Theories of Crime and Deviance Essay - PHDessay.com.
Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the usefulness of labelling theory in explaining crime and deviance. (21 marks) Labelling theorists are concerned with how and why certain people and actions come to be labelled as criminal or deviant, and what effects this has on those who are labelled as such.
To clarify the meaning of both words in the context of this essay; crime is an unlawful criminal act, whereas deviance is a behaviour which is not a social norm (breaking the social rules). Throughout the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century many researchers into the phenomena of crime regarded crime as a social science in which modern scientific methods could be applied to.
In this essay I will be explaining the distinction between crime and deviance within society and be able to provide illustrative examples to acquire an easy understanding of them. Later, evaluate and compare some sociological perspectives and their points of views in terms of crime and deviance as well as recognising limitations about particular methods of measure crime.
Deviance; Biological theories of Deviance. Genetic reasons are the most likely contributors of social deviance. This theory sates that some people are naturally predisposed to criminal behaviour. This theory is based on the principles of Charles Darwin and his Evolution theory.
There are many different theories of crime. It has been proposed that crime is determined by biological factors whereas others are more convinced that environmental factors are more influential to those who commit crimes. The purpose of this essay is to discusses two of the most major theories of criminology: classical and biological.
Crime and deviance is a complex problem, and stems from multiple different factors, sociological theories contribute different concepts that make generalized assumptions about root causes of deviance. Just like lifestyle philosophies not aspect of a theory applies to every case and more than one theory can explain certain criminal tendencies.
The biological theories of crime support the idea that an individual commits a crime due to biological or genetic defects. It was also thought that they had criminal tendencies because of certain abnormalities that an individual had and not because the offender rationally chose to commit the crime.