Unit 4 SCLY4 - Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods; Stratification and Differentiation with Theory and Methods
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Summary Sociology Crime and Deviance A* Revision Notes
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Unit 4 SCLY4 - Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods; Stratification and Differentiation with Theory and Methods
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This document outlines all the notes needed to get an A* in the AQA 2023/24 Sociology A Level exams. Content was taken from an examination marker and turned into a revisable document, ensuring it contains key concepts/theories and thorough evaluations. It is best to practice exam questions alongsid...
Unit 4 SCLY4 - Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods; Stratification and Differentiation with Theory and Methods
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Durkheim:
Crime is inevitable in all societies, and the crime rate is higher in more advanced, industrial
societies. Not every member of society can be equally committed to the collective
sentiments. Since individuals are exposed to different influences and circumstances, it’s
‘impossible for them to be all alike’ so some people would break the law. Even in a perfect
world the general standards of behaviour would be so high that the slightest slip would be
regarded as a serious offence.
Crime has positive functions. A certain amount of crime contributes to the well-being of a
society.
Boundary Maintenance: Crime reaffirms the boundaries of acceptable behaviour. When a
crime occurs and individuals are punished it becomes clear to the rest of society that the
particular action concerned is unacceptable. The courts and the media broadcast the
boundaries of acceptable behaviour, warning others not to breach the walls of the law.
Social integration: strengthen social cohesion. When horrific crimes have been committed
the whole community joins together in outrage and the sense of belonging to a community is
therefore strengthened.
Evolution of Social change: Provides a constant test of the boundaries of permitted action.
When the law is clearly out of step with the feelings and values of the majority, legal reform
is necessary. Criminals perform a crucial service in helping the law to reflect the wishes of
the population and legitimising social change.
Too much crime is bad for society and can help bring about its collapse, hence institutions of
social control are necessary to keep the amount of crime in check. This links to anomie,
where a study of suicide showed that normlessness created more deviance. Durkheim
argued that crime only became dysfunctional when there was too much or too little of it – too
much and social order would break down, too little and there would not be sufficient capacity
for positive social change.
He suggested that the function of punishment was not to remove crime from society
altogether, because society ‘needed’ crime. The point of punishment was to control crime
and to maintain the collective sentiments. Punishment ‘serves to heal the wounds done to
the collective sentiments’.
Criticism:
He talks about crime in very general terms. He theorised that ‘crime’ is necessary but fails to
distinguish between different types of crime.
He’s suggesting that the criminal justice system benefits everyone in society by punishing
criminals and reinforcing the acceptable boundaries of behaviour. However, Marxist and
Feminist analysis of crime demonstrates that not all criminals are punished equally so crime
and punishment benefit the powerful for than the powerless.
,Interactionists suggest that whether or not a crime is functional cannot be determined
objectively; surely it depends on an individual’s relationship to the crime.
Functionalists assume that society has universal norms and values that are reinforced by
certain crimes being punished in public. Postmodernists argue society is so diverse, there is
no such thing as ‘normal’.
Strain theory:
Merton develops the Strain Model Theory. In his discussion of deviance Merton proposed a
typology of deviant behaviour that illustrated the possible discrepancies between culturally
defined goals and the institutionalised means available to achieve these goals. A typology is
a classification scheme designed to facilitate understanding. In this case, Merton was
proposing a typology of deviance based upon two criteria:
1. A person’s motivations or his adherence to cultural goals
2. A person’s belief in how to attain his goals.
According to Merton, there are five types of deviance based upon these criteria:
Conformity involves the acceptance of the cultural goals and means of attaining those goals.
Innovation involves the acceptance of the goals of a culture but the rejection of the traditional
and/or legitimate means of attaining those goals.
Ritualism involves the rejection of cultural goals but the routinised acceptance of the means
for achieving the goals.
Retreatism involves the rejection of both the cultural goals and the traditional means of
achieving those goals.
Rebellion is a special case where the individual rejects both the cultural goals and traditional
means of achieving them but actively attempts to replace both elements of the society with
different goals.
Criticisms:
All forms of deviance are considered.
It disregards social patterns and focuses too much on individual responses.
It doesn't explain how some people don’t turn to crime, even though they face strain.
It emphasises that all crime must result in material reward, some don’t murder by passion.
Social control theory:
,Social Control Theory sees crime as a result of social institutions losing control over
individuals. Weak institutions such as certain types of families, the breakdown of local
communities, and the breakdown of trust in the government and the police are all linked to
higher crime rates.
Hirschi argued that criminal activity occurs when an individual’s attachment to society is
weakened. This attachment depends on the strength of social bonds that hold people to
society. There are four social bonds that bind us together: Attachment, Commitment,
Involvement and Belief.
One would predict the typical delinquent to be young, single, unemployed and male. Those
who are married and in work are less likely to commit crime – those who are involved and
part of social institutions are less likely to go astray.
Politicians of all persuasions tend to talk in terms of social control theory. Straw from the
labour party has argued that ‘lads need dads.’ These views are also popular with the right
wing press, which often reminds their (middle class, nuclear family) readers that 70% of
young offenders come from lone-parent families; children from broken homes.’
Evidence for Social Control Theory tends to focus on three problem areas that are correlated
with higher crime rates. These are: Absentee parents, Truancy, Unemployment.
The Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (Farington and West). Looked at 411
‘working class’ males born in 1953 that were studied until their late 30s. Offenders were
more likely to come from poorer, single parent families with poor parenting and parents who
were themselves offenders. This study suggests that good primary socialisation is essential
in preventing crime.
Glyn has pointed out that many young offenders suffer from a parent deficit. This is the
single most important factor in explaining youth offending. Children need both discipline and
love, two things that are often both absent with absent parents.
Criticisms:
Some crimes are more likely to be committed by people with lots of social connections
(Corporate Crime).
Marxism – It’s unfair to blame marginalised people, they’re victims of an unfair society which
doesn’t provide sufficient opportunities for work.
Interactionism – Middle class crimes are less likely to appear in the statistics. In reality the
attached (middle class) are just as criminal.
By focussing on the crimes of the marginalised, the right wing elite dupe the public into
thinking we need them to protect us from criminals (we need protecting from the elite)
, This may be a case of blaming the victim. We need to look at structural factors that lead to
family breakdown (poverty, long working hours, unemployment).
Parent deficit does not automatically lead to children becoming criminals. There are also ‘pull
factors’ such as peer group pressure.
Subcultural Theory:
Subculture - a group that has values that are different to the mainstream culture. Subcultural
theorists argue that deviance is the result of groups breaking off from society who have
deviant values and these individuals conforming to the values and norms of the subculture to
which they belong.
In contrast to Social Control theorists, it is the pull of the peer group that encourages
individuals to commit crime, rather than the lack of attachment to the family or other
mainstream institutions. Subcultural theory also helps explain non-utilitarian crimes such as
vandalism and joy riding which strain theory can’t explain. Deviance is a collective response
to marginalisation. Traditional subculture theory is a reaction to strain (Merton) but it’s not a
reaction to individual reactions, subculture theory is a reaction to group reactions.
Cohen’s Status Frustration:
Cohen - working class subcultures emerge because they’re denied status in society. Working
class boys strove to emulate middle-class values and aspirations, but lacked the means to
achieve success. They’re culturally deprived which is why they fail. This led to status
frustration: a sense of personal failure and inadequacy.
Many boys react to this by rejecting socially acceptable values and patterns of acceptable
behaviour. Because there are several boys going through the same experiences, they end
up banding together and forming delinquent subcultures. This reverses the norms and
values of mainstream culture, offering positive rewards to those who are the most deviant.
Status may be gained by being malicious, intimidating others, breaking school rules or the
law and generally causing trouble.
This pattern of boys rejecting mainstream values and forming delinquent subcultures first
starts in school and then becomes more serious later on. Invert middle class values - try to
adopt values of meritocracy. Status - rank, prestige, position.
Corner boys - hangs around not doing anything
College boys - deviant in classroom
Delinquent boys - a bit of vandalism.
He writes from a functionalist view, goal attainment - they’ve been socialised to want the
same meritocratic success. Strain prevents them from meeting these goals, they act out and
get status alternatively. He has an imposition problem when concluding that cultural
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