SOCI 2450 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Uniform Crime Reports, Anomie, Feminist Theory
19 Feb 2017
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Sociological explanation of crime divided into 3 categories: strain, cultural deviance, social control. Strain & cultural deviance focus on social forces that cause people to engage in deviant behavior. Assume relationship b/w social class and criminal behavior. Social control based on assumption that motivation to commit crime is part of human nature. Seek to discover why people do not commit crime. Examine ability of social groups & institutions to make their rules effective. Structural functionalism accepts that a certain amount of deviance and crime is normal and functional in society. Deviance & crime are necessary to define boundaries of acceptable behavior. Society must maintain healthy balance b/w deviants & conformists. Strain theories have their roots in the structural-functionalist perspective. Anomie: the breakdown of social order as a result of the loss of clear societal norms and values; state of normlessness (durkheim) leads to increase in deviance & crime.
