Race and crime spring 2014 Analytical Paper 1: Structural Theories Motives are believed to be the reason behind the action of people. Whether negative or positive‚ they are the cause of an individual’s action. Since motives help us better recognize why a person would do something‚ a lot of research has been committed to understanding the pattern of people or group of peoples motives. Knowledge of patterns is crucial to many aspects of human behavior but especially those relating to
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In assessing the usefulness of subcultural theories it is first important to understand what subcultural theories are. They are an explanation of deviance in terms of the subculture of a social group arguing that certain groups develop norms and values which are to some extent different from those held by other members of society. There are a number of sociological theories‚ which strive to understand a cause for crime and deviance. Subcultural theorists posit the idea that there is nothing “wrong”
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Social Learning Theory: An Attempt To Explain Crime Katie Brown Criminology Dr. Tamborra 12/04/12 Many theories exist that try to explain why people commit crimes. One theory in particular pertains to the associations people have and how they influence the individual’s behavior. After looking at the data from the Uniform Crime Report of robbery‚ one of the four violent crimes‚ this theory will be expanded upon. In addition‚ a study of the theory will be summarized along with its findings and
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Assess the contribution of the Marxist theory to the sociological understanding of crime and deviance. (21 marks) Marxism is a macro/structural approach to society‚ meaning that it looks at the large-scale societal structure for answers about how society works and operates and explores crime and deviance in relation to classes within a capitalist society. Marxists claim that laws do not reflect a value consensus‚ instead laws and law enforcement benefits the rich (protection of private property)
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All Structuralist theories of crime and deviance seem to suggest that crime is socially constructed rather than focused on the individual. Albert Cohen‚ combining Structuralist and sub cultural theories drew on Merton’s idea of strain but criticized Merton’s ideas of crime being an individual response and believed that he ignored non-utilitarian crimes such as vandalism and joy-riding. Cohen was particularly interested in deviance which was not economically motivated but done simply for the thrill
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The Psychodynamic Approach Key Assumptions: * Assumes that a large part of out mental life operates at an unconscious level * It is assumed that unconscious sexual and aggressive instincts drive behaviour * The personality is made up of the id‚ the ego and the superego‚ which are in constant conflict * Defence mechanisms protect individuals from anxiety producing thoughts * It is assumed that early childhood experiences are important to understanding current behaviour
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Toward a Marxian Theory of Deviance‚ by Steven Spitzer‚ critiques the way that traditional theories explain deviance‚ offers components for a theory of how deviants are produced and more specifically explains their production in a capitalistic society using Marxian theory. Traditional theories placed attention on the individual and ignored important aspects surrounding the subject like the political and social structure of that time‚ both are critical and contribute to the definition of deviancy
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Outline & evaluate the psychodynamic approach (12) The psychodynamic approach states that abnormality is caused by our libido (sexual desires) and our thantos (aggressive desires)‚ these are our id desires. The id is an irrational part of our personality and demands satisfaction and is ruled by the pleasure principle. The ego is a conscious part of the personality‚ as a child interacts with the world and the constraints of reality. It is therefore governed by the reality principle. The superego
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MSc in Security and Risk Management: Module 1- Crime and Crime Prevention 2767 Words No single theory when considered in isolation has the capacity to fully explain criminal behaviour in contemporary society. To what extent do you agree/disagree? INTRODUCTION The causes of criminal behaviour have been intensively researched over many decades but there is still considerable debate about what it is that makes a person
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Evaluate Freud’s psychodynamic theory. The godfather of psychology .as he has often been termed. Perhaps he was in his time. Sigmund Freud. Born in Freiberg‚ Morovia‚ to a poor family in the year 1856. His mother was 21 at the time of his birth‚ his father was 20 years her senior. Attitudes towards sex and women were very different at this time. Sex was very much taboo‚ women were treated as second class and children had no rights. Extreme double standards were normal‚ rich men would happily
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