Crime and deviance in Trinidad and Tobago
Tanille Spicer Sociology Upper 6 2 Mr. Ramdass Essay: Crime and Deviance in Trinidad and Tobago is attributed to the limited access to the ‘legitimate opportunity structure’. Crime, according to Brown (2001), is an act in violation of the criminal law that is subject to official punishment by the state. Whereas a deviant act, is simply an act which goes against the mainstream norms and value of society. With reference to Robert K. Merton, a functionalist theorist, and Cloward and Ohlin, subcultural theorists, both of whom argue to a large extent that the cause of crime and deviance is due to the lack of access to the ‘legitimate opportunity structure.’ On the other hand, Walter Miller, another functionalist theorist, disagrees with them. In this essay, it will be attempted to discuss whether the lack of access to the legitimate opportunity structure is the main cause of crime and deviance in the Caribbean, specifically, Trinidad and Tobago. According to Robert K. Merton, deviance results from the culture and structure of society itself. He believed that society shares the same values, that is, goals are clearly set for the people to achieve such as the goal of educational attainment and the goal of success. He suggested that there is a separation between these legitimate goals which everyone desires and the socially approved means to success such as the
Durkheim view of Crime
For durkheim crime engages a functional role in the social structure, having an immense impact upon the strain theory in portraying a very critical and influential analysis on crime and the explanations of it. Durkheims work significantly influenced the Strain theory in that he illustrated the relationship between social structures, cultural context and individual action and linked it back to individualism and criminality within the social dimension (Henry,S Mark M Lanier (2004) Essential Criminology). Durkheims influence on the strain theory has been extremely broad in criminology and sociology, in that his view that social forces caused crime was extremely radical at the time (Robert K Merton (1949) Social theory and social structure). Emile durkheim's work not only influenced the strain theory but also influenced the Chicago school significantly. His thoughts influenced many, in an attempt to explain the reasons and explanations of criminality; he revealed the idea of the many blocked opportunities faced by individuals within the urbanized environment and nature of crime. (Lecture5:http://elearning.uws.edu.au/400681_2005_spr/Lecture%20five.doc). Durkheim focused on the zone in transition and the disorganisation within such an environment in an effort to explain why there was such disorganisation and conflict within. Furthermore, Durkheim's idea of the destructiveness of
Explain crime
Crime has become a major area of public and political debate, and is often seen as a sign of underlying problems in society related to inequality, social deprivation and social class, age, gender and race. As commonly understood, crime includes many different kinds of activities such as theft, robbery, corruption, assault, fraud, rape and murder. So the simplest way of defining it is to see it as "an act or omission prohibited and punished by law." (Collins English Dictionary 1997:203) To explain crime, sociologists looked at the strains in the social structure, at the development of deviant or abnormal subcultures and at the process of social change and urban growth. Some of these theories will be discussed. Much Sociological work was informed by a Functionalist approach that saw harmony and conformity as the norm for a healthy society (Fulcher and Scott 1999). It was seen as a physical organism with all parts paying a function in mainstreaming the whole, and law reflected a concensus over what was right and wrong. Crime was therefore dysfunctional because it threatened the stability of that society therefore indicating a social problem. Sociologists looked at strains within the social structure at the development of subcultures and the effects on social change and urban growth. Not all however, shared the view that crime was pathological. (Haralambos and Holborn
Outline and assess the structionalist themes of crime and deviance
Outline and assess the structionalist themes of crime and deviance Structural theories of deviance are similar to Merton s theory. They explain the origins of deviance in terms of the position of individuals or groups in the social structure. In the 1930 s Robert k Merton wrote an article entitled Social Structure and Anomie. It became one of the most influential explanations of crime and deviance. He offered a social rather than psychological or biological explanation. In particular, it was a structionalist theory as it saw the structure of society shaping peoples behaviour. According to Merton, American culture attaches great importance to success and success is measured in terms of money and material possessions. There are norms which define legitimate means for achieving success. These legitimate means include gaining skills and qualifications and career advancement. The American dream states that anybody can make it to the top if they try hard enough. So much emphasis is placed on material success that many people experience pressure to deviate from accepted norms and values. Deviance occurs when they reject the goals of success and/or the legitimate means of reaching that goal. For example, some people are tempted to use any means of getting to the top-even if that involves criminal behaviour. Merton refers to this pressure as a strain to anomie . Anomie means
How Does Shakespeare Convey a Sense of Anomie in Hamlet Act 1, and to what end?
Drew York How Does Shakespeare Convey a Sense of Anomie in Hamlet Act 1? And to what end? Williams Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'- written in the early 17th century - still carries as profound a message in modern times as it did when it was originally written. It tells of a young Danish prince- hamlet- who is struggling to come to terms with his father's sudden tragic death. The sense of anomie Shakespeare weaves into the play comes in many forms in act 1 alone; emotional, spiritual, physical, political and relational. Throughout the play, hamlet struggles to articulate his feeling of inner-turmoil and insignificance, but Shakespeare uses anomie in all of its forms to allow the audience to empathise with the main characters by asking poignant and timeless questions such as ' to be or not to be'. Before we start, we should take a look at what "anomie" actually means. Mainly used in sociological context, anomie is when social norms are broken down, or a state of social instability. To fully understand the word's meaning, we have to look at it's roots. The word "anomie" is derived from the ancient Greek word anomos. The word anomos has two parts; the first - "a" - means without (as in a - theist, without god), and the second, - nomos - means law. So literally the word anomie is derived from the Greek word for lawlessness. We can now define "anomie" as being without law, rules or
To what extent can orthodox theories on crime and deviance explain crime and deviance in the Caribbean?
To what extent can orthodox theories on crime and deviance explain crime and deviance in the Caribbean? Breaking the law is typically understood as something deviant and is needed to be reduced. There is a constant goal by governments to lower crime rates in their country but crime, surprisingly, is considered by most Functionalists as being "healthy for society." Without crime society can fall apart. The orthodox view is that crime in developing countries is the product of social change. It is a transformation from a traditional to a more modern stage of development. Modernisation is seen as a disruption to society involving urbanisation, industrialisation and de-population of the countryside which causes imbalances such as overcrowding in the larger cities and a state of anomie or normlessness. According to Ken Pryce (1976) however, "In the third world, the rising crime rate is not a product of modernisation per se, but a symptom of a particular type of "development of underdevelopment." The Caribbean focuses on mainly economic development and profits which only benefits a minority of the population (usually upper class) and therefore there will be a higher unemployment rate where people will have to search for means of survival by illegitimate means such as prostitution and violence. The usual victims of unemployment are the young lower- class males. Robert Merton states
Functionalist analysis of crime and deviance
Functionalist analysis of crime and deviance begins with society as a whole. It looks for the source of deviance in the nature of society rather than in the biological or psychological nature of the individual. Some functionalists argue although it seems strange, deviance is a necessary part off all societies and that it performs positive functions for the social system. Durkheim argued that it only becomes dysfunctional (harmful to society) when its rate is unusually high or low. He argued that all social change begins with some form of deviance. In order for change to occur, yesterday's deviance must become today's normality. Since a certain amount of change is healthy for society. Deviance can be a safety valve, providing a relatively harmful expression of discontent. In this way social order is protected. Durkheim argued a state of Anomie can occur when people regard the rights and needs of others as unimportant and they prefer instead to look After there own interests. Durkheim has been criticised as there are many examples of deviant and criminal acts, which are socially destructive and could not be seen as reinforcing collective sentiments. Merton also agrees with the theory of Anomie, Merton argues that deviance that deviance results not from pathological personalities but from the culture and structure of society itself like Durkheim he begins form the standard
Explore the relationship between poverty and crime.
INTRODUCTION This report aims to explore the relationship between poverty and crime. This is by no means a succinct topic and for a comprehensive overview to be sought, the report needs to be broken down into several areas. Such areas include a definition into what exactly is meant by poverty, the causes and also how each primary cause of poverty belies a link to crime.......................... WHAT IS POVERTY? Poverty can be measured in a variety of ways: unemployment, high rate of divorce, single-parent households, dilapidated housing, poor school or concentration of minorities, are but a few examples. Therefore in an effort to determine the relationship between poverty and crime all these factors must be considered. Firstly it must be pointed out that in terms of social inequality poverty is studied in terms of relative and not absolute deprivation. Relative depravation is best understood through the words of Karl Marx as he once said : "A house can be large or small; as long as the surrounding houses are equally small it satisfies all social demands. But if a palace resides beside the little house, the little house shrinks into a hut." It is apparent from this that relative depravation or poverty is present in modern societies such as those in the USA and UK. WHAT CAUSES POVERTY? It is an undisputable fact that Britain under the Conservative governments from 1979
Assess functionalist theories of crime and deviance.
Sociology Chad Walker Assess functionalist theories of crime and deviance. Functionalism is a social structural and social control theory. It believes that it is society that causes the individual to commit crime. Social control theory looks at why people do not commit crime as it says that people are controlled by the primary and secondary agents of social control, such as the family or religion, and so should not commit crime. Functionalism is also a Right Wing theory, which believes that agents of social control like the police are fair and just; law reflects the collective conscience; people are biologically selfish and official statistics are valid. Functionalists included in this essay are Durkheim and Merton with evaluation from functionalist subcultural theorists, Cloward and Ohlin, and Marxism. Durkheim said that crime is inevitable: this is because people are not equally committed to the law due to individual differences and each society has its own definitions of what is deviant and so even a 'society of saints' will have deviance. He also said that crime is functional for society when there is the 'right' amount. The collective conscience needs to be at a moderate energy so that there is not too much or too little crime. When there is the right amount, society can progress as the criminal may be 'the origin of the genius' as they challenge societies current
Critically Examine the Subcultural Approach to Crime and Deviance.
Critically Examine the Subcultural Approach to Crime and Deviance. Subcultural theories share the common belief that people who commit crime usually share different values from the mass of law-abiding members of society. However, crime committing people do not live in complete opposition to mainstream values; rather they have 'amended' certain values so that this justifies criminal behaviour. As a way of structuring this particular discussion of sub-cultural theories, it is useful to distinguish between two main types of sub-culture; Reactive and Independent. A "reactive sub-culture" is one in which the members of a particular sub-cultural group develop norms and values that are both a response to and opposition against the prevailing norms and values that exist in a predominantly middle-class or conventional culture. In this respect, this form of sub-culture is sometimes called "oppositional" rather than reactive. Durkheim claimed that a state of anomie was occurring in modern society, where norms and values within society were becoming confused thus people do not know what to expect from one another which leads to deviant behaviour. Robert Merton adopted Durkheim's basic Functionalist position in relation to law and crime and refined the concept of anomie as a means of attempting to understand the conformity and non-conformity to social rules at the level of
