1 Crime & Deviance Major public / policy concern Build on SO1505 lectures Consider various...

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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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