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Component 3: Power and Stratification (Section B, Crime and deviance)

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do functionalist and subcultural theories explain crime and deviance?

Component 3 Section B (Crime and deviance): functionalist theories of crime (Durkheim on the functions of crime and anomie, Merton's strain theory) and subcultural theories (Cohen's status frustration, Cloward and Ohlin's three subcultures), with their criticisms.
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Crime and deviance guide to functionalist and subcultural theories. Covers Durkheim on the functions of crime and anomie, Merton's strain theory and its adaptations, Cohen's status frustration, Cloward and Ohlin's three subcultures, and the criticisms of these consensus structural theories.
15 min answer →

How do gender and ethnicity relate to crime, offending and the criminal justice system?

Component 3 Section B (Crime and deviance): gender and crime (the gender gap, Heidensohn's control theory, the chivalry thesis, Carlen, the link between masculinity and crime) and ethnicity and crime (patterns, the role of policing and the criminal justice system, and explanations), with criticisms.
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Crime and deviance guide to gender and ethnicity. Covers the gender gap in offending, Heidensohn's control theory, the chivalry thesis, Carlen's class and gender deal, masculinity and crime (Messerschmidt), and the patterns and explanations of ethnicity and crime including the role of policing and the criminal justice system.
15 min answer →

How have globalisation and the media reshaped crime, and what are green and state crime?

Component 3 Section B (Crime and deviance): globalisation and crime (global criminal networks, transnational crime), green crime and state crime, and the relationship between the media and crime (moral panics, fear of crime, the media as a cause of crime), with criticisms.
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Crime and deviance guide to contemporary themes. Covers globalisation and crime (transnational organised crime, the global criminal economy), green crime and state crime, and the media and crime (moral panics and folk devils, fear of crime, the media as a cause of crime, cybercrime), with criticisms.
14 min answer →

How do labelling theory and Marxism explain crime, power and the criminal justice system?

Component 3 Section B (Crime and deviance): interactionist labelling theory (Becker, Lemert, Cicourel, the self-fulfilling prophecy and deviancy amplification) and Marxist and critical theories of crime (selective law enforcement, the crimes of the powerful, ideology), with their criticisms.
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Crime and deviance guide to labelling and Marxist theories. Covers interactionist labelling (Becker's master status and outsiders, Lemert's primary and secondary deviance, Cicourel, deviancy amplification) and Marxist and critical criminology (selective law enforcement, the crimes of the powerful, ideology), with criticisms.
15 min answer →

How is crime measured, and why do official statistics fail to capture the true extent of crime?

Component 3 Section B (Crime and deviance): defining crime and deviance, and the measurement of crime through official statistics, victim surveys and self-report studies, including the dark figure of crime and the social construction of crime statistics.
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Crime and deviance guide to measuring crime. Covers definitions of crime and deviance, official statistics, the Crime Survey for England and Wales, self-report studies, the dark figure of crime, and the interpretivist view that crime statistics are socially constructed, with the exam skills Section B rewards.
14 min answer →

How do right and left realism explain crime, and what do they propose to do about it?

Component 3 Section B (Crime and deviance): right realism (rational choice theory, Wilson and Kelling's broken windows, control theory) and left realism (Lea and Young on relative deprivation, marginalisation and subculture), and their contrasting solutions, with criticisms.
An Eduqas A-Level Sociology Crime and deviance guide to realist theories. Covers right realism (rational choice, Wilson and Kelling's broken windows, control theory and zero tolerance) and left realism (Lea and Young on relative deprivation, marginalisation and subculture, and the square of crime), their contrasting solutions and the criticisms of each.
14 min answer →