Examine and Assess the Usefulness of One of the Following Theories of Crime and Deviance in Terms of Explaining Crime and the Social Problems in Modern Society

This report will begin by making a distinction between the concepts of crime and deviance, accompanied by the concept that crime is a social construct. Then this report will evaluate some theoretical approaches to how and why crime exists. Further reference will be made to the existing crime statistics, and the validity and reliability of the official statistics that measure crime. Finally, this report will look into the presentation of crime in two areas of the mass media.

Two different subculture theories link racial differences in crime to racial differences in social class: the subculture of violence theory particular the one proposed by Marvin Wolfgang and Franco Ferracuti and various theories on subculture of poverty. The subculture of violence is a theory that states that high rates of violence in inner-city communities existed because the people who live in the area carried pro-violence values and norms. The idea behind this is that people living in violent areas will become very use to the violence, allowing for people to normally carry the norms and values behind violence, therefore the people will be more violent. With that in mind, the subculture of poverty thesis says that the values of the poor directly cause crime because people with a certain kind of characteristics tend to engage in crime rather than patiently wait for opportunities. In addition to the subculture of poverty theory, people in poverty indirectly cause crime because their values do not hold education and hard work as high as those in more well off

A subculture is an offshoot of referential cultural but in essence very different from culture. The term subculture is commonly employed to signify shared systems of common values, norms and interests that distinguish certain people and societies from others. Thus, criminal or delinquent subcultures indicate systems of standards, morals and interests that endorse criminal or delinquent behavior. The numerous activities categorized in law as criminal are related to numerous delinquent subcultures. The standards, morals, or interests of these subcultures might back specific criminal acts, a restricted set of such actions (Anderson 1999). Trained criminals for instance are proud of their craft; manage their profession in order to keep them safe and their business proficient and usually stay away from other criminal involvement that might bring them to legal light. However, not all criminal subcultures that well organized. A number of are merely opportunistic, accepting several kinds of criminal behavior as opportunities come up. Hence specialization is rare in delinquent subcultures.

Interactionists do not believe that deviants and criminals are different to others, they believe that everyone commits deviant acts however only some are caught, stigmatized and ridiculed for them.

A culture is the way of life of a particular group of people that is learned and shared. On the other hand subculture is described as the non-dominant group within a society, usually smaller groups as it is not the primary culture. A subculture is created based on an idea such as music, age, location, religion or even lifestyle. The subculture theory of delinquency explains the subculture that exists in society, which contains different value systems than the rest of society. The key element in the subculture theory of delinquency is to achieve an understanding of those who are seen as an outcast or delinquent.

Crime and delinquency subculture reflects on culture patterns surrounding crime and juvenile delinquency. It is created not only by individuals, but as one culture, the American culture. Subculture is derivative of, but different from some larger referential cultures. This term is used to share systems of norms, values, individual, groups and the cultural system itself. Criminal or delinquent subcultures indicate systems of norms, values, or interest that support criminal or delinquent behavior. That's why many juveniles are linked to the same criminal acts as youngsters. They tend to follow a pattern that is expected in their age group, like stealing. Young people experience their opportunity as being blocked out. They engage in

According to the class textbook, subcultural theory is sociological perspective that emphasizes the contribution made by variously socialized cultural groups to the phenomenon of crime (162). Some examples of subcultures may include hippies, goths, fans of hip hop or heavy metal, but the examples are endless. One area of particular interest has to do with deviant subcultures. Subculture has values

The sociology of deviance is the sociological study of deviant behavior, or the recognized violation of cultural norms. Cultural Norms are society's propensity towards certain ideals; their aversion from others; and their standard, ritualistic practices. Essentially the 'norm' is a summation of typical activities and beliefs of group of people.

With the rise of crime rates in the last couple of years, people are wondering if locking up the criminal and throwing away the key would be effective for social control. What these people fail to see is that by just throwing away the key, you aren’t actually helping that person to strive for and become anything better. The thing that would be more effective than throwing away the key is if all prisons today had programs designed to help better the lives of the criminals after prison and help to possibly lower the recidivism rates of those criminals. These programs should be designed to help make criminals marketable so they

A wise man once said, “Life is a paradox-society forces us into conformity, yet progress can only be made through deviance” (Unknown). As norms vary [widely], deviance is relative (Brym and Lie 2015). Deviance is a social construct that is often observed in society as, “everyone is a deviant in one social context or the other (Brym and Lie 2015:95). For that reason, sociologists have come up with theories to explain deviance and crime within various sociological frameworks. While some theorists “focus on the learning and labelling of deviant behaviour, social functionalists direct their attention to the social dysfunctions that lead to deviant and criminal behaviour” (Brym and Lie 2015:102). According to Brym and Lie, “deviance is the departure from a norm that evokes a negative reaction from others” (2015:96). As human beings, we are likely to do things that deviate from the norm or go against traditional values, as customs differ across cultures. Personally, for me, life hasn’t always been smooth sailing. Growing up in the rural parts of Jamaica is hard, but it is even more difficult when you are not financially stable and with the dwindling economy, it is hard to find jobs in the cities let alone in the rural areas. Because of my circumstances, I have participated in deviance as a way of finding new means to achieving new goals.

Assignment Title: Functionalism claims to account for the functions and causes of crime and deviance within contemporary British society, yet it fails to account for white collar crime. Evaluate this statement.

First off, there have been ample amounts of disapproval in relation to the general theory of crime, because many scholars feel that Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) failed to include the

However, Cloward and Ohlin criticise Cohen’s cultural explanation of crime. In particular, his failure to explain the variety of sub cultural forms that emerge out of the social structure, they maintain that the form working class creates subcultures depends on access to criminal networks. Criminal subcultures emerge when working class youths have access to criminal networks. The focus of their deviance is on material crimes such as burglary. Conflict subcultures emerge when working class youths lack access to criminal networks but live in an environment which values defence of territory and violence. The focus of their deviance is gang related ‘warfare’ and Retreatist subcultures emerge when working class youths are denied access to criminal or conflict subcultures. The focus of their deviance is on alcohol and drug abuse.

Since long time immemorial, many of people figured out explanations and theories about crime and those circumstances what encourage people to become criminals. Researchers of crime have looked of issues from different approaches, such as biological, psychological, and sociological. These developed thoughts created a fundamental basis of the criminology as a science and become to one of the most important issues of discipline. Furthermore, they figured out thoughts about who are criminals and how to recognize, and treat them. One of explanation of the term a criminal could be define as, a person who has committed a crime. History knows many of scientists, such as Cesare Lombroso, those sociologists of Chicago School, Nels Anderson, Ernest Burgess, Ruth Shonle Cavan, Edward Franklin and others, who came up with different sociological theories, supported by evidences of research work, about circumstances to commit a crime. These theories have looked to find solutions for concern of criminals are born or created by society. However, to discover an answer to issues is necessary to pay a particular attention to the early pioneering work of Lombroso and subsequently the sociological ideas of the Chicago School thinkers.

In studying crimes and deviance, sociologists look to explain what types of behavior are defined as deviant as opposed to criminal, who defines deviant behaviors, why people become deviant, and how society deals with deviant behavior. Deviance is defined by sociologists are behavior that significantly goes against expected rules and norms. Criminal behavior is behavior that violates the law. Sociology studies groups as opposed to individuals, so when studying crime and deviance, sociologists are looking at the factors that influence groups as a whole to engage in crime and deviant behavior. In defining deviant behavior, the definition may vary throughout different groups. Not all groups of people will consider the same behaviors