Crime and Deviance Sociologists and theroies

Crime and Deviance Sociologists and theroies

1. Goode (2008)

   • He argued that deviance may be a mild or it may be more extreme.

2. Becker

   • -Interactionalist.  -He argued that an act only becomes deviant when people define it as such. -Agents of social control have the power to make labels stick.
   • The labelling Theory: The idea in which when people are labelled as something, e.g. stupid, they start to believe it.

3. Merton

   • -Functionalist -He believed that deviance results from the culture and structure of society - All members of society have different positions in the social structure. -Merton believed that they didn't have the same opportunity.
   • The Strain Theory: Merton came up with a theory that he believes where socity puts pressure on individuals where they feel like they have to choose socially accepted goals.

4. Feminist

   • Subject to greater social control
   • Focuses on how society controls women in a different way to men.
   • Women are said to be less deviant than men due to the 'control theory'.
   • Frances Heidensohn
     • -Wrote a book called, 'Women and crime' in 1985. -He had the theory that people commit crime because of the way they are brought up. -Women commit less crime because they are subject to greater social control.
     • -Heidensohn argued that men had more control over women because they control the finances. -He also thought that gender roles are more limited for women than men; male deviance is more glorified and celebrated, female deviance is more stigmatised.

5. Marxist

   • Social control is necessary in capitalist societys.
   • Some social control is purely for the working class
   • Crime is driven by the capitalist society as crime is driven by money
     • during the recession, statistical evidence shows that the amount of shoplifting rose.
   • They say that agents of social control discriminate against working class.
   • Statistical evidence to show that there is more crime in societys that have a wealth divide.

6. Functionalist

   • All aspects of a society serve a function and are necessary for the survival of that society.
   • Functionalists say that it is impossible without social control.
   • Durkheim
     • He said that a certain amount of crime and deviance is normal and apart of all healthy societys.
   • Clinard
     • Argues crime also served the function of acting as a warning device. The crime draws attention to the problem within society.