Postmodernism

● Societies have become more fragmented, making it less likely that they are held together
by a shared set of values.
● Postmodernists argue that crime is a socially constructed idea and reject the idea of a
single theory that can explain crime for everyone.
● They suggest studying particular crimes, motivations, and harms, rather than focusing on
strict legal definitions.
Strengths of Postmodernism:
● Different types of crime need different explanations.
● Focuses on the harms caused rather than whether a law has been broken.
● Recognizes that crime may be related to individual feelings and emotions.
Limitations of Postmodernism:
● It is still important to look for factors that explain crime.
● The patterns of crime in relation to age, ethnicity, social class and gender suggest that
some causes of crime do apply to whole social groups, rather than individuals.
Interactionism (Including Labeling and Moral Panic Theory)
● Interactionists agree that crime is socially constructed and that the interpretation of
behaviour is important.
Strengths of Interactionism and Labeling Theory:
● Recognizes the importance of society’s reactions to an action.
● Recognizes that individuals have some choice.
● Interactionist ideas have led to some changes in the criminal justice system.
Limitations of Interactionism and Labeling Theory:
● Does not take into account some behaviour which would always be seen as deviant,
whatever the context or reaction.
● Deviance is not created by the label, as interactionists imply.
● Labelling theory tends to imply that deviants are the passive victims of the labels applied
to them.
● Does not fully explain why some people are labelled and others are not.
Moral Panic
● The media often labels certain groups or individuals, turning them into folk devils and
exaggerating their crime or deviance.
● This creates a stereotype, so that all members of the group are assumed to have the same
characteristics.
● Media reporting and moral panic encourage a strong response by the police and courts.
 ● A deviancy amplification spiral can develop: the media response leads to more deviance,
which leads to a stronger media response which, in turn, leads to even greater deviance
and so on.
Strengths of Moral Panic Theory:
● Draws attention to the importance of the media in applying labels.
● Draws attention to the ways in which the media can increase deviance.
Limitations of Moral Panic Theory:
● Does not explain the initial behaviour of groups who become folk devils.
● People do not passively take in ideas from the media.
● Media portrayals of a group as folk devils can be more easily challenged.
Functionalism (Including the New Right, Sub-Culturalism, and Strain Theory)
● Functionalists see crime as functional for the wider society.
● A limited amount of crime is socially necessary, inevitable and beneficial.
● Laws provide clear boundaries and make it clear what the punishment will be for breaking
the law.
Strengths of Functionalism:
● Unusual in pointing out that crime can, in some ways, be good for society.
● Recognizes the importance of socialisation.
Limitations of Functionalism:
● Assumes the existence of a shared set of values across society.
● It is hard to see how a crime can be good from a victim’s point of view.
● Durkheim could not explain why, if everyone is socialised into the value consensus, some
individuals commit crime.
● Durkheim’s analysis did not attempt to explain different types of crime.
Strain Theory
● Merton was interested in situations where there was a mismatch between goals and
means:
Goals are the things societies encourage people to want (similar to values). Means are the ways
in which people can achieve these goals (similar to norms).
● Merton suggested there were five possible responses to this situation:
. Conformists: continue to work hard, believing they could achieve the goals
. Innovators: found new ways to achieve the goals, most of them considered to be
deviant
. Ritualists: carried on working and conforming even though they knew they could not
achieve the goal
 . Retreatists: rejected both the goals and the means and were resigned to failure
. Rebels: adopted different goals and also adopted their own ways to achieve their
goals
Strengths of Strain Theory:
● Useful for explaining crimes committed for material gain
● Explain rapid rises in crime in Eastern European countries after the end of communism
● Merton’s approach was developed by later sociologists into various sub-cultural theories
Limitations of Strain Theory:
● Assumes that almost everyone in a society shares the same values.
● Cannot explain crimes committed by people who have already achieved their goals, such
as white-collar crime.
● Many people fall into more than one of Merton’s categories.
New Right
● New Right sociologists are also influenced by functionalism and share the same views
about the importance of socialisation into a value consensus to keep society functioning
effectively.
● The New Right argues that families are key.
New Right Perspective on Crime
The New Right perspective attributes rising crime rates to changes in family structures and a
decline in traditional values. They contrast the "traditional nuclear family" with modern family
types, arguing that the former provided stability and moral values, while the latter do not.

Key Changes Identified by the New Right

● Increase in cohabitation: Undermines the idea of marriage.
● Increase in divorce: Undermines the idea of marriage as a lifelong partnership, leading to
instability and single-parent families.
● Greater independence of women: Women no longer focus solely on home and family,
leading to less effective socialization of children.
● More families without fathers: Boys grow up without appropriate role models, potentially
struggling to adopt traditional masculine roles.
Charles Murray and the Underclass
Charles Murray, an American New Right sociologist, connects family failings with failing
communities, particularly in inner-city areas of the USA. He argues that an "underclass" has
emerged, characterized by:
● Unemployment and a lack of desire to work.
● Short-term relationships, leading to children born outside of committed relationships.
 ● Fathers not taking responsibility for their children.
● Law-abiding working-class people being driven out, destroying local communities and
increasing crime rates.
Strengths of the New Right Explanation
● Attempts to account for the impact of social changes on crime.
● Has influenced the policies of political parties.
● Appeals to some parts of the media.
Limitations of the New Right Explanation
● Based on a misleading view of the past, assuming a "golden age" of traditional families.
● Ignores the patriarchal nature of traditional families and the sacrifices women had to make.
● Based on the values of those proposing them, leading to biased interpretations of
evidence.
● Ignores crime committed by people from nuclear families or the middle class.
● Accused of "victim-blaming," blaming those in poverty for their situation.
The New Right's perspective is controversial and disputed by many sociologists, as it seems to
blame single mothers and families living in poverty for all the problems in their life, including
crime.

Sub-Culturalism
Sub-culturalism suggests that when groups are materially or culturally deprived or experience
status frustration, they may develop new sub-cultures with their own norms and values.
Sub-culture: A group within a larger culture that has its own distinct norms, values, beliefs, and
behaviors.
These sub-cultures can offer alternative ways for members to gain success, status, and respect
from their peers.

Key Figures and Concepts

● Albert Cohen: Argued that young males share the value of status, but working-class youth
may turn to deviant behavior to achieve status from their peers.
● Cloward and Ohlin: Identified three types of sub-cultures linked to crime and deviance:
○ Criminal sub-culture: Provides criminal role models and career structures for
aspiring criminals.
○ Conflict sub-culture: Emerges when both legal and criminal ways of achieving goals
are blocked, leading to violence and gang warfare.
○ Retreatist sub-culture: Involves turning to drugs or alcohol as an escape when
individuals feel unable to succeed through legal or illegal means.
 ● Walter Miller: Argued that working-class boys have their own sub-culture with "focal
concerns" that encourage deviance.
Miller's Focal Concerns

Focal Concern Description

Accepting fate A feeling of having little control
over life, so making the most of
any chances.
Seeking autonomy Trying to control one's own life
and resisting authority.
Views on trouble Confrontations with authority and
others are normal and
unavoidable.
Attractions of excitement Looking for fun and enjoyment.
Virtues of smartness Looking good and understanding
the rules of the street.
Virtues of toughness Being masculine by being
aggressive.
Strengths of Sub-Cultural Theory
● Offers an explanation for collective deviance and non-economic youth deviance.
● Provides insights into offending by young people, particularly the search for status.
● Cloward and Ohlin's ideas explain different kinds of deviance.
Limitations of Sub-Cultural Theory
● Based on the USA in the 1950s and 1960s, potentially outdated and irrelevant to other
countries and cultures.
● Miller may have oversimplified working-class sub-culture.
● Tends to focus on male criminality, ignoring girls and reasons for their lack of involvement
in deviant sub-cultures.
Marxism
The Marxist view posits that laws are made by the state to reflect ruling-class interests and
The Marxist view posits that laws are made by the state to reflect ruling-class interests and
protect capitalism.

Key Marxist Arguments

● Laws criminalize the actions of the working class and protect private property.
● Crimes involving property are punished more severely than crimes involving violence,
demonstrating the value placed on property over life.
● The working class is tricked into accepting a state of false consciousness through an
ideology that masks the true nature of their exploitation.
● The laws that don't exist (e.g., those limiting inequality) are as significant as the laws that
are passed.
● The true criminals are those who benefit from a system based on exploitation.
How Laws Support Capitalism
● By punishing and blaming working-class individuals, attention is diverted from those truly
responsible for social problems.
● Potential opposition is neutralized by charging and imprisoning working-class people who
challenge the system.
Focus on Corporate Crime
Marxists emphasize crimes committed by the powerful, including corporate crime, and argue
that the activities of capitalists and companies should be illegal.

Marxist View on Official Statistics

Official statistics are seen as misleading because they only consider acts defined as crimes by
the ruling class.

Strengths of Marxism
● Draws attention to crimes ignored by other explanations, such as white-collar and
corporate crime.
● Highlights how crime stems from the nature of society and capitalist value systems.
● Explains high rates of working-class crime as a result of the class system.
● Considers wider issues relating to harm, rather than focusing on officially defined crimes.
Limitations of Marxism
● Ignores the reality of crimes committed by working-class offenders and their effects on
other working-class people.
● Fails to recognize that most victims of working-class crime are also working class.
● Based on the values of those proposing it, potentially ignoring contradictory evidence.
● Places too much emphasis on social class, neglecting the role of patriarchy.
Feminism ♀
Feminist sociologists study the relationship between gender and crime, focusing on the impacts
of crime and the criminal justice system on women.

Key Feminist Ideas

● Patriarchy: Crime happens within a patriarchal society, and the criminal justice system is
also patriarchal, leading to biases and inequalities.
● Masculinity and femininity: Gender expectations can lead males to engage in behaviors
that lead to crime.
● Women as victims of crime: Feminist theories highlight the extent of domestic violence,
sexual harassment, and sexual violence against women.
Strengths of Feminism
● Draws attention to neglected aspects of crime, including female victimization and the
gender imbalance in offending.
● Shows that most crime can be linked to the patriarchal nature of society and gender
expectations.
Limitations of Feminism
● The criminal justice system does not always operate in a patriarchal way, and some laws
protect women.
● Feminist views may place too much emphasis on gender, neglecting the role of social class
and capitalism.