DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL CONTROL

1. 8 DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL CONTROL Section 1 - Deviance Section 2 - Crime

2. Section 1: Deviance • What is Deviance? • Deviance • Deviance is behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society. • Examples of deviants: • alcoholics - bald • gamblers - homeless • mentally ill - “close-talkers” • cheaters - loud people

3. Deviance • What is Deviance? • Sociologically, we are all deviant from time to time. • Each of us violates common social norms in certain situations. (social vs criminal deviance) • Deviance involves the violation of group norms which may or may not be formalized into law.

4. Deviance • What is Deviance? • Standards of deviance vary from one group (subculture) to another. • Deviance varies over time. (ex. tattoos) • Deviance is subjective - subject to social definitions. * Therefore, deviance is “socially constructed”

5. Deviance • Sociology on Campus: College Binge Drinking Source: Wechsler et al. 2002:208.

6. Deviance • What is anomie? • Situation that arises when the norms of society are unclear or are no longer applicable. • Stuck on escalator

7. Deviance Phillies Parade Riot"Alive" - Flight 571

8. Deviance Is deviance always bad? NO ! Social Functions of deviance: • Helps to clarify norms • Unifies groups • Diffuses tension • Promotes social change • Provides jobs

9. Deviance Purple Cowby Seth Godin

10. Deviance

11. Deviance • How does the NHL deal with fighting in their sport? • What purpose does fighting have in hockey? • How does this compare to other sports? • What impact does this deviance have on others?

12. Deviance • Explaining Deviance • Functionalist Perspective • Deviance is a part of human existence and has positive and negative consequences for society. • Durkheim introduced the term anomie, defined as a state of “normlessness” that occurs during periods of profound social change.

13. Deviance • Explaining Deviance • Functionalist Perspective (continued) • Merton examined how people adapted to the acceptance or rejection of a society’s goals. Merton’s Anomie Theory of Deviance examines how people conform to or deviate from cultural expectations.

14. Deviance • Merton’s “Structural Strain Theory of Deviance” (p.180) Cultural Cultural Goals Norms / Means (ex: Wealth) (ex: Hard Work) Nondeviant Conformity Accept Accept Deviant Innovation Accept Reject Ritualism Reject Accept Retreatism Reject Reject Rebellion Replace w/ new goals Replace w/ new norms Source: Adapted from Merton 1968:194.

15. Deviance • Explaining Deviance • Interactionist Perspective • Focuses on everyday behavior and why or how a person comes to commit a deviant act. • Control Theory - Our bonds to members of society lead us to conform to society’s norms • We are bonded through: • Family, friends, peers

16. Deviance • Explaining Deviance • Interactionist Perspective (continued) • Cultural transmission theory - one learns criminal behavior through interactions with others. • Differential association - deviance is determined by the frequency & closeness a person has with deviant or non-deviant people – especially within primary groups

17. Deviance • Explaining Deviance • Interactionist Perspective (continued) • Labeling theory • attempts to explain why certain people are viewed as deviants while others are not • emphasizes how a person comes to be labeled as deviant and how some accept this label • Analyzes how being “labeled” may impact interactions with others (teachers, police, parents, employers, etc)

18. Deviance • Labeling • Deviance and Social Stigma • The term stigma describes the labels society uses to devalue members of certain social groups. • Once members are assigned deviant roles, they have trouble presenting positive images to others.

19. Deviance Why was each labeled deviant? Who labeled them? Have they accepted the label? What impact has it had on them?

20. Deviance • Explaining Deviance • Conflict Perspective • people with power protect their own interests (power, wealth) and define deviance to suit their own needs. • the criminal justice system of the U.S. treats people differently on the basis of their racial, ethnic, or social class background. • deviance is a natural result of unfair competition

21. Deviance • Social Inequality: Race and the Death Penalty Source: Based on Bureau of the Census 2002a; Dieter 1998:13; Snell and Maruschak 2002:10, 11.

22. Section 2: Crime • Crime - A violation of criminal law for which some governmental authority applies formal penalties • Statistics: • Violent crimes have declined significantly nationwide following many years of increases. • Crime committed by women has increased.

23. Section 2: Crime - statistics • About 2/3 (66%) of people arrested are white. • 70+% of people arrested are under the age of 35. • Crime statistics are not as accurate as social scientists would like. Why?

24. Flaws in crime statistics • Police discretion at the scene • Less reporting if it involves family or friends • Studies shoe police are more likely to file a report if the victim is of a higher social class. • Attitude of the complainant.

25. Crime • Discretion within the Criminal Justice System Source: Adapted from Department of Justice, 1988:59.

26. Crime • Figure 8.3: Victimization Rates, 1973 to 2001 Source: Rennison 2002:12.

27. Crime Source: United States Bureau of Justice Statistics, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cvict.htm#ncvs

28. Crime Source: U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cvict.htm#ncvs

29. Crime Source: U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.http: //ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cvict.htm#ncvs

30. Crime Source: U.S. Bureau of Justice. 2001. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bsj/cvict.htm#ncvs

31. Crime • Types of Crime • Laws divide crimes into categories based on: • severity • age of offender • potential punishment • jurisdiction • Violent Crime: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault. • Crime against property: stealing property or intentionally damaging it.

32. Crime • Types of Crime • Professional Crime:Crime pursued as a person’s day-to-day occupation. • Organized Crime:The work of a group that regulates relations between various criminal enterprises. • White Collar: Illegal acts committed in the course of business activities, often by affluent people. • “Victimless” Crimes: The willing exchange among adults of widely desired, but illegal, goods and services. Such a thing?

33. Crime • Criminal Justice System: • Police • Courts • Corrections

34. Crime • Functions of corrections: • Retribution: revenge for the victim and/or society. • Deterrence: discourage future criminals and crimes • Rehabilitation:resocialization • Social protection: removes criminal offenders from society for the good of the whole.

35. Crime • Issues involving corrections: • recidivism: repeated criminal behavior • Just under 67.5% return within 3 years • Source: D.O.J – 1994 • Deterrence & Rehabilitation – do they work? • Prison socialization

36. Crime Doesn’t work or not used enough?

37. Public Issues and Social Control • Decriminalizing the use of drugs. • “Tried as an adult” • Torture & the war on terror • Post-911 surveillance • Prison v Rehab • Character / Affective Education. • “Three strikes and you’re out” laws • Megan’s Law • Death v Life in Jail - costs