O Level Sociology: Patterns of Crime and How Societies Deal With It (Cambridge 2251)

Who commits crime, why, and what should societies do about it? Key questions 6.2 and 6.3 of Cambridge O Level Sociology (2251) cover the patterns of crime and victimisation by age, class, gender and ethnicity, the explanations sociologists offer for them, five theoretical perspectives, the aims and effectiveness of different punishments, and how effective policing strategies are. Examiners reward answers that question official statistics and compare explanations rather than listing them.

Key question 6.1 (definitions, agencies of control and measuring crime) is covered in the O Level family, education and crime guide.

Syllabus coverage

Cambridge O Level Sociology 2251 (2025–2027):

• 6.2 What are the patterns of and explanations for crime and deviance? — 6.2.1 patterns of crime and victimisation (age, social class, gender, ethnicity); 6.2.2 explanations based on age; 6.2.3 on ethnicity; 6.2.4 on gender; 6.2.5 on social class; 6.2.6 sociological theories (postmodernism; interactionism, including labelling and moral panic theory; functionalism, including the New Right, subculturalism and strain theory; Marxism; feminism); 6.2.7 strengths and limitations of the explanations.
• 6.3 How is crime dealt with in different societies? — 6.3.1 aims of punishment; 6.3.2 effectiveness of types of punishment; 6.3.3 effectiveness of policing and law enforcement.

What patterns does recorded crime show?

Characteristic	Offending pattern	Victimisation pattern
Age	Highest among teenagers and young adults	Young people, especially young men, are often victims of violence
Social class	Working-class people over-represented in convictions	Poorer areas often suffer more burglary and violence
Gender	Men commit most recorded crime, especially violence	Women are more often victims of domestic and sexual violence
Ethnicity	Some minority groups over-represented in arrests and prisons in some societies	Minorities may suffer hate crime

Remember that these are mainly recorded patterns; they reflect reporting and policing as well as offending.

Why do young people appear more criminal? (6.2.2)

Police targeting and stop and search in public spaces; stereotyping of youth and a resulting self-fulfilling prophecy; gang culture offering status and protection; weaker social control as young people move away from family supervision; lack of opportunity through unemployment; status frustration — Albert Cohen (Delinquent Boys, 1955).

How do sociologists explain ethnic differences? (6.2.3)

Institutional racism in policing and courts; prejudice and discrimination; police targeting and stop and search; material and relative deprivation — John Lea and Jock Young (What Is to Be Done About Law and Order?, 1984) argued that relative deprivation and marginalisation help explain street crime; stereotyping — Paul Gilroy (1982) argued the idea of Black criminality was a myth created by racist stereotypes; gang culture and status frustration.

Why do men commit more crime than women? (6.2.4)

• Chivalry thesis — Otto Pollak (The Criminality of Women, 1950) argued male police and judges treat women leniently, hiding female crime.
• Culture of masculinity — crime can be a way to “accomplish” toughness and dominance; Walter Miller (1958) described lower-class “focal concerns” such as toughness and excitement.
• Socialisation and social control — girls are more closely supervised at home and in public.
• Misogyny — hostility to women helps explain male violence against women.
• Stereotyping, gang culture and lack of opportunity also shape gender patterns.
• Pat Carlen (Women, Crime and Poverty, 1988) found that women who offended often did so when the rewards of conformity — a decent income and a supportive family — had failed them.

How does social class affect crime? (6.2.5)

Social exclusion; material and relative deprivation; inadequate socialisation (a New Right claim); lack of opportunity; status frustration; power inequalities — Steven Box (Power, Crime and Mystification, 1983) argued crimes of the powerful are more harmful but less punished; police targeting of poorer neighbourhoods.

What do the main theories say? (6.2.6)

Theory	Core idea	Example
Functionalism — strain	A gap between goals (wealth) and legitimate means produces deviance	Merton (1938): conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, rebellion
Functionalism — subculturalism	Groups develop alternative values rewarding deviance	A. Cohen (1955); Miller (1958)
Functionalism — New Right	An underclass with inadequate socialisation and weak families	Charles Murray
Interactionism — labelling	Deviance is behaviour that is labelled; labels can create a deviant career	Howard Becker, Outsiders (1963)
Interactionism — moral panic	Media exaggeration creates folk devils and tougher control	Stanley Cohen (1972)
Marxism	Law serves the ruling class; capitalism breeds greed; crimes of the powerful ignored	Box (1983)
Feminism	Patriarchal control explains low female crime and male violence against women	Carlen (1988); Frances Heidensohn (1985)
Postmodernism	Crime is varied, individual and linked to consumer culture, pleasure and identity	Jack Katz, Seductions of Crime (1988), on the thrill of offending

How strong are these explanations? (6.2.7)

• Explanations based on official statistics may confuse who gets caught with who offends.
• Strain and subcultural theories explain property crime but not middle-class or corporate crime.
• Labelling explains the effect of reactions but not why people commit the first deviant act.
• Marxism highlights power but can romanticise working-class offenders and neglect their victims.
• Feminism explains gender difference but may treat women as one group.
• Postmodernism captures new crimes but offers no single cause, making policy hard.

What are the aims of punishment? (6.3.1)

Protection of citizens; deterrence (individual and general); retribution (deserved punishment); incapacitation (removing the ability to offend); rehabilitation (reforming the offender).

How effective are different punishments? (6.3.2)

Punishment	Strength	Weakness
Prison	Incapacitates; seen as just	High reoffending; costly; can spread criminal skills
Rehabilitation programmes	Address causes such as addiction or lack of skills	Need resources; public may see them as soft
Community sentencing	Cheaper; offenders repay society	Weaker deterrent effect
Financial penalties	Simple to apply	Hit the poor harder than the rich
Capital punishment	Retribution; prevents reoffending	Irreversible miscarriages of justice; little clear evidence it deters more than long prison sentences
Corporal punishment	Some states (e.g. Singapore, which uses caning) claim deterrent effect	Widely criticised as a human rights abuse
Exile and ostracism	Removes or shames offenders	Does not reform; may push people into further deviance
Non-custodial (electronic tagging, curfews, restraining orders), probation, police cautions	Keep offenders in work and family; cheaper	Depend on monitoring; breaches common
Social media and vigilante groups	Public pressure	No due process; risk of targeting innocent people

Norway’s emphasis on rehabilitation — for example Halden prison, opened in 2010 — is often cited as evidence that humane regimes can lower reoffending.

How effective is policing? (6.3.3)

• Targeting and stop and search can detect weapons and drugs but may damage trust if certain groups are targeted unfairly.
• Surveillance, including digital surveillance (CCTV, phone data, facial recognition), helps detection but raises privacy concerns and may displace crime elsewhere.
• Crime prevention — street lighting, design of housing, youth programmes.
• Community policing builds trust and local intelligence; military-style policing uses force and may restore order quickly but can alienate communities.

Frequently asked questions

Which theory best explains crime? None explains all crime. Strain and subcultural theories suit property crime by young working-class men, Marxism suits corporate crime, feminism suits gender patterns, and labelling explains how reactions shape criminal careers.

Do harsher punishments reduce crime? Evidence suggests the certainty of being caught matters more than severity of punishment.

Why question official statistics? Because much crime is unreported or unrecorded, and policing decisions shape who appears in the figures.

Sources

• Cambridge International, Cambridge O Level Sociology 2251 syllabus for 2025, 2026 and 2027, key questions 6.2 and 6.3.
• Studies are named with publication years in the text.

Related pages: O Level crime patterns and punishment revision notes | O Level crime patterns and punishment practice questions | O Level family, education and crime revision notes