CHAPTER 8 Deviance and Social Control

1. Section 1: Deviance Section 2: Crime CHAPTER 8Deviance and Social Control

2. Objectives: Section 1: Deviance • Define deviance • Explain the nature and social functions of deviance. • Compare the theories that have been proposed to explain deviance.

3. Read the following behaviors • Continuously talking to oneself in public • Drag racing on a public street or highway • Regularly using illegal drugs • A man wearing woman’s clothing • Attacking another person with a weapon What do they all have in common?

4. Deviance • Most people internalize the majority of the norms in their societies, but may not internalize all the norms and so there isn’t total social control • There are always people who break the rules of a society • Behavior that violates significant social norms is calleddeviance

5. Read the following behaviors • Continuously talking to oneself in public • Drag racing on a public street or highway • Regularly using illegal drugs • A man wearing woman’s clothing • Attacking another person with a weapon What do they all have in common? They are all examples of deviant behavior

6. Nature of Deviance • Because there are so many norms governing behavior, occasional violations are unavoidable • What is considered deviant varies from society to society… • society determines what is deviant • Society determines the consequences for deviant behavior

7. How does a person come to be considered a deviant? • people are considered deviant for repeat behavior • So if they once get a ticket for driving their car too fast…that is not deviant • If they continue to be caught driving at high speeds and have reputation of a reckless driver, then called a deviant • commits an act that has serious negative consequences for society • i.e. rape, murder, sexual assault, robbery

8. How do we know something is deviant? • Labeling deviance has 2 components: • to be considered deviant by society, an individual must first be detected committing a deviant act, behavior is known to others • the individual must be stigmatized by society • stigma– mark of social disgrace that sets the deviant apart from the rest of society • Cut/burn marks on person, public punishments, executions, imprisonment, cut direct , spoiled reputation • What is considered deviant varies from society to society and during different time periods

9. Social Functions of Deviance Emile Durkheim’s The Rules of Sociological Method observed that deviance has some uses in social life. • Unifying the Group – serves to draw the line between conforming members of society and “outsiders” – the nonconforming members • Clarifying Norms – defines the boundaries of acceptable behavior • Diffusing Tension – acts that allow individuals to relieve tension without disrupting the basic fabric of society

10. Social Functions of Deviance 4. Promoting Social Change – can help prompt social change by identifying problem areas • Providing Jobs – provides legitimate jobs for a wide range of people • judges, lawyers, police officers, prison personnel, parole officers, crime reporters • criminologists – social scientists who study criminal behavior (continued)

11. SECTION 1 Theory Perspective Questions How do individuals respond to culturally approved goals and the legitimate means of achieving them? (conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, rebellion) Functionalist Strain What is the result of competition and social inequality? (deviance) Who decides what is deviant? (ruling classes) Conflict Conflict Why do people conform to norms? (The strength of social ties determines conformity.) Control Interactionist How do people learn conformity or deviance? (through socialization, or interaction with others) Where does this learning mainly occur? (primary groups) Cultural Transmission How do people become identified as deviant? (through secondary deviance, or being labeled as deviant) Labeling Deviance

12. Functionalist Theory

13. Theories of Deviance #1 • Structural-Strain Theory– • Proposed by Robert K. Merton • Theory views deviance is a natural part of society and as the natural outgrowth of the values, norms, and structures of society • American society places high value on certain goals, not everyone has access to legitimate means to achieve these goals • People are judged on the basis of how well they meet those goals • under the strain of incompatible goals and means, individuals fall victim to anomie • anomie – situation that arises when the norms of society are unclear or are no longer applicable, leave individuals without guidelines for behavior and confusion

14. Sociologist Robert K. Merton suggest that individuals respond to the culturally approved goals and legitimate means of achieving goals in 5 ways. • Conformity • Innovation: end up deviant • Ritualism: end up deviant • Retreatism: end up deviant • Rebellion: end up deviant

16. Conflict Theory

17. Theories of Deviance #2 • Conflict Theorists – deviance is a result of competition and social inequality, struggle between those who possess power and those who do not • people with power commit deviant act to maintain power • people without power to obtain economic rewards or because of low self-esteem and feelings of powerlessness

18. Richard Quinney’s Conflict Theory: • ruling class labels threatening behavior as deviant • lower class has limited opportunity, forced into deviant behavior • to protect their power, ruling class establishes ideologies to explain deviance as a problem among lower class • law enforcement are directed toward the types of crimes committed by lower classes (results in higher arrest rates) • people without power do not necessarily commit more crimes than others, but are the types of crimes that are most likely to be detected and punished

19. Interactionists • as either natural in people with weak ties to the community (control theory) • as a learned behavior (cultural transmission theory) • or as a label (labeling theory)

20. Theories of Deviance #3 • control theory – natural occurrence, interest in why people conform rather than the causes of deviance • social ties determine conformity, high integration causes conformity • communities with strong social bonds have lower rates of deviance because strong social control over those who deviate

21. Travis Hirschi Interactionist Perspective: • control theory: • people form bonds in 4 ways • form attachments with others who accept the norms of society • strong belief in the moral codes of society • show commitment to traditional societal values and goals • fully involved in non-deviant behavior and activities

22. Theories of Deviance #4 Cultural Transmission theory [Interactionist]– based on socialization and sees • deviance is a learned behavior • Learned through interaction with others who are engaging in deviant acts • the norms and values being transmitted are deviant, the individual becomes socialized into deviant behavior rather than socially acceptable behavior • cultural transmission views all individuals as conformists • difference between deviants and rest of society is the norms the individual chooses to conform to • Deviant chooses to conform to norms that are not accepted by the larger community

23. differential association – refers to the proportion of associations a person has with deviant versus non-deviant individuals • If the majority of a person’s interactions are with deviant individuals, the person will be socialized into patterns of deviant behavior • Based on Edwin Sutherland, learning of deviant behavior occurs in primary groups and have personal relationships with people who commit crimes

24. Theories of Deviance #5 • labeling theory – focuses on how individuals come to be identified as deviant, rather than why people perform deviant acts • all people commit deviant acts yet not everyone is labeled as deviant

25. Lemert and Becker: deviance has 2 types: primary and secondary • primary deviance – nonconformity that goes undetected by those in authority, occasional acts and well concealed acts, do not consider themselves deviant and neither does society • secondary deviance – results in the individual being labeled as deviant and accepting the label as true • degradation ceremony – public setting, individual is denounced, found guilty, or given new identity of a deviant, people are judged in light of their new label, becomes master status, restricts options in society, self-fulfilling prophecy

26. Objectives: Section 2: Crime • Identify the principal types of crime in the United States. • Explain the characteristics of the American criminal-justice system.

27. What is crime? • crime – any act that is labeled as such by those in authority, is prohibited by law, and is punishable by the government

28. Crime Statistics • Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) published annually by the FBI • chart page 187 • limits on statistics: • not all complaints make it to official stats of formal reports • not all crime reported (family or friends) • only file formal reports on serious crime • officer is influenced to file a formal report based on attitude of individual making the complaint

29. Principal Types of Crime in the U.S. 1. Violent Crime– includes murder, robbery; most victims are African Americans; small percent of all crimes committed • Robbery-larceny from the person or presence of another by violence or threat. 2. Crime Against Property – stealing or damaging other’s property; includes burglary, larceny (theft other than auto), vehicle theft, arson; more common than violent crimes (1 every 3 seconds) • Burglary- the act of breaking and entering a dwelling at night to commit a felony • Larceny-the unlawful taking and removal of another person's property. 3. Victimless Crime – includes prostitution, gambling, illegal drug use; offender is the only victim

30. (continued) 4. White Collar Crime – committed by high-status individuals in the course of their professions (politicians, corporate employees); includes fraud, tax evasion, embezzlement; estimate costs of $300 billion Bernie Madoff

31. 5. Organized Crime – the pursuit of crime as a big business, use legitimate business as a front for criminal activities • crime syndicate – large-scale organization of professional criminals that controls some vice or business through violence or the threat of violence

32. SECTION 2 Crime Question: What are some characteristics of the American criminal-justice system?

33. SECTION 2 AMERICAN CRIMINAL-JUSTICE SYSTEM Police Courts have the most control over who is arrested for crimes; use police discretion, which has raised the controversial issue of racial profiling determines the accused’s guilt or innocence in a court trial and then assigns a punishment; actually settles 90 percent of cases through plea bargaining Corrections Juvenile-Justice System includes probation, imprisonment, parole; serves four functions—retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and social protection applies to offenders younger than 18; guarantees juvenile defendants the same legal rights and privileges as adults; often provides more services Crime

34. SECTION 2 AMERICAN CRIMINAL-JUSTICE SYSTEM Crime Police

35. Police – have most immediate control over who is arrested for a criminal act • police discretion – police have the power to decide who is actually arrested • size of population, number of criminal offenses, and number of police officers make discretion necessary • factors that influence police discretion: seriousness of offense, wishes of the victim, attitude of suspect, presence of bystanders, race • racial profiling - practice of assuming that nonwhite Americans are more likely to commit crime than white Americans

36. SECTION 2 AMERICAN CRIMINAL-JUSTICE SYSTEM Crime Courts

37. Courts – determine the guilt or innocence of an accused person by means of a trial and assigns some form of punishment if there is a guilty finding • 90% of all case are settled through plea bargaining • plea bargaining – process of legal negotiation that allows an accused person to plead guilty to a lesser charge in return for a lighter sentences • allows courts to reduce volume of caseloads with avoiding expensive and time-consuming trials

38. SECTION 2 AMERICAN CRIMINAL-JUSTICE SYSTEM Crime Corrections

39. Corrections – sanctions (prison, parole, probation) used to punish those found guilty of crimes • sanctions serve 4 functions • retribution: act of revenge for victim and society • deterrence: discourage offenders from committing future crimes • rehabilitation: reform criminals so they can return to society as law-abiding citizens • social protection: prevent additional crimes • recidivism – term for repeated criminal behaviors, 62% of released prisoners will be charged with new crimes, 41% will return to prison within 3 years

40. SECTION 2 AMERICAN CRIMINAL-JUSTICE SYSTEM Crime Juvenile-Justice System

41. Juvenile-Justice System – used to punish offenders younger than age 18, developed in the 1960s • courts must now guarantee juveniles same legal rights and privileges as adult defendants • try to provide more services • can be tried as adults for serious offenses