Theories of crime and social control: key terms
12 terms. Say the definition out loud, tap to check, then say whether you knew it. Back to the topic
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Anomie
A state of normlessness, where the shared rules of society are weakened or unclear.
Exam tip Durkheim, then Merton's strain theory. Say whose use of the term you mean.
Strain theory
Merton's view that deviance results from a gap between cultural goals and the legitimate means of achieving them.
Exam tip Know his five adaptations (conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, rebellion) and apply one to the Item.
Status frustration
Cohen's term for working-class boys' frustration at their low status in school, leading to delinquent subcultures.
Exam tip Explains non-utilitarian crime, which Merton cannot.
Illegitimate opportunity structure
Cloward and Ohlin's term for the different chances of getting involved in crime in different areas.
Exam tip Use their three subcultures: criminal, conflict and retreatist.
Focal concerns
Miller's term for the values of the lower class, such as toughness, smartness and excitement.
Exam tip Contrast with Cohen: Miller sees a separate culture, not a reaction to failure.
Labelling theory
The interactionist view that an act is deviant only when others label it so.
Exam tip Becker. Develop into the deviant career and the self-fulfilling prophecy.
Primary and secondary deviance
Lemert's distinction between deviant acts that have not been labelled and deviance that follows from being labelled.
Exam tip Explain the process from primary to secondary deviance for a developed point.
Deviancy amplification spiral
The process by which attempts to control deviance increase it.
Exam tip Cohen's mods and rockers. Links to moral panics and the media.
Moral panic
An exaggerated public reaction to a group or behaviour seen as a threat to society.
Exam tip Cohen. Name the stages: folk devil, media exaggeration, demands for action.
Selective law enforcement
The Marxist idea that the law is applied more against the working class than against the powerful.
Exam tip Use with white-collar crime as evidence.
Left realism
The view that crime is a real problem, especially for the poor, caused by relative deprivation, subculture and marginalisation.
Exam tip Lea and Young. Contrast it with right realism and with Marxist views.
Right realism
The view that crime is caused by biological, rational and social factors, and that it should be controlled rather than explained.
Exam tip Wilson and Kelling's broken windows. Evaluate: it ignores structural causes.
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