Deviance and Crime
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What is Deviance ?
• It is when we move against established social
norms.
Society
Deviance!
Social ‘’ moral ‘’ deviants.
Mohamed Ali , Donald Marshall Junior and Nelson Mandela.
• Deviance can be politically or criminally
threatening.
• Many different groups are involved in
Canadian organized crime…….. Organized
crime meaning any group of individuals who
seek out criminal activities.
Organized crime, from teen drug dealers to the Hells Angels.
• We all take part in some socially deviant
behavior……speeding, littering, fighting…..
• The line between non-deviant and deviant behavior
can often be blurred.
• When social traditions “folkways/norms” are infringed
upon we may see this as mild deviance “ protesting
Santa at the mall “
• In other cases you may have to pay a fine or
receive some level of reprimand for your
deviance…….cheating on a test, vandalism….
• A Crime is any behavior that violates criminal
law……fines, jail terms, probation …….
• We see Crime as residing on the deviant side of
society. We use the Canadian Criminal Code to
indentify criminal actions.
We construct Laws as social rules
The Criminal Justice System
• The criminal justice system: includes police, courts
and prisons
JOSEPH P. KENNEDY
Chief Justice of the
Nova Scotia Supreme
Court.
• However it is not one large, complete and unified
system: it is collection of three independent but
cooperative systems.
police
court
prison
• It relies upon the use of professional judgment by
police and correction officers, lawyers, judges, and
other criminal justice officials regarding how to
proceed in a given situation.
• Each of the three parts of the system has significant
powers and mandates apart from one another.
The role of Police
• Function: They are the concrete extension of the
State to provide for social order
• They are provided to maintain peace in the
community
• Broad range of functions: finding lost children,
counseling crime victims, notifying next of kin in fatal
accidents, traffic control, emergency responders,
crisis negotiators, societies referees …
Our Police are like hockey's referees…….often asked to deal
with unpopular situations with unsatisfied clients
Why So Many Functions?
• 1. The police are one of
the few public agencies
open 24 / 7
• 3. The police may not
know about or may not
have access to other
agencies
• 2. They service clients
that other agencies may
not be interested
in….mental health /
addictions / violence /
sexual deviance
Halifax Regional Police Const. Dianne Woodworth stands next to her police horse Cruise at Dartmouth Crossing
Our Police
• What ties these diverse functions together?
– 1. They have authority
– 2. Authority is backed by non-negotiable force
– 3. Have high degrees of discretion
• Two kinds of Discretion:
– A. Administrative …. tickets / fines / charges …
– B. Individual …. use of force
Our Courts
• Function: they decide the guilt or innocence
of those accused of committing a crime
A lawyer has been found
guilty of three counts of drug
trafficking.
Anne Calder was charged in July 2010
after guards at the Central Nova
Correctional Facility in Burnside spotted
her passing an envelope of drugs /
painkillers to her client. She was
sentenced to 30 months in prison in June
2011
The Court Process:
Prosecutor: A lawyer who represents
the State …. Known as the crown
Defense lawyer: asserts that the
accused (the defendant) is innocent
Judge (or jury): Final decision as to the
guilt or innocence of the defendant
The
Canadian
court system
The Canadian supreme court
Prisons and Jails
• Federal Time or Provincial Time ?
– Federal Prison time = 2 years plus a day
– Provincial Jail time = 2 years less a day
• ( Federal time offers more programming and
opportunities for early release ….. Often releases are
quicker then a two year provincial sentence )
Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick
constructed in 1880. Medium Security 419
offenders.
Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in
Burnside … “ Burnside Jail “ Male and Female
Springhill Institution Medium-security Built in
1967 . 448 offenders.
Atlantic Institution ,maximum-security, in
Renous, N. B. Opened 1987 , 235 inmates.
Mission Statement of Correctional
Services Canada (CSC)
Correctional Service Canada
www.csc-scc.gc.ca
Show 30 Days “ 30 days in jail “
humanizing the inmate population.
Criminal Deviance
crossing the line
Mild Deviance
Criminal Deviance
Forms of Crime
• There three forms of crime.
– 1) Street Crime.
– 2) Occupational/ White-collar and Corporate.
– 3) Organized Crime.
• 1 ) Street Crime
• The most commonly thought of category.
– Robbery
– Assaults…. physical / sexual
– Break and Enters
– Vandalism
– Arson
• 2) Occupational/white-collar/Corporate
• Include crimes that are committed during an
individuals employment or financial dealings.
• Often a breach of trust ….. Skimming money /
accounts.
• Accepting bribes or kickbacks.
• Corporate Crimes are committed by a corporation with
support of it’s management.
– False advertising , Copy right violations
– Price fixing….” unfair increases in pricing “ and financial
fraud
• 3) Organized Crime
• A business that supplies illegal goods and
services for profit.
– Drug trafficking
– Prostitution
– Alcohol / tobacco smuggling
– Loan sharking
– Money laundering
– High level theft….” truck jacking / car theft rings /
bootleg clothing “
Crime , what do we know ?
• It is impossible to accurately measure crime.
• We only have numbers collated by police and
victims…… “ reported crime “ we can only guess
about unreported crime rates.
• We use the Canadian Uniform Crime Report, C U
C R for crime Measurement….calculates all crime
dealt with by Canadian police departments.
• We know that the reporting of crime has
increased dramatically over the past few
decades.
if it
bleeds it
leads!
The Court Of
Public Opinion
When society becomes the judge /
jury and prosecution
The court of public opinion has been described as
the most important informal court.
CBS News video: 1994: O.J.
Simpson Bronco Chase - On
June 17, 1994 O.J. Simpson
led the police on a dramatic
highway chase in Los
Angeles.
Trying cases in the court of public opinion refers to using
the news media to influence public support for one side or
the other in a court case.
The Simpson trial swam in a sea of
mass media
• 1995, the O.J Simpson Trial.
• The trial of O. J. Simpson for the murders of Nicole
Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman has been called a
"a great trash novel come to life ‘’ .
The trial was viewed my millions of viewers on live
television ...... Simpson you be found innocent
causing a major public backlash ....... He was
continuously harassed by society !!!!
Here in Canada (the air bus scaled)
• Former P M Brian Malory is accused of
accepting a pay off of over $ 300,000 from a
French air craft company.
Former Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney, still
spinning the story !
Gang wars and
organized crime……are
we at risk ?