How do sociologists explain crime and deviance, why do official statistics show patterns by class, gender, ethnicity and age, and how is crime controlled?
Crime and deviance (Component 3, Section B option): defining crime and deviance; theories of crime (functionalist and strain, subcultural, Marxist, interactionist and labelling, realist, feminist); the social distribution of crime by class, gender, ethnicity and age; the problems of measuring crime; and crime control, punishment and social order.
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 3 option on crime and deviance: defining crime and deviance, functionalist, strain, subcultural, Marxist, interactionist, realist and feminist theories of crime, the patterning of crime by social class, gender, ethnicity and age, the problems of measuring crime, and crime control, punishment and the maintenance of social order.
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What this dot point is asking
Crime and deviance is the most popular option in Component 3, Section B (the power options). You need to define crime and deviance, command the major theories (functionalist and strain, subcultural, Marxist, interactionist, realist, feminist), explain the social distribution of crime by class, gender, ethnicity and age, understand the problems of measuring crime, and assess crime control and punishment.
The answer
Defining crime and deviance
Theories of crime and deviance
The social distribution of crime
Recorded crime is patterned by social group:
- Class - working-class and street crime is over-represented in official statistics, while white-collar and corporate crime is under-recorded.
- Gender - men commit far more recorded crime than women; the chivalry thesis and differential socialisation are debated explanations.
- Ethnicity - minority-ethnic groups are over-represented in some statistics, raising questions about offending versus policing and labelling.
- Age - offending peaks in youth and declines with age.
The problems of measuring crime
Crime control, punishment and social order
Crime control ranges from formal measures (policing, courts, prison) to informal social control. The functions of punishment are debated: deterrence, rehabilitation, retribution and protecting society. Perspectives disagree: functionalists stress punishment reinforcing shared values, Marxists argue control serves the powerful, and realists focus on practical reduction of crime and its causes.
Examples in context
Why statistics are not a simple count of offending. Official statistics seem to show that crime is concentrated among working-class, young and some minority-ethnic groups. Interactionists warn this may reflect law enforcement rather than offending: if police concentrate on certain areas and label certain groups as suspicious, those groups appear more in the records, while corporate and white-collar crime, committed by the powerful, is under-policed and under-recorded. The Marxist adds that the law itself is written to protect the powerful. A strong essay uses this to argue that the social distribution of crime in the statistics is partly a product of how crime is defined, policed and recorded, not just of who offends, and supports the point with the concept of the dark figure of crime.
Try this
Q1. Distinguish between crime and deviance. [4 marks]
- Cue. Crime breaks the law and is formally punished; deviance breaks social norms and attracts disapproval, which may not be illegal.
Q2. Explain what sociologists mean by the dark figure of crime. [6 marks]
- What the marker wants. The crime not reported by the public or not recorded by the police, which official statistics miss, making them an undercount and a social construction.
Q3. Evaluate labelling theory as an explanation of crime and deviance. [16 marks]
- What the marker wants. The strengths of labelling (crime as constructed, the self-fulfilling prophecy, deviancy amplification) weighed against criticisms (it neglects the causes of the original act and structural factors), with a judgement.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
WJEC specimen (30)Evaluate the view that crime is the product of unequal opportunities in society. [30 marks]Show worked answer →
A high-tariff essay, so weigh structural explanations against others and reach a judgement.
For the view, use functionalist strain theory (crime results when people cannot reach shared goals such as wealth by legitimate means) and subcultural theory (blocked opportunities lead to deviant subcultures with alternative status). Marxism adds that capitalism and inequality generate crime across classes.
Against the view, use interactionism and labelling, which argue crime is a social construction defined by reactions, not just blocked opportunity; realism, which stresses real victims and a range of causes; and feminism, which highlights gender patterns the opportunity argument neglects.
Conclude with a judgement: unequal opportunity is a powerful explanation of some crime, but labelling, realist and feminist perspectives show that defining, distributing and reacting to crime involve more than opportunity alone.
WJEC specimen16 marksEvaluate the usefulness of official statistics in measuring crime.Show worked answer →
An evaluation question, so weigh the strengths and weaknesses of official crime statistics and judge.
Strengths: official statistics are readily available, cover the whole country over time, are cheap to use and favoured by positivists for revealing patterns and trends.
Weaknesses: they undercount crime because of the dark figure of unreported and unrecorded crime; reporting and recording are shaped by public and police decisions; and labelling means some groups are policed and recorded more, so the statistics may reflect law enforcement as much as offending. Victim surveys and self-report studies fill some gaps but have their own limits.
Conclude that official statistics are useful for broad trends but are a social construction that must be treated with caution and triangulated with other sources.
Related dot points
- The main sociological perspectives applied across all components: functionalism (consensus, value consensus), Marxism (class conflict, ideology), feminism (patriarchy, its strands), interactionism (meanings, labelling), postmodernism (diversity, choice) and the New Right; structure versus action and consensus versus conflict.
The core sociological perspectives required across every component of WJEC A-Level Sociology: functionalism and value consensus, Marxism and class conflict, feminism and its strands (liberal, Marxist, radical), interactionism and labelling, postmodernism and the New Right, plus the underlying structure versus action and consensus versus conflict debates.
- Social differentiation and stratification (Component 3, Section A): systems of stratification; dimensions of inequality (social class, gender, ethnicity and age); theories of stratification (functionalist, Marxist, Weberian and feminist); social mobility and life chances; and the changing class structure.
The compulsory Section A content of WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 3: systems of stratification, inequality by social class, gender, ethnicity and age, functionalist, Marxist, Weberian and feminist theories of stratification, social mobility and life chances, and debates about the changing class structure.
- Methods of sociological enquiry (Component 2): primary and secondary methods (questionnaires, interviews, observation, experiments, official statistics, documents); quantitative and qualitative data; positivist and interpretivist approaches; sampling; and the key concepts for evaluating research (validity, reliability, representativeness and ethics).
The core content of WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 2: primary and secondary research methods (questionnaires, interviews, observation, experiments, official statistics, documents), quantitative versus qualitative data, positivist and interpretivist approaches, sampling, and the concepts that evaluate research, validity, reliability, representativeness and ethics.
- Youth cultures (Component 1, Section B option): youth as a social construction; the emergence of youth and youth subcultures; spectacular and other subcultures; class, gender and ethnic dimensions of youth culture; youth, deviance and the media (moral panics); and perspectives on youth subcultures.
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 1 option on youth cultures: youth as a social construction, the emergence of youth subcultures, spectacular subcultures and the class, gender and ethnic dimensions of youth culture, the link between youth, deviance and the media through moral panics, and functionalist, Marxist, subcultural and postmodernist perspectives on youth.
- Health and disability (Component 3, Section B option): the social construction of health, illness and disability; the biomedical and social models; inequalities in health and life expectancy by class, gender, ethnicity and region; the medical and social models of disability; the power of the medical profession; and sociological perspectives on health.
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 3 option on health and disability: the social construction of health, illness and disability, the biomedical and social models, inequalities in health and life expectancy by class, gender, ethnicity and region, the medical and social models of disability, the power of the medical profession, and functionalist, Marxist, feminist and interactionist perspectives.
- Politics (Component 3, Section B option): defining power, authority and the state; theories of the distribution of power (pluralism, Marxism, elite theory, feminism); voting behaviour and the social bases of party support; political participation, parties, pressure groups and new social movements; and ideology and power.
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 3 option on politics: defining power, authority and the state, pluralist, Marxist, elite and feminist theories of the distribution of power, voting behaviour and the social bases of party support, political participation through parties, pressure groups and new social movements, and the relationship between ideology and power.
Sources & how we know this
- WJEC GCE AS and A Level in Sociology specification — WJEC (2015)