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The sociology of crime is concerned with the social structures that lead to crime – “individual behaviour is not constructed in a vacuum” – and it takes place within a particular social and cultural context that must be examined when looking addressing criminal studies. Social expectations and power structures surrounding criminal acts are also important to the nature of studying crime in society.
Example applications and questions
- Why does there seem to be more of a certain type of crime in some societies and not others?
- Why/If the occurrence of a type of crime is changing throughout time?
- Why do societies at times focus efforts on reducing/managing/effecting certain types of crimes?
Social Contract Theory
The social contract takes place in a civilized society and is based upon two things. The first thing is that there is an establishment of moral rules to govern relations among citizens. The second thing is that there must be a government capable of enforcing such rules. The social contract theory states, “Morality consists in the set of rules, governing how people are to treat one another; that rational people will agree to accept, for their mutual benefit, on the condition that others follow those rules as well.” This contract suggests that no man has authority over another and that no one lives above the law. The community is supposed to determine the rules for its members, and all who is part of that community must abide by such rules. In order for this theory to work, the laws must not only be stated, but enforced as well. This will prevent anyone from trying to cheat the system (Quinn).
If hacking were to ever be considered socially acceptable, it would almost defeat the purpose of having secure systems. People would have the right to invade other people’s privacy and basically steal what does not belong to them. This type of crime is not accepted in the physical world, so why should we choose to accept it in cyberspace? The answer to that is we should not. The social contract theory has much to do with respect for yourself and respect for others. It is not very respectful to be deceitful and steal information or items which do not belong to you. Therefore, according to the social contract theory, hacking is deemed to be unethical.
Sociological Theories of Crime
A summary of the various sociological theories of crime which seek to examine the relationship between crime and society, are listed
Anomie theories – Robert Merton’s theory of anomie is caused as a socially-fostered state of discontent and deregulation that generated crime and deviance as part of the routine functioning of a society which promised much to everyone but denied them equal access to its attainment.
In a society where failure is interpreted as personal rather than social weakness, where failure tended to lead to guilt rather than political anger, the pressure to succeed may be so powerful that it impelled people thus disadvantaged to bypass legitimate careers and take illegitimate careers.
Control theory – To control those who seek to commit crime because it’s “profitable, useful or enjoyable” and will certainly break the law if they have to. Travis Hirschi believes the question is not “why do they do it” but should be – “why don’t we do it?”
Four chief elements were held to induce people to comply with rules:
- Attachment – a person’s sensitivity to the opinions of others
- Commitment – investment of time, energy and reputation in conformity
- Involvement – engrossment in conventional activity
- Belief – mirrors a person’s conviction that he or she should obey legal rules
Steven Box’s list of variables that were held to affect control:
- Secrecy (the delinquent’s chances of concealment)
- Skills (knowledge and techniques needed for the deviant act)
- Supply (access to appropriate equipment)
- Symbolic support (the endorsement offered by accounts available in the wider culture)
It is believed that the greater the access to each of the above, the greater the likelihood to commit crime.
Signification – Symbolic interactionism and phenomenology (labelling theory) which insists that people do not and cannot respond immediately, uncritically, and passively to the world “as it is”.
Deviance itself was to become more generally likened to a moral career consisting of interlocking phases, each of which fed into the next, each of which presented different existential problems and opportunities; each of which could distinctively mould the self of the deviant. Not every phase was inevitable or irreversible and deviants could often elect to change direction.
Relevance to the Cyber Crime – The pressure to succeed in the world today is indeed overwhelming and it is obvious that some will be prepared to gain success through illegitimate ways, as proposed by Robert Merton. Obviously, in the age of the internet, the faster way to gain success would be to exploit the internet platform as it gives the offender potential access to multi-millions of connected users all across the globe. In fact, when compared with Steven Box’s list of variables, it becomes obvious why cyber crime occurs. A high degree of secrecy (ignoring the technical details) can be achieved over the internet with little skill required since a lot of the techniques are well published. Supply to equipment is easy since all one needs is a computer whilst there is a symbolic support in the sense that cyber criminals are always portrayed as smart and cool. Such a sequence of steps to commit a cyber crime is also described in symbolic interactionism and phenomenology that each step feeds into the other but each step is not irreversible nor inevitable.
