Crime and Deviance

Abstract

White criminology is confined to violations of the criminal law, the sociology of deviance has a much wider focus, examining any behaviour perceived as breaking the rules of a social group. Sociologists are not only interested in explaining why deviance occurs, but also why and how some actions are defined as deviant and why and how sanctions are applied to offenders. in this undertaking they draw on a wide range of theoretical perspectives including some of those examined in Chapter 3, such as functionalism, interactionism and Marxism. This chapter aims to explain and illustrate the development of the major sociological approaches to crime and delinquency. It should help you understand: The distinction between the sociology of deviance and criminology The development of strain theories from the work of Durkheim to the study of delinquent sub-cultures Interactionist theory and the focus on social definitions of deviance ’social’ and’ situational’ control theories and their implications for crime prevention Radical deviance theory