Chapter 6, Deviance, Crime, and Social Control

1. Chapter 6, Deviance, Crime, and Social Control • Conformity, Nonconformity, and Deviance • Theories About Deviance • Crime • Mental Illness • The Sociology of Law • The Criminal Justice System 

2. Social Control Takes place at three levels: • Self-control, we police ourselves. • Informal controls, our friends reward conformity and punish nonconformity. • Formal controls, the state or authorities discourage nonconformity.

3. Structural-functional Theories Durkheim • When the parts of a society (institutions) are not working together as they should, people experience anomie. • Anomie is a major cause of suicide and other social ills.

4. Differential Association Theory Edwin Sutherland. Deviance is learned through 2 mechanisms: • Interacting with others who hold deviant norms. • Adopt those norms because we get approval from people in that deviant subculture.

5. Three Kinds of Rewards • Instrumental rewards (economic). • Family ties. • Self-esteem.

6. Labeling Theory • Concerned with processes by which labels become attached to people and behaviors. • Those with power assign labels that stick. • Labeling various kinds of deviance, with the “sick” label is called the medicalization of deviance.

7. Conflict Theory • Class interests dictate who shall be defined as deviant and how severely they shall be punished. • Economic conditions of the lower classes lead to behavior defined as criminal.

8. Index Crimes • Murder and manslaughter • Rape • Robbery • Assault • Burglary • Larceny-theft • Auto theft.

9. Victimless Crimes • Do not involve a clearly defined victim. • Involve illegal supply and demand. • Examples: drug abuse, prostitution, and illegal drinking.

10.  White Collar Crimes • Crime committed by respectable people of high status in the course of their occupation. • Often unreported and difficult to detect. • Economic, environmental, and social costs are far greater than all street crime combined.

11. Correlates of Crime • Age. Young adults constitute the great majority of those arrested for street crime, both in this country and around the world. • Sex. Young males are most often arrested for virtually every category of crime.

12. Correlates of Crime • Social class. Poverty and weak access to jobs and education are certainly related to crime rates. • Race. African-Americans are disproportionately represented in lineups, in prisons, and on death row.

13.  Mental Illness • Most kinds of mental disorder are more prevalent among the lower classes. • Women are more often treated for depression and anxiety disorders while men seem more likely to fall victim to substance abuse.

14. Sociology of Law Law has three major functions: • Formal sanctions to encourage conformity. • Assistance in settling disputes. • Sanctioning of social change.

15. Punishment Rationales • Retribution • Reformation • Specific deterrence • General deterrence • Prevention

16. Strategies for Reducing Crime • Reduce social inequality and poverty. • Replace low-wage jobs with jobs that pay a living wage. • Prevent child abuse and neglect. • Increase the social and economic stability of communities. • Improve education in all communities.