1 Crime & Deviance Major public / policy concern Build on SO1505 lectures Consider various theories...
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Transcript of 1 Crime & Deviance Major public / policy concern Build on SO1505 lectures Consider various theories...
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Crime & DevianceMajor public / policy concernBuild on SO1505 lecturesConsider various theoriesToday: Control, Radical/CCCSTomorrow: Left Realism,
FeminismRecap: Deviance – against cultural
normsCrime – against criminal law
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Control TheoryLinks to Durkheimian sociology
Key focus: on CONFORMITY
Social control underpins conformity
Crime/Deviance marked by LACK of conformity
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Control Theory: HirschiAll capable of deviance
Strong bonds ensure conformity
Weak bonds – deviant acts
Four types of bond:
i) Attachment: intimacy
ii) Commitment: to education, job, reputation, etc
iii) Involvement: keep busy
iv) Belief: moral commitment to rules of society
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HirschiEmpirical strength:
deviants/criminals tend to lack controls
‘Delinquent’ children – surveys show weak family bonds
Later work: ‘weak self-control’: poor socialization, even if later bonds are strong
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Broader Control Theories
Focus on family influence or ‘street life’ re delinquency
‘Situational’ approaches – crime and risk; cost/benefit
Focus on design e.g. housing estates – make crime less risky, weaken social bonds?
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Control Theory - EvaluationPositives:- Empirical research- Pragmatic, policy-friendly
e.g. install CCTV- Can foster social
integration of individuals- Connects criminal acts to
rationalizations of individuals
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Control Theories - EvaluationCriticisms:
- Ignore social structural factors underlying ‘weak bonds’
- Middle-class emphasis?- Ignore motives and meanings
re deviance- Conformity to ‘bad’ systems?- People not that ‘rational’ re
criminal behaviour
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Radical/Conflict Criminology
Diverse UK and US perspectives
Roots in Marx
General position:
- Laws protect rich- Laws are ideological- Laws enforced unequally.
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US researchCrime endemic in US capitalism
– criminal networks at top.
Chambliss’s study of Seattle…
Working class crime usually a ‘means to survival’ (Quinney)
‘Politicality of crime – actions against something, to gain social change
Victimize young, black males; ignores crimes of powerful
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UK research‘New Criminology’ (early
1970s)- Attacked other positions- Capitalism - exploitation
causes crime- Socialism – equality,
diversity- Prior researchers ignored
structural roots of crimeBUT: romanticized crime/class
links; limited research
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UK researchBirmingham School (CCCS)
Policing the Crisis
Examine major concerns re ‘mugging’ in 1970s
But - statistics manipulated – no real rise in ‘muggings’
So why the ‘moral panic’?
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CCCSPolice, media, judges,
politicians reinforce panic
Conflict-ridden society – but unites against ‘crime’/ ‘Black Mugger’
‘War against crime’ legitimises State
Wider moral panics re ‘deviant’ groups (powerless e.g. ‘scroungers’)
Actual Black crime reflects social oppression
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Evaluating CCCS
Benefits:- Very detailed mix of theory and
evidence- ‘Crime’ linked to social
structures, institutions- Explores power relations, has
serious critical component- Enables analysis of right-wing
UK governments
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Evaluating CCCSWeaknesses:- Deterministic; Left
functionalism- Laws protect poor?- Statistical evidence
questioned- Underplay issues re victims;
don’t confront making of criminals
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Crime & Deviance
Explore ‘Left Realist’ and Feminist theories today
Offer advances on earlier theories
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Left RealismEmerged in 1980s
Major impetus in feminist criminology – where were women?
General failure of Radical Crim to explain victims
Working class not single unit – inner differences?
Survey evidence – working-class feared and were victims of crime
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Left RealismNew Positions:
- Crime is a real problem, needs to be tackled
- Away from Idealism, engage evidence
- Working class re as more varied, diverse, internal differences
- Police, courts re as necessary- Examine Black and working-
class crime
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Left Realism- Surveys point towards practical
action- Favour multi-agency approach –
social services, I.R., schools, etc- End of thinking re Socialist
‘Utopia’- Crime: roots in relative deprivation- Crime: often result of exclusion
from intensive ‘consumer society’
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Left Realism
Pros:- Maintains focus on
structural context of crime
- Much more engaged with disadvantaged communities, victims
- Greater police/community relations
- Focus on other agencies
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Left RealismSome Criticisms:- Fears of crime are often
irrational- Surveys – imprecise
information- Community policing –
many might favour ‘tougher’ approach
- Vague sense of what community is
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Feminist CriminologyKey writers: Smart, Heidensohn,
Carlen, Campbell
Highlighted issues of female criminality or females in subcultures
Significant focus on victims
Critiqued old psycho-biological theories re women and crime
Criticized prior studies as patriarchal, ignoring gender gap, males studying males
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Feminist CriminologyMost statistics show most crimes by males
Females commit similar offences, but less seriously and regularly? (Walklate)
Focus on domestic violence, sexual offences, etc
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Feminist Criminology
Women treated leniently in CJS?
No: evidence not there; cf. treatment of prostitutes, other ‘deviant’ women (e.g. ‘failed mothers’)
Changes in Controls? - Women more emancipated,
looser controls, so more crime?
No: economic marginalization more influential
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Feminist Criminology
Carlen: most women experience ‘control’ effects of work and family
Women lacking these bonds more likely to commit crimes e.g. especially those raised in care homes
More likely to get custodial sentences
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Feminist CrimVariety of theories:Liberal Fem:- Focus on discrimination against
women- Weak re critical sociological insightsSocialist Fem:- Connects gender/crime issues to class,
conflicts and problems of capitalism- Structuralist approach; interconnects
power inequalities- Dilutes gender? Lifecourse differences
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Feminist CrimPostmodern Fem:
- Women as highly diverse groups
- Celebrates ‘difference’, lifestyle
Radical Fem:
- Focus on patriarchal roots of law
- Explore women’s perspectives
Generally, Feminist approaches influence ‘Left Realist’ approach re gender/surveys
Contribution re CJS, male violence towards women, etc.
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Sum UpCould argue both approaches better since:
- Focus on victims; often better link of evidence to theory
- Fem focus on women – neglected before
- Most plausible – connect class and gender
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