Chapter 5

• I. The Nature of Deviance
• II. Theories of Deviance
• III. Crime and the Criminal Justice System

• Deviance:
– Any behavior that violates a norm-Folkways, mores, or laws
• Norms vary from society to society, as do reactions to deviance
• In analyzing deviance we must consider two important points
– 1. Whether something is deviant depends on who is evaluating it
» Deviance is what people say it is-based upon one’s value system
– 2. When important norms are violated, social control mechanisms function to maintain order

The Nature of Deviance
• The Relativity of Deviance
– Relativity-There is nothing inherent in an act that makes an act wrong, criminal, or deviant.
• Social definitions of deviance are relative to the values, beliefs, and norms of a society
• Defining deviance is a social and historical construct, varying from:
– Time to time
– Place to place
– Group to group
» Examples?

– When the social structure and culture change, what is considered to be deviant/criminal changes
• How does culture change?
– The political nature of defining crime and deviance
• Politics?...
• I.e.: The case of Homosexuality
– What cultural changes have taken place?
– What political changes have occurred?
» Time?
» Culture?
» Group?

• Is what comes to be considered deviant or criminal based upon the overall harm done to American society?
– Murder->Harmful?: ->Criminal?:
– Child abuse->Harmful?: ->Criminal?
– Marital sexual abuse->Harmful?: Criminal?:
– Racial discrimination in hiring->Harmful?-> Criminal?
– Alcohol/cigarettes->Harmful?: Criminal?
– Texting while driving->Harmful? Criminal?
– Marijuana-Harmful-> Criminal->

• Why is the use of some drugs considered deviant/criminal, while others are not? Is it based on relative harm done?
– Does drug policy and concern about drug use make sense when looking at objective reality?
• I.e- Statistics regarding the harm done by certain drugs

 Objective component is physical, psychological, or social evidence of harm
 Subjective component is people’s perceptions about the consequences
Example: Marijuana vs. Alcohol
Subjectively our society believes that marijuana is harmful and should remain illegal, while alcohol is relatively harmless and should stay legal
Objectively there is little evidence that marijuana is harmful but much evidence of alcohol and tobacco and associated dangers.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010

The relativity of deviance and drug use
• These subjective definitions have very real consequences
– According to the FBI in 2008, "Law enforcement made more arrests for non violent drug abuse violations (an estimated 1.8 million arrests, or 13.0 percent of the total number of arrests) than for any other offense in 2007."
• “Marijuana arrests set another all-time record in 2007, totaling
872,720 — that’s a marijuana arrest every 36 seconds.”
• “Arrests for marijuana possession totaled 775,138, greatly exceeding arrests for all violent crimes combined, which totaled
597,447”
– When and why was marijuana made illegal?

• Who and what are defined as deviant or criminal depend on who is doing the defining and who has the power to make definitions stick
– I.e.: The case with illegalizing marijuana
– I.e.: White Collar Crime-How often do we hear about corporate crimes and when we do, how much time do the very wealthy often spend in prison?
• Americans are more likely to be victims of white collar crime than street crime, but what do we fear most? Hear about every night in the news? Who are we scared of?

• Dysfunctions of Deviance
– Interferes with institutional life
– Can lower morale of non-deviants
– Erodes societal trust
• Functions of Deviance
– Promotes conformity
– Clarifies boundaries
– Strengthens the censuring group
– Warn non-deviant majority

• Social control regulates behavior within a society
– Functionalists see it as indispensable
– Conflict theorists see it as tool of powerful groups
• Internalization of norms
• Formal vs. Informal Sanctions

• Why do people become deviant and commit crime?
– Definition of theory?

• Anomie Theory
– Durkheim’s anomie: social condition in which people find it difficult to guide their behavior by norms that they experience as weak, unclear, or conflicting
• Anomie occurs when peoples expectations about what they deserve are not met
– What happens when the economy collapses?

• How is the American dream possibly connected to crime?
• How might anomie and the American dream be connected to the formation of large gangs?

• Structural Strain Theory-Robert Merton
– What are the acceptable means to achieving the
American Dream (worldly success and material wealth)?
• Securing a good education and obtaining high paying jobs-
Merit hard and hard work
– Americans internalize goal, but may not have access to acceptable means
• People adapt to inconsistency between means and goals in society. Structural limitations  Strain  adaptation(Crime)
– Innovation
» The drug dealer
» The corporate executive??

• Can children and adults learn deviance?

• Cultural Transmission Theory
– Youths become delinquent because they associate and make friends with other delinquents
• Youths learn and may be pressured into deviance
– Socialization into a deviant subculture
– Gang activity
– Why do many argue against jail or juvenile hall for a first time drug offender or low level criminal?
– Sutherland’s Theory of Differential Association
• Differential association: individual’s cultural conditions help determine his/her likelihood of and attitudes towards deviance
– Parole rules or a parents requests

• Conflict Theory
– Individuals victimized by capitalist oppression are driven by their struggle to survive to commit acts that the ruling class brands as criminal
• A focus on social class and criminal activity; How does poverty contribute to crime?
• How does poverty contribute to alcoholism, drug abuse, prostitution, and family violence?
– The legal system reflects interests of the rich
• Laws created to protect privilege and property
• Differential punishment for business and street crimes
• Corporate crimes cost society more$$$
– What gov’t agency keeps track of corporate crimes?
– Video: Many economists proclaim that White collar crime is closely connected to the financial crisis, yet people are seldom prosecuted for it.
– The FBI focuses very little attention on white collar crime

• To some theorists, white collar criminal activity be best be understood through rational choice theory.
– People are inclined to engage in deviant behavior when it has significant rewards and limited costs
– Yet conflict theorists contend that because we are not aware of the extent and costs of white collar crime, rarely do we call for measures to “get tough” on white collar crime, and when there is a call to do so, powerful industries engaged in activities will find ways to defend against new laws they see as regulations that limit their profits.

• Does a student who is labeled as deviant by his teachers more likely to stop acting deviant or continue acts of deviance?

• Labeling Theory
– Labeling people as deviants has consequences for them
• Primary Deviance: We all engage in deviant behavior; but are we caught and labeled as deviants??
• Secondary deviance: deviance individuals adopt in response to the reactions of other individuals
– People labeled “deviant” typically find themselves rejected and isolated which can result in a self fulfilling prophecy

– Even most deviants conform to society most of the time
• Control Theory-Why don’t people deviate?
– Hirschi: Elements of the Social Bond
• Societal bond is crucial
• Attachment to others
• Involvement in the society’s conventional activities
• Commitment to other people
• Belief in host society’s values

• Crime
• The Criminal Justice System
– The land of the free?

• The Criminal Justice System
– Prisons
• Population steadily increasing
• U.S. has highest incarceration rate in world
– Why?

• Punitive policies
• Imprisonment of non-violent offenders
• 1980’s-The drug war
– Mandatory minimums
– Three strikes laws
– Plea bargains
• In 2007, the United States had the highest incarceration rate in the world
• Over 7 million people in prison, jail, or under correctional supervision

• The Prison Industrial Complex
– Correctional expansion continues not because it decreases crime and creates a safer public, but because it serves the interest of certain powerful groups that benefit from tough on crime policies and continue to push for punitive policies through lobbying political leaders and running million dollar ad campaigns
• Private prison corporations
• Prison guards Union
• Prison labor benefits government, corporations and a variety of businesses with vested interests in correctional expansion
– I.e.: Video