WJEC Criminology Unit 2
Functionalism Theory - correct answer-This is where crime is inevitable in society, it is
needed to keep society functioning correctly. It only becomes dysfunctional when crime rates
are too high or too low. Crime brings society together like the case of Shannon Matthews as
the people of the Moorside estate went out looking for her and held vigils.
Lombroso's Theory - correct answer-Criminals are born criminal with Atavistic Features
which define if they are criminal or not. Criminals are a primative species which are not fully
developed.
Marxism Strengths - correct answer-Capitalism encourages competitiveness and therefore
competition between social classes- most crimes simply result in class conflicts. Crimes
change from society to society depending on the economic base (capitalism). Crime does
not come from moral or biological defects but defects within the social structure. It says that
proteriacts commit crime because they are poor.
Marxism Weaknesses - correct answer-It does not look at other options for causes of crime it
might not be because of capitalism it may be due to other factors. Not all poor people
commit crimes, and not all capitalist societies have high rates of crime including Japan and
Switzerland. It ignores the relationship betyween crime and other inequalities like gender
and ethnicity. An example of this would be honour crime as it is committed as someone
brings shame upon the family not because of economically motivated crimes.
Strengths of Functionalism - correct answer-There are shared norms and values by society
which keep to the status quo, and everyone in society has to accept their roles in this.
Society is integrated, meaning if someone does something wrong the whole of society will be
affected by it.
Strengths of Lombroso's theory - correct answer-Charles Goring (1913) found that criminals
have low intelligence rates meaning that it is linked to genetics.
Ceasare Lombroso is the father of modern criminology meaning that he has started
criminology which helped made other people want to study it.
A study done by Bath Spa University found that jourers would pick someone who looked
'uglier' to be the criminal.
Strengths of Psychodynamic Theory - correct answer-It makes important links with childhood
experiences. It has also paved the way for later research.
Strengths of Psychological Theory. - correct answer-It is possible to treat behaviour at an
early stage before it can develop into worse behaviour even criminal.
Strengths of SLT - correct answer-Experiments like the Bobo Doll one can be replicated with
slight changes and the results will still be the same. The experiment showed the cause of
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