GoConqr has a new look! Let us know what you think.

Sign up free

Flashcards

Crime and Deviance

becky sharrock Sociology AS level English 85 cards

Cards in this deck (85)

  1. 1Crime Statistics Functionalist views-take statistics at face value
    -crime has a role in society
    -crime statistics paint a picture of social reality
    -Durkheim (1858-1917), Merton (1910-2003)
  2. 2Crime Statistics Functionalist views-assume people react to social structures in an unthinking way
    -due to this they can establish patterns on behaviour and draw patterns over time about different groups in different circumstances
    -sees Official Stats as representative (whole population)
  3. 3Crime Statistics Functionalist views Durkheimfunctions of crime:
    draw people together, and strengthen social cohesion
    -there are primary values, when these are broken it strengthens wider values e.g. crime against children
  4. 4Crime Statistics Functionalist views Merton-coined the phrase 'self fulfilling prophecy'
    -assumed statistics were valid and reliable, developed explanations about working class criminality
  5. 5collective consciousnesssomething that everyone believe in
  6. 6Strain TheoryMerton/Cohen
    more likely to commit crime
  7. 7Crime Statistics Functionalist views evaluation-too reductionist (reducing people to numbers)
    -dark figure of crime
    -statistics are socially constructed
    -doesn't represent the whole population
    -too objective (context of crimes, e.g. changes in laws)
    -too optimistic
  8. 8Official Statistics-published every 6 months by the Home Office, collected since 1857
    -socially constructed, only show crimes which are reported and recorded
  9. 9British Crime Survey (1998). why people are less likely to report a crime to the police:-too trivial
    -private matter between friends/family
    -too embarrassing
    -not in a position to give info e.g. child /domestic abuse, mental health
    -fear reprisal e.g. drug dealer beaten up
  10. 10British Crime Survey (1998). people more likely to report a crime:-personal benefit (insurance claim)
    -faith in the police ability for a positive result
  11. 11what percentage of reported crimes fail to appear in OSin any 1 year, approx 40% of all crimes reported to the police fail to appear in the official statistics
  12. 12British Social Attitudes Survey. what do people think is happening to crime?65% of people think crime has risen even though statistics show that crime is reducing
  13. 13role of the police-clearly the police are filtering information by the public according to factors which are important to them
  14. 14Factors affecting crime rates-seriousness (too trivial)
    -social status (the status of the person reporting the crime is not high enough)
    -Classifying crimes (police officer's opinion on category=seriousness)
    -wanting promotions, impressing officers
  15. 15Anderson et al-1994
    -youths who co-operate and are polite to police officers are less likely to be arrested than those regarded as disrespectful
  16. 16role of the courts-75% of all those charged plead guilty to try and get a lighter punishment
    -but these pleas are for less serious crimes than might 'really' have been committed. the stats reflect the downgrading of seriousness
  17. 17role of the government-governments change the law due to cultural changes and influence of powerful groups
    -difficult to look at rise and fall in crime over a period of time, changes may be due to changes in law not crime
  18. 18crime statistics Marxist views-the law, police, courts, and justice system protect the ruling class
    -crimes by the poor are strictly adhered to but crimes by the affluent are ignored
  19. 19Marxist views white collar crime-wealthy and powerful
    -fraud, tax evasion, embezzlement, breaches of health/safety/environmental law
    -unpunished and under reported
    -e.g. Maxwell pension debacle
  20. 20Hazel Croall-1998. critique Marxist crimes
    -large numbers of crimes are settled out of court, felt punishment is done e.g. through losing their job or shame from family
    -fraudulent crimes normally at a corporate level, don't impact individuals,
  21. 21crime statistics Feminist views-statistics are patriarchal
    -minimize men's criminality e.g. limited punishments given in rape cases
    -gender stereotypes transmitted through law enforcement and punishment
    -women who conform to gender stereotypes are protected, those who don't are punished
  22. 22Feminist views-statistics focus on gender rather than crime
    -sexual assault cases are under-reported and not dealt with by the police
  23. 23feminist views depictions in the media-Cheryl Cole accused of racist assault
    -repented and accepted by everyone again, conformed to gender stereotypes
    -Myra Hindley who was involved in murders was treated in an opposite way
  24. 24critique of feminist views-men are more likely to be victims of crimes statistically
    -the judicial system is arguably based more on capital than gender
    -women do commit crime
  25. 25gender and crime statistics (victims)-men are more likely to be victims of crime
    -70% of all murder victims are men
  26. 26gender and crime statistics (convicts)-4/5 of all convicts are men
    -by the age of 40, 9% of women have a criminal conviction, but 32% of men
  27. 27Pollackchivalry thesis: men take pity on women or want to protect them from criminal proceedings
  28. 28crime statistics Interactionalist views-micro ('interact' with people)
    -regard official statistics on crime as being of little worth
    -experiences
  29. 29crime statistics Interactionalist views Becker-1963
    -created labeling theory
    -acts are only deviant if we say they are
    -labelling is a process of social reaction by the 'social audience' (stereotyping)
  30. 30crime statistics Interactionalist views 1st reason they do not like OS-people are active social agents, react in different ways, impossible to predict behaviour
    -numerical data tell us very little about the mind of the deviant
  31. 31crime statistics Interactionalist views 2nd reason they do not like OS-statistics are a social construct. police judge crimes/people differently
    -high crime rates amongst ethnic minorities may not be a reality but a product of institutional racism
  32. 32Cicourel-1976
    -the police are prone to judging people. the labels they apply will affect the official rates of offending
  33. 33crime statistics what Interactionalist want-qualitative data. establish verstehen with the person to tell us what they are thinking and feeling
    -not the police's opinion of the victim/ criminal but the people themselves
    -BUT not practical
  34. 34Victim Surveys-British Crime Survey, started in 1982
    -carried out every year; 48,000 interviews
    -The Home Office now includes this data in its statistics on crime
    -overcomes the lack of people records
    -more holistic understanding
  35. 35Victim Surveys evaluation-some of crimes not covered by the survey e.g. crimes against business, crimes where there was no direct victim (possession of drugs), crimes against victims under 16, crimes involving deaths, corporate
    -interviewer effects: social desirability
    -lack of awareness of the victim
  36. 36Victim Surveys evaluation-relies on victims' memory
    -category of the crime left to the person filling in the survey-subjective
    -despite anonymity, sexual offences under reported
  37. 37Self Report Studies-sent to offenders
    -surveys/structured interviews
    -shows general trends of class, gender, age, ethnicity etc
    -compared with Official Statistics, see accuracy of both
  38. 38Self Report Studies-only way to gain info on people who have taken part in crime but not been arrested
    -reveals 'hidden offenders' ages, gender, class, and location
    -most useful way to find out about drug use which is victimless
  39. 39Self Report Studies Evaluation (positives)-more valid, less influences of crime control agencies
    -if they don't believe they will be punished they are likely to tell the truth
    -targets specific groups
    -find offenders who may not be in OS
  40. 40Self Report Studies Evaluation (negatives)-less valid: people may lie, not respond, exaggerate the crime, have forgotten
    -representative: mostly students, elderly, unemployed and mums at home
    -focus on certain groups/offences may mean other findings are not found
    -categories maybe not same as OS
  41. 41coughing and cuffing-'coughing': police get people to own up to crimes they haven't committed in return for leniency in sentencing, AKA plea bargaining
    -'cuffing': police don't record crimes they think they can't solve
  42. 42BCS findings on what individuals are likely to commit crimeyoung, male, mainly inner city and adjoining zones, working class
  43. 43BCS how often people have crimes committed against them-statistically 'average' person could expect
    -a robbery (off a person) every 5 years
    -burglary (property) once every 40 years
    -an assault once every century
  44. 44statistically who is most likely to be murdered?under 1 year olds
  45. 45Islington Crime Surveys-1986 and 1990
    -to focus on a particular area rather than a cross section which may contain errors
    -2,000 households surveyed
  46. 46Islington Crime Surveys Findings-1/3 of households had been affected by serious crime in the last 12 months
    -over 1/2 of women never/rarely went out after dark due to fear of crime
    -women more fearful of crime than men. Statistics show men to be more at risk but in Islington, women more likely to be victims
  47. 47media sensitisation-media plays a role in people determining whether they are victims of crime or not
    -media heightens sensitivity towards some crimes, people aware of these crimes
    -e.g. change in portrayal of domestic violence from a 'family matter' to a crime
  48. 48Self Report Studies Evaluation (negatives)-crimes uncovered tend to be trivial
    -Samples distorted to what the sociologist wants to study, not generalisable
    -finding offenders could have ethical issues. confidentiality and sociologists responsibility to report the crime
  49. 49Left Realists-official statistics cannot be rejected but used alongside self report studies to give a more balanced view of crime
    -liberal
    -not victim blaming
    -political perspective
  50. 50Crime statistics-only 40% of reported crime is then recorded
    -dark figure of crime
    -lack of crime reporting
  51. 51BCS and Self-report studiesBCS every 2 years 1982-2000, every year since then
    -2002 over 36,000 surveys
    -only 75% is comparable with police stats
    -self report mainly street crime, excludes hidden crime e.g. domestic violence.
    -SRS show most people commit crime
  52. 52comparable stat BCS and ONS-BCS says 10.7 million crimes committed
    -ONS says 4.7 million
  53. 53BCS and Self-report studies patterns and trends-majority of crime is property related
    -violent crimes account for 1/5 of all crime
    -crime peaked in 1995 and declined since
    -men aged 16-24 most likely to be a victim of violence
  54. 54victim as socially constructed and victimologywho is and isn't a victim changes depending on the context
    -tries to identify victim proneness
  55. 55victimology Hans Von Hentig-1948
    -identified 13 characteristics e.g. female, elderly or mentally subnormal
    -imply that victims invite victimisation by the way that they are
    -BUT people see this as victim blaming, not looking at the perpetrator
  56. 56critical victimology-Marxist and Feminists highlight structural factors that put the powerless at greater risk of being a victim.
    -state has power to attach or deny label as a victim. if the police don't press charges you are denied status of victim
    -BUT denies role victims themselves have in their own victimisation
  57. 57victimology patterns of victimisation class-CLASS: poorest groups most likely to be victims of all crimes
    -Homeless are 12x more likely to experience violence that the general population
  58. 58victimology patterns of victimisation age and ethnicity-AGE: younger people most at risk of assault, theft, sexual harassment
    -infants most at risk of murder
    -ETHNICITY: EMs most at risk of all crime
  59. 59victimology patterns of victimisation gender and repeat victims-GENDER: males most at risk of violent attacks, especially by strangers
    -70% of all homicide victims are male
    -REPEAT: once a victim you are likely to be again, suggest they were victims for a reason, targeted
  60. 60victimology impact of victimisation-disrupted sleep, feelings helpless, security-consciousness, difficulty in socialising
    -creates fear, known as indirect victims
    -media contributes to stirring up fear
    -women whose rape cases fail in court are victims of the legal system
  61. 61Farrington2001
    young males may readily admit convictions, but not true for older males and females
    questions the validity
  62. 62attritionthe participation and drop out rates in studies
  63. 63Farrington et al1990
    participants who are most difficult to find/ interview tend to commit the most offences
    so a study with a high attrition rate is likely to miss out frequent offenders
  64. 64problem of cyber bullyingnot recorded in crime statistics
    -unlikely to be reported, seen as trivial
    -self report studies can be used, but still relies on the person seeing themselves as a victim
  65. 65prison vs universityin American there are more black males in prison than in university
  66. 66Gender Offending male-female comparison-peak age for female offending is 15, and for males is 18. for girls offending drops after teens, but for males into their 20s
    -2010-11, female offenders more likely to be on benefits than men offenders, suggests deprivation impacts women more
  67. 67Gender Offending-males commit 80% of offences (ONS)
    -Ministry of Justice: females make up only 18% of arrests and 25% of convictions (2013)
    -offenders formally dealt with dropping for both genders but faster for females
  68. 68Gender Victimisation men-higher proportion of men are victims of violence, usually by a stranger
    -men make up 7/10 homicides victims
  69. 69Gender Victimisation females-women 2x as likely to have reported being a victim of non-sexual partner abuse, and 7x more likely to being a victim of sexual assault
    -2 women killed every week by partner
  70. 70Gender Victimisation both genders-CSEW victimisation dropped in last 5 years, now little gender difference
    -CSEW each year since 1982, fewer women are victims of crime than men
  71. 71Young1988: the same crime doesn't have the same seriousness in all cases. 'The meaning of a punch' is different depending on the power relationships between the two parties
  72. 72Stanko2000
    over one 24 hour period, an incident of domestic violence was reported every second, yet few led to an arrest
  73. 73Walklate2006
    looked at repeat victimisation, why women stay in abusive relationships. many women unable to leave (children, nowhere to go, lack of economic independence, self blame) unlikely to report the incident
  74. 74Age Offending-young people most likely to offend
    -males 10-17 responsible for 20% police recorded crime 2009-10, but women of same age just 4%
    -youth crime is more detectable
  75. 75Age Offending McVie2004
    data is often grouped by age, may hide other trends.
    e.g. Home Office groups 21+ together, can't seem trends in adult offending
  76. 76Age Offending Soothill et al2004
    -peak age for conviction for burglary is 16 or less, but drug offence peaked at 21-25 before falling
  77. 77Age Victimisation age-fear of crime and being a victim is disproportionate. older people more likely to fear crime, but young people more likely to be a victim
    -CSEW asked 10-15yrs. in 2014 found that 12% of children had been a victim of crime
  78. 78Age Victimisation Islington Crime Survey 1986Young 1988 says that the ICS found those 45+ have fewer crimes committed against them than younger people, but when the crime was an assault, those 45+ were more likely to be injured
  79. 79Ethnicity Offending-Ministry of Justice: black people 7x more likely to be stopped + searched 2009-10
    -black people arrested over 3x more than white people in 2010
    -Association of Chief Police Officers found offending rates among Polish, Romanian and Bulgarian communities inline with general pop. over last 15 years immigration has increased but crime has decreased
  80. 80Ethnicity offendingself-report studies show that black people have similar rates of offending to whites if not lower
  81. 81Ethnicity Offending Bowling and Phillips2006.
    the Crown Prosecution Service is more likely to drop cases put forward by police involving black suspects. indicates that the police are more likely to charge black people without enough evidence
  82. 82Ethnicity Victimisation-CSEW 2012-13, adults from mixed, black and Asian ethnic groups more at risk of being a victim of personal crime than white adults
    -number of racially aggravated offences recorded by police decreased over last 5 years from 2005
  83. 83Ethnicity Victimisation-black people 5x more likely to be murdered than white counterparts
    -police records show that approx 1 in 3 gun murders, both victims and suspects are black
  84. 84Ethnicity Left Realismethnic minorities commit more crime because racism caused them to be marginalised. this with economic exclusion e.g. unemployment and housing
    -don't believe racism in the police can account for higher crime, because black people have a higher offending rate than asian
  85. 85Paul GilroyNeo-Marxist
    -black people commit crime because they resent the cultural experience of colonialism i.e. black slaves sent to Britain

Information

Description
AS level Sociology (Miss Shearman) Flashcards on Crime and Deviance, created by becky sharrock on 14/11/2017.
Created by
becky sharrock
Views
2
Rating

Feedback

What is it about?

What do you think of the new look?

How do you like it?