Crime & Deviance

Sociological explanations of crime & deviance

Remember to email me your answers in your own PowerPoint! Special effort from Lee, Rachel & Matt please!

Homework now you have finally finished your coursework you need to catch up on the work youve missed so far

SOCIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF SUICIDE HAVE INFLENCED BOTH THE METHODS USED TO STUDY DEVIANCE AND THE EXPLANATIONS OF DEVIANCE EXPLAIN AND DISCUSS THIS STATEMENT

The other essay youve missed!

Rightwing explanations of crime blame the individual whereas leftwing explanations blame society Explain and discuss this statement 40 marks

Sociological explanations for criminal behaviour

Anomie Control Marxist Left

theory

realism Subcultural

We will examine the subcultural approach

Turn to page 32 in your booklet examine the diagram Before you proceed you need to remind yourself of what is anomie (if you cant remember check Kates PowerPoint on the web) Very close to functionalism think norms and values

Subculture

There is differentiation amongst subcultural theorists but all share the belief People who commit crime share a different set of values which is different from the values of society as a whole. They have a different subculture Brought up by their parents to have values sympathetic to crime

David Downes: The delinquent solution

Studied youths in East London Found on evidence of a subculture but youths passed their time trying to get as much fun out of life At times this brought them in conflict with law

Chicago Ecological School 1920s

Found that inner city and working class areas had more recorded crime than middle class suburban areas J B Mays 1954: growing up in the city found that criminal subcultures are most likely in areas of acute social disadvantage (British sociologist examining Liverpool) E.g. James Patrick, A Glasgow gang observed, 1973 (theory
and methods, participant observation)

Cloward and Ohlin, Delinquency and Opportunity, 1961 found delinquent groups are most common in socially disadvantaged areas Research your crime stats and find if this is representative of contemporary societycrime links at bottom of crime pagetry to research your local police stats

Differential association theory

The likelihood of engaging in crime is determined by the values and attitudes of the people one associates with Search for media articles utilising infotrac that suggest family and friends linking to a life of crime. Keep this contemporary!

Cohen and Status deprivation

Think first where do you know Cohen fromthink deviancy amplification..page 5 in your booklet. Your chance to briefly recap later! But this is

Albert Cohen not S Cohen! Delinquent Boys 1955 found that Status deprivation was a key factor Graffiti spraying? in joining a delinquent group. Status failure at school becomes a king in the streets. W Belson, Juvenile theft, 1975, a study of thieves in London found that they stole so as to be accepted as part of the group, to gain prestige Tell me your stories of modern media equivalent

Anomie: Merton

All societies motivate peoplethey can achieve through hard work For the majority this is impossible/difficult to attain (suggest who and when) Merton argues this to an increased level of crime as people turn to crime to achieve financial success This situation when the goals of society are not possible by conventional means anomie

Evaluations
Again like Durkheim this theory has been criticised for being too deterministic Ignores Freechoice What sociologists believe this to be? Action v System, positivists v interpretivists, etc; D Matza, Delinquency and Drift, 1964, says that individuals use techniques of neutralisation to explain their deviant behaviour away Suggest two reasons why people explain their criminal/delinquent behaviour

Matza
Subterranean values of pleasure seeking and risk-taking are found in mainstream suburban society as well as areas Everyone is deviant sometimes and young people are more prone to this Neo-Marxists theory sees some sub-cultures as representing challenge to the stabilised order

Downes puts the knife into subcultural theory

Downes studied East London youths No evidence of status frustration No evidence of illegitimate opportunity structure (Cloward & Ohlin) Youths lies were characterised by dissociation from work and aspirations for a career Their values were about leisure time because of the dissatisfaction with school and work There was no commitment to deviant values!

View of subculture
Positivists Examine the differences between delinquents and normal youth Marxist subculturalists Structural inequalities in society Working class youth have problems that they try to resolve sometimes this leads to crime

Subcultural explanations and social policy

Influenced social policy in the U.K and in America
Why would this approach be adopted by administrations to develop crime policy?

But where are the girls?

Again examining sociological studies we find that women have been ignored. Early sociology failed to take account of women. Suggest reasons why sociologists would have ignored women

Merton (Strain Theory): Explanation for economic crimes

Recap Mertons Strain theory you need to be building links to other theorists!