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sociology- crime theory
the theories of crime
19
Sociology
Not Applicable
04/27/2009

Additional Sociology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Durkheim
Definition

* crime is functional for society

* creates social solidarity and value consensus

* creates social order as it shows boundaries

Term
Wilson and Kelling (1982)
Definition

*broken window thesis

* leads to an increase in crime

* if there is no control, the area will decline

 

 

Term
Murray (1990s)
Definition

* underclsses are the problem

* inadequate socialisation. e.g. by lone parents

* control is vital. if there is no control, crime will escalate

Term
Right Realism
Definition

* society is fragmenting

* crime is rising due to lack of respect for authority

* focus on street crime- official stats

 

Term
Left Realism
Definition

* is a response to the new criminology

* street crime is a soical problem

* crime should not be seen as a political protest

 

Term
Merton
Definition

* strain theory

* people commit crime for economic reasons

* if they don't have the means to achieve the goals or 'american dream' then they will trun to crime

* agree with durkheims theory of anomie

Term
Cohen 
Definition

* status frustration

* delinquents create their own subcultures in order to gain staus as they have been marginalised

* mainly working classes

Term
Davis
Definition

* theory on prostitution

* prostitution is functional to society

* provides satisfaction without threatening family institution

Term
Cloward and Ohlin
Definition

* opportunity structure

* different environments provide different opportunities for crime

* they try to explain why subcultures form and put them into three groups

Term
Becker
Definition

* looks at the labelling theory

* no act can be deviant or criminal unles it has been labelled as such

* not related to the act itself but the social reaction to the act

- link to malinowski

Term
Malinowski
Definition

* study in the trobriad islands

* found that alot of incest was happening and that it was not frowned upon aslong as it was kept quiet or hidden

* when out in the open, it then became labelled as a crime

Term
Matza
Definition

* looked at subterranean values

* most of the time we control our deviant desires but occasionally they appear

* use process of neutralisation when they go

- delinquency and drift

Term
self-report studies
Definition

* usually a self-completion questionaire

* given a list of offences and asked whether they have committed them

* criticism. they do not reflect the true nature of crime- question validity

Term
Interactionalists
Definition

* argue that social order is constantly being constructed

* therefore, what is seen as crime and deviance is open to negotiation, unlike the marx or func view

Term
Plummer
Definition

* defends labelling theory

* labelling theorists identify individual acts as ways of gaining self-esteem and status

* as action theorists, they are bound to look at action than structure- developed to show inequalities within the law

Term
Marx
Definition
Term
Box
Definition
Term
Neo-Marxism
Definition
Term
The New Criminology
Definition
* a combination of interactionalist and marxist views
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