Explanations of Crime & Deviance (AQA GCSE Sociology): Exam Questions

Identify and describe one example of deviant behaviour that is not criminal.

What term is commonly used by sociologists to describe the process by which people become widely regarded as deviant?

Describe one example of deviance.

Identify one disadvantage of using a qualitative method to investigate criminal behaviour and explain how you would deal with this in your investigation.

Identify and explain one disadvantage of using group interviews to research the experience of prisoners.

Item B

From Item B, identify and explain one factor which may explain why some people use illegitimate means of achieving their goals, including what you know of Merton’s perspective.

What term is commonly used by sociologists to describe the criminal justice system?

What term is commonly used by sociologists to describe a negative penalty for unacceptable behaviour?

Identify and describe one type of deviant behaviour that is tolerated by many people in society.

Item B

Merton was interested in how different people had different opportunities to fulfil their ambitions. Merton called these ‘success goals’ by which he meant things like earning money, having a good job or having a comfortable lifestyle. Merton believed that these goals were shared by most of society, but not all people had the opportunity to achieve these success goals. Merton said that there were five ways in which individuals could respond to the success goals in society, which were conformity, ritualism, innovation, retreatism and rebellion.

An individual’s response to success goals was often determined by their opportunity to achieve them.

Source: Robert K. Merton, Social Theory and Social Structure.

From Item B, identify and describe one way in which an individual can respond to the need to succeed in society according to Merton, including what you know of his perspective on this issue.

Discuss how far sociologists would agree that crime and deviance are socially constructed

What term is commonly used by sociologists to describe the process by which people become widely regarded as deviant?

Describe one example of deviance.

Item B

Item B not reproduced here due to third-party copyright restrictions

Source: Heidensohn, F, Women and Crime, 1985.

From Item B, identify and explain one reason why women commit less crime than men according to Heidensohn, including what you know of her perspective on this issue.

Discuss how far sociologists would agree that informal social control is an effective way of controlling deviant behaviour.

Discuss how far sociologists would agree that people commit crime because of a lack of opportunities within society.

What term is commonly used by sociologists to describe the system of law enforcement in the United Kingdom?

Describe one way in which deviance can be seen to be socially constructed.

Which of the following is described by sociologists as a formal agency of social control?

Describe one example of a criminal subculture.

Identify and describe one informal agency of social control.

Discuss how far sociologists would agree that social inequality is the main cause of criminal behaviour.

Discuss how far sociologists would agree that deviant behaviour may have an important function in society.

Discuss how far sociologists would agree that informal social control is an effective way of controlling deviant behaviour.

Discuss how far sociologists would agree that people commit crime because of a lack of opportunities within society.

Item B

Frances Heidensohn wanted to understand why women appear less often than men in official crime statistics. Writing from a feminist perspective, she argued that society controls women in ways that limit their opportunities to break the law. According to her, women are monitored at home, face restrictions in public and are often controlled by male authority at work.

To explore women’s experiences, Heidensohn collected primary data through speaking to women face to face. One woman, known as Rosa, described being closely supervised as a girl, having little freedom outside the home and later becoming involved with older male partners. She eventually drifted into minor offending after being introduced to soft drugs at a party that was raided by the police.

Heidensohn used stories like Rosa’s to show how social control shapes female behaviour and helps explain women’s lower levels of recorded crime.

From Item B, identify and describe the method used by Frances Heidensohn including what you know of her perspective on female criminal behaviour.