...Past Crime and Deviance Questions Sept 2008 Read Item A below and answer the question that follows. ------------------------------------------------- Item A ------------------------------------------------- Situational crime prevention (SCP) involves intervening in the immediate situations in which crime takes place to reduce its likelihood or seriousness. It often involves ‘designing crime out’ of products, services and environments, for example by use of anti-climb paint, CCTV and security guards in shops, better street lighting, metal detectors at airports, neighbourhood watch schemes and the re-designing of housing estates. ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- SCP does not rely on intervening in children’s socialisation to prevent them becoming criminals later, or on the threat of punishments to deter current criminals. Instead, it makes specific changes aimed at influencing the decision or ability of offenders to commit particular crimes in particular situations. Like rational choice theory, SCP sees criminals as acting rationally. By making certain crimes less rewarding, more risky or needing greater effort, SCP makes criminals less likely to choose to commit them. 02 Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the usefulness of conflict theories for an understanding of crime and deviance in contemporary society. (21 marks) Jan 2010 Read Item A below and answer the question that follows...
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...from item A and elsewhere, assess different Marxist views of the relationship between crime and social class. Marxism is a conflict structural theory which states that there is a division of labour between two social classes, the bourgeoisie and the proletariats, because of the existence, exploitation and reproduction of capitalism. Marxists explain how superstructures in society, such as religion, politics, media, education, law etc, act as agencies of control and serve the interests of the ruling class. Unlike functionalists, Marxists do not agree that there is a value consensus in society but instead state that the superstructures benefit the bourgeoisie and damage the lives of the proletariat. As Item A states, crime in society can be seen as a reaction against the unequal distribution of wealth through the social position they have been given. The essay will focus on the relationship between crime and social class in a Marxist perspective. The traditional Marxist approach to crime suggests that crime is inevitable because capitalism is criminogenic – crime is built in its very nature. The concept of capitalism is to create as much profit by paying low wages to the labourers which leads to many consequences. The exploitation rises poverty and material deprivation which means that crime may be the only option for working class members to survive. Utilitarian crimes are more likely to be committed by working class members than the ruling class because the materials they...
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...Assess different Marxist views of relationship between crime and social class Marxists believe that the capitalist system is just a way in which the ruling classes control and exploit the workers, and it focuses on the unequal conflict between these two sectors of society. Marxists believe that the capitalist system is criminogenic – which means that by its nature it inevitably causes crime. Marxists see crime in the capitalist system as something the ruling class can use to control the working class and crime is a result because of the oppression the working class face. They also believe that laws are enforced mostly to benefit the interests of the ruling class. Neo-Marxists are another branch of Marxism. They discuss more contemporary ideas of crime and their ideas, such as saying crime results out of political anger. They state that the traditional Marxist perspective is too deterministic. Traditional Marxist’s view of crime has 3 key aspects: The Criminogenic capitalism, the state and law making and ideological functions of crime and law. Criminogenic capitalism is the Marxist idea that crime is inevitable because of the nature of capitalism. They believe that because of capitalism as the unequal divide between classes, committing crime is sometimes the only way people can live. For example, a young man who is living in poverty may have to resort to robbery in order to survive. In addition, sometimes the working class may feel frustrated that they are under the control...
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...Assess different Marxist views of the relationship between crime and social class There are three different Marxist views on the relationship between crime and social class. The first is the traditional Marxist view. They focus of the bourgeoisie imposing their values onto the proletariat as they are in the powerful positions. The factors include the law creation. The law and laws are created by the government. People in the government are typically either part of the bourgeoisie or they are influenced by them. This means that the bourgeoisie re more likely to put in place laws that will benefit them and oppress the proletariat. The values of the bourgeoisie are passed through a number of agencies, including education, religion, and the mass media. These values are commonly referred to as Hegemony. These values are based within the democracy. However they are initially ‘forced’ on people. It is the beliefs of the ruling elite. Despite the laws favouring the ruling classes they actually favour the majority if enforced properly. However even the interpretation and enforcement of law is biased and the police tend to arrest and punish the working classes but not the ruling classes. However, Not all capitalist societies have high crime rates for example, Japan and Switzerland have lower than the USA. Justice systems sometime acts against the interests of the ruling class this can be seen in the prosecution of corporate crime. This view also ignores intra-class crime, where...
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...Assess the usefulness of Marxist theories in explaining crime and deviance Marxists sociologists believe that we live in a capitalist society which is divided into classes. They argue that society is based on conflict over the inequality of wealth and power between the bourgeoisie; the ruling capitalist class who own the means of production and the proletariat; the working class who are exploited by the bourgeoisie in order for them to gain profit. This is known as capitalism. The Marxist view on crime is based on three main elements. The first element is criminogenic capitalism, this suggests that crime is inevitable due to the fact that capitalism breeds crime in society. This is the idea that the exploitation of the working class can cause a rise in crime rates. For example, people in poverty may resort to crime in order to survive as crime may be the only way they can obtain consumer goods by committing utilitarian crimes which are crimes concerning money such as theft, embezzlement etc. In addition to this, alienation may also be another way to cause working class people to commit crime as the lack of control they have over their lives may lead to frustration and aggression which can result in non-utilitarian crimes which are crimes that do not concern money such as murder, violence, vandalism. Gordon, a sociologist believes that crime is a rational response to the capitalist system and it is found in all social classes. The second element is the state and law making; this...
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...Assess different Marxist views of the relationship between crime and social class Marxism is a structural theory and says we live in a capitalist society which is divided into 2 classes, the ruling class who own the means of production and the working class who are exploited by the RC in order to create profit. There are 3 types of Marxism, traditional Marxists, neo-Marxists and new left realists, each of these believe that the capitalists society is partly to blame to crime but different views as to why and how and to what extent. I will look at the link between what they say about class and crime. According to traditional Marxists such as Chamblis and Pearce, everyone commits crime but it is only the working class that gets caught. Traditional Marxists argue that the working class are over represented in crime statistics because of selective policing. The police choose to pursue working class street crimes rather than trying to catch corporate or white collar crimes that are usually committed by ruling or middle classes. As these ruling class crimes are not caught, the working class appear to be more criminal than other social groups. The neo-Marxist Box estimated while in one year 20,000 people were murdered, 14000 died in industrial accidents and 30,000 died as a result of unsafe consumer products. While the death toll for these corporate crimes is much higher than that of street crime, the number of convictions for corporate crime was much lower so the working class street...
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...SOCIOLOGY – AQA – UNIT 4 - CRIME AND DEVIANCE The exam is split into 3 questions: • Q.1 is a pure methods section which contains two parts a) 12 marks and b) 21 marks. You should spend 45 minuets on this question. • Q.2 is a method in context question. Part a) is for 9 marks [could also be a 3 and 6 mark question] and part b) is for 15 marks. You should spend 30 minuets on this question. • Q.3 is a theories essay for 33 marks. THIS QUESTION IS SYNOPTIC! You should spend 45 minuets on this question. Below is a list of all the areas and studies you need to know for each section of the exam. Don’t worry if you don’t know all the studies, each college/school are likely to teach slightly different ones, just make sure you know about that amount for each section. Q.1 For the first two pure crime parts you need to know: Functionalist theories of crime and deviance Durkheim – Social control, social regulation including suicide Merton-Strain theory, blocked aspirations Cohen – Status frustration Cloward and Ohlin – Deviant subcultures New Right/Right Realism James Wilson – Strict law enforcement needed Wilson and Kelling – Broken windows, zero tolerance Murray – Cultural deprivation, single parents and ineffective, the underclass Erdos – Families without fathers Subcultural theories Cohen – Delinquent subcultures Cloward and Ohlin – Delinquency and opportunity, criminal, conflict and retreatist...
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...H/W Tania Begum 6.13 23rd March 2016 Assess the hypodermic syringe model of the relationship between the mass media and the audience. (18 marks) There are a variety of sociological theories and evidence that suggests that the hypodermic syringe model has a relationship between the mass media and the audience however there also some flaws to these ideas. The hypodermic syringe model assumes ideas/ideologies transmitted in mass media products are automatically ‘injected’ into the minds of the audience for example a newspaper telling its readers who to vote for. The audience is seen as passive recipients. The hypodermic syringe model shows that we are a passive homogenous audience. The hypodermic Syringe Model (HSM) is an early theory model, which believes that there is a direct correlation between the violence and anti-social behavior portrayed in different media types (e.g. Television, computer games and films). Sociologists found that the most venerable audience to the HSM is children and teenagers. This is because they are still in the early stages of socialization so are therefore very impressionable. A prime example to support this theory is the case of Jamie Bugler. Jamie was a 2 year old boy that was abducted and murdered by two 10 year old boys. The boys had apparently watched 'Childs Play 3' before they murdered the toddler, and as the murder was very similar...
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...Item B Marxists do not see the law as a reflection of a value consensus among society’s members. Instead they see the law as a tool of the ruling class, the police and other social control agencies as paid agents of the ruling class, and crime as an inevitable outcome of the dog-eat-dog nature of the capitalist system, and the inequalities it generates. Crime also serves as a diversionary tactic, it diverts attention away from the exploitation and inequalities within the capitalism system and focuses the minds of the proletariat on deviants and criminals who are then mistakenly blamed for being the real cause of problems in society. However there are several variations in Marxist ideas on crime. Neo Marxists have developed critical criminology which has attempted to incorporate labelling theory and Brake has used subcultural theory to explain the attraction of youth groups. Assignment 2 – Using material from Item B and elsewhere assess the usefulness of Marxist approaches in explaining crime The traditional Marxist belief is a structural one as they see society as being based on a structure, this structure being determined and controlled by one of the two groups that they believe society is divided into. These two groups are the ruling capitalist class (bourgeoisie) who own the means of production, and the working class (proletariat) whose alienated labour the ruling class exploit to make profit. Item B draws on this point as it says “they see the law as a tool of the ruling...
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...Assess different Marxist views of the relationship between crime and social class Marxism is a structural theory and says we live in a capitalist society which is divided into 2 classes, the ruling class who own the means of production and the working class who are exploited by the RC in order to create profit. There are 3 types of Marxism, traditional Marxists, neo-Marxists and new left realists, each of these believe that the capitalists society is partly to blame to crime but different views as to why and how and to what extent. I will look at the link between what they say about class and crime. According to traditional Marxists such as Chamblis and Pearce, everyone commits crime but it is only the working class that gets caught. Traditional Marxists argue that the working class are over represented in crime statistics because of selective policing. The police choose to pursue working class street crimes rather than trying to catch corporate or white collar crimes that are usually committed by ruling or middle classes. As these ruling class crimes are not caught, the working class appear to be more criminal than other social groups. The neo-Marxist Box estimated while in one year 20,000 people were murdered, 14000 died in industrial accidents and 30,000 died as a result of unsafe consumer products. While the death toll for these corporate crimes is much higher than that of street crime, the number of convictions for corporate crime was much lower so the working class street...
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...Assess these strengths and weaknesses of Marxists explanations of crime Traditional Marxism is a structural 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, including the state, the law and the criminal justice system. Their function is to serve the ruling-class interests and maintain the capitalist society. Marxists agree that the law is enforced against powerless groups and that labelling often results in further deviance. They see crime and deviance as not coming from moral or biological defects but defects within social order and therefore crime is an inevitable part of capitalism as it stems from social inequality. For Marxists, crime is inevitable in capitalism because capitalism is criminogenic. Capitalism is based on the exploitation of the working class and therefore is particularly damaging to the working class which may give rise to crime. Alienation and the lack of control over their lives may lead to frustration and aggression, resulting in non-utilitarian crimes such as vandalism and violence. Crime may also be the only way they can obtain the consumer goods encouraged by capitalist advertising, resulting in utilitarian crimes such as theft. Therefore, it can be said a strength of the Marxist explanation of crime is that is it explains the causes of both utilitarian and non-utilitarian crime of the working class. However, one could argue that this...
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...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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...Outline and 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...
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...Crime and Deviance Revision SCLY 4: Crime and Deviance with Methods in Context Sociology Department Greenhead College SCLY 4: Crime and Deviance with Methods in Context Remember: You have to revise everything, because you have no choice on the exam paper. The specification 1 Different theories of crime, deviance, social order and social control * Different definitions of crime, deviance, social order and social control * The distinction between sociological theories of crime and other theories (eg biological, psychological); crime and deviance as socially constructed * Functionalist theories of crime: Durkheim, anomie, collective conscience; Merton’s strain theory; manifest and latent functions; functionalist subcultural theories * Marxist and neo-Marxist theories of crime: classical Marxism, laws reflecting class interests; Neo-Marxism, hegemony, the CCCS studies, critical and new criminology * Interactionist theories of crime: labelling theory, the self-fulfilling prophecy * Feminist theories of crime: patriarchy, male control of women’s lives * Control theory and other contemporary approaches to crime: social bonds, communitarianism, situational prevention; postmodern theories; Foucault on individualisation and surveillance * Realist theories: New Left Realism and Right Realism * The relevance of the various theories to understanding different types of crime, and their implications for social policy. 2 The social distribution...
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...Crime and Deviance Revision SCLY 4: Crime and Deviance with Methods in Context Sociology Department Greenhead College SCLY 4: Crime and Deviance with Methods in Context Remember: You have to revise everything, because you have no choice on the exam paper. The specification 1 Different theories of crime, deviance, social order and social control * Different definitions of crime, deviance, social order and social control * The distinction between sociological theories of crime and other theories (eg biological, psychological); crime and deviance as socially constructed * Functionalist theories of crime: Durkheim, anomie, collective conscience; Merton’s strain theory; manifest and latent functions; functionalist subcultural theories * Marxist and neo-Marxist theories of crime: classical Marxism, laws reflecting class interests; Neo-Marxism, hegemony, the CCCS studies, critical and new criminology * Interactionist theories of crime: labelling theory, the self-fulfilling prophecy * Feminist theories of crime: patriarchy, male control of women’s lives * Control theory and other contemporary approaches to crime: social bonds, communitarianism, situational prevention; postmodern theories; Foucault on individualisation and surveillance * Realist theories: New Left Realism and Right Realism * The relevance of the various theories to understanding different types of crime, and their implications for social policy. 2 The social distribution...
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