Sociological explanations of crime
From evil to sickness
Explanations for criminal behaviour
 Demonology
 Biological
Theories
 Psychological
Approaches
 Anomie
 Control theory
 Marxist
 Subcultural
Demonology
“Devil made me do it”
 Crime caused by
demonic activity
 Offender to be purged
of evil presence
 Exorcisms led to
death of mentally ill
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Born Evil
Biological
 Double YY chromosome
 a human male receives
an extra Y-chromosome,
giving a total of 47
chromosomes instead of
the more usual 46. This
produces a 47,XYY
karyotype, which occurs
in 1 in 1,000 male births
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Anomie approach
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Before we proceed you
need to remind yourself
of what is anomie (Lack
of Norms)
Very close to
functionalism think ‘norms
and values’
If you have no norms,
crime is easy
Main reason for
immigrant crime (Russian
Mob, Mafia, Jamaican
Possies)
Anomie: Merton
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All societies motivate people…they
can achieve through hard work
For the majority this is
impossible/difficult to attain (suggest
who and when)
Merton argues this to an increased
level of crime as people turn to crime
to achieve financial success
This situation when the goals of
society are not possible by
conventional means anomie
Marxism
Cannot fight
stratification
 Law allows rich to
control society
 See crime as a
form of rebellion
 “Les Miserables”
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Biological
Chemical and Environmental
Precursors
*eating habits, vitamin deficiencies, blood
 sugar levels
 * Dan White and the Twinkie Defence”
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Hormones and Criminality
•
Testosterone, pre-menstrual syndrome
•
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x501tn_annuale-commercial_fun
Psychological approach
Focus on the individual (cognitive,
behavioral, neurological, developmental)
 Examples:
 Psychoanalytic theory (Freud) “my mother
made me do it”
 Psychopathy (sociopaths, psychopaths)
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Psychopaths
Lack empathy and guilt
 Highly manipulative
 Emotionally shallow
 Often outwardly charming
 History of violence & abuse
 Abnormal responses to stressors
 Feels superior to victims
 must always do something to keep
themselves from boredom.
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Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo
Met when he was 23 and she was 17.
 Married in 1991, six months after they raped
and killed Karla’s sister, Tammy
 Raped and killed 14- year-old Leslie Mahaffy,
15-year-old Kristen French,19 year old
Elizabeth Bain (never charged)
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Sociopath
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Repeated acts that could lead to arrest.
Conning for profit BUT CAN feel emotional attachment.
Failure to plan ahead or being impulsive.
Repeated assaults on others.
Reckless to their or others safety.
Poor work behavior & ignores financial obligations.
Less organized, quick to display rage, agitation.
Sociopath is likely to spontaneously act out in
inappropriate manner, snap out in rage, without thinking
about the consequences.
Nature versus Nurture
(Lykken 1995)
Psychopaths BORN WITH distinctions that
cause risk seeking, impulsiveness, fearlessness
as well as inability to socialize.
 Sociopaths are born with normal
temperaments, BUT negative environmental
experiences (poverty, permissive or neglectful
parenting, direct exposure to violence) influence
neurological growth which result
in responses like psychopaths
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Social Psychology
(Lykken 1995)
Subculture Theory
People who commit crime share a different set of values which
is different from the values of society as a whole. They have a
different
subculture
Brought up by their parents to have values sympathetic to crime
Subculture theory
Brought up in culture of deviance
 Opportunities for crime abound
 Learned deviance (stages with levels)
 Deviance arises because individuals
conform to the values and norms of
particular groups which have a code of
behaviour of their own.
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David Downes: The delinquent
solution
Studied youths in East
London
Found on evidence of
a subculture but
youths passed their
time trying to get as
much fun out of life
At times this brought
them in conflict with
law
Chicago School (1920’s)
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Found that inner city and working class areas had more
recorded crime than middle class suburban areas
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E.g. James Patrick, A Glasgow gang observed, 1973
(participant observation)
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Cloward and Ohlin, Delinquency and Opportunity, 1961
found delinquent groups are most common in socially
disadvantaged areas
Research your crime stats and find if this is representative
of contemporary society…crime links at bottom of crime
page…try to research your local police stats
J B Mays 1954
(British sociologist examining Liverpool)
Criminal subcultures are most likely in areas
of acute social disadvantage
J B Mays 1954
Delinquent Boys 1955 found that Status
deprivation was a key factor in joining a
delinquent group.
Status - failure at
school becomes
an asset in the streets.
Differential association theory
Likelihood of engaging in crime is
connected to values and attitudes of
the people associated with
(birds of a feather flock together)
Cohen (1955)
Cohen and ‘Status deprivation’
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Synthesized structuralism of Marxism with the
Labeling Theory (remember?)
Each generation tries to find employment or adapts
to unemployment.
“Skinheads” & “Punks” proud of label and live up to
them
Youth develop a cultural style as a means of coping
with their particular circumstances and of resisting
the dominant values of society.
Working class youth as the leaders of barers of
class struggle.
Cohen and ‘Status deprivation’
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Delinquency is a collective rather than an individual response to social
stratification
W Belson, Juvenile theft, 1975, a study of thieves in London found that
they stole so as to be ‘accepted as part of the group, to gain prestige’
(Listen to Kendrick Lamar – “The Art Of Peer Pressure")
Tell me your stories of modern media equivalent
I'm usually a true firm believer of bad karma
Consequences from evil will make your past haunt ya
We tryna conquer the city with disobedience
Quick to turn it up, beefing if we ain't got the CD in
But Jeezy still playing and our attitude is still, nigga what is you saying?
Pull in front of the house that we've been camping out for like two months
The sun is going down as we take whatever we want
I hit the back window in search of any Nintendo
DVDs, plasma screen TVs in the trunk
We made a right, then made a left, then made a right
Then made a left, we was just circling life
My mama called, kicking it
I should have told her I'm probably bout to catch my first offense
with the homies
But they made a right, then made a left, then made a right
Then another right
One lucky night with the homies
(And this is the art of peer pressure
This is the art of peer pressure)
Me and the homies
Downes refutes subcultural theory
Downes studied East London youths :
 No evidence of status frustration
 No evidence of illegitimate opportunity
structure
 Youths lies were characterised by
‘dissociation’ from work and aspirations
 Their values were about leisure time
because of the dissatisfaction with
school and work
There was NO commitment to
deviant values!
What does that mean?
Three types of sub-cultures
(Drug addicts who opt out )
Matza
Rather than being committed to delinquency,
young people drifted between conventional and
unconventional behavior.
 Values of pleasure seeking and risk-taking are
also found in mainstream suburban society
 Everyone is deviant sometimes and young
people are more prone
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Matza
Sub-cultures do not have to
lead to crime
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Many are fashion based, based on music,
clothing or lifestyle choices
Cooptation
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Jean Paul Gauthier punk
collection ($5000 dress)
In some cases the sub-culture becomes
so popular as to be accepted and/or take a
place in society (rockers, punks, more?)
View of subculture
Positivists
Examine the differences
between delinquents
and “normal” youth
Marxist subculturalists
 Structural inequalities
in society
 Working class youth
have problems that
they try to resolve
sometimes this leads
to crime
Sub cultural Theory
Influenced social policy in the U.K
and in America
Why would this approach be adopted by
administrations to develop crime policy?
But where are the girls?
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Again examining sociological studies we
find that women have been ignored. Early
sociology failed to take account of women.
Suggest reasons why sociologists would
have ignored women