← Sociology syllabus

ScotlandSociology

Social Issues

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do sociologists explain crime and deviance?

Sociological explanations of crime and deviance: the difference between crime and deviance, and the functionalist, Marxist, interactionist (labelling) and feminist explanations of why crime happens.
An SQA Higher Sociology answer on the sociological explanations of crime and deviance. Covers the difference between crime and deviance, and the functionalist, Marxist, interactionist (labelling) and feminist explanations of why crime and deviance occur, applying the perspectives to a social issue.
12 min answer →

Who commits crime, who is affected by it, and how reliable are crime statistics?

Patterns of crime and victimisation: how crime is distributed by class, age, gender and ethnicity, who is most affected by crime, and why official crime statistics may be unreliable.
An SQA Higher Sociology answer on patterns of crime and victimisation. Covers how crime is distributed by class, age, gender and ethnicity, who is most likely to be a victim, and why official crime statistics may be unreliable because of unreported and unrecorded crime and the dark figure of crime.
11 min answer →

How does society respond to crime and inequality, and how effective are these responses?

Responses to crime and inequality: how the criminal justice system responds to crime (punishment and rehabilitation) and how government responds to inequality through social policy and the welfare state, and how effective these responses are.
An SQA Higher Sociology answer on responses to crime and inequality. Covers how the criminal justice system responds to crime through punishment and rehabilitation, how government responds to inequality through social policy and the welfare state, the punishment versus rehabilitation debate, and how effective these responses are.
12 min answer →

What is social inequality, and which groups are most affected by it?

Social inequality: what it means, the forms it takes (wealth, income, health, education and employment), the evidence for it, and the groups most affected including by class, gender and ethnicity.
An SQA Higher Sociology answer on social inequality. Covers what social inequality means, the forms it takes in wealth, income, health, education and employment, the evidence for it, and the groups most affected, including by social class, gender and ethnicity.
11 min answer →

How do sociologists explain why social inequality exists?

Sociological explanations of social inequality: the functionalist, Marxist, feminist and Weberian explanations, and the individualist versus structural debate about the causes of inequality.
An SQA Higher Sociology answer on the sociological explanations of social inequality. Covers the functionalist, Marxist, feminist and Weberian explanations of why inequality exists, the individualist versus structural debate, and how to evaluate the competing explanations.
12 min answer →