- Information
- AI Chat
Criminology Theory
Introduction to Criminology (CRM1300)
University of Ottawa
Recommended for you
Preview text
Criminology Theory
Emile Durkheim Durkheim’s : The rules of the sociological method (1895) ● Social factors control individual behavior ➔ Every society has crime; a society without crime would be abnormal ➔ Therefor, crime itself is a normal phenomenon ➔ So, what function does crime serve for society? ➔ Answer : Crime defines boundaries of good behavior by providing visible social reaction. I., Crime functions to demonstrate boundary of what behavior is acceptable, thus creating order Durkheim’s society of saints ● Assuming existence of “society of saints”, there would be no deviance or crime as we know it ● however , even this society needs to define certain behaviors as deviance ➔ Acceptable/unacceptable boundaries would “shrink” & small transgressions (to us) would be defined as major threats by saints - thus, deviance gets defined (is this too much control?) ● Violations of norms gives rise to a social response of public outrage rooted in the collective conscience of moral belief ● This public response to deviance serves to remind people what is acceptable and what is not Boundaries in any society are continually shrinking & enlarging ● Abnormality, then, would be a society with 1. Too much crime 2. Too little crime 3. Too little control 4. Too much control The concept of Anomie ● Anomie is the idea of “normlessness” or society with broken rules ● Anomie is viewed as a product of ➔ Social components become isolated ➔ Industrial society where growth & change is too rapid ➔ Evolution of society causes a loss of equilibrium Durkheim’s view of social history ● Society evolved from mechanical solidarity to a modern organic solidarity through the changes that were part of the process of industrial development ● Under early mechanical solidarity ➔ Everyone performs the same tasks ➔ Society is a self-sufficient group with the same values ➔ Goal is to protect society and fulfill group needs (ex. If a barn blows off your roof, your neighbors have to help and vice versa) ➔ Agrarian foundation, everyone behaves the same
Process changes society’s structure ● Over time, society moves towards organic solidarity ➔ The division of labor ➔ Goal is to protect the individual not the group ➔ Use of law to regulate society ➔ Society runs on contract relationships ➔ People behave differently Change disrupts society’s equilibrium ● Destabilizes equilibrium of mechanical solidarity ➔ Markets grow too fast ➔ Production is unbridled & unregulated ➔ Separation of owners, workers, consumers ➔ Disasters, economic crisis, & commercialism cause breakdown of norms ● Organic societies have continual states of anomie Durkheim’s books that focus on anomie - Wrote division of labour in society (1893) and suicide (1897) 1. Deviance is normal, it serves the function of helping society develop order 2. Punishment is necessary to insure protection of norms that maintains social solidarity 3. Focus on social conditions where rules lose value 4. Without a regulated society as a guide, individuals are confused & can’t adjust; this is anomie 5. Anomie represented by high rates of suicide, crime and deviance Robert Merton’s Theory = Strain Theory Merton’s social structure and anomie (1938) ● Uses aggregate rates of crime, suicide and attempts to explain them ● Durkheim’s rapid industrial development is like our modern society ● Societal-level events explain how changes affect groups (classes) of people Anomie theory foundations ● Focuses on embedded social structure & cultural disparities in society ● Saw strain from social disjunction between goals and means of society ➔ Goals : what one should strive for (money, success, status) ➔ Means : ways of attempting goals (approved and not) Anomie and The American Dream ● Society tells us what to achieve but not everyone has access to socially-approved means ● Access to legitimate means is unequally distributed by class ● Social class pyramid keeps poor on bottom Social disorganization and common values ➔ Societal members share common values ➔ Value system gives us goals & means (appropriate and institutionalized ways of achieving the goals)
Types of gangs - Criminal subculture (illegitimate opportunities are well developed, organized, integrated) : a. Gangs serve apprenticeships, profit making, little violence, respect for territory & traditions - Retreatist subculture : drugs, raising money for drugs, no access to either opportunity subculture or unable to succeed in either - Conflict subculture : nonintegrated, gangs are unrestrained, violent, competitive, focus on getting respect, property damage
Criminology Theory
Course: Introduction to Criminology (CRM1300)
University: University of Ottawa
