Crime can relate to sociology in many ways. If one would look crime as a function it would clearly be labeled as a dysfunction because it goes against what society has branded as “good”. Looking at crime from a conflict point of view would label crime as a conflict between the working class against the upper class, who are trying to keep things the same. This is stated in the Communist Manifesto “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” (Socioweb.com, Karl Marx). There would be an infinite amount of ways one could look at crime from every sociological prospective. .
When examining crime one must remember that the person committing a crime is against a particular aspect of the society in which they live. For example, John doesn’t like having to pay for things because he can never earn any money to buy anything. In his society a person has to earn money in order to buy things. John is completely against this and goes and steals from people. Although he believes that this is fine, his society does not, thus they label him as a criminal. A “deviant” or a member of a “subculture” is what sociologists would label John. He openly defies what the values of his society are and just chooses to do what he wants to.
A “deviant” might also want to change some features of their society in order to suit their own needs and wants. In order to do so they will openly defy the ruling body of their society in order to achieve this. The people who join the deviant are also labeled as deviants and criminals to their society. Usually, this people have an undying will to change their society. According to Herbert Spencer he “saw individualism and competition as the key to social progress.” (Yahoo.com, Herbert Spencer). A famous “deviant” was Martin Luther King Jr. King wanted to change the laws in the United States in order to make equal rights for African-Americans living in the United States at that time. King tried many times without losing hope and he finally did change society, even after going through the troubles of being a “deviant’ of his society.
Such acts have always puzzled sociologists. A person would go through tremendous pain and suffering just to change an aspect of their society, or to just prove that they are “different” from their society and not like everybody else. It is only human to want to be able to change things for the better of the self.
In order to study crime, the study of criminology is required. Criminology is the study of crime within a society. The famous sociologist Beccaria stated “Because both individuals are hedonistic or self-interested, when resources are scarce, they will be led into conflict with one another--each wishing to acquire and accumulate resources, even at the expense of the other.” (Crimetheory.com, Beccaria) Knowing this, it is possible to deduce that the reason why crime exists is because people fight over resources that they do not have. This is the source of all crime according to Beccaria and it is the reason why people commit crimes.
In every society in the world there are a couple crimes that are considered as “unlawful” according to their standards and their norms. Some of these crimes include murder, theft, sexual assaults and many others. These universal crimes are what many people consider as crimes. They also define what crime is in society. For example, a crime is usually an action that hurts another person in some form. Since it hurts one person and sometimes benefits anther person this is what makes people consider some actions of individuals as crimes.
If these are considered crimes, one must think of social movements and other related characteristics. These are in somewhat of the grey area of what is considered a crime and what a crime isn’t. In some societies social movements are a normal part of life, but in others they are considered as a radical extremists or “terrorists” because of their different beliefs and ideologies. Social movements can be treated as rebels in one society, but embraced in another society; it all depends on the society in which they are in. This is how criminology relates to sociology.
In order to fully understand what crime is one must examine a number of sociological perspectives and viewpoints. Crime is in every society and can’t be avoided, and must be studied to comprehend its affects. Without crime it is not possible for a society to exist, because there is no perfect utopian society to be found anywhere on this planet. Crime is what makes us human, “deviance” in society is healthy and it is needed in order for us to advance on into the future.
Bibliography
“Sociology Section” Accessed May, 19, 2002
“Karl Marx” Accessed May 19, 2002
“Beccaria’s Theories” Accessed May, 18, 2002
“Why We Fight: Moral Clarity and The War on Terrorism” William J. Bennett
Doubleday; ISBN: 0385506805; (April 9, 2002)
“Crime and Punishment”
Bantam Classics; ISBN: 0553211757; Reissue edition (July 1, 1984)
