CRIME AND DEVIANCE// SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

Pregunta	Respuesta
Sociological theory only: Functionalism// Structuralism	A theory which argues that the institutions of society, education, family, religion, politics, media and law & order all influence and constrain our behaviour.
Sociological theory only: Functionalism// Emile Durkheim	Concerned with how society stayed together after such rapid change. He said society is kept together by social solidarity (shared norms and values) and collective consciousness. If these things are not maintained then society could fall into a state of Anomie – Normlessness
Sociological theory only: Functionalism// Talcott Parsons	Its important that individuals are socialised to accept to norms and values through institutions like education, religion and the media
Sociological theory only: Functionalism// On crime	Crime has positive functions which help keep society balanced and in harmony.
Sociological theory only: Functionalism// On religion	Religion helps reinforce social solidarity through rituals. It gives people a sense of meaning and gives support during times of emotional stress
Sociological theory only: Functionalism// Criticisms	Explaining the function of things doesn’t explain how they came about. Too optimistic ignores inequality. Too deterministic, our behaviour is constrained and there is nothing we can do.
Sociological theory only: Functionalism// Modernist	Agrees with the 18th enlightenment project of using reason to achieve knowledge that will help society progress.
Sociological theory only: Functionalism// Uses a macro approach to studying society.	.
Sociological theory only: Functionalism// Consensus	An approach which says society is based on agreement, meaning we agree on norms and values.
Sociological theory only: Functionalism// Structuralism	A theory which argues that the institutions of society, education, family, religion, politics, media and law & order all influence and constrain our behaviour.
Sociological theory only: Marxism// Key ideas	Marx says institutions are used to transmit ruling class ideology, then in turn causes false class consciousness and the idea that capitalism is reasonable and just. Marx says Capitalism exploits and alienates the proletariat in order for the Bourgeoisie to create profit.
Sociological theory only: Marxism// Solution	The Proletariat can never be free under capitalism they must cast off the shackles of oppression and create a Communist revolution.
Sociological theory only: Marxism// On crime	Laws are their to oppress the working class and control them if they revolt.
Sociological theory only: Marxism// On religion	Religion is the opium of the masses it doesn’t encourage the working class to change their situation because of the promise of compensation in the after life.
Sociological theory only: Marxism// Criticisms	Out of date, especially in relation to class. Economic determinist – too focused on the economy and ignores gender and ethnicity. Marx’s predictions of revolution haven’t come true, was he wrong?
Sociological theory only: Marxism// Modernist	Agrees with the 18th enlightenment project of using reason to achieve knowledge that will help society progress.
Sociological theory only: Marxism// Uses a macro approach to studying society.	.
Sociological theory only: Marxism// Conflict	An approach which says society is based on conflict between the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat
Sociological theory only: Feminism// Structuralism	A theory which argues that the institutions of society, education, family, religion, politics, media and law & order all influence and constrain our behaviour.
Sociological theory only: Feminism// Types of feminism	Liberal – Using democracy to change the laws. Marxist (socialist) – Capitalism is the cause of women's oppression Radical – men and women should be separated. Black – Sexism, class oppression and racism are bound together
Sociological theory only: Feminism// Three Waves	Mid 1800’s – right to vote. 1960’s – equal rights in pay and work 1990’s – representing ethnic minorities
Sociological theory only: Feminism// On crime	Women commit less crime than men because they are controlled by men.
Sociological theory only: Feminism// On religion	Religion helps suppress women by portraying women as subordinate to men in the bible and customs and practices.
Sociological theory only: Feminism// Criticisms	Gender determinist – no place for issues of class or poverty. Patriarchy is in decline! Women are becoming more equal to men. Fragmented movement, different ideas and solutions leads to a lack of unit or progress.
Sociological theory only: Feminism// Modernist	Agrees with the 18th enlightenment project of using reason to achieve knowledge that will help society progress.
Sociological theory only: Feminism// Uses a macro approach to studying society	.
Sociological theory only: Feminism// Conflict	An approach which says society is based on conflict between men and their subordination of women.
Sociological theory only: Interactionism// Social action	An approach which focuses not on structures but the interaction between people. These individuals have free will and choice to determine their own actions. A micro approach which focuses on individuals.
Sociological theory only: Interactionism// George Herbert Mead	Noticed most of our communication was symbolic such as smiles, and frowns. It is our job to determine the meaning of these symbols and act accordingly. He calls this Symbolic Interactionism. Understanding the meaning of these symbols to us is the key to understanding human behaviour.
Sociological theory only: Interactionism// Herbert Blumer	Blumer says our actions are based on the meaning we give to situations, these meanings arise from the interaction process, and they are not fixed but negotiable and changeable to some extent.
Sociological theory only: Interactionism// Charles Cooley	The looking glass self reminds us that our self conception is made up of how others see us.
Sociological theory only: Interactionism// Howard Becker	The labelling theory reminds us our interaction with others can determine our behaviour.
Sociological theory only: Interactionism// Erving Goffman	Impression management is the idea that we give more or less continuous performance to each other like actors on a stage. Like actors we manage costumes, dialogue and props to give a good performance. Like an actor we also recognise when to perform and when to not with front/back stage performances.
Sociological theory only: Interactionism// Criticisms	Ignores structural factors like poverty. Not all action is meaningful sometimes we act subconsciously. If we care so much about what people think of us and we feel a pressure to conform then this seems as though our behaviour is determined and not free at all.
Sociological theory only: Structuration theory// Structure	Structuralist theories are those that focus on the institutions of society because these dictate our norms and values and thus determine our behaviour. While people can choose to act otherwise most of the time this ends in prison or social exclusion. These include Functionalism, Marxism and Feminism
Sociological theory only: Structuration theory// Action	Social action theories are those that focus on individuals and the way they interact with each other. The reason for this is that they believe our behaviour is the result of the way we interpret and negotiate with others over norms and values. Whilst its easy to see how we freely choose our actions, its difficult to see how such freedom is possible without structures like democracy
Sociological theory only: Structuration theory// Structure and action	Giddens says that structure and action are two sides of the same coin; neither can exist without the other, he calls this the duality of structure. He says through our actions we produce and reproduce structures over time, while these structures are also what make our actions possible in the first place.
Sociological theory only: Structuration theory// Criticisms	Can people just choose to change the structures of society – slaves. Craib says this isn’t a theory at all because it doesn’t explain what happens in society, just structure and action.
Sociological theory only: Postmodernism// What is Post Modernism?	Late modernists like Giddens and beck argue society has changed but that doesn’t mean we have to assume we can never find truth. We can no longer agree with the enlightenment project, as this hasn’t led to progress but more manufactured risks and uncertainty.
Sociological theory only: Postmodernism// Main idea	Globalisation has changed the world, such rapid social change requires a new theory to explain its effect on society and people.
Sociological theory only: Postmodernism// Globalisation	The way in which we seem to live in an increasingly ‘shrinking world’, where societies are becoming more interconnected and dependant on each other.
Sociological theory only: Postmodernism// The end of truth – Lyotard	Lyotard argues we have a variety of meta-narratives (big stories -Marxism, science) all which claim to know the truth. We should reject the idea of absolute truth in exchange for truth that is relative to each person (relativism). We should listen all perspectives as equal possibilities
Sociological theory only: Postmodernism// Death of sociology?	If there is no social truth about the world to be discovered then Sociology would become useless like most other disciplines such as science and Psychology.
Sociological theory only: Postmodernism// Jean Baudrillard	He argues that all human experience is shaped by the media. Our problem is at times we are unable to distinguish reality from fantasy (Hypereality). We struggle to tell the difference between the real and unreal and live a copy of the real world rather than the real world itself.
Sociological theory only: Postmodernism// Criticisms	Isn’t Postmodernism also a meta-narrative? We can tell the difference between reality and fantasy
Sociological theory only: Sociology as a science// Positivism	This methodological approach takes bird's-eye view of society and seeks to create quantitative data which can help to find cause and effect relationships. It’s the job of science to study the natural world and discover objective facts that will tell us about its behaviour. Society should be studied in the same way to reveal social facts.
Sociological theory only: Sociology as a science// Positivism Sociology is a science!	It’s the jobs of sociologists to discover the laws that order our behaviour. Durkheim took this approach in his study of suicide statistics. Sociologists should use objective methods like experiments, questionnaires and statistics as these are mathematically precise and not based on thoughts and feelings
Sociological theory only: Sociology as a science// Interpretivism	This methodological approach focuses on individuals and their interaction with others. It seeks to generate in-depth qualitative data that can reveal people’s meaning and motives.
Sociological theory only: Sociology as a science// Interpretivism Sociology isn’t a science!	Interpretivists argues that people are more complex than things in the natural world like plants. People’s behaviour is less predictable because they have the choice to act differently and frequently do so. Understanding society is about understanding people’s meanings and motives, to do this you must use methods that allow you to see the world from their point of view – unstructured interviews, participant observations and personal documents. Becker and Goffman have used these methods in their research.
Sociological theory only: Sociology as a science// Karl Popper	Popper says sociology isn’t a science because theories like Marxism and false class consciousness are unfalsifiable. Sociology could be a science if it produced hypothesis that can be tested. Karl popper's views: 1. No theory can ever be said to be 100% true. 2. Science works by Falsification meaning a theory can only be scientific if it can be proved to be false or true. 3. If it can’t be proven or disproven it isn’t scientific! 4. A good theory isn’t necessarily true but one that has withstood attempts to falsify it so far. 5. Science is an open belief system, it can and should be constantly criticised and this will allow us to get closer to the truth.
Sociological theory only: Sociology as a science// Thomas Kuhn	Kuhn says sociology isn’t a science because there is no shared assumptions and principles. Functionalism, Marxism and Feminism all have differing ideas. If these could be resolved to create one paradigm then sociology could be a science, but this is unlikely. Thomas Kuhn's view: 1. Science is a paradigm meaning a shared set of assumptions, principles and methods. 2. Science studies the world until it finds conclusions that it cannot explain (anomalies). 3. These anomalies cause us to consider other paradigms in order to find answers (flat earth vs. round). 4. Two paradigms cannot exist together, at some point one wins favour amongst the scientific community, this causes a scientific revolution, a shift from one to the other. 5. This process starts all over again as this new paradigm highlights new anomalies.
Sociological theory only: Objectivity and values in Sociology// Key Question	Can sociologists research be value-free meaning free from contamination or distortion by their values?
Sociological theory only: Objectivity and values in Sociology// Comte, Durkheim and Marx	All agree that Sociology can be studied like the natural sciences, objectively without subjective values. This can help society improve and progress (enlightenment project). Comte and Durkheim were Positivist, while Marx was in a scientist.
Sociological theory only: Objectivity and values in Sociology// Max Weber	Its impossible for sociology to be value free, as these values guide the type of research to be studied and the way to go about studying it. Sociologists have a moral responsibility for their work and the harm it may cause. Despite this although values are important we should try to be objective and unbiased in the data collection.
Sociological theory only: Objectivity and values in Sociology// Other issues	Sociologists research is constrained by other factors like the values of their paymasters. Whether a sociologist is positivist or Interpretivist will also affect the methods they use and the type of data they generate.
Sociological theory only: Objectivity and values in Sociology// Committed sociology	They argue its not only possible but desirable to use values in their research. Sociologists should not only make their values clear but actually take the side of a particular group. Gunnar Myrdal and Alvin Gouldner advocate this approach.
Sociological theory only: Objectivity and values in Sociology// Howard Becker	Says we should ask whose side are you on? Sociologists always take the side of the powerful (police, courts) what about the powerless such as labelled or mentally ill? Taking the side of the underdog will reveal another side to reality.
Sociological theory only: Sociology and social policy// Definition	Social policy is government policy to deal with social problems like poverty, crime and benefits
Sociological theory only: Sociology and social policy// Key Question	Should it be the job of Sociologists to produce research in order to influence social policy?
Sociological theory only: Sociology and social policy// Factors which influence social policy	If the research led to a policy that would be unpopular with voters. The political values of the government at the time. Previous parties have tried to stop research being published because it was commissioned by the previous government. What organisations like the EU think is important as no decision is made in isolation.
Sociological theory only: Sociology and social policy// To be or not to be?	Opinions from sociologists are divided, some believe their research should feed into policy. Others suggest its there job to find out what is happening and why and that its somebody else's task to figure how to solve the problem. In reality sociological research is only one factor when deciding on social policy. Ultimately any policy is the result of political decisions by those in power.
Sociological theory only: Sociology and social policy// Sociology and social policy Perspectives on sociology and social policy - Functionalism = Yes	Its the job of the sociologist is to provide the state with scientific and objective information on which the state can base its policies. The state will implement policies that help promote a fairer society for all.
Sociological theory only: Sociology and social policy// Sociology and social policy Perspectives on sociology and social policy- Marxism = No	Social policies only serve the ruling class. Even policies introduced to help the working class like NHS are used to dampen discontent and keep them fit to work. Recommendations for social policies are pointless as only a revolution can solve social problems.
Sociology and social policy// Sociology and social policy Perspectives on sociology and social policy- Feminism = yes and no	The state perpetuates its subordination of women through social policies – promoting policies like marriage keeps women dependant on men. Feminists have helped promote anti-discrimination policies and more positive images of women since 1970;s. Radical feminists support policies which separate women from men, such as women's refuges for victims of domestic violence.
Sociology and social policy// Sociology and social policy Perspectives on sociology and social policy- The New Right	The state should have a minimal role when intervening in peoples lives, so criticises most social policies. Some policies like the NHS, welfare benefits reduces personal responsibility (Charles Murray). The NR promotes polices which increase personal responsibility so often favoured by the Conservative party

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CRIME AND DEVIANCE// SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

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