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- Sociological Approaches
o Auguste Comte the founder of the positivist school of philosophy, is also
recognized as the founder of sociology
Instilled in sociology the notion that human behaviour is a function of
forces beyond the control of the individual
o The sociological perspective generally assets that individuals are socialized into
the existing social structure as they internalize society’s norms, or social
expectations
o What a given society considers acceptable is defined through two types of
norms: prescriptive (telling us what we should do) and proscriptive (telling us
what we should not do)
o One of the founding fathers of sociology, Emile Durkheim, encapsulated these
ideas when he observed that even in a society of saints there would be deviance
He believed that human groups will always make rules, and that every
group will have some members who breaks some of the rules – that is ,
engage in crime and/or deviance
o According to Durkheim individual behaviour is the product of the social
environment rather than intrinsic traits
o Theories of social order can be classified in terms of two paradigms: consensus
and conflict
Those in the first group subscribe to Durkheim’s understanding of society
as a set of interrelation parts, each of which contributes to the overall
functioning of the whole
Collective conscience is the general consensus surrounding the underlying
moral framework
o Karl Marx’s conflict theories see society not as a largely consensual whole but as
an assortment of disparate groups competing for power and resources
o Symbolic interactionism can be traced to the work of Gabriel Tarde, who focused
less on the social order than the social processes through which criminal
behaviour is learned with others in the individual’s social environment
- Socio-Structural Theories
o Oldest and most fundamental of the main sociological perspectives
o Looks at root causes of crime in social institutions such as family, organized
religion, and the economic, education and political systems
- The Human Ecological School
o Ecological school of criminology is a sub-discipline of criminology that studies
how elements of the physical and social environment interact to create a
criminal environment
o Robert E. Park and Ernest W. Burgees founded it
o Concentric-circle theory is an early human ecological theory, according to which
cities develop from the inner city to the suburbs in a predictable series of
Neutralization
- Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory
o Differential association theory is a sociological theory that holds that criminal
behaviour is socially leaned through frequent exposure to negative influences
o Sutherland believed that people learn how to commit crimes primarily through
social interaction
o The more intimate the contact, the more likely it is that the behaviours will be
imitated
o The theory is based on nine fundamental principles:
Criminal behaviour is learned through cultural transmission
Criminal behaviour is learned in direct interaction with other persons in a
process of communication
The principal part of learning of criminal behaviour occurs within intimate
personal groups
The process of learning criminal behaviour includes learning the
techniques of committing the crime and learning the specific direction of
motives, drives, rationalization and attitudes
The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of
legal codes as favourable or unfavourable
A person becomes a delinquent because of an excess of definitions
favourable to violation of law over definitions favourable to the law
Differential associations may vary in frequency, duration, priority and
intensity.
The process of learning criminal behaviour involves all the mechanisms
that are involved in any other learning
While criminal behaviour is an expression of general needs and values, it
is not explained by those general needs and values, since the motives for
criminal behaviour are not the same as those for conventional behaviour
- Variations on Differential Association Theory
o Differential reinforcement theory is a sociological theory that sees crime as a
learned behaviour reinforced by its consequences
- Labelling Theory
o Two fundamental questions:
Why do some behaviours come to be defined as normative while others
are defined as deviant?
What are the individual/psychological and social consequences of being
identified as a criminal or delinquent?
o Labelling theory is a sociological explanation of crime that proposes that
negative labelling can predispose people to feel like out-casts, increasing the
likelihood of further deviant or criminal behaviour
o Moral entrepreneurs are individuals who use their power and/or influence to
shape the legal system to their advantage
- Primary and Secondary Deviance
o Primary deviance – acts of behaviour that run counter to societal norms but that
have not been socially recognized or labelled as deviant
Example: office worker who takes home some business pens (theft but
like…is it really)
o Secondary deviance – deviant acts or behaviour that result from labelling
- Summary and Evaluation
o If you view and treat people as criminals, they will come to commit criminal acts
Labelling theory
o In summary, social-process theories include social learning theory, social bond
theory, social control theory, levelling theory and reintegrate shaming
Value importance of social interaction in crime causation
- Radical and Critical Theories: Conflict, Peacemaking, Feminist and Left Realist
o Conflict theory is a social theory that sees crime as the product of social and/or
economic disparities in society and suggests that people resort to criminal
activity in response to division and competition
rooted in teachings of Karl Marx
o Peacemaking Theory is a humanistic approach to crime control that emphasizes
reconciliation through mediation, and dispute settlement, rather than
punishment and retribution
o Feminist Perspective a general term for any of a variety of sociological
approaches to the study of crime that focus on female offenders and victims,
emphasize the patriarchal bias in society, and call for greater equality between
the genders both in the criminal justice system and in theory construction
o Left-realism is a theoretical approach that focuses on crime prevention
strategies and the implications of rime control policies rather than the causes of
crime
Suggest that conflict theorists have ignored the poor and the working
class, focusing instead on crimes of the ruling upper class
The material, political and ideological impact of crime on the
maintenance of capitalism makes crime a real problem
We must look at the reality behind the outward appearance that crime
has on society
We should focus on crime control by encouraging community
involvement
We must come to understand the relationship between victim and
offender
Police need to be integrated in the community
Victimization surveys provide a more realistic picture of crime that official
statistics do
Four central elements
A commitment to detailed empirical investigation; left realists rely
heavily on victimization data
The independence and objectivity of criminal activity
The disorganizing effect of crime: all crimes are serious