Do Now
Is there such a thing as a victimless crime?
What is Deviance?
• Deviance is any behavior that violates social
norms, and is usually of sufficient severity to
warrant disapproval from the majority of
society.
• Deviance can be criminal or non-criminal.
What is Deviance?
• Deviance: deviating from the norm
• Deviance is relative to time and place because
what is considered deviant in one social
context may be non-deviant in another (e.g.,
fighting during a hockey game vs. fighting in a
nursing home).
• Killing another human is considered wrong
except when governments permit it during
warfare or self-defense.
Criminal and Non-Criminal Deviance
• The sociological discipline that
deals with crime (behavior that
violates laws) is criminology
(also known as criminal justice).
• Americans consider such
activities as alcoholism, excessive
gambling, being nude in public
places, playing with fire, stealing,
lying, refusing to bathe,
purchasing the services of
prostitutes, and cross-dressing—
to name only a few—as deviant.
Deviance Challenge
• If you would like extra credit….are you willing
to take the deviance challenge?
• Try the suggested activity and write down
what you did and what happened afterward
and hand into the Box
of Deviance
Deviance is relative to place
Asian
United States
Canada
United States
United States
Avoiding eye
contact is
considered
polite
The O.K. signal
expresses
approval
Thumbs upused for hitch
hiking, or
approving of
something
Someone may
whistle when
happy.
Whistling can
express
approval, as in
cheering at a
public event.
United States
Japan
United States
Nigeria
Europe
When saying
hello or talking
to someone it
is impolite to
not look
directly at the
person.
Using your
middle finger is
The O.K. signal
very offensive. This is a rude
means that you
Used in place
gesture in
are asking for
of
Nigeria.
money.
inappropriate
language.
Whistling may
be a sign of
disapproval at
public events.
Differential
Association
Theory
• How people learn deviance.
• According to this theory, the environment plays
a major role in deciding which norms people
learn to violate.
• People also learn their norms from various
socializing agents—parents, teachers, ministers,
family, friends, co-workers, and the media.
• Example: Gangs glorify violence, retaliation, and
crime as means to achieving social status.
Anomie Theory
• Anomie refers to the confusion that arises when social
norms conflict or don't even exist
• Example: The differences between socially accepted goals
and the availability of means to achieve those goals.
• Attaining wealth is a major goal of Americans, but not all
Americans possess the means to do this.
• Those who find the “road to riches” closed to them
experience anomie, because an obstacle has stopped their
pursuit of a socially approved goal.
• When this happens, these individuals may employ deviant
behaviors to attain their goals, retaliate against society, or
merely “make a point.”
Control Theory
• People have various
restraints: internal controls,
such as conscience, values,
integrity, morality, and the
desire to be a “good
person”.
• They have outer controls,
such as police, family,
friends, and religious
authorities.
• Sanctions - consequences
Labeling Theory
• Concerns the meanings people derive from
one another's labels
• Conforming members of society, who
interpret certain behaviors as deviant and
then attach this label to individuals
• Labeled persons may include drug addicts,
alcoholics, criminals, delinquents, prostitutes,
sex offenders, disabled people, and psychiatric
patients, to mention a few.
What did we learn?
• Deviance is
Deviating from the norm, breaking social rules
• Differential Association Theory:
-states that people learn deviance from others
• Anomie Theory is
-there are no norms…or powerless to adhere to them
• Control Theory is:
People listen to external rules and internal rules to be a
“good person”.
• Labeling Theory is
Giving groups that we think are deviant; categories.
How Safe is your Community?
• http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ny/crim
e/
What is Crime?
• Any discussion of deviance remains incomplete
without a discussion of crime, which is any act
that violates written criminal law.
• Society sees most crimes, such as robbery,
assault, battery, rape, murder, burglary, as
deviant.
• But some crimes, such as those committed in
violation of laws against selling merchandise on
Sundays, are not deviant at all.
What is White Collar
Crime?
• White-collar crime, committed by high-status
individuals during the course of business,
• Typical white-collar crimes include
embezzlement, bribery, insurance fraud,
Medicare theft, etc.
• Bernie Madoff: financial advisor that
committed what is considered to be the
largest financial fraud in U.S. history
Types of Crimes
• The types of crimes committed are as varied
as the types of criminals who commit them.
Most crimes fall into one of two categories—
crimes against people or crimes against
property.
Crimes against People
• The category of crimes against people
includes such crimes as murder, rape, assault,
child abuse, and sexual harassment.
• Violent crimes reported to the police take
place on average once every 20 to 30 seconds
in the United States.
• Thus, the chances of being the victim of some
form of violent crime in this country are
disturbingly high.
Crimes Against Property
• Of the almost 1.5 million Americans under some
form of correctional supervision, most are there
for offenses against someone else's property.
• In other words, property crimes are much more
common than those against persons are.
• Property crimes reported to the police take
place on average once every 2 to 3 seconds in
the United States.
• Every year about one in 20 Americans falls
victim to a property crime.
Computer Crime and Victimless Crimes
• An emerging type of crime involves
using computers to “hack” (break
into) military, educational, medical,
and business computers.
• In victimless crime, all parties consent
to the exchange of illegal goods
and/or services. In some cases,
victims may exist, but not usually.
• The list of victimless crimes includes
illicit drug use, gambling in most areas
of the country, the use of illegal sexual
materials, public nudity, public
drunkenness, vagrancy, loansharking,
and prostitution.
Organized Crime
• Organized crime refers to groups and
organizations dedicated solely to criminal
activity. Historically, leaders of organized
crime, or “crime families” Organized crime
activities are of three basic types:
• Legal activities and businesses, such as
restaurants.
• Illegal activities, such as importing and
selling narcotics, gambling, and running
prostitution rings.
• Extortion of funds for purposes of
“protection.”
What did we learn?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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What is crime
An act that violates a written law
What is a non-deviant crime?
Example: laws about not selling alcohol on
Sundays, etc.
What two categories of crimes are there?
Crimes against people, against property
What are victimless crimes?
Crimes where there is no real person having their
rights violated.