CSS Criminology Theoretical Perspectives on Crime Syllabus

Which sociologists founded the Social Disorganization Theory and at which institution?

Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay of the Chicago School (University of Chicago).

What is the core claim of Social Disorganization Theory?

Crime is caused by the breakdown of community institutions and social controls in certain neighborhoods—not by individuals. High crime persists in disorganized zones regardless of which ethnic group lives there.

What is the 'concentric zone model' (Burgess) and which zone has the highest crime in social disorganization theory?

Burgess's model of the city as five concentric rings; the 'zone in transition' (Zone II), bordering the business district, has the highest crime due to poverty, transience, and disorganization.

According to Shaw and McKay, what three structural factors produce social disorganization?

Low economic status (poverty), ethnic heterogeneity, and residential mobility/instability—these weaken community ties and informal social control.

Who developed Strain Theory / Anomie in its sociological form, and what does 'anomie' originally mean?

Robert K. Merton developed Strain Theory; 'anomie' (from Émile Durkheim) means a state of normlessness or breakdown of social norms regulating behaviour.

In Merton's Strain Theory, what causes strain leading to crime?

A disjunction between culturally approved goals (e.g., wealth/the 'American Dream') and the legitimate institutional means available to achieve them; those denied legitimate means experience strain and may deviate.

List Merton's five modes of individual adaptation to strain.

Conformity (accept goals+means), Innovation (accept goals, reject means—e.g., theft), Ritualism (reject goals, keep means), Retreatism (reject both—e.g., addicts/vagrants), Rebellion (replace both goals and means).

In Merton's typology, which adaptation best explains most utilitarian (profit) crime?

Innovation—accepting the cultural goal of success/wealth but using illegitimate means (e.g., theft, fraud, drug dealing) because legitimate means are blocked.

What is Robert Agnew's General Strain Theory (GST) and its three sources of strain?

GST broadens strain to individual-level emotional strain producing crime via negative emotions (esp. anger). Three sources: (1) failure to achieve positively valued goals, (2) removal of positive stimuli, (3) presentation of negative stimuli.

What did Cohen's status frustration theory add to strain theory regarding delinquent subcultures?

Albert Cohen argued working-class boys, failing to meet middle-class standards, suffer 'status frustration' and form delinquent subcultures that invert mainstream values—delinquency is non-utilitarian, malicious, and negativistic.

Who formulated Social Control Theory in its dominant modern form and in which 1969 work?

Travis Hirschi, in 'Causes of Delinquency' (1969).

What is the central question of Hirschi's Social Control (bonding) Theory?

Not 'why do people commit crime?' but 'why do most people NOT commit crime?' Conformity results from strong bonds to society; crime occurs when those bonds are weak or broken.

Name Hirschi's four elements of the social bond.

Attachment (to others), Commitment (investment in conventional goals), Involvement (time spent in conventional activities), and Belief (acceptance of society's moral rules).

What is the 'General Theory of Crime' (self-control theory) by Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990)?

It holds that LOW SELF-CONTROL, formed by poor parenting/socialization early in childhood, combined with opportunity, is the main cause of crime; low self-control persists across the life course.

What are the traits of a person with 'low self-control' per Gottfredson and Hirschi?

Impulsiveness, preference for simple tasks, risk-seeking, physicality (over mental tasks), self-centeredness, and short temper.

Who developed Differential Association Theory and what is its core proposition?

Edwin Sutherland. Core proposition: criminal behaviour is LEARNED through interaction in intimate personal groups; one becomes delinquent when definitions favorable to law violation exceed definitions unfavorable to it.

State the key principle of Sutherland's Differential Association ('excess of definitions').

'A person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violation of law over definitions unfavorable to violation of law'—crime is learned, not inherited.

What does Differential Association say is learned besides techniques of committing crime?

Both the techniques of committing the crime AND the specific motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes (definitions) favorable to law-breaking.

Who developed Social Learning Theory of crime by extending differential association, and how?

Ronald Akers (with Robert Burgess). Akers's 'Differential Association-Reinforcement' theory added operant conditioning: criminal behaviour is learned and maintained through differential reinforcement, imitation, and definitions.

What four concepts make up Akers's Social Learning Theory?

Differential association, definitions (attitudes), differential reinforcement (rewards/punishments), and imitation (modeling of others' behaviour).

What is the central idea of Labeling Theory?

Deviance is not inherent in an act but a consequence of society's reaction; being labeled 'deviant'/'criminal' by powerful groups can lead the labeled person to adopt that identity and continue offending.

Distinguish Edwin Lemert's 'primary' and 'secondary' deviance.

Primary deviance—initial rule-breaking with no effect on self-concept. Secondary deviance—deviance that results AFTER labeling, when the person internalizes the deviant label and reorganizes their identity around it.

What is Howard Becker's contribution to Labeling Theory ('Outsiders', 1963)?

Becker argued 'deviance is not a quality of the act but a consequence of the application of rules and sanctions to an offender'; the deviant is one to whom the label has successfully been applied. He coined 'moral entrepreneurs.'

What is a 'self-fulfilling prophecy' / 'deviance amplification' in labeling theory?

A label causes the person to be treated as deviant, limiting legitimate opportunities and pushing them into a deviant career, so the label produces the very behaviour it predicted—amplifying deviance.

What is the central claim of Conflict Theory of crime (Marxist criminology)?

Crime and law arise from class conflict; the ruling/capitalist class defines as 'crime' the acts that threaten its interests and uses criminal law to control the working class. Law serves the powerful, not consensus.

According to Marxist criminologist William Chambliss, how does criminal law reflect power?

Criminal law is a tool of the ruling class: acts of the powerful (corporate/white-collar harm) are under-criminalized while crimes of the poor are heavily policed, reflecting unequal power, not shared morality.

What is Critical/Radical Criminology and what does 'The New Criminology' (Taylor, Walton & Young, 1973) advocate?

Critical criminology examines how power, class, race, and gender shape crime and its definition. 'The New Criminology' called for a fully social theory of deviance linking individual acts to wider structures of capitalist inequality.

In Islam, what is the distinction between the terms 'jarimah' (crime) and 'ma'siyah' (sin)?

Jarimah is an act prohibited by Sharia and punishable in this world by Hadd, Tazir, or Qisas; ma'siyah is disobedience/sin against God's command, primarily a matter between the individual and Allah (accountable in the Hereafter).

In Islamic criminal law, define the three categories of crimes and punishments: Hadd, Qisas, and Tazir.

Hadd—crimes with fixed punishments prescribed by Quran/Sunnah as rights of Allah. Qisas—retaliation/retribution for murder and bodily harm (rights of the individual). Tazir—discretionary punishments set by the judge/state for offences with no fixed penalty.

List the main Hadd offences and give an example of a fixed (Hadd) punishment.

Hadd offences include zina (illicit sex), qadhf (false accusation of zina), sariqah (theft), hirabah (robbery/banditry), shurb al-khamr (drinking intoxicants), and ridda/baghy. Example fixed penalty: amputation of the hand for proven theft; 100 lashes for zina of an unmarried person; 80 lashes for qadhf.

What is Qisas and what is its key alternative under Islamic law?

Qisas is equal retaliation ('an eye for an eye') for intentional murder or bodily injury, exercised as the right of the victim/heirs. Its alternative is Diyat (blood money) or pardon: the victim's heirs may forgive the offender or accept financial compensation instead of retaliation.