What are crime and deviance?

Deviance is actions that break the social norms, e.g. not saying please or thank you or murder. If people broke social norms all of the time this would lead to uncertainty, chaos and disorder.

Crimes are actions which are against the law. Society's laws are enforced by the police and judiciary which are agencies of social control.

The social construction of crime and devianceWhat is seen as a crime or deviant changes over time and varies from place to place, e.g. in medieval times it was the norm for girls under 16 to marry. A person who did this today would be seen as a paedophile. Also abortion was illegal until 1967 and polygamy is illegal in Britain but is the norm in places like Kenya.

Are crime and deviance the same?Most crimes are deviant, e.g. murder. Some crimes are not deviant, e.g. speeding is against the law but is not deviant because many drivers break this law. Some behaviour is deviant but is not against the law, e.g. wear a swimming costume in the snow.

What is informal social control?Social order is how society is kept under control. This is achieved through social norms we are expected to follow. People who break social norms receive formal or informal sanctions (punishments). Formal sanctions include prison sentences and fines for breaking laws which are written rules. Informal sanctions include raised eyebrows, being gossiped about and dirty looks

or breaking unwritten rules such as wearing a bikini to church.

Close knit communities are communities with lots of links, e.g. between family and friends. They have stronger informal social control. People know each other and care about what they think. In communities that are not close knit people feel free to break social norms, e.g. when

on holiday people often behave differently to how they would in their home town.

Other agencies of social control include the family and education. For example where social control is strong family members may be more worried about sanctions

by members of the family than other authorities. Sanctions may include being left out of the family, losing respect or being told off. Education maintains social order informally by punishing those who break social norms concerning uniform, behaviour and attendance. At the extreme end, with permanent exclusion, education becomes more like a formal agent of social control.

CRIME AND DEVIANCE

CRIME AND DEVIANCE

What role do the police play in formal social control?The police do the following to maintain social control:Controlling traffic and the roads.Keeping order in societyInvestigating crime, collecting evidence and catching criminalsProtecting and serving the publicEducating the public about crime.

Public relations and styles of policingPublic relations refers to the way that the police deal with the public. There are two styles: community policing which involves making links with the community and is useful when dealing with ethnic minority groups and zero tolerance which involves the police being strict on even the smallest crimes. The idea is that people will not commit crimes for fear of arrest.

Functionalism and the policeFunctionalists believe the police are doing a good job by maintaining social order by socialising the public, e.g. about speeding, drink driving and other issues.

Marxism and the policeMarxists believe that the police keep the ruling classes in charge by protecting the ruling class from the workers who may try to steal their wealth and help to stop working class protest.

Formal social control? - The judiciary

The judiciary includes legal institutions that decide what happens when laws are broken; it includes institutions (the Crown Prosecution Services) who deal with people after the police have investigated crimes.

The courts. There are a range of courts to enforce the law;

Youth Courts for young people

Magistrates' Courts for less serious offences are presided over by Magistrates who are members of the public with

the power to fine offenders up to £5,000 and send them to prison for 6 months.

Crown Courts are for serious offences in which a judge is assisted by twelve members of a jury who are randomly chosen from the public and decide by a majority of at least 10 - 2 if the person is innocent or guilty. The judge decides the sentence.

Functionalism and the judiciaryFunctionalists see the role of the judiciary as good; they take bad individuals out of society, punish and resocialise them to become useful members of society and to remind everyone of the boundaries of behaviour.

Marxism and the judiciaryMarxists have a negative view of the judiciary; they believe that the courts protect the rich and powerful, particularly their property whilst the poor are treated more harshly by the judiciary.

How do the media help to keep social control?The media includes all means of mass communication, e.g. TV, Internet, social networking sites and newspapers.

Media representation of crimeSociologists state that the media focus in certain crimes, e.g. those committed by young people and the working classes. They note that newspapers, particularly tabloids, often sensationalise crime and focus on extremes.

Test your learning:

1. What is deviance?2. What is crime?3. What is meant by the social construction of crime and deviance?4. Name a crime that is deviant.5. Name a crime that is not deviant.6. What is social order?7. What are sanctions?8. Give an example of a formal sanction.9. Give an example of an informal sanction.10. What is a close knit community?11. Why do close knit communities have stronger informal social control?12. What happens when communities are not so close knit?13. Give two examples of pother agencies of social control.14. Give two examples of sanctions that could be given by family members.15. Give two examples of things that sanctions may be given for at school.16. Name three things that the police do to maintain social control.

CRIME AND DEVIANCE

Moral panicsStanley Cohen stated that newspapers created a moral panic (made the public worried,) by suggesting that the whole of society is going to break down, when he studied the reporting of the Easter bank holiday violence at Clacton in 1964. Newspapers exaggerated violence between youths, drew attention to the events and called for greater punishment of the young people involved. (this is similar to the 2010 students riots)

Folk devilsThe young people involved were Mods and Rockers, two popular youth cultures, and became known as folk devils who people unfairly thought to terrorise society. This type of exaggeration is a form of stereotyping.

Deviancy amplificationThe media reporting events at Clacton were trying to control society but made deviancy worse (this is deviancy amplification) because they predicted problems during other bank holidays. This advertised events to young people and made them worse at future bank holidays. Cohen called this deviance amplification.

Test your learning:

1. What is deviance?2. What is crime?3. What is meant by the social construction of crime and deviance?4. Name a crime that is deviant.5. Name a crime that is not deviant.6. What is social order?7. What are sanctions?8. Give an example of a formal sanction.9. Give an example of an informal sanction.10. What is a close knit community?11. Why do close knit communities have stronger informal social control?12. What happens when communities are not so close knit?13. Give two examples of pother agencies of social control.14. Give two examples of sanctions that could be given by family members.15. Give two examples of things that sanctions may be given for at school.16. Name three things that the police do to maintain social control.

Test your learning:

1.Why do functionalists think that the police are doing a good job?2. Why do Marxists think that the police are doing a bad job?3. What is the judiciary?4. Who is tried in youth courts?5. Who is tried in the Magistrate’s Courts?6. Who is tried the Crown Court?7. Why do functionalists see the role of the judiciary as good?8. Why do Marxists have a negative view of the judiciary?9. What is the mass media?

White collar crime is usually but not always linked to someone's job, is non-violent and committed for money. It includes fraud, bribery, insider trading and embezzlement and is hard to detect as it is committed by middle class people who are respected members of society and so not suspected.

They tend to be intelligent and in a position to hide their crimes which may as a result not be reported. Sometimes there is no obvious victim or the victim may be unaware of the crime. This partially explains why it is hard to know how much white collar crime there is. Also companies may ask workers to resign rather than involve the police as bad publicity may put customers off. The media tend to focus on violent crime or theft although this appears to be changing following reporting of the MPs expenses scandal.

Blue collar crime refers to crimes committed by the working classes which are usually less planned than white collar crime and may involve damage to a person or property but also includes drug abuse, prostitution and illegal gambling.

Corporate crime is motivated by greed and is crime committed by 'respectable', high status people working for big companies and businesses. The aim is to make individuals rich by making the company rich so they get higher wages. Therefore it is not surprising that Marxists see it as a ruling class crime.

The main difference between white collar and corporate crime is that the company can be held responsible, not just individuals who can also be punished for corporate crimes. Victims of

corporate crime include both the public and employees. Corporate crime includes negligence, false advertising, lying about the contents of a product, bribery and financial fraud.

Sometimes the company may not be making money but rather have sloppy working practices that risk people's health

Example of corporate crimeA German drugs company produced a drug called Thalidomide in the early 1960s. It was used to relieve morning sickness in pregnant women; babies were born with missing limbs and other problems. The company had done tests on animals but not on the possible effects on pregnant women. After years of campaigning the company was forced to pay compensation to affected families because of their negligence when testing the drug. What does sociology tell us about youth crime and street crime?Youth crime is crime committed by young people. People are held to be criminally responsible from the age of 10 years. Young offenders are aged between 10 and 17 years. After this age a person is considered to be an adult.

Youths are associated with delinquency (anti-social behaviour) and crimes such as theft, vandalism, intimidation, fighting and drug related crime.

Street crime is crime that takes place in public places, e.g. mugging, prostitution, anti-social

behaviour, gun and knife crime. It is associated with youth, working-class and ethnic minorities.

How does society view youth crime and street crime?Many people see these as the main concerns of society. Marxists believe that this is because the media tend to focus on these crimes leading to moral panics so the public and New Right call for harsher punishments so the police and judiciary spend more time on these issues. The New Right also call for stricter discipline from parents and schools Therefore, white collar and corporate crime is overlooked according to Marxists as attention is diverted from these issues.

Test your learning:

1.Why do functionalists think that the police are doing a good job?2. Why do Marxists think that the police are doing a bad job?3. What is the judiciary?4. Who is tried in youth courts?5. Who is tried in the Magistrate’s Courts?6. Who is tried the Crown Court?7. Why do functionalists see the role of the judiciary as good?8. Why do Marxists have a negative view of the judiciary?9. What is the mass media?

CRIME AND DEVIANCE

ThalidomideTest your learning:

1.Who commits white collar crime?2. What sort of crimes does this include?3. Give three reasons why white collar crime is hard to detect?4. Why do companies often ask staff to resign rather than involve the police?5. What sort of crimes do the media usually focus on?6. What is blue collar crime?7. Give two examples of blue collar crime.8. What is corporate crime?9. How would Marxists describe this sort of crime?10. What is the main difference between white collar and corporate crime?11. Who might be the victims of corporate crime?12. Explain why the thalidomide scandal was an example of corporate crime.13. What is youth crime?14. Give two examples of youth crime.15. What is street crime?16. Give two examples of street crime.17. What types of crime are the main concerns of society?18. How does the New Right tend to act towards these crimes as a result?

Nature explanations of crime and devianceBiological explanationsNature explanations see criminals as born that way. Cesare Lombroso in the late 19th century stated that criminals could be identified by physical features including large ears, jaws, flat nostrils, dark skin and a high pain threshold. These views have been discredited.

More recent views state that behaviour can be linked to chemical imbalances causing mental health problems which are treated with drugs. There has also been research to try to identify behaviour caused by genes such as the warrior gene which can lead to psychopathic behaviour given the right environmental factors.

Psychological explanationsPsychological explanations of crime are connected to a person's mind and personality. Hans Eysenck believed that extroverts are more likely to commit crime as they are more likely to take risks.

Psychologists believe that other things such as ADHD and schizophrenia also explain people's behaviour.

Whilst biological and psychological theories focus on the individual and their characteristics to explain criminal behaviour sociologists emphasise nurture (socialisation) when explaining crime.

Labelling theory is a way that people are socialised into criminal behaviour by the way they are treated, e.g. if you call a person a thief because they are caught shop lifting they may

live up to that label and commit worse crimes. This is known as a self-fulfilling prophecy.

How do subcultures help to explain crime and deviance?All theories in this area see crime as a response to a social situation and therefore nurture (socialisation) rather than having individual causes.

What is a subculture?A subculture is the way of life of a small group within a society. Some subcultures may be criminal. Criminal subcultures may be different to each other.

Strain theoryRobert K Merton believed that crime took place when there was no little opportunity for people to achieve their goals without breaking the law. Malcom Webster, a nurse, murdered his first wife and attempted to murder his second wife for the money. Sociologists might argue that this is an example of strain theory.

Status frustrationAlbert Cohen studied American society and stated that there is a strong value on success. He believed that many working class people fail to be successful and therefore invent their own subculture that has the opposite norms and values to main stream culture and gain success and respect in that subculture. This may cause them to do badly in school and take part in criminal activities. Example: Al Capone an Italian immigrant to America faced discrimination and was ambitious for success. To achieve this he got involved in a criminal subculture of organised crime.

Criminal subculturesCloward and Ohlin believed that there are different criminal subcultures according to the opportunities for criminals in the area. They identified three criminal subcultures:

1. Criminal subculture - highly organised criminal subcultures exist.

2. Conflict subculture - there is no organised crime so they join gangs and fight each other.

3. Retreatist subculture - they give up and turn to drugs or alcohol.

CRIME AND DEVIANCE

Test your learning:

1.What do biological / nature explanations of crime see as the cause of crime?2. What is the gene identified as a cause of crime in more recent research?3. What do psychological explanations of crime state that crime is connected to?4. What do sociologists emphasise when explaining crime?5. What do theories about subcultures see crime as a response to?6. When according to strain theory does crime take place?7. Explain why sociologists might argue that Malcolm Webster’s crimes could be explained by strain theory?8. According to status frustration theory why do people commit crime?9. Explain why sociologists might argue that Al Capone’s crimes could be explained by status frustration theory?10. What according to Cloward and Ohlin determines the type of criminal subculture that someone might join?11. What are the three criminal subcultures identified by Cloward and Ohlin.

How is social class linked to crime?Conviction rates and social class.Official statistics show that young working class males are more likely to be prosecuted, convicted and sent to prison than any other group. This suggests that they are more likely to turn to crime.

Failure in education and feeling of low status have been used to explain this. Cultural and material deprivation resulting from this have been linked to high conviction rates. However, self-report studies show that crime is committed by all social classes. White collar and corporate crime may not be detected or even reported. Corporate criminals may not even be thought of as criminals.

Marxism, class and crimeMarxists argue that the police are more likely to arrest and convict the working classes as more resources are put into policing working class areas and street crime, which is likely to be working class. The courts being middle class institutions are likely to not favour working class people. Further the laws they enforce favour the rich upper classes and are about protecting property.

Victims of crimeThe poor and elderly are also more likely to be victims of violent crime and burglary.

How is gender linked to crime?Conviction rates by gender.More males than females are convicted of crimes; women only account for 5% of the prison population. However, women are

more often convicted of shoplifting and offences related to prostitution.

SocialisationNorms of masculinity have been blamed for the higher rate of male convictions because men are socialised to be more aggressive and tough. Females are socialised to be gentler and are also controlled by parents to a greater extent. This is changing; women are now being convicted of more violent offences, possibly due to ladette culture (a set of norms that encourage girls to behave like men).

Chivalry factorThe chivalry factor is where women are treated more gently by the forces of social control. This may start at school where teachers treat girls less harshly by shouting at them less and punishing them less severely. The police and judiciary behave in a similar way making it more likely for me to be convicted.

Demonisation of womenThis is the idea that women who go against the view of the caring nature of women are demonised for example by the media and may receive harsh treatment by the courts, e.g. women who harm children.

VictimisationAccording to official statistics men are more likely to be victims of violent crime whereas women are more likely to be victims of sexual attacks and domestic abuse. These figures may be influenced by non-reporting, e.g. men may be less likely to report domestic violence than women.

How is ethnicity linked to crime?Ethnicity and conviction rates.Ethnic minorities are over-represented in the prison population. Some may conclude that they are more likely to be criminals than white people. Conviction rates vary between ethnic groups and sexes within them.

Racism and conviction ratesPaul Gilroy argued that the police are racist and that ethnic groups were not more criminal than white groups. Institutional racism in the police force was highlighted by the Macpherson Report following the murder of Stephen Lawrence. The report stated that the police force was racist in its thinking and practices and therefore had a culture of racism.

CRIME AND DEVIANCE

Test your learning:

1.According to official statistics who is more likely to be prosecuted, convicted and sent to prison than any other group?2. Give three things that have been used to explain crime rates amongst the group identified in the previous question? 3. Why, according to Marxists, are the working classes more likely to be arrested and convicted of crime?4. Which two groups are more likely to be victims of violent crime and burglary?5. What has been blamed for the higher rate of male convictions?6. Why are more women being convicted of violent offences?7. How are women treated by the forces of social control according to the chivalry factor theory?8. How are women treated by the media and the courts if they go against the view of the caring nature of women? 9. According to official statistics what crimes are men more likely to be victims of?10. According to official statistics what crimes are women more likely to be victims of?10. What are the two views of why ethnic minorities are more likely to be convicted of crimes?

StereotypesStereotypes and labelling of ethnic minorities by the police and courts may have increased criminal behaviour amongst ethnic minorities and the resources put into investigating it and therefore detection rates amongst these groups. This may have resulted from moral panics created by the media focusing on crime amongst ethnic minorities and also about immigration itself.

Ethnicity and victimisationEthnic groups are also more likely to be victims of crime as they are more likely to live in poor areas where crime rates are higher. They are also more likely to be victims of racist attacks.

Is crime getting worse?Official statistics and crime.The government use data that the police collect to produce official statistics on crime. The media report on these statistics. In recent years this data has shown crime rates falling overall. At the same time people feel that crime is getting worse which may be because tabloid newspapers tend to sensationalise stories.

Where do official statistics come from? The main source of official statistics is crime that are reported to and recorded by the police. Sociologists argue that crime statistics are socially constructed which means they reflect what the public choose to report and the police choose to record.

Reasons why some crimes are not reported.They may not seem serious to the victim, the victim may feel that the police will be unable to do anything, they may fear repercussions if they tell the police. The criminal may be known to them or even be a family member. Sexual crimes may be too stressful or embarrassing to report. Crime such as child abuse may not be reported for years. Some crimes may not have a victim, e.g. underage drinking or drug abuse. On the other hand some crimes will be reported so that the victim can make an insurance claim, e.g. burglary.

Problems with the way that crime is reportedFor a crime to be reported it must be recorded by the police. Police forces have been increasingly under pressure since the 1990s to hit targets for the reduction of crime and are judged on their detection rates. Therefore the police may not choose to record some crimes so that detection rates look better than they actually are.

CRIME AND DEVIANCETest your learning:

1.Give two reasons why criminal behaviour has increased amongst ethnic minorities.2. Why is crime committed by ethnic minorities be more likely to be detected?3. Explain the role of the media in increasing detection rates for crime committed by ethnic minorities.4. Why are ethnic groups more likely to be victims of crime?5. Do official statistics show that crime is increasing or decreasing?6. Why do people think that crime is getting worse?7. What is the main source of official statistics of crime?8. Why do sociologists claim that crime statistics are socially constructed?9. Give five reasons why some crimes are not reported.10. Explain why insurance claims increase the likelihood of some crimes being reported.11. Explain how pressure on police to hit targets to reduce crime might influence what crimes are recorded.