Crime Is A Socially Constructed Phenomenon - 1547 Words

Crime is a socially constructed phenomenon. It is not static but dynamic and is defined into existence. It changes over time and place. For example, early definitions of crime such as classicism defined individuals as rational, free and responsible for their own actions. The emergence of positivism was an attempt to bring scientific methodology to criminology. Positivists believe in objectively quantifying cause and effect. In the early twentieth century a sociological lens was applied. Functionalist sociologists such as Durkheim argued that crime had a positive function for society by reinforcing societal norms and values (Ziyanak and Williams 2014). Anomie and strain theory proposed later by Robert Merton examined how poorer classes experienced frustration through lack of opportunities leading to strain. There are many others including labelling, control and cultural deviance, however; this shows that our understanding of criminology is not static and like crime itself it changes o ver time and place. This essay will specifically relate to adult male offenders. It will begin by giving a brief definition of crime. It will apply strain theory to attempt to explain why crime occurs and provide a critique. It will examine the welfarist approach during the early 1970s and will go onto look at the controversial phrase ‘nothing works’, which emanated from a paper in 1974 by Robert Martinson. This will be followed by the shift to ‘what works?’ evidence based practice. The Risk,Show MoreRelatedThe Theory Of Sociological Imagination870 Words   |  4 PagesFor decades, there have been many questions that sociologists generally ask themselves when examining a social phenomenon. One well known sociologist is C. Wright Mills. Mills came up with the concept of sociological imagination. It is used to describe the ability of individuals to think away from routines that they are used to in everyday life and look at them from an entirely new perspective. Using this concep t, mills applied it to asking and answering imaginative thoughts of sociological questionsRead MoreCampus Crime : The Dark Side Of The Ivory Tower1456 Words   |  6 PagesOver the last two and half decades, campus crime as a social issue has come to the forefront of public attention and is regularly reported in both print and electronic media. Specific and general legislation has also been passed in order to prevent campus crime from occurring as well as to educate those who are either in danger of victimization or have the ability to prevent victimization and assure that justice is done. However, campus crime is not a new issue in regard to its occurrence, only inRead MoreEffects Of Labelling On Deviant Behaviour1502 Words   |  7 Pagesone’s subjective views which can be influence the study of crime and reliability of crime statistics. Within my essay I’ll be exploring the effects of labelling on deviant behaviour, and the ways in which views differ due to the in fluence of various groups within society and the influence of the media on societies interpretation of deviance. Deviance is understood to be behaviour which deviates from what is seen as the norm or what is socially acceptable by violating the rules of groups in society,Read MoreRacism And Racism1404 Words   |  6 Pagesand creates such phenomena as incarceration of African American on a racial basis. Considering the prevailing opinion of scientists about race as the socially-constructed phenomenon the life of millions of African Americans was affected even after the debunking of stereotypes, myths and pseudo- scientific research and their conclusions. This phenomenon in society began to produce himself which led to racially disparate life outcomes. ! Historically the process of colonization of America by WesternRead MoreNew Deviancy and Labeling Theory1108 Words   |  5 Pagestheory emerged in the 1960s and early 1970s. It was primarily a radical response to positivist domination of criminology (that crime is the result of individual, physical, and social conditions). The new deviancy theorists believed in free will and creativity. According to this theory, crime is that behaviour which violates the interests of the powerful. The definition of crime or deviance depends upon two activities: one, an act of an individual or a group, and second, another individual or group withRead MoreCrime Trends And The Consumption Of Crime1799 Words   |  8 Pagesthe number of crime†related commodities such as security alarms, crime related television programs, and general merchandise. This essay will explore the commodification of crime by critically examining rising crime rates, increasing sales of crime†associated and targeted products during the period when crime increases only slightly are explained as capitalism s ability to form commodities from both social problems and deviance. Using secondary data, this essay will describe these crime trends and theRead MoreThe Influence of Durkheim on Modern Criminological Investigation1441 Words   |   6 Pages(Hopkins Burke, 2006), Emile Durkheim believed that crime was an important necessity in every society as it played important functional roles in the maintenance of social cohesion, the continuity of social progress and the establishment and reinforcement of societal norms. He stated that criminality was a normal phenomenon, its influence prevalent even on the most saintly of societies. Durkheim’s theories regarding the normality and inevitability of crime, along with his influential concepts of anomieRead More The Criminal Justice System Essay1568 Words   |  7 Pages The criminal justice system treats all forms of serious crimes in an unforgiving manner. If the offenders commit a crime while under the influence of drugs, they are likely to be put in prison for a longer period of time rather than someone who committed the same kind of crime but was not under the influence of drugs (Taylor, 2008). With that said there are many causes of drug related crimes. Usually when there is a drug related crime it tends to be more serious in terms of damage done than nonRead MoreThe Sociology Of Rape Culture1524 Words   |  7 Pagestransformation of our society. This book, along with Susan Brownmiller s 1975 Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape, was among the earliest to include first-person accounts of rape. Their authors intended to demonstrate that rape was a much more common crime than previously believed. Brownmiller, a member of the New York Radical Feminists, argued that both academia and the general public ignored the incidents of rape. Her book, Against Our Will, is considered a landmark work on feminism and sexual violenceRead MoreSocial Class And Crime And Punishment Essay2193 Words   |  9 PagesSocial class and crime and punishment has always been an issue in the UK if not globally. For the elite, the criminal justice system serves a purpose to deter and prevent crime, but the reality is that the poor are punished for crimes they commit more so than those of a upper class who commit the same crime. The question is who is to blame for this image of the poor being criminals and the working class crime phenomenon, is it the moral Panic created by the media to distract from the reality of the