Heidensohn: Most sociological theories based on OCS have solely focus on male criminality and neglect the fact that 20% of crime is committed by females.
British Crime Survey
Left Realists Young, Lea & Matthews: prefer victim survey, which asks peoples’ experiences of crime and whether in the last year they have been a victim.
Merseyside & Islington crime surveys: victims of crime are likely to be the poor or helpless.
- Largest victim survey carried out every year since 1982
- Cross sectional sample of 15,000 people across England & Wales
- Asks whether the victim of crime reported it and if the police recorded it
Evaluation (+)
Reasons why people fail to report crime.
Extent of victimisation
Estimates amount of unreported crimes
Evaluation (-)
Victim’s memories: faulty or biased in categorisation
Sexual offences: under reported.
20-25% refuse to participate.
Morrison (1995): some of the earlier crime surveys were not sensitive using closed questions allowing little response given to respondent.
Self-report studies
- Respondents are asked if they have committed a crime within the past year.
- Types of crimes committed.
Evaluation (+)
Bilton et al (1997): studies reveal that 50-90% of people admit to illegal behaviour which may of resulted in a court appearance.
Hindelang et al (1979): inconsistencies between OCS and self-report studies indicating working class males outnumber middle class ones in terms of crimes committed at 5:1 whereas Self-report studies show 1.5:1.
Graham & Bowling’s (1995): social class had no bearing on admission of criminality but, working-class were more likely to admit to more serious crime such as sexual assault and robbery.
Valid picture of the extent and social characteristics
Tests sociological theories of crime
Evaluation (-)
“Bragging factor” of selective unrepresentative sample is based on adolescents.
Power/politics
David Blunkett, Home Secretary announced an 18% rise in robberies and murder but put this down to “New Recording Methods”.
Macpherson Inquiry: the death of Stephen Lawrence (1993) sparked a major crisis for the political establishment “Institutional Racism” “procedures, practices and a culture that excludes or disadvantages members of non-white communities”.
Family
Parsons: “lack of opportunities means that females have less chance of committing crime. The social roles occupied such as housewife, mother etc restrict them and encourage conformity into mainstream norms and values.
Media
Wilkins: “Deviancy Amplification” whereby by cracking down and labelling an act as deviant actually made the situation worsen by accelerating the spiralling cycle of deviance to anarchic levels.
In relation to ethnicity:
Racist Police?
British Crime Survey 1992: most crime is Intra-racial.
Lord Scarman (1981) inquiry inner city “riots” the police force is a reflection of society therefore some racist individuals may join.
Reiner (1992) “Canteen Culture”: police developed a distinct set of working class values rooted in “Masculinity” which means a view of racial and gender stereotypes of potential offenders. This helps with the pressures of work and gives them a sense of belonging and identity.
Scraton & Gorden (1988): ethnic minorities breaking laws is rooted in anti-colonial struggles therefore crime is a political not criminal act.
Social Exclusion?
Bourgois (1995) “El Barrio”: study of “ghetto” populated by Puerto Ricans, illegal Mexicans and African Americans.
Social exclusion from mainstream society and negative social attitudes led to the development of an “Alternative Economy”. The activities varied from street robbery, prostitution to serious cocaine dealing similar to Cloward & Ohlin’s “Illegitimate Structure”.
“Street culture of resistance” developed to express the “Internalised Rage” felt through rebellious practice of going against mainstream norms and values.
Davis “City of Quartz” police segregate the poor into ghettos solely on ethnic minorities and working class.
Feeley & Simon: changing dynamic of social control with the emphasis away from the “deviant” and focused more on the potential deviant.
In relation to gender:
Why are women under-represented in OCS?
Dalton: hormonal or menstrual imbalance propels a minority of women to crime.
Moir & Jessel (1997): females that commit crime are likely to suffer from hormonal changes associated with PMT.
Lombrosco & Ferrero (1895): “maternal instinct” is weak in criminal women.
Psychologist Menkich: criminality can be inherited
Genetist Jones: environment more important
Heidensohn (1985): men control women within the family in law-abiding roles. In patriarchal societies men control women making it difficult for the woman to break the law. The places where this takes place are in the home, public and at work.
Evaluation (+)
Plausible explanation for the differential gender crime rates
Carlen: study of 39 working class women aged between 15-46 who had been convicted of one or more crimes.
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“Class deal”: material rewards achieved by own efforts
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“Gender deal”: psychological (love) and material rewards from husband.
Gender Pay gap 2001: women are paid 31% less than men in similar jobs.
Chapman (1980): poverty explains female crime as most common offences committed by women is theft and benefit fraud.
Carlen (1988): poverty and disillusionment with the welfare system makes crime an option.
Women’s Liberation
Alder: statistics show increases in female crimes in areas of male dominance such as robbery and embezzlement. She argued that women entering the labour force were a reason to explain the rise in criminal careers.
Evaluation (-)
Smart: criticises Alder’s use of different countries crime figures all with varying legal systems and stages of female emancipation.
Role of the Courts:
“Plea-bargaining”: 75% of those charged plead “guilty”, with an informal, unspoken agreement whereby the defence attempts to have the charges reduced to the lightest possible punishment accepted by the prosecution.
Steffensmeiner (1980): court judges treat women more leniently especially reluctant to separate women from children.
In relation to social class:
Chambliss: “Differential Enforcement”
Marxists: law reflects the interests of the ruling class. Crimes committed by the working class are strongly enforced by law enforcement agencies whereas white-collar crime is either ignored or not defined as “criminal”.
Chambliss’s (1973) study of 2 American delinquent gangs: “Roughnecks” South American working classes who fitted the stereotypical idea of “delinquent” were often arrested and punished.
Whereas, the “Saints” white middle-classes were hardly cautioned and never arrested with their behaviour described as “harmless pranks”. They committed more serious criminal acts such as robbery, joy riding and speeding.
Anderson et al: “Demeanour” youths that were co-operative were unlikely to be arrested and subject to stop and searches.
White-collar crime
Sutherland: “crimes committed by a person of responsibility and high social status in the course of his occupation”.
Swartz: crime is a natural “outgrowth” of the capitalist economy stressing “greed”, “self-interest” and “competition” therefore the values of capitalism actually endorse crime.
Box: “mystification”, ruling class dominance of media and other social institutions make white-collar crime seem less “serious” and working class more dangerous.
Explanations
Gross: personality is the main factor in committing white-collar crime as senior company executives have an “undemanding moral code”.
Geis: study of US hearings into illegal price fixing agreements found “Differential association” as the culture and peer group around the individual influence criminality.
Aubert: sub-culture is influential as World war rationing gave preferential treatment of members of the same group
Braithwaite: in the Pharmaceutical industry the bribing of he#alth inspectors was “Standard practice”
Corporate Crime
Conklin (1977): working class crimes such as Larceny, burglary and auto-theft to be $3-4billion a year compared with $40billion for white-collar crime i.e. consumer fraud, anti-competitive practices.
- 1980’s US stock market crash where a financial deficit of $1trillion was covered by a government “loan”.
Carson (1970): Piper Alpha oilrig explosion in the North Sea costing 168 lives the company was cleared of any liability.
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Exxon Valdez disaster (1989) in which an oil tanker leaked many tons of oil desecrating local wildlife populations and affecting the livelihoods of many fishermen and due to a “legal” loophole there has been a non-payment of $5billion.
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Microsoft has been prosecuted and fined $380 million by the European Commission for anti-competitive practices.
Occupational Crime
Ditton & Mars (1980): employee theft to be viewed as a legitimate “perk/fiddle”
Clarke (1990): management turnt a blind eye to “fiddling” considering it part of remuneration.
Levi (1987): investigated financial institution fraud and found 75% being committed by employees with employers reluctant to prosecute fearing negative publicity.
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January 2004 Lord Conrad Black was found to have “looted” $300 million in false expenses and is under pressure to sell his share in Hollinger Inc owner of the Daily Telegraph.
Box (1983): multinationals dump products deemed “unsafe” in modern industrial countries onto developing countries, which is not illegal.
