This is a pivotal part in terms of maintain the functioning of society and to ensure that people don’t go around breaking laws wherever and whenever they want. The criminal justice system is therefore a central part of society and without is society would quickly deteriorate into chaos. There are however a number of issues in the criminal justice system. Some of these issues include false convictions and bias within the courtroom. The tutorial discussion this week was essentially discussing how the system operates and some of the flaws within the system such as false convictions which come about through human error or in extreme cases racial bias (Alberto F. Alesina, Eliana La Ferrara, 2011).
Assess the usefulness of official statistics to our understanding of social problems. Illustrate your response with sociological arguments and evidence. To assess the usefulness of official statistics to our understanding of social problems, I will first look at what official statistics are, I will then look at crime and suicide as two examples of social problems. I will look at how both Positivists and Interpretativists use these statistics and how useful each of these sociological approaches find them. Official statistics is the name given to the numbers of crimes reported to or unveiled by the police themselves, which lead to a conviction, caution or are dealt with in some formal way by the law.
Throughout history society’s perception of crime and deviance has adapted to fit within the societal model of control. The continual advancement of both medical understanding and technology has also played a major role in how the legal system identifies individuals considered to be criminals. Just as society’s perception and understanding of criminal activities has changed, so too has the criminological theories that attempt to explain it. Today all theories (old and new) are studied in order to assist in the creation of new theories and help determine possibly why criminal behavior is taking place. This paper will compare criminological sub theories such as Anomie, Subculture, Biological, Social Disorganization/Chicago school, Learning, Labeling,
Provide a critical response to the statement that “Criminology is the science of law- making, law- breaking, and law- enforcing” (Sherman, 2013:1) Lawrence Sherman defines criminology as the science of law- making, law- breaking, and law enforcing. This statement holds true to a large extent. A similar definition stressing both the theoretical and applied nature of a science of crime is the one formulated by Edwin H. Sutherland, according to which: “Criminology is the body of knowledge regarding crime as social phenomenon. It includes within its scope the process of making laws, of breaking laws, and of reacting toward the breaking of laws….the objectivity of criminology is the development of a body of general and verified principled and of other types of knowledge regarding this process of law, crime, and treatment or prevention” (The Florida State University, n.d.) Criminology should be more than law- making, law- breaking, and law enforcing. Criminological studies tend to be gender biased and focus largely on crimes of the powerless (street crimes).
Advantages and Disadvantages of using Quantitative and Qualitative methods to study Class and Crime Sociological research is incredibly useful in identifying patterns and relationships between social institutions and forces that exist around us today. Class and Crime are at the forefront of these social institutions. Therefore, questions such as ‘Why are their inequalities in class?’ or ‘Are some people predisposed to commit crime?’ arise and it lays upon sociological research to answer these questions. However the type of research we conduct can be compromised and split into two categories; Quantitative (based on positivist data) and Qualitative (Interpreitivst). There are chosen according to the type of research and data the social researcher hopes to find.
Consensus theory means any area dealing with a problem where several objects must be simplified to one. This paper will research thorough back ground of crime including the main themes associated with crime, why crime is committed, the four main perspectives of crime (legalist, political, psychological, sociological), and how society perceives crime. This paper will also research how consensus is formed among society and what factors play a role. Research as to how deviance, social norms and theories all have a vital role in how society form consensus. A clearer understanding of consensus theorists will be examined and the ideologies behind these individuals.
Sociology's emphasis in criminology uses complex sociological theories in order to analyze, explain and overall prevent criminal behavior within societies social structure, laws, processes, and actions. When it comes to the study of behavior there are a few theories that set out to understand the scientific study of law breaking we refer to as criminology. Serious attempts are made to define and describe the causes of criminal activity which has a core objective of analyzing crime as a social phenomenon . My first paper of this semester will contain and discuss how basic sociological theories such as functionalism, conflict and symbolic interactionism impact the sociological institution of criminology and the process of making laws, breaking laws, and reacting to the breaking of these laws. In addition to these theories there are as many as 10 other theories includig an array of approaches to the understanding of criminology through classical and strain theory as well as biological, psychological, feminist and labeling perspectives to name a few.
What are the major approaches that criminologists use to explain crime? Explain each of them. Which approach or approaches would be of greatest practical use to the security manager? Since ancient times, criminologists study various theories of crime in order to place measures that may reduce or eliminate specific crime risks. They are trying to use different approaches to explain crime by different category of theory, such as psychology, biology and sociology.
| Unit 1 SO0752A | Introduction to Crime and Deviance | | | | | “Why is it important to understand what constitutes crime?” | In the 21st century it is important for a variety of reasons to understand what constitutes crime. Not only does it broaden the criminological imagination but it allows you to questions the stereotypical images of crime presented to us on a daily basis through the media. We can also gain a more insightful understanding of the problem of crime. For many crime is seen as an act that breaks the law. According to Tappan’s (1947 p.100, quoted in Muncie et al 2010 p.4) “crime is an intentional act in violation of criminal law (statutory or case law), committed without defence or excuse and penalised by the state as a felony or misdemeanour”.
People being labelled (negatively) will always be affected according to their label, and society plays an important role in the labelling process. In the next few paragraphs the contribution of Becker as an exponent of the labelling perspective will be discussed along with the process of labelling and the typology of deviants. Labelling as a cause of crime According to the Study Guide (The explanation of crime), Becker shortly discussed the way different sets of rules affect the theory of labelling as a cause of crime while developing his theory. This labelling theory, also known as the societal reaction theory does not only define deviants, it can also make them. When someone is labelled an offender they are forced by society to live according to this label which could minimise their chances of being law abiding citizens and limit their chances of finding decent jobs.