...Function of Punishment: * According to Durkheim the function of punishment is not to remove crime but to ‘heal the wounds done to collective sentiment’. * Without Punishment – collective sentiments would lose their force and strength * Crime and punishment are both inevitable and functional. Function of Punishment: * According to Durkheim the function of punishment is not to remove crime but to ‘heal the wounds done to collective sentiment’. * Without Punishment – collective sentiments would lose their force and strength * Crime and punishment are both inevitable and functional. Crime is Inevitable: * Durkheim argued that crime in an inevitable and normal aspect of social life. * Crime is present in all types of society; indeed the crime rate is higher in more advanced, industrialized countries. * It is inevitable because not every member of society can be equally committed to the collective sentiments (shared values and beliefs). Crime is Inevitable: * Durkheim argued that crime in an inevitable and normal aspect of social life. * Crime is present in all types of society; indeed the crime rate is higher in more advanced, industrialized countries. * It is inevitable because not every member of society can be equally committed to the collective sentiments (shared values and beliefs). Crime is Functional: * Durkheim argues that it only becomes dysfunctional when it is rate is unusually low or high. ...
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...Self-Control Theory of Crime Evaluation Jonathan Fowler AJS542 February 5, 2014 Chris Kowalski Self-Control Theory of Crime Evaluation The social control theory and the conflict theory have differences and various similarities. Both theories have been used to talk about the occurrence of from in contemporary American society, and it is important to discuss them both. The effects of both positive and negative reinforcement on crime must be considered in these theories and their structure. Criminality is a large part of any society within the United States, that the way we handle the criminals, and why they develop their criminal behavior are important considerations in an effort to reduce the amount of criminal activity in our society. There are many different theories that try and figure out how criminal behavior is learned and grown and creates itself inside a person. Some people believe that there are some people that are just born to be bad, but most theories have an idea that they are taught the behavior in which they act. When a person is born into a neighborhood and are raised in a community that promotes criminal behavior as a way to live, it becomes a part of them. An individual can choose a different path to live by, if they set their minds to doing something else, on something better, the individual can avoid criminal behavior Conflict Theory Conflict theories focus on the political nature of the crime and examine the creation and application of criminal...
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...Lauralee Candelario Professor Lawrie Criminology April 13, 2016 The social learning branch of social process theory suggests that people learn criminal behavior much as they learn conventional behavior. If an individual were to grow up in an environment that fostered the pursuit of academic interests, this intellect trait would have the ability for increased expression rather than if the individual were in an environment that placed little value on learning. This can in turn relate to criminal behavior and social deviance. Various developmental and sociological factors play a role in an individual’s inclination towards exhibiting criminal behavior. One of the most important environmental factors during childhood development is that of socialization or the way a child is taught how to act. Children learn to merely obey the rules of their society. Certain actions are repeated because of directly correlated consequences. A child does not intuitively know that stealing is wrong; they have to be taught through negative consequences that this behavior is not acceptable. They then internalize these rules and eventually believe them to be fundamentally correct. Socialization refers to the developmental period where the ideals of morality and socially acceptable behavior are instilled in a child. If a child is consistently taught how to act through both positive and negative reinforcement, the child will begin to exhibit certain characteristics because they...
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...Crime and Deviance AN INTRODUCTION TO CRIME AND DEVIANCE Definitions * Crime- An act which breaks the criminal laws of society. * Deviance- refers to the behaviour which is disapproved of by most people in society and which does not conform to society's norms and values. TOPIC 1: FUNCTIONALIST, STRAIN AND SUBCULTURAL THEORIES Durkheim's functionalist theory: * Socialisation and Social control are two key mechanisms which allow social solidarity to occur in society. The inevitability of crime: * Functionalists see too much crime as destabilising society. * They also see crime as inevitable and universal- Durkheim, 'crime is normal... an integral part of all healthy societies.' * There are two reasons why C&D are found in all societies; 1.Not everyone is equally effectively socialised into the shared norms and values. 2. Different groups develop their own subculture and what the members of the subculture regard as normal, mainstream culture may see as deviant. * Durkheim also discusses that in modern societies there is a tendency towards anomie (normlessness). The diversity of modern societies means that the collective conscience is weakened, and this results in higher levels of C&D. The positive functions of crime: * For Durkheim, crime also fulfils two important functions; boundary maintenance and adaptation. * Boundary Maintenance- In Durkheim's view, the purpose of punishment is to reaffirm society's shared rules and reinforces...
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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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...Interactionalists reject official crime statistics; they believe they are socially constructed (made by society) Howard Becker: Deviance is in the eye of the beholder What is classed as crime or deviant is based on subjective decisions by moral entrepreneurs These are agents of social control who decide what behaviours are to be labelled as deviant or not How society responds to a deviant act depends on whether the act or person has been publicly labelled as deviant or not Lemert talks about this in terms of: Primary deviance – an act that has not been labelled as deviant Secondary deviance – an act that has been publicly labelled as deviant Once an act has been labelled as deviant… The deviant actor may see themselves as a deviant person they adopt this as their master status This can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy as they then behave in a way which lives up to this label The media can contribute to this by demonising those who have been labelled as deviant This creates moral panics amongst society… Creating ‘folk devils of the deviant individuals which marginalises them even further’ This process is known as deviance amplification Cicourel: The negotiation of justice Agents of social control (E.g. police) hold ‘typification’ (stereotypes) about who is more likely to commit crime. This is more likely to be based against the more powerless groups in society – the young, the poor and ethnic minorities. This can lead to a self-serving bias; police are more likely...
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...delinquent is a minor who commits a crime or a status offense. A status offense is conduct that is illegal only because the child is under age i.e. smoking cigarettes (Leung, 2009). In August 1993 in Savona, New York 13 year old Eric Smith killed 4 year old Derrick Robie. Smith lured Robie into the woods and strangled, beat with large rocks, and sodomized Robie. When questioned by the police Smith kept changing various details in his story. This made police believe that he knew more about the case than he was telling them. Smith confessed to his parents that he killed Robie. As a young child, Smith displayed anger problems. He would throw tantrums and bang his head on the floor. Smith was a firebug and would kill small animals. He would hit his siblings and would punch things to let out his anger. In school, Smith had a learning disability, speech problems and was left back. Smith often was the target of bullies, affecting his self-esteem. He had extremely low self-esteem. Smith’s mother while pregnant with him took tridione to control her epileptic seizures. Tridione can cause birth defects and may have caused physical and developmental defects in Eric. Smith’s attorney said he suffered from a mental disease called intermittent explosive disorder. The disease caused him to have uncontrollable rage episodes. After the episode, the person appears to be normal. Smith did not undergo a psychological evaluation prior to his trial. Smith did...
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...Outline labelling theory and consider its usefulness in explaining crime and deviance. Labelling theory claims that deviance and conformity results not so much from what people do but from how others respond to those actions, it highlights social responses to crime and deviance. Macionis and Plummer, (2005) said deviant behaviour is therefore socially constructed. The labelling theory is used as a sociological theory of crime influential in challenging positivity criminology. The key people to this theory were Becker and Lement. The foundations of this view of deviance are said to have been first established by Lement, (1951) and were subsequently developed by Becker, (1963).As a matter of fact the labelling theory has subsequently become a dominant example in the explanation of deviance. The symbolic interaction perspective was extremely active in the early foundations of the labelling theory. The labelling theory is constituted by the assumption that deviant behaviour is to be seen not simply as the violation of a norm but as any behaviour which is successfully defined or labelled as deviant. Deviance is not the act itself but the response others give to that act which means deviance is in the eyes of the beholder. Actually the labelling theory was built on Becker, (1963:9) statement that "Social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitute deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them as outsiders----deviance is...
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...SUCKER PUNCH: A GUIDE TO SELF-DEFENCE Brief Overview This self-defence course has been designed to make students aware of the potential dangers in their environment and gives them practical guidelines which will help them thrive in extreme situations. Through the course, the students learn that the idea of self-defence does not just contain physiological aspects but also the intellectual and psychological ones. These entail the fundamental understanding and acknowledgement of the existing criminal threats. Moreover, it includes accepting the responsibility for protecting yourself. Furthermore, since we are a part of a Liberal Arts institute and we subscribe to the theory of multiple intelligences, it is important for students to recognize...
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...Abstract This paper will explore three published articles that report the results from research conducted on Native American reservations, specifically their relationship with the criminal justice system. The topics that will be discussed include rape, structural disadvantages and Native American violence, and finally how society views these issues through the context of difference, inequality, and division. Native Americans have been the victims of oppression since Europeans came to North America. Europeans considered themselves to be an advanced civilization, who created social constructions of young America. Europeans introduced the term race to already existing societies in America, by differentiating Native Americans by the color of their skin. Through time, these Native American societies accepted the constructs of race and were referred to as “us” versus “them” to distinguish which race they represented. As Europeans settlers began to expand their civilization over Native American territories, their hierarchical power grew as well. The way Europeans inherited this hierarchical power was due to their technology (e.g. guns, education, medicine, etc.) leaving many Native Americans powerless. The textbook, “Investigation Difference” by Vernon Anthony states, "…use difference as a resource as we have done so ably in the past, or we can use power, coercion, and hate to try to eradicate diversity from our country as many fundamentalist, militant, and radically conservation...
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...OUTLINE AND ASSESS FUNCTIONALIST EXPLANATIONS OF CRIME AND DEVIANCE (50) INTRODUCTION * Structural theory * Believe that society is good and order is necessary * Therefore at first glance crime appears to be negative, but functionalists believe crime can be beneficial to social system PARAGRAPH 1 - DURKHEIM * Believed in consensus and need for social order + that crime was inevitable * He believed crime and deviance were product of lack of attachment to prevailing consensus over collective values * Durkheim believed the speed of change in modern societies was likely to generate deviance and crime as the modern world rapidly reinvents itself * Intro of new economic process and technology combined with social/geographical mobility leave people feeling unsure about their place in the world, so people lose a sense of what it is to be normal and develop sense of anomie (normlessness) * Crime and deviance are bound to increase now * After fall of Soviet Union crime increased rapidly in Russia as whole social fabric was transformed * Durkheim said crime was necessary for society and he notes 3 main benefits of crime: 1. Reaffirming the Boundaries – when someone is taken to court, the sanction and the publicity reaffirm existing values 2. Changing Values – sometimes when someone is charged with a crime, a degree of sympathy occurs for the person prosecuted leading to a change in values, which can lead to change in law to reflect...
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...Describe the major premises of the three branches of social process theory – social learning theory, social control theory, and social reaction (labeling) theory? Social learning theories assume that people are born good and learn to be bad; social control theory assumes that people are born bad and must be controlled in order to be good; and social reactions theory assumes that whether good or bad, people are shaped, directed, and influenced by the evaluations of others. 2. Travis Hirschi links the onset of criminality to the weakening of the ties that bind people to society. Identify and discuss the elements of the social bond and how they impede crime. Hirshi links the onset of criminality to weakening of the ties that bind people to society. He assumes that all individuals are potential law violators, but most are kept under control because they fear that illegal behavior ill damage their realationships with friends, family, neighbors, teachers, and employers. Without these social bonds, or ties, a person is free to commit criminal acts. Across all ethnic, religious, racial, and social groups, people whose bond to society is weak may fall prey to criminogenic behavior patterns. Hirschi argues that the social bond a person maintains with society is disvided into four main elements: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. 3. Discuss the key points of labeling theory and the consequences of labeling, Include in your discussion the...
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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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...Outline labelling theory and consider its usefulness in understanding youth crime and anti-social behaviour in Britain today. Labelling theory claims that deviance and conformity results not so much from what people do but from how others respond to those actions, it highlights social responses to crime and deviance Macionis and Plummer, (2005).Deviant behaviour is therefore socially constructed. This essay will describe in full the labelling theory and comment on the importance of the theory to the deviant behaviour of the youth and the anti-social behaviour of the youth in Britain today. The labelling theory becomes dominant in the early 1960s and the late 1970s when it was used as a sociological theory of crime influential in challenging orthodox positivity criminology. The key people to this theory were Becker and Lement.The foundations of this view of deviance are said to have been first established by Lement, (1951) and were subsequently developed by Becker, (1963).As a matter of fact the labelling theory has subsequently become a dominant paradigm in the explanation of devience.The symbolic interaction perspective was extremely active in the early foundations of the labelling theory. The labelling theory is constituted by the assumption that deviant behaviour is to be seen not simply as the violation of a norm but as any behaviour which is successfully defined or labelled as deviant. Deviance is not the act itself but the response others give to that act which means deviance...
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