Explanations of Crime & Deviance (WJEC Eduqas GCSE Sociology): Flashcards

False.

Ritualists give up on goals but rigidly follow rules; retreatists, such as addicts, reject both goals and means.

In Merton's theory, rebellion means replacing society's goals and means with new ones, as revolutionaries do.

In Merton's theory, people who accept society's goals and use legitimate means, such as education and hard work, show conformity.

Albert Cohen argued that Merton cannot explain non-financial group crime, such as vandalism, which he linked to working-class boys' status frustration.

Critics argue that Merton does not ask who makes the laws or who benefits from them.

False.

Critics argue that Merton assumes shared goals and consensus, which may not exist in all societies.

Marxism explains crime through the organisation of capitalist society rather than individual choices.

Marxists argue that capitalist societies promote materialism, consumerism and competition.

Advertising creates consumer desire and relative deprivation, so people who cannot afford goods may turn to crime.

False.

Marxists argue that humans are not naturally greedy; capitalism breeds greed and selfishness.

Marxists argue that laws serve the ruling class, protecting its property and power.

Marxists argue that the police, courts and media target street crime, while corporate crime goes largely unpunished.

False.

Marxists argue that agencies of social control over-police and under-protect ethnic minorities and the working class.

Chambliss found that rich businesspeople and politicians used bribery, influence and threats to hide their crimes and avoid justice.

Differential enforcement is the unequal application of the law, so that it favours the rich and punishes the poor.

Laws such as health and safety and anti-discrimination laws protect the weak, not just the ruling class.

False.

Some capitalist countries, such as Japan and Switzerland, have low crime rates, which shows that capitalism alone does not determine criminality.

Some feminists argue that Marxists focus on social class and ignore non-class issues such as gender.

Critics argue that this view romanticises criminals and overlooks the harm to victims.

The chivalry thesis suggests that the criminal justice system treats female offenders more leniently than men, e.g. when sentencing them in court.

Studies of crime before the 1970s focused mainly on men as offenders or victims and ignored women's experiences.

The double deviance thesis suggests that the criminal justice system punishes female offenders more harshly because they break both the law and gender norms.

Feminists highlight that women are often victims of male violence, such as domestic abuse and sexual assault.

False.

Feminists argue that these crimes are often underreported and underrecorded, and the criminal justice system can fail to protect women.

Heidensohn argued that women commit fewer crimes because patriarchal society controls women's behaviour more tightly than men's.

Heidensohn argued that men control women in the home, in public spaces and in the workplace.

False.

Heidensohn found that daughters have less freedom than sons and must stay close to home.

According to Heidensohn, domestic life controls women because housework, childcare and emotional labour keep them busy, while men's financial power limits their independence.

Fear of male violence, especially after dark, leads women to avoid going out alone or visiting certain areas.

Women risk shame or gossip if they act inappropriately, so fear of damaging their reputation limits their freedom.

Heidensohn argued that men control women in the workplace by holding most positions of power, while sexual harassment and intimidation restrict women's progress.

Critics argue that Heidensohn ignores differences of class, ethnicity and age, so she generalises women's experiences.

False.

Critics argue that Heidensohn downplays women's free will, because women can resist control and make choices.

Becker argued that an act only becomes deviant when others define it that way, so society's reaction, not the act itself, makes it deviant.

Becker used the term moral entrepreneurs for those who campaign to create new rules, such as pressure groups and the media.

Deviance depends on who commits the act, when and where it happens, who observes it and who feels harmed by it.

False.

Interactionists argue that most people break rules at some point, but only some are caught and labelled.

Some acts, such as murder, are universally condemned and create what Becker called true outsiders.

Police profiling leads the police to stop and search ethnic minorities disproportionately.

A master status is the dominant label that overshadows all other aspects of a person's identity, e.g. criminal or addict.

A self-fulfilling prophecy is when people act in line with a label, even if the label was not true at first.

A deviant career is a life in which deviance becomes part of a person's identity, which Becker argued labelling can push someone into.

At the first stage of a deviant career, a person is caught and publicly labelled.

Later in a deviant career, rejected by family, friends or employers, the person internalises the label and accepts it as part of their identity.

A deviant subculture develops, where members support and reinforce each other's deviant identity and behaviour.

The stereotype of a typical criminal is young, male and working-class, and often from an ethnic minority background.

False.

Interactionists argue that official statistics often record who gets caught and labelled, not who actually offends.

The stigma of a label can lead to further exclusion from mainstream society and increased deviance, even if the person reforms.

False.

Critics argue that interactionism does not explain why people commit deviant acts before being labelled.

Critics argue that interactionism implies a deviant career is inevitable once others label someone.

Marxists argue that interactionism ignores class inequalities and the role of capitalism in shaping law and enforcement.