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Eugenics and crime: Biological Basis for Crime???

Eugenics and crime: Biological Basis for Crime???. Lombroso. SOCIOLOGY not biology:. SOCIOLOGY explains deviance not in terms of the individual, but rather how the society reacts to the person or event. Deviance defined:.

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Eugenics and crime: Biological Basis for Crime???

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  1. Eugenics and crime: Biological Basis for Crime??? • Lombroso

  2. SOCIOLOGY not biology: • SOCIOLOGY explains deviance not in terms of the individual, but rather how the society reacts to the person or event

  3. Deviance defined: • Deviance (violation of norms) and crime (violation of norms written into law) is socially constructed, which means it varies across time and place • But it is not the act itself that makes it deviant, but the reaction of the society to the act!!! • Deviance is always relative (different people define different acts as deviant)

  4. Case study:Deviance and Drugs • Criminalization of a drug is a function of: • Norms • Time • Place • Actor • Audience • How do you see each of these playing a role in “Hooked: Illegal Drugs”?

  5. Case study:Deviance and Drugs • Labeling is relative and affected by assumptions about class, race, and gender • Why do some drugs remain legal while others not? • Who benefits from legal drugs? • “Those drugs that are considered the most deviant are likely to be those most used among less powerful groups…including lower-class individuals, those in socially marginal occupations, students, and those not fully assimilated to the United States” (pg. 210)

  6. For example… • African Americans 12% of population but 50% of those in jail or prison • Why??? Class, racial profiling, types of crimes committed and link to profiling, visibility, perception of harm, and media focus • ERPA still pending • 16% in the population with less than a high school education, 43% of them are in jail or prison

  7. Questions to answer on a piece of paper in pairs: 1) When you think of crime, what specific crimes come to mind? Why are these the crimes you think of first? 2) When you think of a criminal, what mental picture comes to mind? Describe that mental picture. Why is that the picture you have in your mind? • ALL TOGETHER: • How would you describe the images of crime and criminals that come to mind looking at the images from all groups in class? • In terms of cost and loss of life, what types of crime are the most harmful?

  8. The image versus the reality: • Harm of elite crime (pg. 206) • Intra-racial crime statistics • WHY do we have such a distorted image of criminals? • Are media representations of crime accurate??? • Compare sentencing (pg. 207)

  9. Ethical Dilemma:Ford Motors Pinto Memo, 1968 • What would you do???

  10. Deviance in Families • Domestic violence and abuse in families is often overlooked, but one of the greatest sources of violence in our society • Origins of the phrase “Rule of Thumb” (pg. 210)

  11. Reactions to deviance include: • Imprisonment • We have the highest incarceration rates (see Figure 8.2 on page 218), but incarceration has little to do with reducing crime • What invisible punishments help us understand high rates (67%) of recidivism? (pg. 218)

  12. Creative Sentencing? • Given high rates of recidivism, is creative sentencing (pg. 219) an option? • What types of sentences would you recommend for various crimes? • Are there instances in which you would not use creative sentencing? • Do you approve of the use of creative sentencing in the 3 cases in your book?

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