliated e.g. Rape.

The police: interpretivists argue the OCD tells us more about the nature of policing in the uk Han about the crime and criminality. WC and African-Caribbeans appear more in the statistics because they are profiled by police. E.g. Black people are 4 times likely to be tasered.

8
Q

Explain the general public and victims of crime: in reference to Wilkins deviancy amplification spiral

A

Moral panic

9
Q

Explain Global Organised Crime (GOC)

A

Frankly Aas suggests a definition of GOC that cross border activities or organised crime groups arguably exploiting to their advantage, increasing global connections.

GOC is involved in a wide range of activities including drug trafficking, wildlife crime etc

10
Q

Explain GOC in reference to Castells

A

CASTELLS: GOC resembles a business which take opportunity by globalisation to make connections (minimise costs and maximise profit) and do production low-key in affluent countries

11
Q

What is green crime? Explain primary and secondary

A

Environmental criminal activity affecting the environment e.g. Toxic waste

Primary Green Crime: crimes that directly inflict harm of environment (deforestation, species decline, water and air pollution)

Secondary Green Crime: Actions committed in response to commissioning of Primary GC such as covering it up or dealing aggressively with protesters

12
Q

Explain green criminology

A

Move away from traditional views of criminal behaviour to environmental activities on a global scale. It is an extension of globalisation

13
Q

Explain Marxism and green crime

A

It is an act of power as the R. shape laws to benefit their explorative interests on the environment. Such laws make white collar crimes uneasily detected.

For eg Canary Wharf has laws to stop littering by fining those who do. Bourgeoisie gets paid for them to profit.

14
Q

Explain green criminologists

A

Potter suggests that the poorest people suffer from environmental harms e.g. Losing their livelihood and lives. The rich corporations responsible avoid any kind of criminal repercussions.

15
Q

Explain Functionalists explanations of C+D

A

Durkheim suggests pre-industrial societies have less crime due to religion and powerful agents of socialisation. As a result of secularisation there’s a value consensus to not commit crime. However, in industrial societies, crime is higher as social control is weaker because of the complexity of modern life.

Crime is beneficial for society

16
Q

Explain functionalist functions of crime

A

Anomie: if society allows too much crime without punishment, this could result into breakdown of social order leading to a state of anomie which threatens stability of society.

Social solidarity: cohesion felt in society, certain events bring people together e.g. The World Cup. Crime brings people together (collective conscience)

Boundary maintenance: society learns acceptable behaviour and punishing those who stray against the boundaries

Safety Valve: individuals let off steam to prevent deviance. E.g. Prostitution acts as safety valve as it is a safe outlet to let off sexual tension, less threatening to the family

17
Q

Explain functionalist functions of crime in relation to Merton

A

Media socialises individuals to believe material success is the real goal.

For instance, within American culture, Americans are pressured to find ways of becoming financially successful and making more money. As a result of this, individuals turn to other means of achieving this goal

18
Q

Explain Merton’s modes of adaption

A

1) Conformity : individuals work hard at school to achieve society’s goals
2) Innovation : individuals internalise the goal however some e.g. MC may not have internalised the acceptable means of achieving it and therefore bend the rules to make more £

3) Ritualism : unrealistic to strive for great wealth and therefore abandons goal and lower expectation to achieve. Others see them as deviant in a society of achievers
4) Retreatism: struggle to achieve goals but still participate in normal life. But pursue self-destructive behaviour

5) Rebellion : reject society’s goals, replacing them with alternative e.g. School rebellion

19
Q

Evaluate Merton

A

✅ very influential as it recognises when an individual experiences a strain, crime is the response.

❌Doesn’t explain why some conform and others retreat or rebel
❌an individual may actually fall into several categories of their life e.g. A bank manager who is also a football hooligan

20
Q

Explain subcultural theorists explanation of c+d

A

Accept the view of the typical criminal e.g. WC, young and of ethnic minority. Subcultures formed by individuals that possess typical characteristics of a criminal normalises criminal behaviour as a response to strain faced created by social class opportunities (strain theory)

WC may deviate due to status frustration and there’s a sense of increased masculinity, therefore, they go through illegitimate means

21
Q

Explain subcultural theorists explanation of c+d in reference to cloward and ohlin

A

CLOWARD AND OHLIN
• type of crime committed by young people depends on illegitimate opportunity structure available in their area. 1) organised types of crime mirror businesses as people have specific roles and can be promoted upwards 2) inner city areas are dominated by conflict subcultures. Engaging in highly masculinised respect driven violence 3) If young people fail to gain access to criminal subcultures they form retreatist subcultures make activities are drug use for eg

22
Q

Explain subcultural theorists explanation of c+d in reference to
Cohen

A

Delinquency is caused by a strain between cultural goals and institutional means of achieving them. Young people want status and respect. MC attain this from parents, teachers and peers as they achieve educational success.

However, WC boys are denied stays at school as parents have failed to equip them with skills needed to achieve educational success. They are placed in lower sets as a result and creates low self esteem and feelings of anger. Therefore they experience anomie and respond by forming gangs and subcultures awarding status, hierarchy and delinquent behaviour

23
Q

Evaluate Subcultural explanation of c+d

A

Paul Wills argues that the WC youths used in Cohen’s study did not share the same status as MC boys as educational success was not needed for their future factory jobs

Matza suggests young people drift in and out of delinquency. Subcultural theorists neglect the role of the police and their construction of criminal deviant behaviour.

24
Q

Explain Right Realist explanation of c+d

A

Focus on individual achievement as people get what they deserve in life. The state should not intervene to help support individuals who are struggling as the most talented should be rewarded. RR blame individual rather than circumstances as they have choice to commit crimes. Individuals should face tougher penalties

25
Q

Explain Right Realist explanation

A

Hirschi : people weigh up costs and benefits of their behaviour and make a choice about their actions. Most don’t commit crimes as they have four controls :

1) attachment to family
2) commitment to education of building career
3) involvement in community e.g. magistrates
4) belief refers to people’s upbringing, discipline

26
Q

Explain Left Realist Explanations

A

Focus on success of power and inequality. People at the bottom are the victims of their circumstance. An unequal system creates situations which lead individuals to c+d.
LR blame the system rather than the individuals as deviance could be a result of labelling or resistance against inequality

27
Q

Explain Left Realist : Lea and Young

A

Crime based on inequalities

  1. Relative deprivation
  2. Subculture
  3. Marginalisation

Increase of crime has led to an aerological crisis as LR advocates for dual approach to enforce long term change resulting into a more equal and crime free society
Influenced by subcultural theorists and Merton

28
Q

Evaluate Left Realists

A

✅provides practical guidelines to solving crimes as well as the fact Restorative Justice can work as there was a 85% satisfactory rate

❌not all deprived people are criminals and is seen as the soft option communities still favour retributive justice

29
Q

Explain RR solutions to crime

A

Clarke suggests criminality is a conscious choice. Way to tackle crime is to make it more stringent to commit.

Environmental crime preventions making behaviour less likely. Street lightening and CCTV

Situational crime prevention includes target hardening (increasing security around homes) e.g. Clarke showed theft from telephone boxes were eliminated when aluminium coin boxes were replaced with steel ones making them harder to break into.

30
Q

Explain RR solutions to CCTV and Surveillance and lightening

A

Surveillance can be direct through use of security guards

Lightening can make deviant acts more visible and therefore discourages them to commit crimes. People feel safer and therefore reduce criminal opportunities

31
Q

LR solutions to crime : policies

A

Lea and Young suggests that there should be trust between ethnic minorities and authority and therefore authority shouted abandon stop and search. Police should shift focus from minor crimes e.g. Drugs to serious crimes e.g. Racially motivated, corporate crimes

De-marginalisation : alternatives to prison eg community service
Strengthening ties between police and community and therefore more community police

32
Q

RR solutions to crime : policies

A

Harsh, punitive sentences pursuing the aim of retributive justice. A combination of Zero tolerance policy and aggressive policing on minor crimes to reinforce certainty of capture

33
Q

Explain Cultural Criminology

A

LYNG: edgework
• is a concept explaining cultural boundaries that are present in some societies and sees crime as testing these boundaries. Edgework leads to a sense of fear admins anxiety and by mastering this it leads to a sense of control and accomplishment. Edgework is seen as a mechanism to cope with complex postmodern society

KATZ : luring of crime
• crime can have a seductive nature to lure individuals in.

34
Q

Explain Interactionist explanation

A

Reject the idea that crime statistics are a realistic reflection of criminal activity

Matza : five techniques of neutralisation
• some drift in and out but feel pressure to pursue subterranean values.
1) denial of responsibility
2)denial of injury
3)denial of victim
4)confirmation of condemners
5)appeal to higher loyalties

Becker : labelling
• a label is a judgement about someone before knowing them. Once label has been applied to an individual, it may become a master status and deviant career follows, fulfilling a self fulfilling prophecy

35
Q

Evaluation of Interactionist explanation

A

✅challenge the evidence within OCS arguing that other theories neglect to look at the process and interactions underlying statistics

❌Peter Ackers says people don't need label to know they're doing wrong as the deviant act is more important than the social reaction to it. 
❌labelling does not explain the origin of deviance. Marxists argue it doesn't pay attention to power structure in society as class is important to how labels are made
36
Q

Marxist explanations

A

Look at the capitalist system which drives individuals into crime e.g. The need for consumption

Dominant ideas in society compensate those of the powerful. Capitalist ideology makes up our reality as proletariats are brainwashed into capitalist ideology which is joke bourgeoisie keep control

37
Q

Marxist explanation : Althusser

A

Repressive state apparatus: controls proletariat and is made up of the CJS, government, army Controlling individuals through use of violence

Ideology state apparatus: controls proletariat through socialisation into capitalist ideology and reinforce this through education.

38
Q

Marxist explanation example of laws benefiting RC

A

Robertson winery was accused of slavery like practices as workers were paid $7.76 for a 12hr shift

39
Q

Evaluation of Marxist

A

❌ignore the intersectionality of CAGE factors
❌not all poor people comment crimes despite living in poverty in money obsessed societies
❌capitalism doesn’t always produce high crime rates as within Switzerland crimes rates are sufficiently low

40
Q

Explanation of Neo-Marxism

A

Crime is a deliberate political response to the powerless to their position within capitalist system. The poor commit crimes as a way to protest against injustice, exploitation and alienation.

41
Q

Explain gender and c+d

A

Otto Pollack
• woman can deceive men because during mensturation they can conceal their pain
• women are well accustomed to misleading men during sex through fake sex orgasms

❌no sufficient evidence as it’s based off assumption as not all women can conceal their emotions
✅ he was the first to suggest females are underrepresented in statistics

42
Q

Explain gender explanations of c+d in relation to statistics and findings

A

Rates for offending are low for both male and females, however it is falling faster for females

95% prison population is male, only 5% is female

Heidensohn : female offenders who conform to societal expectations of female behaviour eg crying at are let off leniently than men.

Carlen : female role of the mother is taken makes seriously than the role of the father. This acts as a mitigating factor which allows lesser sentence

43
Q

Explain and evaluate the chivalry thesis in gender

A

View that women are let off lightly by the CJS due to them being seen as child like and vulnerable as they’re not responsible for their actions

❌females are treated more harshly than their male counterparts in some circumstances e.g. The high spirits exerted by boys is deemed as abnormal in girls and therefore receive stronger sanctions exerting this type of behaviour

44
Q

Explain the biological approach to gender and c+d

A

Lombrosso
• the lunatic and the savage: most females are less inclined towards criminality. However female born criminals could be Savage and females possess genetic anomalies showing masculine traits and lack of maternal instinct

45
Q

Explain the functionalist approach to gender and c+d

A

Sex Role Theory suggests that boys and girls are socialised differently resulting into boys being more delinquent. Sutherland suggests there are clear gender differences in terms of socialisation as girls are more passive and boys have more opportunities to commit crime as they’re more ambitious.

Parsons suggests gender roles in nuclear families as men play the instrumental role and females play the expressive role

46
Q

Explain the Feminist approach to gender and c+d

A

Patriarchal society’s prevent women from having opportunities to commit crime

Smart
• there’s stricter controls placed upon women e.g. How often are they allowed out of the house as there’s exaggerated fears of their safety. Parental fears lead to girls becoming prisoners in their own homes.

47
Q

Evaluation of gender explanations

A

Freda Adler : female liberation
• society is becoming less patriarchal and therefore women have greater opportunities to commit crime

• female liberation from patriarchy has led to women developing masculine behaviours enabling them to commit offences eg violence

Jackson supports Adler as there’s exists a ladette culture as females adopt laddish behaviour.

48
Q

What A02 evidence can link to feminism?

A

Sunita Toor : Very little crime rates amongst British Asian girls of Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani descent as a result of strong social control. Committing crime can result into shame (sharam) whereas staying at home and conforming to forced marriages is honour (izzat)

49
Q

Masculine and c+d

A

Messerschmidt : men are pressured to achieve hegemonic masculinity as it emphasises the competitive aggression. Achieve this through being the breadwinner. Young males emphasise the importance of the peer group as a way to drive masculinity. Achieve this through gaining a reputation of violence.

❌concept of the new man may not exert hegemonic masculinity as they take a respectful role in the family

50
Q

Masculine and c+d : Winlow

A

Study on WC masculinity in Sunderland and found mass unemployment in the 80s led to young males without breadwinner status and therefore they became violent to express their masculinity.

❌unrepresentative as it doesn’t represent wider society as only one geographical location was studied.

51
Q

Gender and victimisation

A
  • women are twice as likely to have reported being victim of sexual assault
  • feminists argue domestic violence is underestimated in statistics as women stay within abusive relationships as they may have fear of nowhere to go and therefore do not report
52
Q

Evaluation of Adler

A
  • 82% of arrests and 75% of convictions had a larger drop for females than males
  • fails to acknowledge that not all girls are not liberated e.g. Sunita Toor
  • women are vulnerable to poverty e.g. Benefits and therefore do not commit crimes as a result of liberation
53
Q

Explain Ethnicity and c+d in relation to statistics and findings

A
  • Black males are 7x more likely to be stopped and searched than whites. Blacks make 3.1 of population but accumulate 14% of the prison population.
  • Black and Asian males were five highest average custodial sentence length compared to white people. Blacks had average of 21 months, Asians 20 and whites 15.
54
Q

Explain Ethnicity and c+d in relation to institutional racism

A

Bhilox
• policing is directed at those excluded within society who are often young, black and poor. The police pursue policies of differential deployment and methodological suspicion. This has negative impact on ethnic minority communities and who may feel a sense of injustice leading to conflict

55
Q

Explain Ethnicity and c+d in relation to McPherson Report by Hall

A
  • Looked into death of Stephen Lawrence who died of racial attack in 1993
  • London met police displayed institutional racism in its failure to tackle such discrimination
  • in 2008, London met police asked ethnic minority’s to join the force to tackle hostile atmosphere at London police stations
56
Q

Evaluation of institutional racism

A

• fails to acknowledge presence of ethnic minorities within the police force assuming its present amongst all Police force.

  • due to the promotion of racial stereotypes, black males commit crimes and reoffend to get back at the system that has failed them. Therefore stereotypes not only make statistics rise but also increases criminality
  • however not all black males are criminals, some are law abiding citizens
57
Q

Lea and Young Evaluation of why ethnicities commit crime (4concepts)

A

1) Relative Deprivation: the poor are undermined by social and economic factors beyond their control e.g. Racism and feel deprived in terms of material possession compared to the media
2) Individualism: people are encouraged to pursue self interests at the expense of the community
3) Marginalisation: ethnic minorities feel frustrated because they have little power to change situation
4) Subculture: people commit crimes with like minded individuals who aspire material success

58
Q

Evaluation of Lea and Young ethnicity

A

Fails to acknowledge not all black males commit crime and RR could argue that they had a choice in whether or not they wanted to commit crime

59
Q

Explain Sewell’s Triple Quandary theory in relation to ethnicity

A

1️⃣Cannot relate to mainstream culture because teachers are racist
2️⃣Influenced by the media’s emphasis on conspicuous consumption
3️⃣African-Caribbeans raised in single parent homes lack the father role and therefore lack a positive role model

These 3 quandaries create anxiety for black boys as a result they create subcultures to feel respected from peers engaging in hypermasciline activity

60
Q

Other theories to explain Ethnic Minority involvement in c+d in relation to Neo-Marx and Functionalism

A

Neo-Marx
• Moral panic focused on mugging plays ideological function in two ways: 1️⃣divided WC encouraging racism as the whites were encouraged by media to view blacks as a problem 2️⃣more aggressive policing particularly used in stop and search

Functionalist Cashmore used ideas from Merton to suggest African-Caribs are culturally encouraged to pursue material success but are blocked by racism

61
Q

Explain Asians and Crime

A
  • Arrests for white individuals decreased whereas for Black increased 5% and Asian 13%
  • Abbas suggests that the stereotype of Asians being passive has given way to islamophobia after 9/11 And therefore there has been an increase stop and search amongst Asians and targeting of young muslims
62
Q

Explain Age and Crime : statistics

A
  • 10yrs old is the age of criminal responsibility
  • Over 55yrs is the age of an elderly offender.
  • 8% of children reoffend within a year
  • 11% of children in custody have attempted suicide
63
Q

Explain Age and Crime : studies

A

Within Juvenile delinquents, the most common offence is ASBOs as 277 were recorded in 2013.

More young people 14-25 live in urban areas so there’s more opportunity to commit crime. There a fewer opportunities in work-related crimes as young people are rarely in positions of authority.

• lack of responsibility might also lead to committing crime

64
Q

Explain Age and Crime : primary socialisation, social control as police labelling

A

Primary socialisation: conforming to peer group behaviour and pressure may promote deviance among young people

Social Control: risk taking and thumbing their nose at authority may be characteristics of young people which likely lead them to crime. Young women less freedom = less opportunities to commit crime

Police strategies and labelling: young people have less status and police them closely

65
Q

Explain Age and Crime : cohen, hirschi and Becker

A

Cohen
• status frustration of WC parents failing to adequately socialise children with skills needed for educational success. Boys form anti school subculture

Hirschi
• older people less likely to commit crime as they recognise specific controls

Becker
•rules are created by older people such as teachers and tend to label young as deviant. Statistics tell more about police prejudices than they do of juvenile delinquency

66
Q

Evaluate Age and Crime

A

Postmodernists argue crime is committed in the spur of the moment.

67
Q

Explain Social Class and crime in relation to Sutherland

A
  • there’s high rate of offending amongst lower class and low rates of those in upper class
  • 67% of prison population had been unemployed prior to imprisonment compared to 5% of general population
68
Q

Explain Social Class and crime in relation to What are some problems with offences statistics ?

A

Statistics relating to social class background of offenders may be more relevant in showing who gets caught rather than who actually commits crime.

Victimisation: BCS showed that people living in lone parent and unemployed households are twice as likely to burgled than average household. Poor suffer more than wealthy as they may not have insurance to recover from burglary and therefore they’re economically deprived

69
Q

Explain White Collar in relation to Croall

A

It is crime committed by a person of respectable high social status in the course of their occupation

Croall
• defines white collar as an abuse of legitimate occupational role regulate by the law. There are three crimes in white collar 1️⃣occupational crime committed by employees 2️⃣corporate crime committed by businesses 3️⃣state crime carried it by the nation eg genocides

70
Q

Explain white collar crime in relation to Goldstraw-White and differences between WC crime and White Collar crimes

A

• those convicted of white collar crimes don’t see themselves as real criminals as they felt morally justified due to the fact there’s no direct victim and no one was hurt. So they resist the label of a criminal

WC: no skill needed, there’s a direct victim e.g. street crime, crimes are more publicised

WhiteC: no moral panic surrounding crime, requires sophisticated skills, no victim

71
Q

Explanations of White Collar Crime in relation to personality based approaches and differential association

A

Personality
• psychologists argue that certain personality types are linked to success in businesses and also criminality

Differential Association
•exposure to criminal practices means it becomes the norm for some individuals as they see it appropriate in work places