Why people commit crimes
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Farringtons claim (social psychological researcher) as to why people commit crimes looks at problem families.

1^st claim: criminal offenders have a syndrome, a collection of anti social dispositions.

2^nd claim: early signs of criminal offending predicts a long and potentially serious criminal career. Eg. Badly behaved infant ® bullying ® shoplifting ® assault ® robbery ® child abuse ® alcohol abuse, unemployment.

\ early anti social behaviour = underlying criminal behaviour

Studies by Farrington found a strong correlation (relationship) between criminals &

certain family experiences

· Criminals exhibit socially unacceptable behaviour from a young age within their

families.

· Criminals may also possess a range of cognitive defects eg. Poor reasoning

abilities.

· Criminals tend to have a troubled family life, eg. Alcohol/drug abuse, violence

within the family, experience poor parenting, failed education, unemployment,

social problems.

\ criminal careers originate in specific types of:

personality

families

socialization process

Problem children ® problem adults ® more problem children

SUMMARY

a)      Criminal careers stem from anti-personality syndrome

b)      The syndrome is transmitted by problem families who exhibit poor parenting

c)      Poor parenting is passed from one generation to the next.

Describe what is meant by the term ‘moral panic’, using your own words as far as possible. Cite at least one example of moral panic.

Moral panic can be simply defined as an episode in which a person or group of persons emerges and becomes defined, by the media in a stereotypical way, as a threat to societal values and interests. (Cohen, 1973)

The combination of the fear and fascination of crime is the key element in the moulding of moral panic. The fascination being an interest in watching and reading media interpretations of an event or situation. The fear being the emotive response the media portrayal of the event or situation creates. The fear also being a society frightened by a media portrayal of a society suffering from demoralisation and fragmentation, ultimately a decline in the solidity of the social structure and moral values.

Moral panic can be initiated by a small outburst of abnormal behaviour , which generates enormous media reaction. The media decides how to portray this abnormal behaviour via front-page headlines, primetime news broadcasts etc. The media select specific emotive aspects of the event to portray, which inevitably determines how the general public interpret and ultimately react to the broadcast.

As a result of the publics reaction the police may intervene more strongly in subsequent outbreaks or disturbances. This is in turn increases the number arrested leading to a spiral of increased police activity and mass public concern, which is defined as a deviancy amplification spiral. This can be interpreted as a self fulfilling prophecy i.e. Media reporting mass moral panic leads to even greater mass moral panic.

The consequences of selective knowledge of criminal/abnormal behaviour is fear amongst the general public, less tolerance towards targeted situations/people, calls for crackdowns and heavy preventative measures to be implemented.

One example of this is the reporting of released paedophiles into the community. Taylors (1995) model explains the moral panic process. This starts with the identification of a problem e.g. Paedophiles this is then identified as a subversive minority i.e. Paedophiles being released into the community. The cause is simplified e.g. Poor parenting, lack of moral standards, following this those involved are stigmatised by the media by using highly emotive and disparaging language for example ‘sick individuals’ ‘animals’. This in turn creates a stirring of public indignation for example media campaigns to get the public to sign petitions to remove paedophiles from the community. This leads to government responses to public demand e.g. harder sentences, public listings of whereabouts of paedophiles. This ultimately leads to more police intervention.

Sometimes moral panic can be created by certain individuals or groups. An example of this is youth culture. Moral panic is provoked to gain media attention. This type of panic is novel. Each generation of youth culture has generated media attention condemning the state of British youth and demanding a revolution of discipline and control.

Ironically negative press coverage acted as a crucial spur of youth culture as disapproving tabloid stories legitimate and authenticate youth cultures. Without tabloid intervention it is hard to imagine a widespread, uniform youth culture.

Moral panic is socially constructed and has a real impact on the whole of society.

Other Notes in this Category

1. Crime according to Marx
2. Elton Mayo and the Hawthorne Studies
3. Functionalist Religion
4. Marxist, Functionalist and Anti-Family Theorists on the Family in Sociology
5. Religion according to Marx
6. Religion According to Max Weber
7. Sociology Glossary
8. Why people commit crimes

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