Lecture #7:
Crime & Deviance
Crime
The violation of a society’s formally enacted
criminal law.
Two elements
The act itself
Criminal intent
Crimes against the person
Direct violence, or threat of it
Crimes against property
Involves theft or damage of property
Criminal statistics
Victimization surveys state crime rate is two to four
times higher than official reports
The Street Criminal: a Profile
Age-persons between the ages of 15 and 24
14% of population
39% of arrests for violent crime
46.8% of property crimes
Gender
70.1% of property crimes and 82.6% of all violent crimes are
committed by males
Social class
Violent crimes committed by a few in poor neighborhoods
White collar and corporate crime committed by more affluent
Race and ethnicity
69.7% of arrests involve white people
People of color are over criminalized
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Two Types of Data
Self-report and victimization data: respondents
report crimes committed or experienced in
surveys.
Numbers are much higher than official data
Subject to the problems of surveys
Official data: collected and processed by police
and courts
Different rates can occur for different groups,
e.g., classes, sexes, some visible minorities
Disadvantaged often have higher rates
Definitions
Deviance: behaviour perceived to violate
social norms. Perceived to be:
Not “normal”
Morally devalued
Great variation across societies
What deviant actions or attitudes have in
common is some element of difference
that causes us to regard another person
as an outsider.
Social Foundations of Deviance
Deviance varies according to cultural norms
No thought or action is inherently deviant
Deviance involves social power
Rule-makers, rule-breakers, and rule-enforcers
Norms and applying them are linked to social
position
People become deviant
How other perceive and label us
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Functionalist Perspective
Society is the source of definitions of
deviance.
Deviance functions to:
1. Unify society
2. Show what is allowed or not allowed
3. Call attention to flaws in the system
4. Promote social adaptation
Conflict Perspective
Deviance is determined by those in power.
Two approaches:
1. Pluralist position moral
entrepreneurs: various individuals and
groups compete to have their definitions
accepted
2. Critical school
economic elite is the
major force behind definitions. They
accept that a consensus could prevail,
but will ensure that their interests are
met.
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
Deviance is socially constructed.
Social groups create deviance by
making rules,
applying those rules to particular people,
and
labelling them outsiders
Deviance is not a quality of the act, but a
consequence of the application of rules
and sanctions.
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Feminist Perspective
Concerned about the imbalance in a field
written by and about men.
Experiences of women, especially as
victims
Differential treatment of men and women,
e.g. prostitutes are arrested more than
“johns”
How smaller size affects violence—women
more likely the victims than the
perpetrators
Do men accept women as accomplices?
CRIME & DEVIANCE THEORIES
Biological and Psychological
Theories
Body shape:
Sheldon: mesomorphs, ectomorphs, and
endomorphs.
Hormones: testosterone related to violence.
Genes: schizophrenia is genetic in origin, but an
environmental factor is necessary to trigger it.
Psychology: criminals crave excitement or ego
cannot control id.
Criticisms: Social factors are ignored and many
crimes are committed by “normal” people.
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Sutherland’s Differential Association
Differential association: learning deviance
through association with deviant groups.
Deviant behavior is learned
Frequency of association is central to the
development of deviance
If associates are prone to violation of norms, then
one is also more likely to take part
Conformity reaps rewards while the lack of it
reaps punishment
does this contradict
individualism? i.e. freedom with consequences—
excessive drinking is an example
Labelling Theory
Labelling theory: victims can forget crime
or call police. If call police then deviance
amplifying process, reacting to
deviance may increase it.
Self-fulfilling prophecy:
1. Primary deviance: deviance occurs
2. Labelled as a problem and more occurs
3. Punishment leads to Secondary
deviance: self-definition as deviant and a
deviant career develops
Applying a Deviant Label
Once definitions exist, the reaction of others
is crucial in deciding who is and is not a
deviant.
As many rule breakers: those who commit
deviant acts without response, may exist
as deviants (see Fig 5.1).
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Labeling Deviance
Retrospective labeling
Re-interpreting someone’s past in light of present
deviance
Prospective labeling
Predicts future deviant behavior
Medicalization of deviance
Transform moral and legal deviance into a medical
condition
Who responds
How people respond
Personal competence of the deviant person
SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION:
Strain and Control Theories
Human ecology: different city areas have
different levels and types of crime.
But is this showing cause or selection (the
attraction of deviants)?
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Merton’s Strain/Anomie Theory
Anomie theory: people who have traditional goals may
not have legitimate means.
Does society provide the means to achieve cultural
goals?
Conformity
Pursuing conventional goals through normal means
Innovation
Unconventional means to achieve approved goals
Ritualism
Accept institutional means; Reject goals
Rebellion
Define new goals and means to achieve goals
The gap between what “ought to be” and “what is”
leaves a person “strained”
Merton’s Strain/Anomie
Theory of Deviance
Anomie/Strain Theory’s Problems
Problems:
Holds up less well with self-report crime
Is sexist: women are denied means but
are not criminal
Strain is not a necessary component of the
equation—lots of people in the slums are
law abiding
Cloward and Ohlin found that opportunity
structures are necessary to be criminal
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Social Control Theory
WHAT KEEPS PEOPLE FROM BECOMING DEVIANT?
Hirschi: deviance is deterred by a “stake in conformity”
1. Attachments to familyStrong social attachments
encourage conformity
2. Involvement in conventional activitiesThe greater a
person’s commitment to and involvement in legitimate
opportunities the greater conformity
3. Beliefs in pro-social valuesTime and energies are
linked to “legitimate” activities inhibit deviance
4. Commitment to conformity Strong belief in
conventional morality and respect for authority figures
controls deviance
Social Bonds (Hirschi continued)
Broken homes and weak attachments to
school are related to delinquency.
But are social ties the only thing that keeps
many of us from becoming deviant?
Consensus Internalized…
Techniques of neutralization: rationalizes
guilt by
1. Denial of injury
2. Denial of victim
3. Denial of personal responsibility
4. Condemning the condemners
5. Appeal to higher loyalties
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Cautions
1. Factors are correlates not causes
2. Often more variation within than between
groups
e.g. More variation within men than between men
and women
3. Applying generalizations to any individual
is inappropriate
The Possible Futures of Deviance
Defining deviance is a political process
Decriminalizing of:
small amounts of marijuana?
Other victimless crimes two willing
participants neither wanting police
involvement
Less tolerance of victim-involved? e.g. with
guns crimes
Non-violent crimes treated outside penal
institutions?
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