Sociology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sociology - Assignment Example Nevertheless, it is perhaps obvious that basic issues generate similarly basic challenges, including criminology. The facts on crime persist to bother existing theories. As stated by Birkbeck & Lafree (1993), this is particularly the scenario for theories that have founded their assumptions on the prevailing lineage of established sociological knowledge. Everyone thinks that poverty is the root of criminal behaviour it appears, and this is because the facts demonstrate it (Ruggiero et al. 1998); despite of the growth in crime rates during stages of economic development, spates of violence in affluent nations such as the United Kingdom, the unstable correlation of deviant behaviour with social class materialist theory remains obviously inadequate (Ruggiero et al. 1998). However, it is not only materialist theory that falls short. Majority of criminological theory is stagnant and hampered by an emphasis on supposedly rigid descriptive categories, thus failing to take account of the mec hanisms and processes resulting in criminal behaviour (Taylor, Walton & Young 1988). The major aspect of crime that we are not aware of, basically, involves its causal social dynamics. For instance, the high crime rates among different social groups, such as African Americans, have been noted (Carrabine et al. 2004). A main issue frequently raised by criminologists, sociologists, and other scholars is the effect of the response of the criminal justice system on the differences in crime rates among different social groups (Cree 2000). A number of sociologists propose that discrimination in the criminal justice system serve only a small function in the high crime rate of social groups (Cree 2000). Others argue that racism and prejudice contributes significantly to the uneven participation of social groups, particularly the lower class, in the criminal justice system (Flowers 1990). The issue of differential law enforcement often begins with the police, normally the forefront of the sy stem of criminal justice social group members come into contact with (Jackson 1989). Consequently, it is at this point that the nature of such participation and its effects is most important to the individual of marginal position. This paper will discuss the definitions of crime and deviance given by different sociological theorists, particularly Durkheim, Merton, Marx, and interactionist and subcultural theorists. Research evidence and sociological theories pertaining to the assumption that differences in crime rates between social groups are the result of the ways in which the criminal justice system operates will be discussed. Sociological Definitions of Crime and Deviance The concepts of crime and deviance are essentially sociological. They are socially constructed. However, even though there is a great deal of agreement, what is considered as crime and deviance differs across people, place, and time (Ruggiero et al. 1998). For Emile Durkheim, crime is a ‘social factâ€⠄¢, or, in other words, ‘normal’ (Carrabine et al. 2004). Basically, according to Durkheim, crime is a universal phenomenon. It took place in all kinds of society, and in all historical periods (Carrabine et al. 2004). There was no indication that it was disintegrating (Flowers 1990). It should hence be recognised as a normal feature of society which could