Crime and Deviance

Crime

• A action or behaviour that goes against the legislation of a particular country.

Deviance

• Actions that go against the norms and values of a society.
• Deviant actions may not be against the law, but frowned upon by most in society.

Social Construction

• A social phenomena not naturally occurring but created by the society in which it is found.

Ways Crime and Deviance is Socially Constructed

Historically

• Criminal action and deviant behaviour changes over time.
• What was once acceptable may become illegal/deviant and vice versa.
• Homosexuality transitioned from deviant and illegal to acceptable.
• Taking Cocaine transitioned from legal medicine to illegal narcotic.

Contextually

• Behaviours acceptable given certain situation may not be in others.
• Wearing a bikini is acceptable on the beach but not in centre of town.
• Drinking alcohol is more acceptable at night rather than at 8am.

Culturally

• What is considered acceptable or rude varies depending on the culture you are in.
• Example: Eating with your left hand in Arab nations is considered rude.

Age

• Some behaviours are acceptable from certain age groups, and some activities are illegal for some age groups.
• Age restrictions exist on certain products.
• 8-year-old clubbing on a Friday night is illegal.

Psychological Explanations- Why do people commit crime? (non sociological)

Maternal Deprivation

• BOWLBY suggests people deprived of maternal love as young infants are likely to become juvenile delinquents, leading to criminal careers.
• This idea is out of date, as mothers are not the only primary caregivers.
• Not all delinquents come from broken homes.

Personality Traits

• FREUD states that personality is a balance for three unconscious areas.
• When these are imbalanced in favour of the Id, criminal behaviour occurs as the individual is controlled by basic desires.
• This theory lacks empirical evidence.
• It Suggests criminals lack control but does not explain white-collar crime.

Mental Abnormality

• Suggests that brain damage or mental illness suffered by criminals can make them commit crimes.
• Criminals become the victims, but it is hard to prove .

Biological Explanations - Why do people commit crime? (non sociological)

Lombroso

• Theorized that criminals were less evolved, demonstrated by large foreheads, big ears, and small eyes after measuring the facial features of Italian prisoners.
• Only looked at criminals who had been caught, and could be apparent in non-criminals as well.

Genetics

• The Warrior Gene (MAOA) is present in all humans, but some have a mutated gene linked to more aggressive behaviour, risk-taking, and impulsiveness, factors linked to criminal behaviour.
• There is not enough information about how this gene works to conclusively link it to criminal behaviour.
• Excuse for criminal behaviour.

Positive functions of Crime

Boundary Maintenance & Social Cohesion

• DURKHEIM says crime always helps society reinforce what is acceptable, as punishments show people what will happen for breaking rules and can lead to society coming together to condemn perpetrators.

Warning Sign

• CLINARD / COHEN say an increase in certain crime types can indicate a societal issue needing change.

Adaption and Change

• DURKHEIM says some social deviance is necessary for societal progress, preventing stagnation.

Safety Valve

• DAVIS / POLSKY says minor crimes and acts of deviancy can prevent larger, serious crimes, like pornography access preventing serious sexual crimes.

Evaluation of Positive Functions of Crime

• Marxism ignores the role powerful people have in shaping what’s criminal and deviant and social inequality.
• Durkheim ignores crime’s impact on individual victims, doesn't quantify how much crime is beneficial to society, and crime doesn't always lead to solidarity but can cause isolation.

Sub-Cultural Theories

Thinker and overview

• COHEN says young people get frustrated by their inability to achieve social goals, leading them to turn to crime to achieve status.
• CLOWARD and OHLIN theorize of criminal subcultures that socialize young people into criminal activity, conflict subcultures with little social cohesion, and retreatist subcultures for those who fail to gain access to the other two.
• MILLER says that the W/C has a different values to the rest of society, that include hyper-masculinity, which can lead to criminal behaviour appearing normal.

Evaluation

• WILLIS says W/C boys do not share the same idea of status as M/C boys, ignores female delinquency, only discusses youth crime, assumes official statistics are accurate, over-exaggerates criminal opportunities, not all W/C are criminals, and MATZA says subcultures are often short-lived.

Functionalist Theories of Crime and Deviance - Strain Theory

Robert K. Merton (Overview)

• Crime is a response to the strain placed on people to achieve societal goals
• It is based around the American Dream in the 1950's.
  • Type 1: Conformity
    • Accepting the goals and the means.
  • Type 2: Innovation
    • Accepting the goals but choosing alternative means.
  • Type 3: Ritualism
    • Following the means but not believing you will achieve the goals.
  • Type 4: Rebellion
    • Rejecting the goals and means, creating your own.
  • Type 5: Retreatism
    • Rejecting the goals and means without replacing them.

Evaluation

• Over emphasizes monetary success and underestimates crime committed by those who have achieved societal goals.
• Merton does not explain why groups choose the response, and fails to explain non-utilitarian crime.

Control Theory

Travis Hirschi (Overview)

• The thinker asks not why people commit crime, but why they don't, suggesting strong societal bonds stop people from committing crime.

Evaluation

• It assumes all people are naturally bad, requiring society to keep them good, doesn't explain the strength of bonds, or how they become so, and strong bonds don't prevent deviance.

Marxist Theories of Crime and Deviance

General principles

• Crime is seen as criminogenic because causes exploitation of the working class.
• The working class and ethnic minorities get criminalised while the powerful and rich get ignored.
• Laws are shaped to benefit the rich and powerful.
• Ideological functions of crime are made to maintain social control by the ruling class, where media often portray criminals as 'disturbed' rather than reveal capitalism's role.

Gordon (1976)

• Says that crime is a rational reaction to capitalist foci like greed and competition, found in all social classes despite official statistics.

Reiman (2001)

• Says the ruling class are more likely crime but less likely be tried.

Chambliss

• Argued law is shaped to protect property and profits of the rich and the powerful, who are part of a crime syndicate.

Snider

• Says that governments are reluctant to pass laws regulating businesses and threatening profitability as this will effect donations.

Pearce

• Laws are occasionally passed to benefit the working class, but still benefit the ruling class through loopholes and lack of prosecution.

Evaluate the Marxist Theories of Crime and Deviance.

• Marxism ignores other inequalities that can lead to crime like gender and ethnicity. Overlooks causes of crime outside of inequality.
• The passive working class is unable to stop crime due to economic circumstance and the criminal is caused by behaviour.
• If crime was a symptom of communism then communist states would be crime free, such as Soviet Russia and Cuba.
• Marxist views do not always take into consideration crime victims.

Neo-Marxist Theories of Crime and Deviance

Fully Social Theory

• It means the understanding of crime and deviance for betterment of society.

Agreement with traditional Marxism

• Capitalism is based on exploitation. You must understand this to correctly measure crime. The state create laws for the benefit of the ruling class. Capitalism must be replaced for crime to be reduced.

Voluntarism

• Criminals make a conscious decision to commit a meaningful action.
• There are political motives for crime.
• It can be as a result or readdressing unequal wealth.
• You can freely choose to commit crime.

Evaluation

• Gives an overly romantic view of criminals.
• The average crime targets the working class. Neo-Marxism is heavily linked to traditional Marxism.
• Gender blind theory.
• Domestic violence is not always politically motivated.
• Not a perfect fit. Overly idealistic.

Labelling Theories of Crime and Deviance

Labelling Process

• LEMERT explains that a primary deviance is a criminal act that is unknown, while a secondary deviance is known and labelled to the person. CICHOUREL believes that this leads to selective law enforcement and negotiation of justice, reinforcing stereotypes.

Consequences of Labelling

• A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy is where a label leads to the person acting in line with what they have been labelled.
• Deviance Amplification attempts to control Deviance, lead to larger amounts. This leads to STAN COHEN's Mods and Rockers and Jock young's study of cannabis users in Notting Hill.
• With Master Status, the individual is identified as a criminal, leading to a deviant career, as their label prevents legitimate means.

Evaluation

• It emphasizes the social construction of crime, reveals roles of the powerful, and shows how deviant careers can be established. Deviant becomes the victim, it's deterministic since it doesn't explain original deviance and where stereotypes come from.

Realist views

• Realist approaches differ by not just looking at the causes of crime but also practical solutions.

The Left Realist: Views of Crime

• The inequality causes crime and deviance. In the 1980's Relative Deprivation is a cause of criminality, not poverty. Marginalized groups can lead to frustration and criminal behavior.

Evaluation

-Milovanovic accepts that the government defines poor crime. There are interactionists. This assumes there is some sort of value consensus. Relative deprivation cannot explain all crime.

Realist Views Crime Tackling in Society