Deviance

Deviance What is Deviance? • Deviance • The recognized violation of cultural norms • Crime • The violation of a society’s formally enacted criminal law Social Control • Social Control • Attempts by society to regulate people’s thoughts and behavior • Criminal Justice System • A formal response by police, courts, and prison officials (corrections) to alleged violations of the law Early interest in criminality focused on biological causes Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909) Psychological – individual abnormalities, Deviance is viewed as the result of “unsuccessful” socialization Theorized that criminals are physically different The Social Foundations of Deviance  All behavior – deviance as well as conformity – is shaped by society. o Deviance varies according to cultural norms. o People become deviant as others define them that way.  Consider this: Someone who takes a grape from the market. Is she/her deviant? Crime • The violation of criminal laws enacted by a locality, state, or the federal government • All crime have two distinct elements • The act itself • A failure to do what the law requires • Criminal intent • Mens rea or “guilty mind” • Ranges from willful conduct to negligence Types of Crime • Violent crimes - Crimes that direct violence or the threat of violence against others (4% of arrests) • Assault, Robbery, Murder, Rape • Property crimes - Crimes that involve theft of property belonging to others • Larceny, burglary, motor vehicle theft, arson, vandalism • Victimless Crimes • • Violations of law in which there are no obvious victims • Illegal drug use, prostitution, gambling Generally referred to as “Street crime” People harm themselves more than anyone else Hate Crimes • A criminal act against a person or a person’s property by an offender motivated by bias • Protected groups: • Race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, gender, and gender identity • In 2011, U.S. law enforcement agencies reported 6,222 hate crime incidents involving 7,254 Offenses. These incidents included offenses like vandalism, intimidation, assault, rape, murder, etc. (FBI 2011) Criminal Statistics • Include only crimes known to the police • Researchers check crime statistics • Uniform Crime Statistics • Victimization surveys • Demonstrates that the overall crime rate is twice as high than official reports indicate Funnel -Why should one read crime statistics with caution? FIGURE 7–2 Crime Rates in the United States, 1960–2008 The graphs show the rates for various violent crimes and property crimes during recent decades. Since about 1990, the trend has been downward. Violent Crime is down • Fewer youths • Changes in policing – prevention of crime • More prisoners • Better economy (more jobs, fewer crimes) • Declining drug trade (Stiffer sentences for drug offenses) Some facts about our judicial system  Between 2-3 million people are in prisons/jails in USA. (3% of the population)  In 2009, over 7.2 millions of people were in prisons, on parole or on probation in the U.S.  We are 5% of the world’s populations, but we house 25% of the world’s prisoners. Incarceration Punishment • Retribution • The act of moral vengeance by which society makes the offender suffer as much as the suffering caused by the crime • Deterrence • The attempt to discourage criminality through the use of punishment • Rehabilitation • A program for reforming the offender to prevent later offenses • Societal protection • Rendering an offender incapable of further offenses temporarily through imprisonment or permanently by execution White-Collar Crime • Crime committed by people of high social position in the course of their occupations • White-collar criminals use their powerful offices to illegally enrich themselves or others • Bank fraud, computer fraud, counterfeiting, embezzlement, money laundering, tax evasion • Corporate- crimes by a corporation or the people acting on its behalf. • Not Street crime, but “crime in the suites” • • • White-collar offenses typically end up in a civil hearing rather than criminal courtroom • Civil law regulates business dealings between private parties • Criminal law defines a person’s moral responsibilities to society Civil case losses pay for damage or injury but are not labeled “criminal” When white-collar criminals are charged and convicted, they usually escape punishment Social Conflict Theory • Both rule making and rule breaking involve social power. • Who makes and breaks the rules? What are the punishments handed out to the poor versus the rich? To whom do laws serve, the majority or the rich minority? • The people who obtain the label of deviant are often those with little power in society • Laws protect the interests of the wealthy (Capitalism) • The powerful sometimes have ways to avoid deviant labels Labeling Theory: Symbolic – Interactionist Perspective • Labeling Theory • The idea that deviance and conformity result not so much from what people do as from how others respond to those actions • Deviance is viewed as a process • Primary Deviance is a violation of norms (generally mild) that does not result in any long-term effects on the individual’s self-image • Secondary Deviance – Individual is labeled as deviant by members of society and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, i.e. More crime Labeling Theory • Stigma – a powerfully negative label that greatly changes a person’s self-concept and social identity • Recidivism – The repetition of criminal behavior, i.e. re-offending after an initial offense. • Among state prisoners released in 30 states in 2005— • About two-thirds (67.8%) of released prisoners were arrested for a new crime within 3 years, and three-quarters (76.6%) were arrested within 5 years. • (“Desistence” is the ceasing of criminal activity) The Functions of Deviance: Structural-Functional Analysis • Emile Durkheim • Deviance is a necessary element of social organization – functional for us • Deviance affirms cultural values and norms. • Responding to deviance clarifies moral boundaries. • Responding to deviance promotes social unity. • Deviance encourages social change. Merton’s Strain Theory • Some deviance might be necessary for a society to function • The extent and kind of deviance depend on whether a society provides the means to achieve cultural goals • In the U.S., what are examples of culturally approved goals and the institutionalized means provided for people to achieve these goals? • Conformity can only exist to the extent that these coordinate • Innovation • Using unconventional means to achieve a culturally approved goal • Ritualism • The inability to reach a cultural goal prompts the deviance of ritualism • Retreatism • Rejecting both cultural goals and means • Individuals “drop out” • Rebellion • Reject cultural dimensions of success and conventional means • Further step is forming a counterculture alternative • FIGURE 7–1 Merton’s Strain Theory of Deviance Combining a person’s view of cultural goals and the conventional means to obtain them allowed Robert Merton to identify various types of deviance. Source: Merton (1968).