Unit 4 SCLY4 - Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods; Stratification and Differentiation with Theory and Methods
Summary
Summary AQA A-level Sociology Book 2 Crime and deviance: Interactionalism and Labelling Theory A* Revision notes
26 views 2 purchases
Course
Unit 4 SCLY4 - Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods; Stratification and Differentiation with Theory and Methods
Institution
AQA
Book
AS/A2 Level Sociology AQA Complete Revision & Practice
If you want to get an A* in sociology then these summarised revision notes are your step to success. This document contains detailed notes for interactionalist and labelling theory explanations for crime. All notes are summarised and will save you hours of time which can be used revising these note...
AQA A-level Sociology Book 2: WHOLE (70 pages) OF CRIME AND DEVIANCE A* revision notes
AQA A-level Sociology Book 2: Crime and deviance: Topic 8: Globalisation and crime A* revision notes A* revision notes
AQA A-level Sociology Book 2: Theory and methods: Postmodernity A* revision notes
All for this textbook (14)
Written for
A/AS Level
AQA
Sociology
Unit 4 SCLY4 - Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods; Stratification and Differentiation with Theory and Methods
All documents for this subject (273)
Seller
Follow
naomilines101
Content preview
TOPIC 2: INTERACTIONSIM AND LABELLING THEORY
The social construction of crime:
● Becker: deviant = someone who label has been successfully applied
Deviant behaviour: behaviour people label.
● Moral entrepreneurs: lead a moral ’crusade’ to change law
● Becker: new law has 2 effects:
1. Creation of a new group of ‘outsiders’- deviants who break new rule.
2. Creation of social control agency (police) to enforce rule
● Platt: ‘juvenile delinquency’: created to protect young people at risk.
● Becker: social control agencies campaign to change law to increase own power,
redefine behaviour as unacceptable -> new laws being created
Who gets labelled?
Whether a person is arrested, charged and convicted depends on factors such as:
Interactions with agencies of social control e.g. police
● Appearance, background
● Situation/ circumstances of offence.
● Piliavin/ Briar: police decisions to arrest youth were based on physical cues (dress)
Cicourel- the negotiation of justice
Cicourel: officers’ typifications led them to concentrate on certain ‘types’-> law
enforcement showing class bias where WC fitted the police typifications more
closely
Justice not fixed but negotiable. E.g. when MC youth is arrested, less likely to be
charged because background doesn’t fit with police’s ‘typical delinquent’.
Cicourel: statistics don’t give a valid picture of patterns of crime/ cannot be used as
a resource but should be treated as a topic
The social construction of crime statistics:
● Interactionists: OS are socially constructed
● OS count for decisions made by control agents at different stages of justice system
● The dark figure of crime: difference between OS and real rate of crime
● Alternative statistics: Victim surveys (limited: people may forget/ exaggerate)
, The effects of labelling
Primary and secondary deviance
● Primary deviance: deviant acts that have NOT been publicly labelled.
● Lemert: primary deviance unlikely to have a single cause. Primary deviants don’t see
themselves as deviant.
● Secondary deviance: result of societal reaction/ labelling. Individual labelled, others
see him only in terms of the label, becomes his master status -> SFP
● Secondary deviance -> hostile reactions from society/ reinforce deviant’s ‘outsider’
status -> join deviant subculture that offers deviant career opportunities, rewards
deviant behaviour, confirms deviant identity.
● Young: marijuana users in Notting Hill: drugs peripheral to their lifestyle (primary
deviance) -> persecution from police so hippies saw themselves as outsiders ->
formed deviant subcultures + attracted further attention -> SFP
● Not act itself, but hostile societal reaction that creates deviance. Social control
processes produce opposite of law abiding behaviour
● Downes/ Rock: cannot predict if labelled person will follow deviant career (free to
not deviate further)
Deviance amplification spiral
● Attempt to control deviance -> increase deviance -> greater control it -> higher
deviance. More control -> more deviance -> spiral EG: Young’s study of drug hippies
● Cohen: EG: Mods and Rockers moral panic-> press exaggeration -> concern with
moral entrepreneurs -> police responded by arresting more youths which confirmed
truth of original media reaction -> more public concern
● Folk devils vs the dark figure: Folk devils are over-labelled and over-exposed to
public view. Pursuit of folk devils draws resources from punishing dark figures of
crime
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller naomilines101. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $7.35. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.