Deviance Crime, Deviance And Social Control © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 1 What Do we want to Know • How is deviance defined and who defines it – Is it the person or the action? • How is deviance distributed in society and how do we know • What causes deviance • How is deviance controlled © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 2 Social Control • Social control: techniques and strategies for preventing deviant human behavior in any society • Sanctions: penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm • Society partly defined by people’s willingness to accept shared beliefs and practices – Society can limit individual freedom and advance interests of some at expense of others © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 3 Conformity and Obedience • Conformity: the act of going along with peers— individuals of our own status who have no special right to direct our behavior • Obedience: compliance with higher authorities in a hierarchical structure © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 4 Informal and Formal Social Control • Informal social control: used casually to enforce norms • Formal social control: carried out by authorized agents • Interplay between formal and informal social control can be complicated because we have to balance one source of control against another © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 5 Law and Society • Some norms are so important to a society that they are formalized into laws • Law: governmental social control • Control theory: our connection to other members of society leads us to systematically conform to society’s norms © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 6 Defining Deviance • Deviance is the violation of Norms, especially widely held norms • Crime is an action declared illegal by some government or agency – Usually, by a legislative body – Sometimes by administrative actions • Is all deviance criminal ? – Pushing children into fashion shows, sports ? – Subcultures and deviance © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 7 Defining Deviance • Not all crimes are deviant – – – – – PETA Bullying Speeding Gambling White Collar crime • Non Criminal Deviance – Music preferences – Body piercing – Marrying someone • Your parents disapprove of • Your parents want you to – Being a Geek or a Nerd • Where do “rolling Stops” and other trivial driving violations go? © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 8 Distribution of Deviance • Crime Rates vs Crime Statistics – Variance in Reporting Issues • To Police • To FBI – By Type of Crime • By nature of offender and victim • Blaming the Victim • Location • Organized Crime • White Collar Crime • Non Criminal Deviance… What do we Know – Not much © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 9 Explanations of Deviance • Historical non Social-scientific explanations – – – – Patterns of Bumps on head The Devil made me do it Mental issues Bad Seed • Sociological Explanations – Functionalist: • Deviance provides an example of what must be avoided because it is wrong • Some deviance can lead to positive social change © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 10 Controlling Deviance • Is all deviance controlled? – What choices does society have in controlling deviance? • Internal • External • Who controls Deviance – Under what circumstances some forms of deviance not controlled – What is required to control deviant behavior? • How about deviant thoughts? – Presidential Candidate who admitted “Lusting in his thoughts” • How does the nature of society impact the nature, extent and control of deviance? © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 11 Explanations of Deviance • Anomie The norms are weak or are in conflict. This is the basis for Strain theory – Social structure limits the abilities of certain groups to satisfy culturally dictated goals and aspirations and means to achieve them. • Cultural goals which are acceptable in our society – Wealth – Power – Status – Material Goods • Acceptable means to achieve them – Education – Jobs – Some talents © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 12 Explanations of Deviance • Conflict or Strain between goals and means produce "anomie” and possibly a high level of maladaptive behavior due to cultural imbalance between goals and means. • Social structure explains differences in upper and lower class crime rates. – Distribution of legitimate opportunities to achieve wealth through legitimate means. • Since goals are not always achieved, means become valuable in themselves. – Often times, means are placed under severe stress. – Little reward in means alone. • Strain falls on a wide variety of people: – mostly concentrated in lower-classes. – because of differential emphasis placed on ability to attain goals. – Goals "open to all." © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 13 • Anomie created by disjunction of goals and means causes great discomfort. To overcome sense of anomie, different modes of adaptation are used: Source http://www.indiana.edu/~theory/Kip/Strain.htm#Strain © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 14 Symbolic Interactionist Theories • Social control or Social Bonding – Doesn’t ask why people are deviant, but why they aren’t. • http:\\faculty.ccc.edu\aberger\It's Not A Crime If I Can't be Caught .pdf – Strong Interpersonal ties often lead to strong commitment to the norms • Cultural Transmission, Differential association and subcultures – Who you associate with – Learned behaviors – Interaction with other groups with other norms © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 15 White-Collar Crime • White-collar crime: illegal acts committed in the course of business activities, often by affluent, “respectable” people – Corporate crime: any act by a corporation that is punishable by the government – Computer crime: use of high technology to carry out embezzlement or electronic fraud © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 16 Victimless Crimes • Victimless crime: willing exchange among adults of widely desired, but illegal, goods and services – Supporters of decriminalization are troubled by attempts to legislate moral code for adults – Critics object to notion that these crimes are “victimless” © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 17 Social Order, Deviance, and Crime • Durkheim’s Theory of Deviance – Nothing inherently deviant or criminal in any act – Society identifies criminals for the sake of social order – When societies experience anomie, social integration is weak and people are free to pursue deviant paths © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 18 Social Order, Deviance, and Crime • Merton’s Theory of Deviance – Anomie theory of deviance: five basic forms of adaptation to cultural expectations • Conformist • Innovator • Ritualist • Retreatist • Rebel © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 19 Interpersonal Interaction and Local Context • Cultural transmission: individuals learn criminal behavior by interacting with others • Differential association: process through which exposure to attitudes favorable to criminal acts leads to the violation of rules © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 20 Interpersonal Interaction and Local Context • Social disorganization theory: attributes increases in crime and deviance to the absence or breakdown of communal relationships and social institutions • Labeling theory: attempts to explain why certain people are viewed as deviants while others engaged in the same behavior are not – Also known as the societal-reaction approach © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 21 Power and Inequality • Criminal justice system serves the interests of the powerful; protect their own interests and define deviance to suit their own needs • Race and Class – Suspects are treated differently based on their race, ethnicity, and social class – Differential justice: differences in the way social control is exercised over different groups © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 22 Power and Inequality • Gender – Existing approaches to deviance developed with only men in mind – Society tends to treat women in stereotypical fashion – Cultural views and attitudes toward women influence how they are perceived and labeled – As women take on more active and powerful roles both in the household and in business, gender differences in deviance and crime © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 23 have narrowed The Criminal Justice System • Based on Adversarial system, Conflict • Only available for crimes, not for non criminal deviance – Religious laws deal with some of the non criminal deviance • Made up of – Courts – Police – Corrections • How else is deviance sanctioned? – Hiring practices – Public Opinion – ? © Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 24