describe four studies relating to crime and deviance - each from a different perspective. The Functionalist, Marxist, Symbolic Interactionist and New left realism perspective on crime and deviance
The purpose of this essay is to describe four studies relating to crime and deviance - each from a different perspective. The Functionalist, Marxist, Symbolic Interactionist and New left realism perspective on crime and deviance will be described. Functionalist, Albert K. Cohen's study of the delinquent subculture and Symbolic interactionist, Howard Becker's labelling theory will be evaluated with the intent to discover the strengths and weaknesses of each perspective. Crime and deviance are contentious subjects and consequently there are various competing theories, which attempt to extract the essence of both crime and deviance. When evaluating these theories - a coalition of all perspectives produces an in depth understanding of this topic. A definition of crime and deviance can be explained in relative terms, which are dependant on any particular society's interpretation of crime or deviance. Cultures differ from one society to another and the general consensus of right and wrong within society can also evolve throughout time. For example, in the 1950's it would have been considered deviant to have sex before marriage. Gradually throughout time this has become acceptable. Crime can also be considered in the same respect. For instance, parents, up until recently had the right to discipline their children by 'smacking', this is now an infraction of the law. (Haralambos,
The widespread nature of crime, its very normality, makes the search for the causes of crime less attractive'. Discuss this statement in relation to the developments in British criminology during the second half of the twentieth century.
'The widespread nature of crime, its very normality, makes the search for the causes of crime less attractive'. Discuss this statement in relation to the developments in British criminology during the second half of the twentieth century. The rise in crime and the increase in the number of offenders had a profound effect on the working principles occurring in the criminal justice system and the academic theory occurring within criminology. The widespread nature of crime, its very normality, makes the search for causes less attractive. The new administrative criminology openly criticises 'dispositional' theories, rather it explains crime by the notion of a universal human imperfection when presented with the opportunity (Young, 2001, p. 31). The task is to create barriers to restrict such opportunities and to be able to construct a crime prevention policy which minimises risks and limits the damage. An actuarial approach occurs which is concerned with the calculation of risk rather than either individual guilt or motivation (Van Swaaningen & Young, 1997, p.32). Both the modernist discourse of neo-classicism and positivism is discarded. We are interested neither in liability nor pathology, in deterrence nor in rehabilitation. The focus is on prevention rather than imprisonment or cure. It is not an inclusionist philosophy which embraces all into society until they are found
The changes in crime and punishment in schools
The changes in crime and punishment in schools Abstract I chose this hypothesis because crime and punishment has changed a lot and I want to see how much it has changed and the pupils' attitudes towards it. The areas I hope to examine are the changes in crime and punishment in schools, how people get punished and what they did to receive that punishment and also the attitude the pupils have towards the punishment. The sociological issues involved are: What is deviance?-What will be considered serious enough to warrant a punishment. Sexism-Are there different punishments given because of different sexes. Crime rates in schools. Discipline. Introduction My aim is to find out how much crime and punishment has changed in schools and how much the attitude has changed towards the punishment. I will look at what pupils get punished for in the present day and what punishments were given and the attitudes towards the punishment. This connects to my background material because I can compare the punishments given and the reasons why the punishment was given. Background The first context I have used is www.nettlesworth.durham.sch.uk/time/victorian/vschool.html. The main conclusions of this article are that children were scared of their teachers because they were very strict. The reasons for the came were rude conduct, leaving the playground without permission, sulkiness,
Forensic Science
Forensic Science Forensic science is a scientific method of gathering and examining evidence. Crimes are solved with examinations such as gathering fingerprints, palm prints, footprints, tooth bite prints, blood, hair and fiber samples (assampolice, par. 1). Handwriting and typewriting samples are also studied, including all ink, paper, and the arrangement and appearance of printed matter. Studying of the firing, flight, and effects of ammunition techniques are used to identify weapons as well as voice identification techniques are used to identify criminals (par. 3) Italian, Fortunatus Fidelis, was the first person to practice modern forensic medicine in 1598. Then, in the 19th century, observations led to the discovery that contact between someone's hands and a surface left barely visible marks called fingerprints. Fine powder (dusting) was able to be used to make the marks more visible. Modern fingerprint identification dates from 1880, when a British scientific journal published letters by the Englishmen Henry Faulds, and William James Herschel describing the uniqueness of fingerprints (bxscience, par. 3) Observations were verified by the English scientist Sir Francis Galton, who designed the first system for classifying fingerprints based on grouping the patterns into arches, loops, and whirls. His system was improved upon by a police man in London names Sir
Women and Crime
WOMEN AND CRIME A consistent feature of the statistics, not only in England and Wales but across Europe and America, is that far fewer women are convicted of crime than men - a fact which has changed little over the years. Female offenders also show a different pattern of offending being less involved in violent offences and proportionately more involved in theft. In general most now accept that girls and women do commit fewer offences than boys. GENDER AND PATTERNS OF CRIME Writing in 1977 Carol Smart stated: Our knowledge is still in its infancy. In comparison with the massive documentation on all aspects of male delinquency and criminality, the amount of work carried out on the area of women and crime is extremely limited. Although the years since Smart's study have seen much more interest in the study of female crime and deviance, many general theories in this area continue to neglect gender as a factor influencing criminality. This is despite the fact that official figures suggest that gender is perhaps the most significant single factor in whether an individual is convicted of crime. Any theories which fail to explain this relationship could therefore be seen as inadequate. OFFICIAL STATISTICS, CRIMINALITY AND GENDER Pollak - the 'masked' female offender - 'chivalry' thesis Writing in 1950, Otto pollak argued that official statistics on gender and crime were
TELEVISION AND IT'S EFFECTS ON CHILDREN
TELEVISION AND IT'S EFFECTS ON CHILDREN Have you ever wondered how television effects your children? The average child watches television 2 hours per week and most of this viewing is of violence or sexual acts. During this time there is a violent act shown every 6 minutes and on Saturday mornings there is 20 to 25 violent acts shown every hour on prime time t.v. especially in cartoons or animated programs. So no matter what your child is watching it is damaging their sense of imagination and creativity. Now there is no need for children to use their imagination and creativity anymore, television has even taken that away from them. In today's generation television has a great influence on children. Unfortunately most of the programs watched by children have a negative impact and give the wrong impression of what really happens in everyday life. It also influences their development and their behaviours. "In fact childhood development experts say infants as young as 14 months old imitate behaviour they see on t.v and children up to the age of 5 lack the cognitive ability to distinguish fact from fantasy"(Internet; Children and television violence) Therefore what they see on t.v is what they are most likely to imitate. Cartoons are even showing numerous acts of violence and most of this violence is done by the "good guys". For example, Power Rangers; how do they get rid
Sociological explanations for patterns of female crime
In this essay, I am going to address the sociological explanations for patterns of female crime. Crime has a negative impact in society. It refers to those activities that break the law of the land and are subject to official punishment. This essay will state why female crime is dramatically increasing throughout society. Additionally, whilst women commit less than men, they commit all types of offences. The explanations will be stated in this essay suggesting why and how they commit criminality. Female involvement in criminal activity is not restricted to a few areas. While females do not tend to commit crimes of violence (violence by females tends to occur within the family, mainly as a final response to male violence), they are involved in a wide cross-section of crime. Therefore, while, in theory, women have similar opportunities as men to commit crime these may be limited by other factors. Most theories that explain crime, implicitly accept that males are more likely than female to commit crime. However, the number of female offenders has risen faster than the number of male offenders since 1958. According to the social trends 2004. Marsh ("Sociology In Focus: Crime", 1986) concluded that in terms of the ratio of conviction between females and males, where women have similar opportunities for criminal behaviour in relation to males, their respective patterns of crimes
Law and order in London in the late 19th Century
Describe Law and Order in London in the late nineteenth century. There were many things involved in law and order in London, however a key element was the rising levels of crime in the east end, which caused the creation of policing. There were many reasons that there was a high level of crime in the east end, but most of it is due to the poor living conditions they were forced to live in. In the 19th Century the east end was mostly associated with poverty and horrible living conditions. Many places such as Shore ditch, White chapel and Hackney were known as "Slum Areas". Slums are areas where there are many over populated houses where people are forced to live in horrible living conditions. The houses were swarming with disease; this led to crime because many poor people wanted anything they could get. There was a huge amount of unemployment in the east end, some of this because of immigrants, so there were many poor people without jobs, living in terrible living conditions wanting money, this caused a huge increase in crime. In the east end there was a large amount of crime, 75% of recorded crime was petty theft and only 10% was violent; murder was extremely rare. People were led to believe that murder was very common, by cheap newspapers called " penny dreadfuls", the public read these over exaggerated articles and believe that everyone was at risk. Pickpockets were very
To what extent is Robert Merton's theory of 'anomie' helpful in understanding crime in contemporary society?
To what extent is Robert Merton's theory of 'anomie' helpful in understanding crime in contemporary society? It is rightfully argued that crime, whether or not in a contemporary society, is an extremely complex and multi-faceted Phenomena that has puzzled academics for many years. Theories that aim to rationalise the causes of crime and understand the origin of criminal behaviour are often criticised for being too biased or deterministic in their research studies. Many have been of great influence and seen to explain (to an extent) the cause of crime but none has fully decoded the mystery of why people commit crime. Merton's anomie theory aimed at explaining deviance from a sociological perspective as opposed to previous academic theories on crime and criminals. The first well known study of crime and criminals is that of one who is often referred to as the 'father of criminology', Cesar Lombroso. Lombroso's argument was based around the Darwinian theory of human evolution and his theory argued that criminals were a throw back to an earlier period of human progression. In other words, they were less evolved humans, with visible physical features such as large ears and big lips. His theory suggested that criminals were born and not made therefore, where genetically prone to criminality. Merton's argument was to the contrary. Rather than observing
This essay sets out to identify and analyse the argument that prison sentences are not as effective as CSO, especially for young offenders. Moreover, this argument will be base on analysis and evaluation of views of different authorities
"Prison sentences are not as effective as Community Services Orders especially for young offenders." This essay sets out to identify and analyse the argument that prison sentences are not as effective as CSO, especially for young offenders. Moreover, this argument will be base on analysis and evaluation of views of different authorities, the statistics they present, the advantages and disadvantages. In addition, a comparison will follow based on those views and the facts they present. The debate over whether prison sentences are not as effective as community services orders for young offenders has attracted considerable controversy recently, because this issue tends to ignite passions and drive people into opposing camps. On the one hand, we have those who believe that government should rethink who they should lock up (Dobson) because English and Welsh prisons are overcrowded due to higher number of ex-prisoners re-offending.1 On the other hand, we have those who believe that the best remedy for offenders is prison (Lord Wolf),2 as well as those who think that prison is a good therapeutic way for prisoners, as long as there is good flexibility in the rules and prisoners are provided with the right help while in prison (Weale).3 It is in the interest of any reasonable government to seek for the best solution to reduce crimes. However, is it really necessary to lock young
