Soci 201 Dumas - Final 2026

Causes for racial crimes

1) biological: primordialism

2) psychological: frustration-aggression theory

3) normative theory

4) split market theory

Primordialism

Humans are genetically wired to form groups of people like themselves (like ethnic groups). Favouritism towards your own group is considered natural and not society made.

Frustration-aggression Theory

-psychological

-frustration with your life leads to aggression

-ex. hitler blamed the jews, and we know what happened next

Normative Theory

-prejudice passed down from generation to generation (the saying that racism is taught in kids through their parents)

-consequently, people who are taught prejudice will display discriminatory behaviour

-prejudice and discrimination can be explained by:

1) a person's definition of situations

2) reference group norms

Normative Theory: Merton

-argued that discrimination occurs before prejudice

-people are instilled with "success norms" and when they do not have the means to achieve them, they blame others (discriminate) and use prejudice and stereotyping to rationalize their discrimination

The Vertical Mosaic

-text by John Porter

-examined the class structure of Canadian society

-believed there were two groups;

1) charter groups, which colonized the country and set up the rules for others to follow should they try to enter Canada

2) entrance groups

-believed that state policies created a vertical mosaic of ethnic groups with the charter groups on top and the entrance groups at the bottom

Split labour market theory

-created by Edna Bonacich

-holds that racial and ethnic conflicts are rooted in differences in the price of labour

-there are three groups in society:

1) business/capitalists

2) highly paid (white) labour

3) lower paid (non-white) labour

-the business class benefits from working class fighting, which they perpetuate via discriminatory employment practices

Eugenics in Canada: Sterilization

-in the 1920s and 1930s in Alberta and British Columbia, doctors were concerned with physical and mental defects caused by immigrants reproducing with white people

-sterilization required parental consent, so they removed the consent provision in 1937

-by the end, first nation and metis sterilizations accounted for 25% even though they were only 2.5% of the population

-the act was removed in 1971

Rushton and race science

-Rushton was a UWO psychology professor

-according to him, there are 3 races:

1) negroids, which are biologically disposed towards crime and are less intelligent

2) caucasoids

3) mongoloids, who are less disposed towards crime and aggression and are more intelligent

-arranged these three races in a hierarchy

-flawed because he uses the concept of race and treats it as unproblematic

-also doesn't account for the differences in which crime is measured in various nations

-criticized a lot and questioned for his motives

Merton and Conflict

-Merton was as functionalist, and hence examined the norms of society

-His casual analysis ended up being more useful for conflict theorists

-Most conflict theorists believed that the struggle to accumulate wealth in capitalist society is to blame for prejudice and discrimination

-Immigrants are blamed for the poor economic situation experienced by the members of the proletariat

Racial profiling

-exists when the memory of a certain racial or ethnic group becomes subject to greater levels of criminal justice surveillance than others

-ex. black people getting followed around in stores

Caster Semenya

South african runner whose sex was challenged in the olympics because she was so fast. She had to submit to test in a sex determination lab which was popular after this incident; she was intersexed

Gender

-a cultural script/constraint

-social, cultural, and psychological traits linked to males and females

Sex

-the biological traits of men and women

-chromosomal, gonadal, hormonal, sex organs

Compulsory heterosexuality

-everyone is expected to be heterosexual

Heterosexual

-attracted to people of the opposite sex

Homosexual

-attracted to people of the same sex

Bisexual

-attracted to people of both sexes

The sexual continuum

-created by kinsey by collecting information through personal interviews

-a scale of 0 to 6

-we are not strictly heterosexual or homosexual but we lie on a scale of sexual orientation

David Reimer Case

-In the late 1960s he and his twin brother are taken to the winnipeg hospital to be circumcised

-When they went to circumcise david, too great a voltage was released and his penis was burned off (yikes)

-Dr money (from a documentary watched) said you can reassign a child to another sex in the first 23 months of life (and that this isnt uncommon)

-You cannot ever tell the child what happened or there will be psychological strain

- had sex change to become female

-Other girls refused to play with brenda bc she seemed boyish (she has a twin brother)

-The dad eventually told, and David/Brenda wanted to be a boy again

- had a sex change to be boy

-committed suicide at 38

Essentialism

-the idea that there is something natural (biological) about sex differences

-there is an essence to masculinity and femininity and it is natural and inevitable

Essentialism: Brain studies

-left hemisphere associated with language

-right hemisphere associated with visual and spatial skills

Essentialism: Sociobiology

-those who resolve problems pass on their genes resulting in gender differences

Essentialism: Freud

-oedipus and electra complexes

Social constructionism

-the main alternative to essentialism

-gender differences are not the product of biological properties, and instead are products of social structure and culture

-holds that gender differences widened under identifiable socio-historical circumstances circumstances and are sustained by social and cultural institutions that accord men and women different amounts of power and teach men and women different gender roles

Social Constructivism - warfare and conquest

catered to mens strengths and greatly enhanced male power and authority

Social Constructivism - plow agriculture

farming needed strength so men took over, and thus land was owned by men and ownership was typically passed down from father to son

Social Constructivism - separation of public and private spheres

in the early phases of industrialization, men's work moved from the household to factories/offices (public sphere) while women's work remained in the household (private sphere)

Critiques of Essentialism: historical and cultural variability of gender and sexuality

-essentialism ignores the historical and cultural variability of gender and sexuality; we now live in a homogenized world

-there are variations in gender across culture;

Margaret Mead and the Arapesh: men don't act masculine in the Arapesh like they do in our society, they shop, hold hands, care more about their hair (act more feminine in our standards)

-rape rates vary widely across cultures

-societies change without any corresponding genetic changes

Critiques of Essentialism: gender differences

-essentialists ignore the fact that gender differences are declining rapidly and in some cases have completely disappeared

1) a review of 165 studies of verbal ability representing 1.4M people found no differences in verbal abilities

2) a review of 100 studies in mathematics representing 4M students showed a slight difference favouring females

3) spatial differences were minor

-the research employed by essentialists is often deeply flawed

Critiques of Essentialism: sociobiologists

-sociobiologists have been inadequate in identifying the genes (independent variable) that they claim cause male jealously, female nurturance, or the unequal division of labour between men and women

Critiques of Essentialism: generalize from average

-essentialists exaggerate the degree to which gender differences are unchangeable

1) more egalitarian societies (that prioritize equality) reduce the age gap in female-male relationship

-**essentialists offer explanations for gender differences that ignore the role of power (very flawed)

*EQ why is methodology flawed

A lot of the methodology is flawed because sociologists/biologists have not been able to identify the genes that are related to these difference

Economic Inequality: Double work day

-b/c of disparities in income, women need to work a "double work day"

-there is a traditional notion that women are responsible for doing things like taking care of kids, cleaning, etc. as well as contributing to family finances

Economic Inequality: Sex segregation

-the result of whats going on in society; there are certain types of jobs more attuned for females, rather than males, and vice versa

-this has changed remarkably in academia; women outnumber men in medicine, law etc.

-however, men outnumber women in engineering

-the result of sex typing

Economic Inequality: Sex typing

stereotyping things like women are more caring, men are more aggressive and rigorous

Economic Inequality: Glass-ceiling

-there is a level that women have gravitated to in work, but cannot surpass

Economic Inequality: Nonstandard work

-standard work is a 40 hour work week, permanent job, maybe with benefits

-women are overrepresented in nonstandard work (temporary, no benefits, etc)

Social Inequality

-gender stratification is a system in which men, in general, hold greater power, prestige, and wealth than women.

-power: the ability to impose one's will on others

-prestige: social ranking and respect

-wealth: economic resources to pay for the necessities in life

Women in the labour force

-in the latter half of the 20th century, women became more prevalent in the public work sphere because:

1) there was an increase in the demand for service sector workers; women are prone to service

2) there was a decrease in the number of children born; when there are less children at home, there is less reason to stay home

3) family finances; they need to support their families because it is harder for families to exist on just one wage

Income

-there is still a significant difference in the wage of women and men (as groups)

-4 reasons;

1) gender differences in the characteristics that influence pay rates (education, experience, seniority)

2) women are involved in sex-segregated, non-standard work (and are the first hired, first fired)

3) simple discrimination; even in the same jobs, women are often paid less than men

4) a general devaluation of the kind of work performed by women

Earnings ratio

-men earn considerably more (as groups) than women

-women earned 68.1% of what men did in 2010, but this has increased since 2001

Political power

-only 1 female prime minister, inherited, PC party status lost

-only 2/4 female canadian premiers have been elected

Richard Dawkins

-a well known atheist

-the god delusion

-argues that atheists are oppressed

Religion

-a system of meaning for interpreting the world

-a unified system of beliefs with a supernatural referent

-cults and religions are not the same;

-cults are a subculture, and negative and manipulative

-in cults, there is a focus on the leader rather than tenets of religion

Humanist Perspectives

-ex. communism

-often science-based

-important differentiation between religions and humanists; religions say "our existence has meaning", whereas humanists say "life has no meaning, we have to give it meaning"

-when we study religion from a sociological standpoint, we do so scientifically

-we develop theories and hypotheses and test them with rigorous scientific methods

Whither Religion?

-The bible belt in canada is the maritimes (the east coast); they are the most active not Alberta

-There is still a market for religion; people are still trying to figure that out

-Religious leaders are failing to connect people with religion

Marx on Religion (opium)

1) religion/god is a human construct

2) religion is the "opiate of the masses"

3) religion maintains an unequal, exploitive society

4) it delays the inevitable transition to an egalitarian communist state

5) religion will eventually fade away

Capitalism causes religion

***EXAM QUESTION: Who believed religion would fade away?

Marx

Durkheim on Religion

-believed the origin of religion is social

1) religion is a social/human construction; we created god out of an innate desire to have something

2) religion contributes to the collective conscience; we desire answers to important questions (such as is there a god? Why do we suffer? Why does god allow suffering?) and because there are gaps in knowledge about these things, there is a need for religion

3) religion leads people to classify all things into one of two categories; sacred and profane. the sacred represents those things that are deemed to warrant profound respect and the profane encompasses everything else

4) religion will continue to impact people and their behaviour; until science can answer the important questions we ask, religion will be here

Durkheim on Religion; functions of religion

-fosters cohesion (brings people together)

-offers support during crises

-addresses ultimate (important) questions that can't be answered by science

-provides social service (ex. the mustard seed)

-legitimizes political authority

-influences social change

- will continue to exist in the future

Weber and "Spirit"

1) Weber wrote The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

The Protestant Ethic: when you accumulate wealth in your life, it shouldn't be spend frivolously; doing that is considered improper; rather, invest it (and invest it in the world)

2) We should examine religion in terms of how it affects the ways in which we behave; weber was not interested in whether there was a god or not, but rather the impact of religion on peoples behaviour especially political leaders

3) religion has been instrumental in shaping modern day capitalism; the protestant ethic lead to capitalism

4) religion creates power for some leaders

Religion causes capitalism

Bibby: Personal Religiosity

-bibby argues that asking a persons religiosity is inefficient. rather, we should ask them about the following:

1) belief (in god)

2) practice (ex. prayer)

3) experience (see or speak directly to god)

4) knowledge (knowledge of the bible, etc.)

Bibby: Findings on Personal Religiosity

-1975: first wave of surveys

1) 8/10 canadians believe in god

2) 7/10 believe in life after death

3) 6/10 pray once a month

This data makes it appear that canadians are religious, HOWEVER only 1/4 canadians consider religion very important to them.

Why is this data inflated?

-stigma

-When the consequence of not believing in god is an eternity in hell, this influences people into thinking that they should believe in god

-This is a strange scenario and he blames ineffective religious leaders

Collective Religiosity

-durkheim said we need to know how people feel individually, but we also need to know how people behave collectively

-we can interpret religions as splintering from other churches (church-sect typology) or by taking an organizational approach

Church-sect typology

-many sociologists would look at this approach and see how it has evolved historically

-dominant players are still there and not splitting up

The organizational approach

-according to bibby, we might want to assess religions like companies in terms of;

1) the nature and the source of members

-going out on the streets doesn't bring in members

-the main source of members comes through families! if you were born into a religion, you're more likely to remain a member of that religion

2) their formal and informal goals

3) the norms and roles that are established to accomplish their purposes

4) the sanctions that are used to ensure that norms are followed and roles are played

-Bibby argues that he is very critical of religious leaders; if you are seeing a decline in your religion, it is because of the religious leaders

-Canadians are highly spiritual but religious leaders are giving away the very products they are trying to sell ie. The bible

-Canadians have a voracious appetite for rites of passage; when they have a child, they want them to be baptized into religion they follow and be buried by a religious leaders

-Bibby said maybe religions should withhold rites of passage (a way to sanction to ensure conformity)

5) the degree of success that groups experience in pursuing their goals

-in canada today, 45% identify as roman catholic and 29% are protestant

Sources of Religiosity

-Canadians are spiritual, but religion appears to be in jeopardy, so we should turn our attention towards the causes of religiosity

-what causes people to be religious?

- reflection, socialization, deprivation

Source of Religiosity: reflection

maybe religious are unique from others because they reflect on questions like are there a god, what is the meaning of suffering, etc..

-a very poor causal variable of religiosity bc everyone thinks these questions, not just religious people

Sources of Religiosity: socialization

-it is normal for people to be socialized into religion but it is not a sufficient explanation bc the vast majority of people have parents that follow that religion

-just bc you were socialized into it doesn't mean you actually will follow it

-30% of people who were socialized into a religion actually follow it later in life

-the best one (Durkheim stated)

Sources of Religiosity: deprivation

-measure in different ways, lack of wealth, isolation, spiritual, etc

-not really a good explanation either; marx said that religion is caused by deprivation, but no matter how deprivation has been defined, it is not a predictor of religiosity.

-the skid-row congregation: religious people go to poor neighbour hoods to get people to join them, but they don't

Religion in Canada

-Canada is tolerant and accepting of other religions

-high degree of religious tolerance and separation of church and state

-Catholics and protestants have the most followers, but numbers are declining

-Islamic, Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist, followers increasing due to immigration

Fragmented Gods

-the fate of religion depends upon on the ability of religious groups to meet the needs and interests of Canadians; it is in the hands of religious leaders

-the only organization, numerically, that has started off well and has grown is the church of latter-day saints

-Canadians are not leaving traditional organizations in favour of alternatives, nor are they following the electronic church on television

-Rather, they are turning to fragments of religions

Conclusion

-Marx was very critical of religion

-Durkheim believed it was quite functional

-Weber simply interested in its effects on society

-Canadians appear to be a highly religious group, but future of religion is unclear

Norms

Expectations of human behaviour

Deviance

-non-normative behaviour

-violate a norm

-deviant is not criminal and vice versa

Crime

-the violation of a law (aka a codified norm)

-john hagan, one of the best canadian criminologists, differentiated crime into two types;

1) consensus crimes

2) conflict crimes

Consensus crimes

-crimes that are considered very harmful and wrong

-mala in se (evil)

-carry the harshest sanctions

-ex. homicide, assault, theft

Conflict Crimes

-members of society disagree about the seriousness of the acts

-mala prohibita (prohibited by law)

-ex. Marijuana b4 legalization, Robert Lattimer murdered his daughter and admitted it, but he murdered her because she had cerebral palsy and was in constant pain. People were conflicted about this because on one hand, he was a murderer and excusing him would show abusers of disabled people that it is okay to kill them, while on the other hand he wouldn't do this again.

Social deviation

-Legal, but stigmatized behaviour

-ex. Mental illness, ex-convict

Social diversion

-how people appear to others

-piercings, tattoos

Formal controls

-type of control by the state and its institutions

-assumed to be the most important, sociologists/criminologists say informal is the most important

Informal control

-those exerted by friends, family, and peers (teasing by friends, or spanking by parent)

-likely to get away with it, not as pervasive as formal

-often leads to internalized self control, most successful form (similar to superego)

Dark figure

the number of crimes that go unreported in official crime data reports

Crime funnel

-a model indicating that the actual total quantity of crime is much higher than the decreasing proportion that is detected, reported, prosecuted, and punished

-all crime (detected/undetected), dark figure

-detected crime (reported/unreported)

-reported crime (founded.unfounded)

-founded crime

-crime taken to court (convicted/acquitted)

-convicted

-incarcerated

-police discover no more than 10% of crime known