Sociology · Oct / Nov 2024 · Paper 21 · Question 3
0495
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Crime and deviance are relative. Functionalists and Marxists disagree in their views on crime. Crime statistics can be affected by a range of factors, including police targeting. In some societies exile occurs. 3
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3(a)[2]
What is meant by the term ‘exile’? One mark for a partial definition e.g. banished. Two marks for a clear definition e.g. punishment involving the offender having to leave their home and community.
3(b)[4]
Describe two ways crime and deviance are relative. Possible answers:
time/era – definitions of crime and deviance change over time e.g. laws on smoking in public places/attitudes to homosexuality;culture – the norms and values of the culture determine whether something is considered deviant or not e.g. child marriages;religion – religious beliefs may determine whether an act is seen as criminal/deviant e.g. Catholics see divorce as a sin, atheists do not;society/country – laws are different in different societies e.g. alcohol cannot be consumed until age 21 in America, 18 in the UK and 15 in Mali;situation – e.g. knocking someone unconscious in the street would be seen as deviant, doing the same in the boxing ring would be praised;role-based – the role a person plays may determine whether an act is criminal or not e.g. a police officer using physical force is acceptable, attacking a stranger on the street is a criminal offence;any other reasonable response. One mark for each point correctly identified (up to maximum of two). One mark for each point that is developed (up to a maximum of two).3(c)[6]
Explain how functionalists view crime. Possible answers:
Durkheim – crime in society is inevitable and beneficial in terms of reinforcing the dominant norms and values, too much crime, however, is dysfunctional;shared values – society agrees on what is wrong and right, as clarified by the law – punishing people who deviate reminds people of what is acceptable and where the moral boundaries lie;degradation ceremonies – punishing criminals acts as a deterrent to others and thus reduces levels of criminality e.g. public hangings, media trials etc.;Merton’s strain theory – people are encouraged to achieve the American Dream in order to be successful but not everyone can achieve it legally therefore some people turn to crime;Cohen’s status frustration – young, working-class males face social inequalities, do poorly at school and so may turn to crime as they cannot achieve their status through legitimate means;socialisation and social control – functionalists see these as key to preventing crime, thus individuals who are poorly socialised or not properly socially controlled are likely to turn to crime;Murray and the New Right – crime is rife in the underclass due to the decline of the nuclear family, decline in marriage, rise in single parent families and the lack of a father figure;Any other reasonable response. Band 0 [0 marks] No creditworthy response. Band 1 [1–3 marks] Answers in this band will show only a limited awareness of the question. Responses may be short and un/underdeveloped. At the bottom of the band (1 mark), expect one weak point. Higher in the band (2–3 marks), candidates may offer more than one weak point, but there may be a tendency towards simplistic answers, engaging with sociological ideas without using sociological language. Band 2 [4–6 marks] Answers in this band will have clear and accurate explanation, showing good sociological knowledge and understanding. Sociological terms and concepts should be expected and explained. At the bottom of the band, the range of points covered may be narrow or lack detail. Higher in the band, answers will cover more than one point in a well-developed way or cover several points in less detail.3(d)[8]
Explain why some young people commit crime. Possible answers:
status offences – crimes may have been committed that would not be categorised as such were the person older i.e. a part of normal life e.g. consumption of alcohol, sexual activity;functionalism – normal period of adolescence in transition – youth crime is typically non-violent and not repeated and is just a normal part of growing up as young people find their place in society and their identity;criminal role models – family members, friends or the community may influence young people to become criminal, crime is normalised and young people are more susceptible to influence;peer pressure – young people feel pressure to be accepted by their peer group and may engage in criminal activity to do so e.g. gangs;parenting styles – socialisation and social control – over strict or over lenient parenting is often associated with juvenile delinquency;Cohen’s status frustration – those young people who struggle to acquire status legally in society may turn to crime in order to achieve it instead e.g. working class boys;Marxism – poverty – young people living in poverty are more likely to commit crime as a ‘quick fix’ in order to deal with factors such as relative deprivation;resistance to racism – some ethnic minority young people may engage in criminal behaviour to resist the racism they perceive in society e.g. BLM rioting;culture of masculinity – young males may turn to criminal behaviour to prove their masculinity;consumer culture – there is much pressure on young people to have the latest fashions and status symbols therefore many turn to crime in order to fund this lifestyle;postmodernism – thrills and excitement – crime is seen to be fun therefore young people engage in it in order to have a good time e.g. edgework (Katz, Lyng);Matza’s drift theory – young people drift into crime and deviance as a normal part of growing up and testing the boundaries, giving up crime as they get older and take on more responsibilities;any other reasonable response. Band 0 [0 marks] No creditworthy response. Band 1 [1–3 marks] Answers in this band will show only a limited awareness of the question. A tendency to description is likely. Responses may be short and undeveloped and points stated without explanation. Sociological terms and concepts are unlikely to be used. At the bottom of the band (1 mark), expect one weak point. Higher in the band (2–3 marks), candidates may offer more than one weak point. Band 2 [4–6 marks] Answers in this band will show basic sociological knowledge and understanding. Responses maybe underdeveloped and lacking in range. At the bottom of the band, candidates are unlikely to use sociological terms and concepts accurately. Higher in the band, candidates may be beginning to use sociological terms and concepts with greater accuracy. However, some aspects of the answer may only be partially developed/explained. Band 3 [7–8 marks] Answers in this band will show good sociological knowledge and understanding and will be well-developed and explained. Sociological terms and concepts will be used accurately overall. Answers will be well-focused on the question and there will be a range of points presented. At the top of the band explanations will be clear throughout.3(e)[15]
To what extent are crime statistics most affected by police targeting? Possible answers: FOR:
males – males are more likely to be perceived as criminals than females therefore are targeted more by the police. This may affect the crime statistics as then more males will be arrested/charged than females;chivalry factor – Pollak – the police are male dominated and may find it hard to believe that females can be criminal thus do not target them – this can lead to an under-representation of female criminals in crime statistics;working class – the police typically target certain areas, usually dominated by the working class e.g. inner city/deprived areas, in the belief that there will be more crime there – the working class are thus more likely to be arrested/charged, so distorting the crime statistics;white-collar crime – middle/upper class criminals are rarely targeted by the police and thus Marxists believe there is a huge dark figure of white- collar crime being committed that is not shown in the crime statistics;ethnicity – evidence shows that some ethnic minorities are far more likely to be stopped and searched by the police than other ethnic groups – this will lead to higher arrest rates and charges for these groups and so will distort the crime statistics (institutional racism);Islamophobia – since 9/11 research shows that Muslims have been targeted by the police due to fears of terrorism and radicalisation, this targeting will then affect the crime statistics;age – young people are often targeted by the police as they fit the criminal stereotype, meaning that much adult crime goes unnoticed and so distorts the crime statistics;labelling theory – Becker believes that through police targeting those under suspicion will live up to their criminal label and commit more crime than they would have done otherwise – self-fulfilling prophecy thus police targeting directly affects crime statistics;Cicourel – his work shows there is a ‘typical delinquent’ stereotype that is used by the formal agents to target certain people – this means others are being ignored and therefore this affects the crime statistics;resistance – many groups targeted by the police get angry and resist arrest/being searched thus their deviance amplifies and they appear more deviant then would have been the case without the police targeting – a distorted picture of crime appears in crime statistics;any other reasonable response. AGAINST:functionalism – the official picture of crime is accurate – the police target those who commit most crime in society so police targeting does not affect crime statistics;non-reporting of crime – there is a large hidden figure of crime (e.g. fear of reprisal/humiliation etc) which cannot be represented in the crime statistics, making the patterns and trends inaccurate. This therefore affects the crime statistics more than police targeting;ethnicity – the police target ethnic minorities because they do commit the most crime as proven by the official crime statistics (due to factors such as poverty, racism etc);age – young people do commit the most crime in society therefore it is accurate and fair that the police should target them (thrills, peer pressure etc.);gender – males are rightly targeted by the police as they commit the most crime due to the culture of masculinity and gendered socialisation;social class – most crime, particularly that which the public is afraid of, is committed by the working class, often therefore the police are right to target them;moral panics – it is not the police targeting that affects crime statistics but instead media representations of crime, particularly through moral panics and the creation of folk devils e.g. mods and rockers, the drug-takers etc.;police as repressive state apparatus – Marxists believe that the police are simply a tool of the ruling elite and therefore their targeting of certain social groups is at the government’s bequest in order to maintain the ‘status quo’ – government not police targeting;new technologies – it may not be police targeting that affects the crime statistics but whether the crime committed can be traced and investigated effectively;social construction of crime statistics – whether crime is reported and/or recorded has the biggest effect on crime statistics, not police targeting;feminism – women as victims – feminists would say that males need to be targeted more by the police as they are currently getting away with crimes committed against women – the crime statistics on this are hugely distorted due to the dark figure, not due to police targeting;any other reasonable response. Band 0 [0 marks] No creditworthy response. Band 1 [1–4 marks] Answers in this band may be vague and largely based on common sense showing limited knowledge of the debate. Use of sociological terms or concepts is very unlikely. Responses may be short, undeveloped and one- sided. Lower in the band (1–2 marks), expect one or two weak points. Higher in the band (3–4 marks) candidates may offer more than two points and provide a weak definition of key terms in the question. Band 2 [5–8 marks] In this band candidates will show some basic knowledge of the debate. Alternatively, they may offer an answer which is list-like in nature but there will be no real attempt to assess the issues raised by the question. There may be limited/some use of sociological terms or concepts. Responses may be underdeveloped and lack range. Answers may be simplistic and two-sided or only cover one side of the debate. Lower in the band, the response may be rather narrow in the points covered and there may be some development. Higher in the band, more points are likely to be covered with some development. Alternatively, a list-like answer with some development covering both sides of the argument may score up to 8 marks. A one-sided answer cannot score higher than 8 marks. Band 3 [9–12 marks] Answers in this band will show good sociological knowledge and understanding of the debate. Sociological terms and concepts will be used with greater accuracy and/or frequency. For the most part, answers will be well-developed, focused on the questions and there will be a range of points presented. There will be a two-sided response but it may lack range on one side. At the bottom of the band, candidates may provide a narrower range of developed points. At the top of the band, expect a wider range of developed points and clear focus on the question. Band 4 [13–15 marks] Answers in this band will show excellent knowledge and understanding of the debate. There will be a strong grasp of the arguments as well as accurate and frequent use of sociological terms and concepts. Answers will be well- developed, clearly focused on the question and discuss a wide range of points. Responses will be two-sided and have a range of points on each side. At the bottom of the band (13 marks), the answer may lack a specific conclusion. Higher in the band, there will be a clear attempt to offer an assessment of the ‘To what extent.?’ part of the question through a focused conclusion.
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