CHAPTER 8 Deviance and Social Control

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CHAPTER 8Deviance and Social Control

• Section 1 Deviance
• Section 2 Crime

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Objectives
Section 1 Deviance

• Explain the nature and social functions of
  deviance.
• Compare the theories that have been proposed to
  explain deviance.

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• If asked, would you label yourself
• as a deviant person?

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What is deviant behavior?

• With a partner, list at least 10 deviant acts.
• Are all acts of deviance bad?

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Conformity

• Behavior that matches group expectations
• Its taking those social norms we learned about
  actually abiding by them!
• Ex Come to work or school on time
• Use a fork to eat peas
• Dont steal other peoples things

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Deviance

• Behavior that violates significant social norms.
• Continuously talking to oneself in public
• Drag racing on a street or highway
• Using illegal drugs
• A man wearing womens clothing
• Attacking another person with a weapon

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Deviance

• Some examples are clear cutmurder, robbery
• Others acts vary from group to group and/or
  change over time
• e.g. Tattoos body piercing are now common but
  25 years ago it would have been deviant to have a
  tattoo or for a man to have pierced ears

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Nature of Deviance
Section 1 Deviance

• Because there are so many norms governing
  behavior, occasional violations are unavoidable
• What is considered deviant varies from society to
  society
• Every society has countless norms which govern
  behavior.
• NOT all norm violations are considered deviant.

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• What is considered deviant can vary from society
  to society.
• Divorce is legal in the US
• Divorce is illegal in the Philippines
• Typically repeating an offense can label you as
  deviant.
• Two components required to label you as deviant.
• You must be committing a deviant act
• You must be stigmatized by society.

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Stigma

• The mark of social disgrace that sets the deviant
  apart from the rest of society.
• Stigmas have been used as a form of social
  control throughout history.
• Example Ancient Greeks would burn symbols into
  the bodies of criminals to warn others.
• Example Prison inmates wear uniformed
• clothing and are assigned a number.
• (Visual Stigma)

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• When sociologists talk about stigmas they are
  usually referring to the negative social
  reactions that result from being labeled deviant.
  
• That person is no longer seen as being normal or
  whole by society.

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What do you think??

• Is there a stigma of obesity??

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Social Functions of Deviance
Section 1 Deviance

• Clarifying Norms defines the boundaries of
  acceptable behavior
• EX Harsh prison sentences are intended to
  discourage crime.
• Unifying the Group serves to draw the line
  between conforming members of society and
  outsiders the nonconforming members.
• EX Reinforces the sense of community and belief
  in shared values.

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• Diffusing Tension acts that allow individuals
  to relieve tension without disrupting the basic
  fabric of society.
• EX Picketing

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Section 1 Deviance

• Promoting Social Change can help prompt social
  change by identifying problem areas. EX When
  large numbers of people violate a particular
  norm, then action must be taken to correct
  situation.
• Providing Jobs provides legitimate jobs for a
  wide range of people.
• EX Judges, lawyers, police officers, prison
  personnel, parole officers, etc.
• Criminologists- social scientists who study
  criminal behavior.

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• Pg. 178
• American Youth Gangs
• Read answer 1 2

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• Why are people deviant?
• 3 sociological perspectives explaining deviance
• Functionalist perspective
• Conflict perspective
• Interactionalist perspective

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• Functionalist
• Theory

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Functionalist Perspective

• The major functionalist explanation, strain
  theory was developed by sociologist Robert K.
  Merton.
• Strain Theory views deviance is a natural part
  of society and is the natural outgrowth of the
  values, norms, and structure of society.
• Example Individuals may be prevented from
  finding a job b/c of social conditions or b/c of
  lack of education. They are expected, however,
  to meet the goal of finding a job-society judges
  them according to how well they do so they act
  out.

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Anomie

• Under the strain of incompatible goals and means,
  these individuals fall victim to anomie.
• Anomie the situation that arises when the norms
  of society are unclear and no longer applicable.

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Mode of Adaptation Definition Stand on Cultural Goals Stand on Cultural Norms
Conformity accept culturally approved goals and means of achieving these goals Accept Accept
Innovation accept cultural goals, but do not accept the approved means to reaching these goals, devise new means for achieving goals (become deviants) Accept Reject
Ritualism find it impossible to achieve cultural goals by acceptable means, they abandon the goals while continuing expected rules of behavior Reject Accept
Retreatism reject both cultural goals and acceptable means of attaining them, may drop out of society Reject Reject
Rebellion want to substitute a new set of goals and means for the approved set Reject and Replace Reject and Replace
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• Conflict Theory

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Conflict Perspective

• Competition and social inequality lead to
  deviance.
• There are those with power (Ruling Class) and
  those without (Lower Classes)
• Ruling Class commits acts of deviance to maintain
  their power.
• Lower Class commits acts of deviance to gain
  economic means or b/c of feelings of
  powerlessness.

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• 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

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Interactionist Perspective

• Interactionists offer three major explanations of
  deviance
• Control Theory
• Cultural Transmission Theory
• Labeling Theory
• Remember Interactionists are more interested in
  the individual and the thoughts and feelings of
  that individual.

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Control Theory

• Control Theorists are more interested in why the
  person conforms rather than the causes of
  deviance.
• Looks at the social ties that are integrated into
  a community.
• Strong Communities have less acts of deviance.
• Weaker Communities have more acts of deviance.

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Cultural Transmission Theory

• This theory explains that deviance is a learned
  behavior through socialization.
• The interaction of deviant individuals and others
  is more likely to cause deviant behavior.
• The norms being taught are deviant.

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Labeling Theory

• Instead of focusing on why people perform deviant
  acts, labeling theory focuses on how individuals
  come to be identified as deviant.
• Deviance is labeled in two ways
• Primary Deviance
• Nonconformity goes undetected in society. Or
  occasional acts. Considered not deviant
• Secondary Deviance
• Results in the individual being labeled as
  Deviantand accepting the label as true.

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Degradation Ceremony

• The process of labeling an individual as deviant.
• Public Setting The individual is denounced,
  found guilty, and given the new identity of
  deviant.
• People begin to judge practically all of his or
  her actions in light of the deviant label.
• Deviant becomes the persons master status.

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Theories of Deviance
Section 1 Deviance

• Functionalists as the natural outgrowth of the
  values, norms, and structures of society
• Conflict Theorists as a result of competition
  and social inequality
• 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)

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SECTION 1
Deviance
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Objectives
Section 2 Crime

• Identify the principal types of crime in the
  United States.
• Explain the characteristics of the American
  criminal-justice system.

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Principal Types of Crime in the U.S.
Section 2 Crime

• Violent Crime includes murder, robbery most
  victims are African Americans
• Robbery- larceny from the person or presence of
  another by violence or threat.
• Crime Against Property includes burglary,
  larceny, vehicle theft more common than violent
  crimes.
• Burglary- the act of breaking and entering a
  dwelling at night to commit a felony
• Felony- a crime for which the punishment in
  federal law may be death or imprisonment for mote
  than one year.
• Larceny- the unlawful taking and removal of
  another person's property.
• Victimless Crime includes prostitution,
  gambling, illegal drug use offender is the only
  victim

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Principal Types of Crime in the U.S.
Section 2 Crime
(continued)

• White Collar Crime committed by high-status
  individuals in the course of their professions
  includes fraud, tax evasion, embezzlement
• Organized Crime the pursuit of crime as a big
  business

Bernie Madoff
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The Criminal-Justice System

• Once a crime has been committed and reported, it
  falls under the jurisdiction of this.

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SECTION 2
Crime
Police

1. Have the most control over who is arrested for
   crimes.
2. The use of police discretion, has raised the
   controversial issue of racial profiling

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SECTION 2
Crime
Courts

1. Determines the accuseds guilt or innocence in a
   court trial.
2. The court assigns a punishment.
3. 90 percent of cases are actually settled through
   plea bargaining.

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SECTION 2
Crime
Corrections

• Includes probation, imprisonment, and parole,
  which serves four functions
• Retribution- Revenge for the victims and for
  society.
• Deterrence- Discourage offenders and non
  offenders from committing future crimes.
• Rehabilitation- Serves to reform criminals so
  that they can return to society as law abiding
  citizens.
• Social protection- Limit the freedom of criminals
  so
• they cannot commit additional crimes.

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SECTION 2
Crime
Juvenile-Justice System

1. Applies to offenders younger than 18.
2. Guarantees juvenile defendants the same legal
   rights and privileges as adults.
3. Often provides more services.

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Gender Crime

• Throughout history, men have traditionally
  committed more crime than women.
• In fact, 77 of people arrested are men.
• This is a significant statistic because men make
  up less than 50 of the population.

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Race Crime

• Although gender differences in crime statistics
  are fairly easy to distinguish, discussing a link
  between race and crime is controversial.
• The major problem is the long history of racism
  in the United States.
• African Americans make up about 12 of the
  population, but represent 30.4 of those arrested
  in the United States.

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• Some argue that different enforcement practices
  of police are responsible for these data.
• Racial profiling is a controversial practice of
  targeting based on their race.
• Sociologist Simon A. Cole shows that traffic
  police disproportionately stop people of color.
• Jeffrey Reiman suggests that the police seek out
  the poor for arrest because the poor are easier
  to catch and easier to convict.

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• Reiman shows that the upper classes crimes are
  not prosecuted at the same rates.
• For example, for more than 20 years, getting
  caught with 5 grams of crack cocaine gave you the
  same sentence as someone caught with 500 grams of
  powder cocaine
• Conflict theorists might ask what social class
  used crack cocaine versus powder?

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Age and Crime

• Essentially, crime is a young persons game.
• This idea is supported by the relationship
  between age and crime.
• It indicates that the majority of arrests peak
  between the ages of 15 to 25.
• According to Darrell Steffensmeier and Miles
  Harer, a 60 decrease in crime rates in the 1980s
  attributable to a decrease in the total number of
  15-24 year olds.

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Crime Victimization - An International Perspective
Crime US Canada England France Germany Japan
Sexual Assault of women 1.4 0.8 0.9 0.3 0.4 0.8
Assault 4.3 3.0 5.8 2.1 2.7 0.8
Robbery 0.6 0.8 1.4 0.6 0.4 0.2
Burglary 2.5 2.0 3.5 1.6 0.9 0.9
Car Theft 1.1 0.8 1.8 0.6 0.2 0.1
of pop. Feeling unsafe 19 17 32 21 30 35
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• Prisoners
• The highest rates are in the South, while the
  lowest rates are in the North.
• Some evidence shows that Southern states have
  higher incarceration rates because they are
  tougher on crime and assign longer sentences
  for offenders, whereas Northern states are
  somewhat more lenient in sentencing.

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Prisons in America

• Departments of corrections directs most states
  prison systems.
• The title infers that prisons are supposed to
  correct the offender and assist in successful
  reintegration into society.

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• Unfortunately, the most likely outcome for
  inmates released from prison is to return to
  prison.
• More than 50 of all inmates return to prison
  within three years of release.

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Costs of Incarceration

• The actual costs to incarcerate an individual are
  difficult to determine.
• Although all states report a dollar amount, there
  are hidden costs associated with the
  incarceratedthe children left behind in the
  foster care system or families who must use the
  welfare system to survive.

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• These social costs cant be factored in the
  prison budget, so the reported cost of
  incarceration never includes them.
• Nevertheless, taxpayers are left to pay for the
  whole broken system.
• Criminologists James Austin and John Irwin
  calculated these hidden costs and determined that
  it actually costs 30,000 a year to incarcerate a
  single inmate.
• Using this estimate, Alabama taxpayers paid
  roughly 360,000 for the 12-year incarceration of
  Jerald Sanders (who stole a 60 bike)