...Crime and Deviance exam questions Crime questions – Qu. 1 & 2 – both worth 21 marks.You should spend 30 minutes on each question and each should have a traditional essay structure (include an introduction and a conclusion, at least two sides of the argument, two or more theories, relevant studies and as much evaluation as you can cram in!). You also need to show ‘conceptual confidence’ – this just means that you should make it clear to the examiner that you know and understand the important concepts, e.g. anomie, relative deprivation.Make sure you make reference to the item – both essay questions will have their own item. You can often use the information in the item as a springboard into the essay in the introduction. However, you will be penalised for ‘overuse of the item’, so don’t just copy it out. You can use short quotes or statistics from the item though. | Question: | What to include: | Assess the view that ethnic differences in crime rates are the result of the ways in which the criminal justice system operates. | This question is essentially about the presence (or not) of institutional racism in the police, courts and penal system. You will need to compare the importance of this as opposed to explanations that argue that ethnic minorities do commit more crime - either as a result of relative deprivation (left realism) or poor upbringing, absent fathers, etc (new right). * Try to include some stats, reference to patterns of offending, stop and search...
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...Crime and Deviance “It is normal and a sign of a healthy society when crime exists.” States Heiner. It is evident that crime and deviance play an important role in society today and form the “out of ordinary” actions that take place as a subsequence. Crime is a well-known term to many and is believed to involve a breach of rules or laws implemented by attractions or behaviors that violate social norms, for example someone licking the ground is a type of deviance. He also states “There is no society that is not confronted with the problem of criminality. It also says that crime has everywhere increased. Next the book talks about crime aiding in societies by way of making progress and development. To make progress individual originality must be able to express itself. Socrates is a good example of a criminal who enabled change for the future to establish freedom of thought. In our society crime is one our biggest issues we try to fix and we spend a lot of money and time doing this, when honestly in my opinion crime hasn’t really changed too much. We put tons of criminals in jail and we spend a lot of money to keep them there. In society I believe we are scared as a society and that’s why we put everyone in jail even if it’s for a small crime. People with small crimes go to jail and a lot of people have a feeling that all jails are filled with dangerous people when all honesty there are bad and dangerous people in jail but also there are people who caught with some low...
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...in the 70’s and 80’s in changing politics. The realist view is that crime is not just a social construction, but is a real problem that needs to be tackled. Realists believe that there has been a significant rise in the crime rate and favours a tough approach against it, as they think that other theories have failed to offer a solution to crime. The left realists Lea and Young attempt to give an explanation to street crime, committed by young people in urban areas. These sociologists took a victim survey which suggested that working-class and black people, especially elderly women, have a fear of street crime, as they are often victims of crime. Their explanation of why crime is committed by revolves around three key concepts. Firstly, relative deprivation, which explains how one person feel sin relation to another, this leads into crime very easily as people can feel as if others are unfairly better off than they are, and this resentment can lead to crime. Lea and Young suggests that although in today’s society people are more affluent they are still aware of their relative deprivation because of the media and advertising, which increase everyone’s expectation on standards of living. This is linked to the idea of individualism, because this undermines the family and community values of mutual support, cooperation and selflessness, which results in anti-social behaviour. The second concept of why crime is committed is marginalisation. Left realists argue that people feel...
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...assess the Marxist approach to crime and deviance (50) Crime is defined as an act that is punishable by law. It is socially constructed, meaning society decides what is considered to be a crime. Deviance is a violation of society’s norms. Individuals decide what is and isn’t deviant based on their own norms and values, therefore, deviance can also be viewed as a social construct. What is considered to be a crime or act of deviance may differ from different cultures since crime and deviance is culturally relative, where crimes are specific to a culture based on their own norms and values. Marxism is a conflict theory which sees society as a structure in which the economic base determines the shape of the superstructure, which is made up of all the other social institutions, such as the law or the education system. Their function is to serve the interests of the bourgeoisies and maintain a capitalist society. For Marxists, crime is ultimately a result of capitalism. Crime is inevitable to capitalism because capitalism is criminogenic, meaning it causes crime. Capitalism is based on exploitation of the working class, using them to serve the ruling class. It is damaging to the working class and gives rise to crime. Traditional Marxists argue that crime is a result of class inequality and poverty. Individuals in a state of poverty commit crime in order to rebel against their exploitation by the ruling class. David Gordon (1971) argued that crime is a rational response to capitalism...
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...Da’Vaughn Hawkins Introduction of Sociology 29 October 2015 Written Assignment #3 Crime and Deviance With the rise of crime rates in the last couple of years, people are wondering if locking up the criminal and throwing away the key would be effective for social control. What these people fail to see is that by just throwing away the key, you aren’t actually helping that person to strive for and become anything better. The thing that would be more effective than throwing away the key is if all prisons today had programs designed to help better the lives of the criminals after prison and help to possibly lower the recidivism rates of those criminals. These programs should be designed to help make criminals marketable so they could compete in today’s society. Ultimately prison should start giving people hope for a new beginning. Every prisoner in prison for a felony wonders how they could do better for themselves after being released from prison because of the simple fact that after prison it’s very difficult to get back into the workforce because you have a felony on your record. We as a society needs to come to point in time where we recognize prisoners as humans, and give them the same opportunities because some prisoners are just people who made a mistake so while they are in they are in the hands of the prison they should be given the tools needed to be successful after prison. For example, at the Eastern New York Correctional Facility there is a program sponsored...
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...Evaluate Marxist explanations of Crime and Deviance Labelling theory paved the way in understanding how deviance was something defined by social processes. In this way social agencies such as the police defined what was deviant. Marxists took this view even further by examining the power of certain social groups to define deviance and create the laws which secured social conformity. Marxists see crime and deviance as not coming from moral or biological defects but defects within social order. Crime is an inevitable part of capitalism as it stems from social inequalities. Working-class crime is caused by labour exploitation and material misery. Therefore theft is an expression of that exploitation and is a political act of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie. As anything the ruling class defines as being criminal because it’s in their interests to do so. The ruling class will violate laws with impunity while members of the subject classes will be punished. Crime is a reaction to the life conditions of a person’s social class. Crime diverts the working-class’s attention from the exploitation they experience; it contains their resistance. Crime changes from society to society depending on the political and economic structures of society. Crime will persist in capitalist societies because they promote inequality and class conflict, and penal law will expand relative to that inequality and exploitation. Chambliss argues that acts are defined as criminal only when it’s in the...
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...“A” Level Sociology A Resource-Based Learning Approach Deviance and Social Control Unit M4: Functionalism Introduction In these Teachers’ Notes we’re going to review a number of theories of crime and deviance from a Structural Functionalist perspective. In case this sociological perspective is not clear to you, the first part of these Notes is given over to a brief overview of this perspective. If you are familiar with this perspective, then this overview will serve as revision material... The second part of these Notes will provide an overview of some of the basic themes and theories put forward by writers working within this general perspective to explain crime. Functionalism: An Overview The Functionalist perspective is a form of Structuralist sociology and, as such, we can initially characterise it as a form of macro sociological theorising. In this respect, the main theoretical question addressed by sociologists working within the Functionalist perspective is that of: * How do social systems ("societies") hold together? In their attempts to provide an answer to this question, Functionalists have initially concentrated upon two ideas that are closely related to the above: 1. How is order maintained in any society? 2. What are the main sources of stability in any society? As you might imagine - given that the theoretical emphasis seems to be placed on rather grand questions...
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...Ari Denburger AJ-1 Mr. Lacasso 2/16/2014 Deviance related to crime Deviance is a title that insinuates the violation of social norms in society which has been defined through law. Deviance can be described as adjacent to criminal and improper behavior imposed by the people who break the social norms of a society, thus becoming subjective to a label of “deviant”. Deviants often have punishment bestowed upon them by law enforcement officers and their local court systems. The question asked by criminologist throughout time is, “what is the underlying cause of crime?” “Is crime a learned behavior forced by strain due to the depleting environment an individual inhabits?” “Are individuals with a genetic mutation destined to become deviant?” All of these may be a result of biological and social constructionist theories of deviance, this essay will define the opposing differences and the relation of the two in this essay. Both hold contributing factors to the construction of deviance in society, but are both highly conflicting theories. Before going into the theories of deviance, the definition of deviance must be further explained. The codification of deviance can vary widely between different cultures, a norm in one culture can be considered deviant in another. For example, the notion of cannibalism has been proved by anthropologists to be a spiritually divine form of ritualistic sacrifice in the ancient Aztec culture of Mexico. Yet in Western culture murder and...
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...Crime is a behaviour/act that goes against a society’s law, and therefore has legal consequences attached if broken, e.g. prison sentence, penalty charge. Deviance is an act/behaviour that goes against a societies norms and values, however is not against the law and therefore not punishable by law. It is a relative term dependent on different societies and their norms and values; what is considered deviant also changes over times, for example it used to be considered deviant for women to smoke, whereas now that is accepted (western). There is a clear relationship between gender and crime according to official statistics. It has been revealed that men about six or seven times more likely to offend than women. In self-report studies the figures are not as large, however, men are still in the majority. Also when we look at victims of crime it appears that men are more likely to be victims of crime than women. Messerschmidt says young men want to conform to the dominant form of masculinity which he called ‘hegemonic masculinity’. It’s the idealised form which is ‘defined through work in the paid labour market, the subordination of women, heterosexist and the uncontrollable sexuality of men’, (It’s a form of masculinity that most men aim to accomplish and is prized and prestigious). Messerschmidt argues that different men use crime and deviance to accomplish prestigious hegemonic masculinity. Depending on their status and class position, different men attempt to accomplish this masculinity...
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...CRIME AND DEIVIANCE – Table of Sociologists GENDER | Sociologist | What they said | Heidensohn | - Women’s behaviour is conformist- Control at home – housework and childcare impose severe restrictions on women’s time- Control in public – women fear the threat of male violence against them- Control at work – kept in place by male supervisors and managers- Females are treated more harshly than males when they deviate from gender norms e.g. double standards – courts punish girls for premature or promiscuous sexuality activity- 4/5 convicted offenders in England and Wales are male- By 40 9% of females had a conviction against 32% of males- Males are more likely to be reoffenders | Pollak | Men have a protective attitude towards women and so the criminal justice system is more lenient with women | Carlen | When women are jailed, it is less for ‘the seriousness of their crimes and more according to the court’s assessment of them as wives, mothers and daughters’- Women are lead to conformity:Class Deal –women who work will be offered material rewards with a decent standard of living and leisure opportunitiesGender Deal – patriarchal ideology promises women material gain and emotional rewards from family life by conforming to a domestic gender role | Parsons | Gender roles in the traditional nuclear family cause crime boys are encouraged to be tough, aggressive and risk taking so are more likely to take advantage of criminal opportunities when they arise | Dobash and...
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...Daniel Rojas Professor BlackLock Crime & Deviance Test 1 Domestic Deviance Is known as the root of the matter. Described as deviance that occurs within an intimate setting such as a home, between individuals that interact on a routine basis. The public normally doesn’t see this form of deviance thus making it unique. For example spousal abuse which occurs when conflicting parties have qualms with each other, and lack the social skills to express themselves. Secondly, there is child abuse where a parent might harm their kids mentally or physically. Granted, different cultures of people discipline their offspring in very distinct ways. African Americans are known for the plantation form discipline, while Caucasian individuals choose techniques like time out, and taking away privileges. Secondly, sexual deviance is sexual behavior that diverges from the norms of society. This complicated matter because first we must find out what makes these sexual acts so deviant. Sexual acts that might have been considered deviant years ago might be considered acceptable or normal today. People tend to commit acts that bring them satisfaction and pleasure even if its seen as taboo. As disturbing as it might sound often times this is true. Furthermore, sexual deviance can be influenced by one's environment and morals. For example a big contributor to sexual deviance is pornography and how easy it is today to access this kind of content. A person who has some erotic fantasy will go on...
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...Deviance The study of deviance is the basis for criminology in sociology—the study of crime and its effects on society. nDeviance refers to the socially disapproved violations of important norms and expectations of a society. nWho is deviant differs from one culture to another. nStigma is the mark of deviance (the Scarlet Letter). n 5/17/2002 1 Social control n n Social controls are sanctions which try to keep people from deviance. Internal social controls are behaviors and attitudes socialized into the individual to protect them from deviance. External controls are society’s mechanisms like the law and the police. Since everyone breaks social rules and norms, the sociology of deviance usually refers to those who do it big-time. 2 5/17/2002 Theories of deviance Who becomes deviant? Why do they do it? 5/17/2002 3 Labeling theory n Labeling theory: a person becomes deviant when they get labeled as such. Getting a deviant identity means distinguishing between primary and secondary deviance. Primary deviance is where most people do something deviant but it is not discovered; secondary deviance is where a person takes on the identity of a deviant and may be thrust into a “deviant career.” Labeling theory fails to explain when being labeled deviant can jolt someone out of becoming a career deviant. Deviants are seen here as helpless victims rather than bad guys 4 5/17/2002 Transmission theory n 5/17/2002 Cultural transmission theory...
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...CRIME AND DEVIANCE INTRODUCTION Sociology is a science that involves many norms. When those norms are not respected by at least an individual, then the behaviour of that person is said to be deviant. Most of the time, this type of behaviour is strongly different from a majority of society that is following the norms. The crime, as explained in today’s society, is an action or a behaviour that does not respects the laws set by governments. Criminology, also called criminal justice, is the science that is related to those behaviours. In some ways, laws are considered as norms in society. Then, it is obvious that crime can be fully considered as a deviance. Some examples of deviance through the crime would be being undressed in public places, stealing or having sex with a prostitute. Since laws and regulations have been set through different countries like the USA, smoking in public areas ‘such as transportations and workplaces’ is considered as deviant behaviour and criminal to be more precised (Giami; Herrera; Pechin – Reaserach Paper on smoking). Deviance is not a concrete subject; it is more an idea that differs from a group of individuals to another. In Muslim communities, for example, it is very common to belch at the end of the dinner, which means that the meal was delicious, and have been enjoyed, while belching is seen as a very impolite and deviant behaviour in occidental countries, with different cultures and religions. Concerning deviance and crime, several...
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...The labelling theory believes that crime is a social construction and as Becker states ‘deviance is in the eye of the beholder’. Therefore a deviant act is only termed so when a label has been applied to it. Labelling theorists believe that crime is as a result of interactions between people, police and the justice system. Therefore disagree that that crime is as a result of social forces such as opportunity structures. They therefore believe that the labelling process does have a direct effect on crime and deviance. Labelling theorists claim that not everyone who commits a crime is punished for it. As item A suggests, there is negative labelling on ethnic minorities such as Asians. Pilivan and Briar found that most youth arrests were made on physical cues, such as dress and appearance. They also found that anti-social behaviour order was biased against ethnic minorities. This means that crime rate would inevitably be higher among the ethnic minorities. Cicourel develops this idea and introduces the term ‘typification’ to describe the police stereotype of a typical delinquent. Therefore labelling theorists would argue that the labelling of ethnic minorities creates higher crime rates among these groups as a result of labelling. Cicourell further argues that justice is negotiable. This means that labels attached to certain groups dictate whether or not they will be accused of deviance. He gives the example of the arrest of a middle class youth who if arrested is less likely to...
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...Left and right wing sociologists have both attempted ‘realist’ approaches to crime and deviance, both offer practical solutions in dealing with the issue. However, the way these two approaches go about this is radically different, as right and left realism are from completely opposite ends of the political spectrum. Although like all sociological explanations, they have their limitations and flaws, both approaches have proven useful in understanding crime and deviance for a number of reasons. The origins of left realism lie in the desire to move away from “pure theory” to something which can be utilised and applied practically in order to solve the problem of crime in Britain. Left realism is particularly useful in understanding crime and deviance because it avoids the age old divisions between structure and action. Instead, left realism sets out an agenda which contains all levels of analysis. Young, Lea and Matthews for example, suggest that in order to truly understand and deal with crime, the interplay between macro and micro factors need to be considered alongside each other in what they call “the square of crime”. This means that when investigating the problem of crime, sociologists should consider the roles of the state (as they have the power to define what is criminal), the offender (i.e. what motivates them), the public (because they are an agent of informal social control, and fear of public stigmatisation is viewed as one of the most powerful determinants of behaviour)...
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