Crime and Society

Crime and society in sociology

Crime is a regular occurrence in most societies and is studied thoroughly by sociologists. It can often be explained through the idea of socialisation and going against social norms.

Émile Durkheim (1895) had a functionalist perspective on crime. He explained how people conform to societal norms by socialisation through education systems, family, and religion. When growing up, people realise that if they don't conform, they may be excluded from society or face lawful punishments.

Learning this at a young age creates a collective conscience within society and results in a social consensus of 'right' and 'wrong' behaviours. Although crime is viewed as negative within society, it's important to remember that it helps us to establish what is 'right' and 'wrong'.

Durkheim stated that crime still happens because not everyone is socialised with the same norms and values. We all still have free will.

Fig. 1 - A crime is an act that breaks the law in a particular society.

Types of crime in sociology

There are seven common types of crime described within sociology. It is important to distinguish between each one.

Seven common types of crime

Broadly, the are seven common types of crime categorised by how the crime is committed and who the victim(s) (if any) are.

Personal/violent crime

Personal crimes are crimes against a person, such as kidnapping, murder, rape, or assault.

White-collar crime

White-collar crime is fraud often committed by businesses or business people to gain or avoid losing money, such as money laundering, mortgage fraud, or embezzlement.

Property crime

Property crime is criminal activity directed at properties which don't involve harm to a person, such as arson, theft, or burglary.

Organised crime

Organised crime is committed by a criminal group in an organised manner, such as terrorism, drug dealing, or sex trafficking.

Victimless crime

Victimless crime is a crime that doesn't target another individual or property, such as drug-taking, or illegal gambling.

In recent years, sociologists have explored the idea of two other types of crime. These are recently named, as they come along with the growth of our postmodern society.

Cybercrime

Cybercrime is committed with the aid of a computer or internet-accessible device, and includes acts like hacking private documents, accessing child pornography, or stealing somebody's identity.

Green crime

Green crime is often committed by large corporates and organisations. Piers Beirne and Nigel South (2007) define green crime as 'unjust exploitation of natural resources, ecosystems, humans and animals'. This includes pollution from economic exploitation, or creating a war that brings people into conflict and destroys the land on which it is fought.

With new developments happening in society, crime adapts too. Technological improvements in recent years have meant cybercrime is on the rise, with many new laws being introduced to combat it. Green crime has been committed more often too. However, this is harder to police as it is committed by powerful companies.

Cause and effect of crime in society

We will look at some causes and effects of crime from sociological perspectives.

Causes of crime

Crime changes all the time, as does society. However, laws take longer to change and are not subjective. The government decides the line between 'right' and 'wrong', which can sometimes lead to controversy when new laws come into action. Durkheim's theories on crime concerning lack of socialisation can be explored further to determine the causes of crime.

Social factors of crime

Causes of crime are very complex. There is never just one underlying reason for a criminal committing an act against the law. However, studies have shown that cause is often determined by the situation you are born into.

The amount of crime you will commit in a lifetime can generally be determined by social factors such as the location you are born, your gender, ethnicity, and social class. This can be seen by looking at official statistics. Over 70 percent of crime is committed by men; if you are born a man, it's more likely you will commit a crime than a woman.

Poverty is a great factor in crime. Those born into poverty are more likely to commit crimes such as theft in order to escape poverty. However, this is not the case for all. Labelling theory suggests that as the working class are labelled 'underachievers' by society, it results in a self-fulfilling prophecy.

By joining delinquent subcultures, the working class can finally feel accepted in society. However, this results in the labelling going even further. Being labelled as 'criminal' makes them become so, as they have lost other opportunities in life.

Effects of crime

There are many effects of crime, but statistically, the effects are often worse if the crime is violent. Areas that have a higher crime rate often suffer from crashing property prices. People are likely to want to move away when the crime rate increases, yet find it difficult to sell their homes for a good profit. This is because nobody wants to move to an area affected by high crime rates.

An interesting theory in relation to the effects of crime is the 'Broken window theory' by James Wilson. The theory suggests that if a community accepts a broken window without fixing it, then crime will slowly increase. The idea behind this is the acceptance of crime. If the window is not fixed, it shows criminals that vandalism is accepted in that community.

This has a knock-on effect which leads to further low-level crime such as littering and graffiti. Although perhaps small, their impact sends a message of crime tolerance, therefore paving the way for worse crimes to occur. Wilson believed the solution to this problem was to deter criminals from committing serious crimes in an area by having severe punishments for low-level crimes such as these.

Stereotyping can also be seen as an effect of crime. Stereotypes in relation to crime are often assumed from who we believe will commit a crime. Stereotypes limit certain groups within society and have a negative effect on how we perceive one another. This is often down to media perception.

Key concepts in crime and society

We will go through some key concepts in crime and society, including sociological theories of crime. Such theories go through sociological explanations for why crime occurs.

Sociological theories of crime

Sociological theories of crime include:

• Functionalist theories of crime,

• Marxist and Neo-Marxist theories of crime,

• Interactionist theories of crime, and

• Realist theories of crime.

Functionalism and crime

Functionalists hold the belief that the law enforces society's shared values. It creates social solidarity. Not everybody is socialised to have the same norms and values, so the law helps to reinforce these and avoid deviance. We will be looking at the functionalist theories of crime by Durkheim, Merton, Cohen, and Hirschi.

Marxism, Neo-Marxism and crime

Marxists believe that the justice system is an unfair system that benefits the ruling class and punishes the working class. They believe that crime is inevitable within capitalism because capitalist society is criminogenic. The laws only benefit the bourgeoisie, which leads to increased crime, as the proletariats in poverty turn to crime as their only option.

We will be looking at Marxist and Neo-Marxist theories of crime such as criminogenic capitalism and radical criminology.

Interactionism and crime

Interactionists believe that society is created 'bottom up'. Interactionism states that crime is socially constructed and that society 'labels' certain crimes and people as 'worse' than others. Interactionist theories of crime include labelling theory and the deviancy amplification theory.

Realism and crime

Realism is an approach that focuses on providing practical solutions to crime and deviance. Realists focus on solutions that can help policymakers address this social problem. However, realists are split into right and left realists, both of which have very different approaches to the nature, causes, and solutions of crime. We will look at both types of realism and their approaches to crime.