Deviance

Crime, Deviance And Social Control

Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger

What Do we want to Know

How is deviance defined and who defines it Is it the person or the action? How is deviance distributed in society and how do we know What causes deviance How is deviance controlled

Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger

Social Control
Social control: techniques and strategies for preventing deviant human behavior in any society Sanctions: penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm Society partly defined by peoples willingness to accept shared beliefs and practices Society can limit individual freedom and advance interests of some at expense of others

Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger

Conformity and Obedience

Conformity: the act of going along with peers individuals of our own status who have no special right to direct our behavior Obedience: compliance with higher authorities in a hierarchical structure

Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger

Informal and Formal Social Control

Informal social control: used casually to enforce norms Formal social control: carried out by authorized agents Interplay between formal and informal social control can be complicated because we have to balance one source of control against another

Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger

Law and Society

Some norms are so important to a society that they are formalized into laws Law: governmental social control Control theory: our connection to other members of society leads us to systematically conform to societys norms

Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger

Defining Deviance
Deviance is the violation of Norms, especially widely held norms Crime is an action declared illegal by some government or agency Usually, by a legislative body Sometimes by administrative actions Is all deviance criminal ? Pushing children into fashion shows, sports ? Subcultures and deviance

Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger

Defining Deviance
Not all crimes are deviant
PETA Bullying Speeding Gambling White Collar crime

Non Criminal Deviance

Music preferences Body piercing Marrying someone Your parents disapprove of Your parents want you to Being a Geek or a Nerd

Where do rolling Stops and other trivial driving violations go?

Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 8

Distribution of Deviance
Crime Rates vs Crime Statistics
Variance in Reporting Issues To Police To FBI By Type of Crime
By nature of offender and victim Blaming the Victim Location

Organized Crime White Collar Crime Non Criminal Deviance What do we Know
Not much
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Explanations of Deviance
Historical non Social-scientific explanations
Patterns of Bumps on head The Devil made me do it Mental issues Bad Seed

Sociological Explanations
Functionalist:
Deviance provides an example of what must be avoided because it is wrong Some deviance can lead to positive social change
Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 10

Controlling Deviance
Is all deviance controlled?
What choices does society have in controlling deviance? Internal External Who controls Deviance Under what circumstances some forms of deviance not controlled What is required to control deviant behavior? How about deviant thoughts? Presidential Candidate who admitted Lusting in his thoughts

How does the nature of society impact the nature, extent and control of deviance?
Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 11

Explanations of Deviance
Anomie The norms are weak or are in conflict. This is the basis for Strain theory
Social structure limits the abilities of certain groups to satisfy culturally dictated goals and aspirations and means to achieve them. Cultural goals which are acceptable in our society Wealth Power Status Material Goods Acceptable means to achieve them Education Jobs Some talents
Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger

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Explanations of Deviance
Conflict or Strain between goals and means produce "anomie and possibly a high level of maladaptive behavior due to cultural imbalance between goals and means. Social structure explains differences in upper and lower class crime rates.
Distribution of legitimate opportunities to achieve wealth through legitimate means. Since goals are not always achieved, means become valuable in themselves. Often times, means are placed under severe stress. Little reward in means alone.

Strain falls on a wide variety of people:

mostly concentrated in lower-classes. because of differential emphasis placed on ability to attain goals. Goals "open to all."
Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 13

 Anomie created by disjunction of goals and means causes great discomfort. To overcome sense of anomie, different modes of adaptation are used:

Source http://www.indiana.edu/~theory/Kip/Strain.htm#Strain

Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger

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White-Collar Crime
White-collar crime: illegal acts committed in the course of business activities, often by affluent, respectable people Corporate crime: any act by a corporation that is punishable by the government Computer crime: use of high technology to carry out embezzlement or electronic fraud

Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger

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Victimless Crimes
Victimless crime: willing exchange among adults of widely desired, but illegal, goods and services Supporters of decriminalization are troubled by attempts to legislate moral code for adults Critics object to notion that these crimes are victimless

Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger

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Social Order, Deviance, and Crime

Durkheims Theory of Deviance Nothing inherently deviant or criminal in any act Society identifies criminals for the sake of social order When societies experience anomie, social integration is weak and people are free to pursue deviant paths

Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger

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Social Order, Deviance, and Crime

Mertons Theory of Deviance
Anomie theory of deviance: five basic forms of adaptation to cultural expectations Conformist Innovator Ritualist Retreatist Rebel
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Interpersonal Interaction and Local Context

Cultural transmission: individuals learn criminal behavior by interacting with others Differential association: process through which exposure to attitudes favorable to criminal acts leads to the violation of rules

Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger

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 Social disorganization theory: attributes increases in crime and deviance to the absence or breakdown of communal relationships and social institutions Labeling theory: attempts to explain why certain people are viewed as deviants while others engaged in the same behavior are not Also known as the societal-reaction approach
Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 20

Interpersonal Interaction and Local Context

Power and Inequality

Criminal justice system serves the interests of the powerful; protect their own interests and define deviance to suit their own needs Race and Class
Suspects are treated differently based on their race, ethnicity, and social class Differential justice: differences in the way social control is exercised over different groups Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 21

Power and Inequality

Gender
Existing approaches to deviance developed with only men in mind Society tends to treat women in stereotypical fashion Cultural views and attitudes toward women influence how they are perceived and labeled As women take on more active and powerful roles both in the household and in business, gender differences in deviance and crime Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 22 have narrowed

The Criminal Justice System

Based on Adversarial system, Conflict Only available for crimes, not for non criminal deviance
Religious laws deal with some of the non criminal deviance

Made up of
Courts Police Corrections

How else is deviance sanctioned?

Hiring practices Public Opinion ?
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