PICT103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Relative Deprivation, Private Prison, Economic Inequality
5 Jun 2018
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PICT3
The Criminal World
• Australia is one of the most wealthy countries in the world and had 20 year of rapid
economic growth --> But also growth in homelessness
• All people want the same things, but it is the environmental influences that affect whether
we will ever achieve them e.g. socio-economic status
• Crime exists more where there is low finances
Durkheim and social norm
• Father of sociology Emile Durkheim
• Others put emphasis on the importance social norm for regulating behaviour, but not
Durkheim
• Social norms are "cultural phenomena that prescribe and proscribe behaviour in
certain circumstances
• Essentially all of the informal rules and commonly accepted way of doing things
• Differ from, though ideally include, laws (legal norms)
• People do what is expected of us
Anomie
• Anomie = state of formlessness
• Occurs when societies are destabilised
• Particularly during times of sudden change:
- War
- Post-conflict/political transition
- Rapid technological transformation
- Economic fluctuation (boom/bust)
• Breakdown of usual community bonds - people have no social norms to follow
• As a result they act in their own interest = crime
Strain Theory
• Crime cause by people who are not able to achieve the goal society says must be
fulfilled by legitimate means.
• Goals include: wealth (house, travel, relationships), fame, social status)
• Strains may be: social economic status, poverty, dysfunction, geographic location,
mental health, disability
The American Dream
• Developed by sociologist Robert Merton
• Builds upon anomie and also emphasises the importance of social
values, particularly culturally value goals
• American dream = material success, fame, fortune, etc.
• "Anybody can make it in America"
The American Reality
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