Page 14 - Flipbook: Sociology Shortcuts Issue 5: Situational Action Theory

While this data is interesting, it’s not in itself conclusive. While it suggests
all kinds of positive correlations – between age, gender, class and crime for
example – it doesn’t tell us why people with similar social characteristics
seem to behave in very different ways when it comes to crime.

Specific Findings: resolving the crime

paradox

Although Wikstrom and Treiber crime (from their class background,
(2016) note through different levels of social
control placed on young boys and
“the correlation between
disadvantage and crime girls to the attitudes of control
involvement is decidedly small”, agencies like the police towards
female criminality) and the same is
this doesn’t mean social true with the relationship between
disadvantage isn’t an important disadvantage and crime.
factor. It simply means there is no
direct, overt, relationship between We know one exists.
the two. And this really shouldn’t We’re just not sure about its
be too surprising. Very few, for precise nature.
example, would seriously argue The real question here, therefore, THE CRIME PARADOX
gender, per se, is a causal factor in is not whether something like
crime, even though boys social disadvantage causes crime
accounted for 85% of all arrests of but how it relates to and impacts
young people in England and on criminality.
Wales in 2022.
And for Wikstrom this relationship
In this instance we would probably operates, as we’ve seen, through
look to all kinds of mediating two ideas: crime propensity and
factors to explain the precise criminogenic exposure.
relationship between boys and

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