Deviance and Social Control
Fall 2006
Outline
I.
Crime is normal & Deviance is relative
II.
History of sociology of deviance
A.
III.
2 dimensions of social control
A.
B.
IV.
From deviance to social control
Style (penal, comp, etc.)
Arena (law, norms, etc.)
Design as Social Control
Take-Aways
• Crime is normal
• Deviance is relative
• Conformity-Deviance as continuum with socially
designated cutoff point
• Social control varies
– Law as small part of social control
– Norms as the “social” in social control
– Sociology seeks to understand distribution of control
• Terms/Concepts: deviance, conformity, norm,
social control, label, detterence
Crime is Normal
• Durkheim: distinguish normal and pathological
• Present in every society
• Even a society of angels…
• SOCIALLY pathological if rate too high or low
Even in a society of angels
It does not offend the collective
because it is a crime; it is a crime
because it offends the collective…
All Behavior Varies and Groups Have a
Collective Sense of “How we do it”
• Two possibilities
Under
“Acceptable”
“Acceptable”
Over
Different
All Behavior Varies and Groups Have a
Collective Sense of “How we do it”
Another way to look at it…
US
THEM
US
THEM
THEM
Example: Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll
Prudes
Normals
Addicts
Example: Student Role
Slackers
Normals
Geeks,
Nerds
Example: Reading Pages Per Week
0
Gut Course
100
Normal
250
Insanely
unreasonable
Example: Abortion
When can pregnancies be ended?
Never!
“Morning after” Pill only
Conception
US Law
Birth
Example: Premarital Sex
How “far” is OK?
Hold Hands
Intercourse
Deviance is relative
• Changes from one society/group to another
• Changes over time
• Classic example of social construct
• But still very real to the group
Deviance is relative: Examples
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Date rape
Honor killings
Hate crime
Enron
Fashion
Smoking
Safe sex
Littering
Social Control Varies
• By Arena
– State
– Organization
– Society
• By Style
– Penal
Compensation
– Conciliation
– Therapy
– Prevention
– Reform
Black’s Styles of Social Control
Style
Focus
Penal
Conduct
Compensatory
Where Found
Criminal Law
Consequences Contract Law, Torts
Therapeutic
Person
Conciliatory
Relationship
Mediation, marital conflict, labor
conflict
Prevention
Opportunity
Architecture, community
policing, private property,
personal safety
Reform
Causes
Juvenile justice, social work
Social “problems”
Arenas of Social Control
• First Party (self) control
– Personal Ethics
• Second Party control
– Contracts
• Third Party control
– State : Law
– Organizations : Rules
– Society : Norms
Norms and Informal Control
•
•
•
•
Most of the social control burden
More efficient than law or rules
Everyone is a controller
Examples abound
– Driving, restroom behavior, classroom
behavior, bodily control, queuing & waiting,
sharing space, neighbors, health and
sanitation, …
How do you test for a norm?
• Patterns of behavior
• Aspirational statements
• Societal reaction to violations
Social Control and Design
Natural Surveillance
Target Hardening
Spatial Hierarchy
Expressing Community Norms
Make Sharing Space Easier
Use Design to Facilitate
Pro-pro-social Behavior
IDEO’s Social Mobiles
http://www.ideo.com/case_studies/Social_Mobiles/menu.html
The Electric Shock Mobile
http://www.ideo.com/case_studies/Social_Mobiles/SoMo1-3.html
The Electric Shock Mobile
The Electric Shock Mobile
The Catapult Mobile
http://www.ideo.com/case_studies/Social_Mobiles/SoMo1-5.html