Deviance and Social Control

1. Deviance and Social Control Chapter 8

2. Crime in the News • Polls reveal that most American adults believe that youth are committing more violent crimes than in the past and that random school shootings are a growing threat. In reality, in 2001 the rate of murder committed by juveniles was at its lowest point since 1966. In addition, the chance of a child being killed while at school was 1 in 2M. Some experts cite an increased coverage of violent crime in the news as fueling Americans’ fear.

3. Crime in the News What might be some of the sociological factors behind Americans’ fear of crime?

4. What do these have in common? • Continuously talking to oneself in public • Drag racing on a public street or highway • Regularly using illegal drugs • A man wearing women’s clothes • Attacking another person with a weapon • Even sanctions cannot bring complete social control • Deviance: behavior that violates significant social norms

5. Nature of deviance • Countless norms that govern behavior • Insignificant: personal cleanliness or table manners • Significant: taking someone’s life or stealing their property • Not all norm violations are considered deviant • It depends on the situation • i.e. police officer or military personnel kill someone on duty • Deviance changes society to society • Divorce is legal in the U.S. but illegal in Philippines • Time period matters too • Early 1900’s, illegal to do business on Sundays

6. Nature of deviance • Labeled a deviant: • Repeat offender: speeding ticket • Single act: murder, sexual assault, robbery • Stigma: mark of social disgrace that sets the deviant apart from society • Name some stigmas • No longer seen as being normal or whole

7. Social functions of deviance • Durkheim observes deviance as having uses in society • Clarifying norms • Unifies the group • Diffuses tension • Promotes social change

8. Social functions of deviance CLARIFYING NORMS • Deviance defines boundaries of acceptable behavior • Punishment for norm violators warns others • Harsh prison sentencing

9. Social functions of deviance UNIFYING THE GROUP • Draws the line: conforming members & outsiders • “Us against them” attitude • Durkheim believed it is so important to the maintenance of group unity, “It would have to be invented if it did not exist naturally.”

10. Social functions of deviance DIFFUSING TENSION • When we’re unhappy with society, we strike out • Minor acts of deviance serve as safety valve • Unauthorized protest PROMOTING SOCIAL CHANGE • When large #s of ppl violate a norm it indicates something

11. Social functions of deviance PROVIDING JOBS • Judges, lawyers, police officers, prison personnel, etc • Criminologist: social scientists who study criminal behavior • Many other jobs; clothing, food services, architects, construction…how?

12. Explaining deviance:Functionalist perspective • Strain theory (Kevin Merton): natural outgrowth of the values, norms, and structure of society • High values on certain goals: economic success • Not everyone can attain these goals; lack of social conditions or education • Anomie: when norms of society are unclear & no longer applicable • No guidelines for behavior for ppl • Merton: ppl respond to culturally approved goals and legitimate means of achieving them in five ways…

13. Merton’s structural strain theory of deviance

14. Explaining deviance:Conflict perspective • Competition and inequality lead to deviance • Struggle between: Ruling Class and Lower Class • Ruling Class: power, commit deviant acts to retain power • Lower Class: 2 reasons; obtain economic rewards or feeling of powerlessness • Ruling class label any behavior that threatens their power, deviant • Est. ideology belief system that explain deviance as a problem found primarily in lower class • Law enforcement efforts directed towards crimes committed by lower class

15. Explaining deviance:interactionist perspective • 3 major explanations • control theory: a deviant behavior in which deviance is seen as a natural occurrence and conformity is seen as as the result of social control • Interested in why ppl conform • Strong community ties=lower deviance, vise versa • Ppl develop social bonds in 4 ways 1. Form attachments w/ others, 2. strong belief in moral codes, 3. commitment to societal values, 4. involved in nondeviant activities

16. Explaining deviance:interactionist perspective • Those w/ strong self-control conform, vise versa • Self-control based on childhood socialization • ^self-control= parents punished you for deviant acts • Cultural transmission theory: deviance is a learned behavior through interaction w/ others • *others* are committing deviant acts • Differential association: closeness of association a person has w/ a deviant/nondeviant individuals • more deviants=more deviant behavior, vise versa

17. Explaining deviance:interactionist perspective • Sykes and Matza say that some ppl have strong commitment to societal norms, yet still engage in deviance • Techniques of neutralization: ppl suspend moral beliefs to commit deviance • 5 techniques: • Denying responsibility, denying injury, denying the victim, condemning the authorities, and appealing to higher loyalties • Labeling theory: focuses on how individuals come to be identified as deviant • 2 types: Primary and Secondary deviance

18. Explaining deviance:interactionist perspective • Severity of deviance: • Primary: nonconformity that goes undetected by those in authority • Acts that are well concealed or occasional deviant acts • Secondary: ind. Being labeled a deviant and accepting the label as true • Degradation ceremony: public setting where an ind. Is denounced, found guilty, and given a new identity • Life changing event

19. 8.2 Crime • Crime: act that is labeled by authority that is prohibited by law and punishable by gov’t • Crime stats: (arrests) • 67% Caucasian • 30% African American (only 12% of the total pop.) • 78% male • 50% 25 and younger • 75% 35 and younger

20. Crime stat exceptions • Not all complaints make the official statistics • Less likely to report when family involved • Police more likely to report when upper class affected • Complaints filed based on attitude of indiv. filing complaint

21. Types of crime: Violent • Murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault (small %) • Occur every 22 sec. • Aggravated assault every 35 sec. • Robbery every min. • Rape every 6 min. • Murder every 33 min. • Most victims of violence are AA • AA men 18-24 are 8x more likely then AA women to be victims, 8x white men, and 30x more likely than white women

22. Types of crime:Crime against poverty • Property crime: burglary, larceny, car theft and arson • Much more common than violent crimes • Every 3 seconds • ^ or v with pop. Changes • 1980’s & 1990’s ^ in crime due to illegal drug use

23. Types of crime: White-collar • White-collar crime: offenses committed by ind. of high social status • Tax evasion, embezzlement, price fixing, pollution, insider trading, political corruption, etc. • Corporations are charged even though indiv. commit the act • Estimates; white collar crimes cost the U.S. $300B+ a year

24. Criminal justice system • Criminal justice system: syst. of police, courts, and corrections • Once a crime is committed it falls here POLICE • Police discretion: decision of who is actually arrested • Seriousness of offense, wishes of the victim, attitude of suspect, if bystanders are present, and race • Racial profiling: assuming that nonwhite Americans are more likely to commit a crime than white Americans

25. Criminal justice system COURTS • After arrest is made, responsibility lies in court • Determine innocence or guilt • If guilty, assign punishment • Most cases are settled through plea • Plea bargaining: legal negotiation that allows the accused to plead guilty to a lesser charge for a lighter sentence

26. Criminal justice system CORRECTIONS • Corrections: sanctions such as imprisonment, parole, and probation, used to punish criminals • Serve 4 basic functions • Retribution • Deterrence • Rehabilitation • Social protection • Recidivism: repeated criminal behavior • 62% new crimes, 41% return to prison w/in 3 years of release

27. Criminal justice system JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM • Until the 60’s juveniles weren’t rep. the same as adults • Bc of age, couldn’t be expected to be as responsible as adults • Courts now guarantee same legal rights as priv. adults • Juveniles can still be tried as adults • Juvenile courts try to provide more services than adult courts