Social Distribution of Crime

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@sociologyheaven

Chris Deakin, 2014

2. Gender and Crime

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Why women are less criminal than men? Explanations In brief

Biology Sex role theory/Socialisation Poverty/marginalisation Control theory

• Women are maternal and ‘wired’ differently to men • Girls are raised to be passive/domestic – take less risks • Working class women are deprived and are promised rewards

for conforming (gender deal and the class deal)

• Women/girls are controlled by men = less opportunity to commit crime

Women are not less criminal than men Chivalry Thesis Liberation Theory

• Police and courts are lenient towards women and let them off = not visible in crime statistics

• Women now are more equal and have more opportunity to commit crime

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Studies Evaluation

Biology Sex role theory/ Socialisation Poverty/ marginalisation Control theory Chivalry Thesis Liberation Theory

• Women are biologically less deviant

• Parsons – women = expressive role – mum is adult role model

• Carlen – women encouraged to conform = class deal/gender deal

• But marginal women = rational decision to do crime to get rewards denied by class/gender deal failing

• Heidensohn – patriarchy – control in domestic sphere/public sphere/work

• Supervised/fear of violence/loss of reputation (Lees) = avoid crime

• Avoid urban space at night (Evans)

• Men socialised to be lenient and

chivalrous towards women • Pollack – less likely to arrest women

= biased statistics • Women = more cautions than men • Graham & Bowling/Hood findings • Kalven & Zaesel – selective policing

• Adler – equal opportunities in

society = same opportunities as men to commit crime

• Adopting male roles/behaviour patterns = ladette (Denscombe) – police dealing seriously

• Non-sociological – gender is socially constructed not biological (Oakley)

• Socialisation = less traditional expectations now • Post-modernists = decline of trad. Gender role • Rise of the ‘ladette’ • Why do so many women in not poverty commit

crime? • Ignores ‘non-monetary gain crime’

• Changing social attitudes – more ‘liberation’ from controls

• Women are not treated leniently (Farrington) • Severe offences are punished harshly , ie)

violence = against feminine expectations • Many women = remanded prior to prison

• Improvements in society mainly benefitted m/c women

• Female offenders are mainly w/c = linked to poverty (marginalisation/frustration) rather than ‘liberation’

2. Gender and Crime

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Why men are more criminal than women? Explanations In brief

Biology Sex role theory/Socialisation Control theory Masculinity & crime Crime as enjoyable

• Men are biologically more ‘physical’ and prone to aggression • Boys are socialised to be more aggressive/active/risk-takers

• Less control of boys than girls = more freedom

• Boys/men have to ‘prove’ they are masculine/macho

• Crime is done for pleasure

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Studies Evaluation

Sex role theory/ Socialisation Control theory Accomplishing masculinity Postmodernity Crime as enjoyable Globalisation & decline of traditional jobs (see globalisation slides)

• Parsons – male role models • Expectations to be active/aggressive • Male peer group – pressure

• Less control by parents • Dominate public space = opportunity • Pressure = macho reputation

• Messerschmidt – hegemonic masculinity = ‘real man’

• Toughness/competitive/power over others (like ‘Focal concerns’)

• w/c males = frustrated/failure at school = so crime becomes a way of ‘achieving’ hegemonic masculinity

• m/c males = ruthless = white collar • Explains domestic violence/rape

• Katz – pleasure from thrill of ‘risk’ of being caught/power over others

• Transgression = moral transcendence (like Matza)

• Exercise a form of control in lives • Lyng – Edgework (risky behaviour)

• Winlow – globalisation = decline of

trad. Industry (source of masculinity) • Rise of ‘nocturnal economy’ –

bouncers/body capital/networks • Violence more common – source of

status/overcome boredom

• Changing gender role expectations

• Does not explain why not all men use crime to achieve hegemonic masculinity

• Is masculinity a cause of crime or just a way that crime can be expressed (ie, being tough)

• Some crimes by men are not an expression of masculinity

• Mainly a working class issue linked to working class subculture (Miller)

• Only relevant to certain types of men in certain situations

3. Age and Crime

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4. Ethnicity and Crime

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4. Ethnicity and Crime

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The trends Afro-Caribbeans: • More likely arrested for robbery than other ethnic groups • More likely to experience the criminal justice system (caution/arrest/court/prison)

Asians: • More likely to face court rather than caution/go prison if found guilty • More likely to be arrested for fraud/forgery The debate for us to consider is this: “ Are Afro-Caribbeans and Asians (Pakistani/Bangladeshi) actually committing more crime than other ethnic groups (and if so…WHY?)….or are they being policed more and punished more than other ethnic groups (racist treatment by CJS) ?”

Look back at this divide….

Consensus Theories Conflict Theories

• Blame criminal for actions

• Focus on values/frustration etc

• Trust police/courts/media

• Have faith in official stats.

• Blame society/ ‘the system’

• Focus on poverty/inequality/labelling

• Distrust police/courts/media

• Official statistics = social constructs

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Consensus approaches Studies Evaluation

Educational performance Family structures Mass media Functionalism – declining community/bonds Functionalist subcultural New Right

• Poor attainment = blocked opportunities = frustration

• Merton (goals and means)

• Single parent form widespread amongst Afro-Caribbeans

• Turn to gang for support

• Role models/imagery • Aggression/sexual/money-focused

• Weak community times in areas with high ethnic minority population

• No attachment/responsibility

• Macho/challenging • Frustration = gang for support • Illegitimate opp. Structure - success

• Lack of father figure/role model • No discipline in home • Unemployment & welfare

dependency = weak bonds

• Not all ‘black’ students fail • Social class is more significant factor • Maybe due to negative labelling/low sets etc

• Is this an ethnic issue or a poverty one = lack of resources in single parent home

• Racist overtone – treats all ‘black’ entertainment in same way

• What about ‘white’ role models in same genre?

• Some urban areas have strong community ties and support in place

• Only really refers to a form of male in a particular context, ie) hegemonic masculinity in w/c setting

• Blaming ‘poor’ people for their situation • Lack of jobs from capitalism + racism = social

inequality (relative deprivation)

Look back at consensus theory notes for studies that can be applied here. Remember = many

ethnic minorities are w/c and experience deprivation (so all stuff on w/c applies here)

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Conflict approaches Studies Evaluation

Racism in the criminal justice system New Criminology New Left Realism Triple Quandary Theory

• Phillips & Bowling – stop and search + overpolicing of ‘black’ areas

• Stop & search – high rates for black/asian youth

• Macpherson Report – racism in met police

• Holdaway – Canteen culture – racist • Sharp & Budd – more arrests • Hood – courtrooms – black youths

more likely to go prison – stereotypes • Self report studies show more

whites do crime – get away with it • Phillips & Bowling – selective policing

= resentment of police/hostility

• Stuart Hall (policing the crisis) – mugging scare = media – moral panic

• Gilroy – political/symbolic resistance

• Lea & Young (relative deprivation/ marginality/subculture/individualism)

Tony Sewell: • Not linked to mainstream culture • Media/conspicuous consumption • Single parent families (see slide)

• Waddington – CCTV justified stop & search

• Police are trained to be anti-racist and subject to watchdogs/surveillance of their behaviour

• Recruitment of more black/asian officers

See next slide

Evaluation of Neo-Marxism

New Criminology New Left Realism

• Do ethnic minority youths really act in a symbolically political way?

• A bit contradictory in places – police racism/selective policing or not?

• Link between moral panics and crisis in capitalism not clear

• Ignores white collar crime and the process of law creation.

• Scraton(1987) sees it as

potentially a racist theory

• More attention needs to be given to agencies of control and how they have been racist

• They rely too much on victim surveys (Hughes)

• Have adopted subcultural theory without any radical changes (so subject to same criticisms aimed at Cohen/Merton)

www.themegallery.com

Tony Sewell – Triple Quandary Theory

www.themegallery.com

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They feel they

cannot relate to

mainstream

culture as

teachers,

employers, police

etc work against

their interests

2

They are

influenced by

the media and its

focus on

conspicuous

consumption

(status depends

on material

things)

3

Many African-

Caribbean boys

are raised in lone

parent families.

Absence of father

= lack of positive

male role model.

Identifies three risk factors that are responsible for high levels of

crime amongst African-Caribbean boys:

• These 3 things cause anxiety for black boys.

• They resolve these problems by forming subcultures/gangs.

• These subcultures lead to hyper-masculine behaviour to gain

respect/status.

• This subculture then leads to criminal behaviour.

5. Class and Crime

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6. Locality and Crime

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The issue • The argument is that ‘urban areas’ are more crime-ridden than rural areas.

• This is a bit of a value-laden issue that has it’s roots back in industrialisation and

sociologists in the Victorian era and early 20th century lamenting the demise of rural life in shadow of the growing factories and cities.

• Basically – whilst some argued ‘city are makes you free’, others were critical of how the hustle and bustle was unhealthy for human relationships.

• Many discuss ‘the lonely crowd’ and how urban living is impersonal and with it weak bonds

between people and hence lack of duty/obligation and informal social control. The trends • Crime rates are higher in urban areas • Crime is higher in certain areas in towns, ie) council estates • People in rural areas (countryside) experience crime less and are less worried (BCS) • People living in villages/rural areas = less fear of being a victim (Marshal & Johnson) • Rural areas have higher risk of burglaries than urban areas

6. Locality and Crime

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Think about these things… • Zones of transition

• Social disorganisation

• Differential association

• High population turnover

• Impersonal/instrumental relationships

• Less chance of being caught

• Greater opportunity

• High police presence

• Deprivation

• Council ‘housing’ policies

• Crime polices

• Segregation between rich and poor

Thanks to Ken Browne

(@BrowneKen) for bringing

these factors together in his

invaluable textbook

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Why Is there more crime in urban areas? Explanations In brief Ecological theory (zone of transition) (See ecological slide) Urbanism as a way of life Urbanism & opportunity Policing styles Deprivation

• Close to city centre = transient population = no bonds/unstable • No sense of community = no shared values/identity • Limited informal social control = distrust • Run d0wn – poor housing – poverty – high level of migrants • Different cultures = pluralism = no unity • Rural areas = more community/stable

3 ideas: • social disorganisation – no shared values/bonds • cultural transmission – pass on delinquent values • Differential association – surrounding by deviance = ‘the norm’ • Gemeinschaft & Gesellschaft • The Lonely Crowd • Less chance of being caught • Businesses/shops/leisure facilities = place for crime • Nocturnal economy

• Military-style policing/more presence in cities

• More poverty = frustration = driven to crime

6. Locality and Crime

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Conflict approaches Studies Evaluation

Ecological Theory (zone of transition) Urbanism and relationships Urbanism and opportunity Deprivation

• Shaw and McKay

• Marshall and Johnson • Tonnies – gemeinschaft

(community/warmth) and gesellschaft (society/colder) = cities less bonds = instrumental/risk/crime

• Riesman – The Lonely Crowd – urban areas = selfishness/ community = ‘other directed’ action – consider others and their needs = ‘more caring

• Less chance of being caught (New Right/James Q Wilson)

• ’Brantingham & Brantingham – shope/pubs/businesses = attract crime

• Hobbs – nocturnal economy - night

• Harrison – problems in towns/cities = poor housing/poverty/unemployment = frustration & criminality

• See evaluation on ecological theory slide

• There are communities in urban areas – many long-standing w/c estates and also ethnic minorities form support networks

• Efforts by councils to promote sense of community in deprived areas

• Greater use of CCTV and surveillance in urban areas to instil a sense of control

• Maybe a youth issue rather than a geographic issues – leisure values

• Gentrification of cities • Not all ‘deprived’ citizens are criminal

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Studies Evaluation

Ecological • Urban areas = high crime rate • City centre = less cohesion/ommunity • Normlessness = anomie • Social control is limited (informal) Shaw & McKay • Neighbourhoods/zones • Zones have distinct cultures/values • Zone of transition = ‘twilight zone’ – inner

city (cheap rented housing, poverty, high immigration, transitory population) = No bonds…crime!

• Social disorganisation = no sense of community – unstable..no controls

• Subculture = cultural transmission • Shaped by people around them (differential

association – Sutherland)

Marshall • Sink estates in UK = crime Baldwin & Bottoms • Tipping – problem families onto certain

estates • Morris – Found similar results when problem

families concentrated in area (diff. assoc.) • Skogan (USA) – noted public space and

disorder there..decline of neighbourhood Hobbs • Nocturnal economy – city centres-

pubs/clubs..expansion..more chance of criminal activity there

• Which comes first? (crime or social disorganisation)?

• Most people in these areas do not commit crime

• Ignores white collar crime by wealthy people in suburbs

• It may be that in urban areas there is a high concentration of young, deprived people…rather than area

• Most youth crime is transitory..not permanent/fixed

• Maybe urban areas are policed more and crime figures reflect the fact they are over-policed

• Some areas are treated as ‘problem areas’ by councils/police

• Ignores ‘gentrification’ of cities in recent years, ie) Yuppie flats etc

• Ignores strong sense of community on working class estates

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Locality & crime – other considerations Psychology of overcrowding • Calhoun – rats experiment = overcrowding

= high stress levels and harmful behaviour

• Some have applied this idea to humans in urban areas

Youth and crime • High concentration of young people in urban

areas (living there in poorer areas) • High concentration = leisure activity

(clubbing/pubs etc) = subterranean values/ focal concerns/edgework/thrill-seeking

Subcultures • Gangs thrive in urban deprived areas =

source of support/identity/status for young people (New Left Realism)

• Linked to criminality and Afro-Caribbean males (Sewell – Triple Quandary Theory)

Council estates (UK) • Baldwin & Bottoms – ‘good people’ move out

as anti-social behaviour increases • Tipping – problem families put together

(Morris – political decisions = segregation) • Local estates with bad reputation – avoided • Owen Gill – Luke Street – some areas are

labelled = stigmatised= residents adopt a negative self-image = SFP….selectively policed = deviance amplification

Riots (1981) • Marginality and powerlessness • Toxteth/Brixton/Moss Side – urban poor –

frustration – need a voice (Scarman Report) • New Left Realism (Lea and Young)

Surveillance and social control • Young/ethnic minorities – segregated and

controlled more = suspicion = ‘Suss’ • Women avoid urban spaces at night (Evans)

and fear victimisation or negative reputational labelling (Lees)

The policing of urban areas • Wilson – Broken Windows – zero tolerance • Urban rich= ‘gated communities’ – fortress

mentality protected (situational crime prevention) Muncie and McLaughlin

• Mike Davis – policies to control homeless – hosing doorways/barrel shape bus seats (see Tesco ‘spikes’ news story 2014)

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sociology materials for students and teachers

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Chris Deakin, 2014

“The pursuit of excellence in sociology teaching isn’t easy – but we’re giving it a go”