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A level Sociology crime and deviance and social inequality summary notes
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Summary notes on the theories of crime and deviance and social inequality provided with many examples sociologists and data
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Theories Main theory/view Sociologist EvaluationFunctionalist Macro-perspective (general view) Durkheim- Exists in all society so must serve a purpose, creates social Durkheim doesn’t address th
theories of They assume there is a shared consciousness bonds e.g drug user culture, murders bring communities together between certain social group
crime (everyone’s values are the same) Merton (1938)- Focuses on anomie, when people accept they cannot serious crimes such as murde
The basic principles of crime: achieve the American dream they look at criminal ways to achieve social Merton doesn’t explain crime
- Brings people together to reinforce what’s expectations which can lead to rebellion when there’s mass anomie successful e.g working class s
right/wrong Cohen (1955)- Crime is collective, gangs and crime subcultures are made rich people don’t need to do
- Provides work (police/prisons) out of status frustration, they group together to reject capitalist values as Miller- WC children are not re
they are angry with their own economical failures values due to frustration but
Neo- They accept many key idea of Marxists: The New Criminology (1973) by Taylor, Walton and Young- People that Kelly and Radford (1987)- Ove
Marxist/ - There is an unequal power distribution due commit crime are reacting to their situation, therefore being a political e.g rape and sexual abuse
Marxist to capitalism action. The working-class stealing from a shop is redistribution of wealth However statistics do show th
theories of - Capitalism does cause greed and Hall- Policing the crisis (1979)- Ethnic minorities are stereotyped so their commit disproportional amou
crime selfishness which causes crime stime stats are inflated due to labelling theory. Young black youths in the they committed 27.2% crime
- Each social class competes 1970s were crazed for ‘muggings’ which created a moral panic of the population
They see criminals and heroic and victims of Brake (1980)- Working class youth create anti-social subcultures to rebel Blackman (1995)- However d
society as they must reject capitalism against capitalism through vandalism, graffiti and petty theft certain demographics come t
acts are more popular such a
Interactionist Criminals are not mad or bad but the Becker (1963)- Labelling theory- Studied marijuana smokers, deviancy becomes Akers (1967)- criticised labelli
theories of situation/circumstances they are in is what a part of their character (master status) then everything they do is due to their like deviants are normal peop
crime makes them criminal master status e.g poor educational attainment is due to smoking (created by labelled
E.g cannibalism is mostly seen as horrific and labelling theory) Lea and Young (1986)- state i
criminal but in Fiji it’s used to respect brave Wilkins (1964)- The media massively affects crime, primary deviance -> they are the point that a lot of crime is
labelled -> alienation -> secondary deviance -> moral panic -> deviant career.
men who died in wars Incorporating Becker’s theory, the deviant career where the deviant accepts certain social groups such as
Place and culture can affect if it is criminal their status/stigmas Liazos (1972)- interactionists
Coombs (1974)- Interviewed male prostitutes and found a combination of social and mentally ill deviants but g
rejection and economic reward lead to this deviant career for crimes of the wealthy or p
, Realists Right realism is a development of Wilson and Kelling (1982)- broken window thesis- If a building was in good condition It would be Sampson- See it as a war against
theories of functionalist theories and Charles Murray left along, if it was damaged people would vandalise it, so for crime if there is slight crime people petty crimes in wc areas rather th
crime was one of the leading thinkers would join in but if there is no crime in the first place then no one would join, leading to zero crimes or white collar crime
They say crime amongst the poor is a tolerance policing to prevent crime initially Hughes- doesn’t account for the
serious issue and everyone is selfish enough Kinsey, Lea and young- the police in the UK are very inefficient and clear up around 10% of crime, middle-class crime
to commit crime the only reason they don’t a cycle is made as people believe the police are bad at their jobs so they don’t cooperate Carlen- overlook the way women
is due to fear of punishment Young- crime can be cleared up by more sports/leisure centres, improved housing and living e.g there’s shortage of domestic v
standards, tackling unemployment
Postmoder They reject the view that there can be one Henry and Milovanovic (1996)- There are two types of crime: harms of repression- some with Best and Kellner (1991)- They are
nists set of moral principles that apply to more power represses another e.g the government or sexual abuse. Harms or reduction- explanatory, they identify feature
theories of everyone Experiencing loss so violence or theft don’t explain they exist
crime Different people have different views and Lyng (1980)- Edgework- Crimes committed for the thrills such as trespassing, this is common Baudrillard (1981)- Consumerism
ideas of what crime is amongst young people where it’s only what the media sa
They state that crime is changing due to De Haan (1990)- Punishing the offender does no good for the victim or offender, restorative Lea (1999)- Postmodernism is jus
globalisation, the world is interconnected justice allows for the victim to explain their grief and the offender to explain why they carried out theory, adds nothing to the deba
where internet crime can take place globally the criminal act, usually done in schools
Feminist Feminism is not one single theory but Smart (1976)- Women who are convicted for violence even against abusers are seen as Hedderman (1994)- His study goe
theories of multiple that are linked by the assumption unfeminine and are give longer sentences, Carlen (1993)- agreed that there’s a bias against violent when women of the same backgr
crime society is dominated by males and the women the same crime as men were give
patriarchy Heidensohn- women commit less crime because they’re controlled domestically, publicly and in Hood (1989)- Chivalry factor- Wo
Feminists point out that crime like rape and work as they have less freedom and power and even give reduced sentences
sexual assault are heavily under reported Pat Carlen (1986)- women commit less crime as they accept that conforming to social norms has prosecuted
due to the failure of the legal system and rewards and is less hassle, e.g accepting housewife roles Hakim- Choice to take the quiet h
prejudice less exposure to criminal opportu
Chivalry thesis- women treated better in
court
Subcultural Cohen (1955)- Young people in working Cicourel (labelling theory)- 1970’s California, more likely to be arrested if fitting the stereotype of Brake (1980)- Creates an illusion
theories of class have ‘status frustration’ because they working class, ethnic minority, poor educational or wealth background to rebel and fight against capitalis
crime cannot achieve social goals Ev- Does not explain the origins of the criminal action of anti-social groups
Cressey (1992)- Crime is learnt through Provides evidence for why crime is high in certain geographical areas particularly wc Ev- Miller- wc children are not rej
association and surroundings but expressing their own which ju
Ev- Matza- Criminality is a phase kids drift social’
out of
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