Compare and contrast two approaches to defining and measuring crime and deviance. There are a number of sociological theories that explore the concepts of crime and deviance within society. Although these theories are diverse and offer differing perspectives and explanations of crime and deviance, they all agree that a social approach is required (Taylor et al. 2008). This assignment will explore the social constructivist approach to defining and measuring of crime and deviance from a functionalist and interactionist perspective with a brief overview of the Marxist perception.
‘Outline and explain ways in which data about crime is collected’ Crime can be defined as deviant activities that break the law in any particular society. Finding out how much crime takes place isn’t easy, and attempts to measure crime can prove misleading. This doesn’t mean that crime statistics aren’t affective, but it does mean that no single measure can be fully relied upon. Many sociologists see crime statistics as a social construction, as collecting crime data is a result of the cultural expectations of society, and by understanding who commits crime and what sorts of crimes are committed, we can get a clearer picture of why people commit crime in the first place. Different sociologists have presented different theories and concepts to explain what drives a person to commit a crime, and research and statistics give us an idea of the type of crimes committed and the places that they’re most likely to occur.
Crime as defined by Winterdyk, “is a socially constructed concept used to categorize certain behaviours as requiring formal control and warranting some form of social intervention” (Winterdyk, 2006, p. 491). Individuals that commit these criminal acts are believed to have made a specific choice in the matter. The benefits and consequences have been weighed therefore the criminal has made the choice, but what other circumstances can have a role in this decision? It is understood that social structures, social processes and human biology can all have an affect on the outcome of our individual acts. However the biological flaws of persons are not as significant as one may think.
A social institution refers to “a complex of positions, roles, norms and values lodged in particular types of social structures and organizing relatively stable patterns of human activity with respect to fundamental problems in producing life-sustaining resources, in reproducing individuals, and in sustaining viable societal structures within a given environment” (Turner). The relationship between social institutions and organized crime is a very simple one. Social institutions are groups that someone may grow up in and each different experience determines who that person is. The social environment or institution that someone grows up in affects greatly who that person will become. Some social institutions have positive effects of individuals while others may have a negative effect.
Being a criminal or deviant could be seen to be a social construct and therefore this may mean that you could question what criminal activity is and whether this social construct is even right since it has been constructed by members of the society. The laws of the society have also constructed the norms and values of society and therefore if someone were to go against that they would be seen to be criminal however, this may differ in other parts of the world because what may be criminal and deviant in our society may be seen to be the norm in another. The labelling theory helps us to understand why people commit crimes and why people end up being deviant within the community. One reason may be that this stereotypical view or pre-judgement enables people to self-fulfil their prophecy and therefore creates criminal for example. Someone who comes from poor background and where’s hoodies does not automatically mean that they could be deviant.
The first is instrumental, the state responds to crime to secure benifits of the wider society such as crime prevention & crime reduction. The second purpose of the Australia criminal justice system is non utilitarian, which means the state must redress imbalances caused by those people who take illegal advantage of another or diminish another’s human dignity. An example of informal control is the socialisation process. Socialisation is the general process by which individuals within a society learn & assimilate social norms & socially acceptable behaviour. This learned behaviour is a social inheritances, drawing on the information passed down from generation to generation, which is the basis of any societies
The term ‘porous’ suggests that there is barrier between social welfare services and crime control services but that there are gaps in this barrier allowing both side to communicate. In order to be effective, both social welfare and crime control need to liaise with and co-ordinate their efforts with their counterparts. As the barrier is porous it allows for the information to be exchanged at a controlled rate. Information, ideas, solutions may all be better achieved if a
It is evident that crime and deviance play an important role in society today and form the “out of ordinary” actions that take place as a subsequence. Crime is a well-known term to many and is believed to involve a breach of rules or laws implemented by authorities that lead to convictions or punishment for those involved in the criminal activity. However; deviance is a term which creates much difficulty in terms of a specific definition, but the closet definition came from two men; Downs and Rock who believed that “deviance may be considered as banned or controlled behaviour which is likely to attract punishment or disapproval”. Haralambos and Holborn Sociology, Themes and Perspectives seventh edition, 2008. This demonstrates that there is some concept of difference between criminal and deviant behaviour.
Criminal law reflects society's ideas of what is acceptable and proper behavior in serious matters. It covers many aspects of relationships in society, how people relate to each other and to property. Any individual who does not live up to these ideals or paradigms on relationships is guilty of a criminal offense. The role and purposes of the criminal justice system are matters of public debate, and public policy in the criminal justice area is constantly undergoing reform in an attempt to reflect modern society's paradigms, paradigm shifts and resulting world view. What makes a crime, criminal?
All of these factors may be predictors of law breaking and crime in general, but could also be related to law enforcement officers. Officers work difficult jobs that are distinctive from many other occupations in that their role gives them the unique access and power that other occupations do not have the liberty of doing. On an every day basis, they break the laws that the rest of society is expected to uphold, they speed, visibly carry guns and are able to personal seize property on a consistent basis. This gives them the day to day opportunity to potentially be deviant. Because officers work in law enforcement it provides an opportunity for their deviance from the law to be justified if there actions are questioned.