deviance and control final

liberal traditions

• individual actors behave within reason, prioritizing their own self interest

radical traditions

•  individual actors behave with reason (develop interests, passions, and morals) according to how society is arranged 

pleasure pain principle/rational choice theory - Beccaria

• Individuals rationally act based on self interest (maximize pleasure, minimize pain)

• Make calculations rationally in deciding whether to commit a crime

• They use reason to connect certain actions to certain outcomes 

purpose of laws and punishments - Beccaria

laws and punishments should create an inevitable system that rationally disincentivizes criminal acts

effective laws and punishments - Beccaria

Laws should be clear, and punishments should be appropriately measured, not excessive and swiftly applied

there should not be leniency, or interpretation when applying the laws

reason and social control - Beccaria

Deviance, crime, and unbridled individual passions can be affected through the use of reason, clearly defined legal institutions, and appropriate punishments

social definition of deviance - Erickson

Deviance does not have inherent properties but depends on the audience evaluating the act

social audience - Erikson

• It depends on the audience in which is evaluating the act

• Relies on a social (rather than an individual) audience 

• Social audiences develop “screens” for determining the relative deviance of acts

• Screens take numerous subjective factors into account and are not strictly tied to deviant acts themselves

punishment as a ceremony - Erikson

Punishment is a ceremony that changes an individual's status through confrontation (trial), judgment (verdict), and placement (prisoner, inmate, patient)

inconsistent evaluation - erikson

Erikson considered the inconsistent evaluation of deviant acts as a central issue for sociologists/criminologists to study

sociological imagination - wright mills

Sociologists must be able to grapple with personal troubles of milieu (biography) and public issues of social structure (history)

individual vs structural - wright mills

Using sociological imagination involves moving between the individual and the structural to develop explanations

learning theory - Sutherland

Criminal behavior is learned through interaction, not invented

intimate association - sutherland

Learning occurs through intimate bonds, not passing encounters

techniques and motives - Sutherland

Learning involves techniques and the direction of motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes

definitions of deviance - Sutherland

Deviance is shaped by exposure to positive definitions related to criminal activity and a lack of positive definitions related to noncriminal activity

differential associations - sutherland

Associations that produce crime vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity

social ties - sutherland

Social ties can lead to, away from, or make one indifferent to criminal activity

structural conditions - sutherland

Criminality is not solely based on structural conditions but also on the presence of other criminals forming groups

key tenants of differential association

1. Criminal behavior is learned

2. through interaction

3. with intimate personal groups

4. techniques as well as motives, drives, rationalziations, and attitudes

5. The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of the legal codes as favorable or unfavorable 

6.  excess of favorablee definitions

7. Differential associations may vary in frequency, duration, priority and intensity

8. The process of learning criminal behavior by association with criminal and anti-criminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning 

9. While criminal behavior is an expression of general needs and values, it is not explained by those general needs and values since noncriminal behavior is an expression of the same needs and values 

meaning laden interactions - Becker

Meaningful interactions shape the development of behaviors deemed "deviant”

social learning - Becker

Smoking marijuana must be socially learned through interactions with others

smoking learning process - Becker

Individuals learn how to smoke to get high, recognize the effects, and enjoy the sensations

rejecting trait hypothesis - Becker

refuted trait-based theories of deviance, noting that people stop using marijuana if they don't feel the effects or have unpleasant experiences

similarities between Becker and sutherland

• Technical competence is necessary to learning deviance/weed smoking

• Meaningful deviance: motivation or perceived benefit necessary to build differential tiessocially learn (+ association toward criminality/ability to enjoy effects of weed)

• Both somewhat agnostic on the “deviance” of the acts being described (deviant act are learned in ways similar to non deviant acts)

differences between Becker and sutherland

• Approach to topic (theoretical vs empirical)

• Role of “intimate association” vs “meaningful/pleasurable feelings derived from interactions”

• Differences in generalizability

• Intimate ties vs passing interactions

key factors of suicide - Durkheim

Economic factors (boom or bust), religion, marriage status/sex, and military enlistment are important factors

integration - Durkheim

Institutions that connect individuals to others and create collective solidarity

• in times of war their is collectivity lesser rates of suicide 

• In peacetime there is more individualism, higher rates of suicide

• Religion 

• Marriage 

• Military enlistment 

• Peace war

regulation - Durkheim

Changes to the division of labor, economic upheavals, and circumstances that create extreme freedom or constraint

altruistic suicide

• High social integration 

Ex:  sacrificing yourself for religious cause, soldier: individual person has little value, killing yourself to protect other people, viking funeral: ritual where elders who are no longer a benefit to society put themselves on a bat are sacrificed for the good of the group

egoistic suicide

low social integration

•  widowed man who becomes estranged from his children, religion 

anomic suicide

Low regulation

• suicide due to financial losses, job losses, etc. stock market crashes

fatalistic suicide

occurs when individuals are kept under tight regulation. These individuals are placed under extreme rules or high expectations are set upon them, which removes a person’s sense of self or individuality

Prison, enslavement

social function - Durkheim

Considers how society functions, with individuals fitting into designated roles

internalized norms - Durkheim

Individuals should internalize norms for society to function

equilibrium - Durkheim

Society is based on institutions and social norms

social stratification - Durkheim

Inequality can be functional, leading to jobs being filled

can operate on the behalf of the equilibrium

tautology

a phrase or expression in which the same thing is said twice in different words.

anomie and strain

Economic structures and cultural notions of success can undermine integration and regulation

mechanisms - Durkheim

Focuses on mechanisms producing normlessness, deviance, and delinquency

anomie theory

Societal Crime Rates: Explains why some societies have higher crime rates than others.

Normlessness: Societies that fail to adequately regulate goal-seeking behavior are characterized by anomie or normlessness

classical strain theory

Individual Crime: Focuses on why individuals and groups within a society are more likely to engage in crime than others.

•

Frustration: Individuals are pressured into crime when frustrated with their circumstances (strain)

aspirational referents - merton

Culturally defined goals are held out as legitimate objectives

acceptable modes - merton

Institutionalized norms limit the choice of expedients for striving towards cultural goals

pain avoidance - Agnew

Focuses on the blockage of pain avoidance behavior rather than just goal-seeking behavior

aversive stimuli - Agnew

Intrinsically aversive (infliction of pain) and conditioned aversive stimuli

illegal behavior - Agnew

Adolescents may engage in illegal behavior to escape from aversive environments, remove sources of pain, or fight sources of pain

features of the bond - hirschi

Attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief insulate members of society from deviance

attachment

• To others in society

• The essence of internalization of norms, conscience, or superego thus lies in the attachment of the individual to others

• Family, friends, community

commitment

• To ones interests and prospects

• The organization of society is such that the interests of most person would be endangered if they were to engage in criminal acts 

• Future, career, success, personal goals

involvement

• In conventional activities that take up ones time

• To the extent that he is engrossed in conventional activities, he cannot even think about deviant acts, let alone, act out his inclinations 

• School activities, sports teams, community organizations, religious groups, social clubs 

belief

• In the validity of social norms of mainstream society

• We assume that there is a variation in the extent to which people believe that they should obey the rules of society, and, furthermore, that the less a person believes he should obey the rules, the more likely he is to violate them 

• Honesty, morality, fairness, patriotism, responsibility

prevention of crime - hirschi

The theory answers what prevents crime. The absence of these bonds can result in individual-level deviance

The importance of the bond is that it allows individuals to internalize collectively derived norms and accomplish individual success

• the bond can be understood as a collectively derived, internalized system of norms that are necessary for individuals to function and contribute to a society

external containments - reckless

A structured life for the individual; limits and responsibilities; structure of opportunity; cohesion and sense of belonging within a group (group reinforcement of values); meaningful ways of achieving satisfaction

internal containments - reckless

• Positive self image; goal oriented direction; high frustration tolerance; internalized norms; developed ego and superego 

push factors - reckless

• Poverty; unemployment; lack of opportunity; minority group membership; family conflicts; pervasive inequality (conditions that pose impediments to individual level success)

pull factors - reckless

• Delinquent peers/subcultures; glorification of crime (factors that lure individuals to committing crimes or associating with those who commit crime)

concentric zone model

Delinquency was spatially concentrated and stable over time in zones one and two

factors contributing to delinquency

• Constant departure = heterogeneity of neighborhood groups

• Heterogeneity of groups = competing and less salient norms

• Low income area = emergence of alternative institutions (gangs and rackets)

• Cultural transmission: through youth exposure to criminal orginzations = they learn techniques, bond with these groups, and develop similar norms 

• Weak social control compared to high income homogenous groups

social disorganization

Conventional controls are weakened by divergent traditions and social change

cultural transmission

Youth exposure to criminal organizations leads to learning techniques and bonding with these groups

stigma - Goffman

A trait that inhibits a person from being identified as "normal"

spoiled identity - goffman

Stigma is the management and performance of "spoiled identity"

• The process by which a stigmatized person develops and negotiates a sense of self 

discredited stigma

• a quality that has come to be associated with having a spoiled identity (visible or already identified in a person)

discreditable stigma

qualities that in certain contexts can result in the spoiling of identity (invisible)

two phases of the socialization of stigma

The process through which a person learns and incorporates the standpoint of the normal

The process through which a person discovered they possess as stigma as well as the related consequences it carries

uncertainty - goffman

• A stigmatized person does not know what way the normal is thinking about them and is preoccupied trying to decipher

• The normal may act in exaggerated ways attributing greater characteristics to the original cause of stigma 

• The normal may act in a patronizing fashion

cowering - Goffman

• The stigmatized person may avoid interactions with normal to avoid the anguish of experiencing stigma 

• The stigmatized person may learn to anticipate or brace with any new interaction

hostile bravado - Goffman

• The stigmatized individual may lash out or anticipate anguish shwing hostility toward or challenging the “normal”

• Sees this as unlikely, but in the rare case, he states that hostile bravado is likely to emerge in combination with cowering

four pathways of stigma socialization

• Understanding of inborn stigma develops alongside development of the “normal”

• “Guarded” from understanding meaning of stigma but is exposed to understanding of the “normaL”

• Stigma acquired later in life and thus must re-evaluate pre/post stigmatized understandings of the normal 

• Raised in an insulated (likely stigmatized) community then joins larger society later on in life. This person must suddenly come to understand both normalcy and their prior “abnormal” life—potentially leaving them in a liminal state

social and political construction of deviance - Becker

Deviance is socially and politically constructed rather than an objective reality

• Deviance is not a quality

• It is the product of a social and political process

• The product of the process is a deviant person is one that the label has successfully been applied 

labelling process

• Social groups create deviance by making rules, applying these rules to specific people, and labelling these people outsiders

variation

• Deviance can show significant variation over time 

• Deviance depends on who commits the act and who has been harmed by the act

• Enforcement of rules will vary in accordance with the consequences and responses of others

• Deviance is not a simple quality, present in some kinds of behavior and absent in others. Rather it is the product of a process which involves responses of other people to the behavior

class - Marx

defined by one's relationship to the means of production and role in the production process.

class determination - Marx

Classes are determined by the mode of production (e.g., feudal, mercantile, capitalist, socialist).

proletariat survival

By selling their labor, usually at subsistence levels (just enough to reproduce their labor).

bourgeoisie survival

By extracting surplus value (profit) from the labor of the proletariat.

capitalism and egoism - bonger

capitalism weakens social bonds and undermines altruistic instincts, affecting institutions like family and education.

capitalists - bonger

• Conflict with workers: Extract maximum labor for minimum wages

• Merchant capitalists: Buy low from suppliers, sell high to customers

• Established capitalists vs. entrepreneurs: Compete for market share

proletariat - bonger

• Workers vs. capitalists: Conflict over wages and working conditions

• Workers vs. workers: Not inherently in conflict, but may compete for jobs

• Children: Exploited by capitalism, poorly socialized (labor, the street, trained in economic self interest) - not capable of pursuing other avenues such as education, playtime, no one is taking care of them 

  • Trained to think constantly of their own self interest

sub proletariat

• Unemployed-workers 

• Develop competing interests with the employed proletariat which further undermines both groups’ interests 

causes of crime - bonger

1. Economic systems: Conflict, self-interest, and greed lead to criminal acts

2. Education decay: Lack of moral education and socialization

   1. children working cannot be socialized at school and learn “moral ideas” such as honesty or fairness

   2. they become ignorant and motivated by their passions

3. Social arrangements: Proletariat and subproletariat more criminally inclined

solutions to crime - bonger

• Because crime results from economic and social relations, we can adjust the social and economic system to improve the relations of different groups in society (away from competition and conflict), the dispositions of members of society, the important institutions that shape those individuals (education) and thus, reduce crime 

class structure and deviance - Spitzer

 deviance is a process that is shaped by the development of the class structure in capitalist society 

• 1) deviant definitions 

• 2) the creation of problem populations 

• 3) systems of control

supstructure/ideology

 the social, political, and legal institutions that work to uphold the economic structure and corresponding relationships like family, schools, religion, media, and the state.

class struggle - Spitzer

the study of deviance relies on analyzing class conflict, the contractions of the capitalist system, and the problems it necessarily brings to the ruling class (the bourgeoisie)

reserve army of labor - Spitzer

to assist in the accumulation of wealth 

• Exert pressure on workers to work harder, otherwise they will be replaced by the reserve

• The problem: this population represents a social expense which must be neutralized or controlled, otherwise the process of profit accumulation itself can become impaired 

Disposable industry

• Economic dimension: costs to capitalists’

• Symbolic dimension: deviance

  • Deviance to cost to capitalists = economic dimension 

social junk - spitzer

• A group unable or unwilling group to participate in roles supportive of capitalist society

• A group which, “from the perspective of the dominant class, is a costly yet relatively harmless population”

  • Treated as a chronic and largely ignored population

  • If controlled at all, this population is administered by agents of the social welfare state (social workers, public hospitals, housing authorities, NGOs, the police)

social dynamite - spitzer

• A group that challenges the central notions of power, property, and production under capitalism

• The essential quality of deviance managed as social dynamite is its potential actively to call into question established relationships, especially relations of production and domination 

  • Viewed as acute and requiring rapid response

  • Usually handled quickly and aggressively through the various branches of criminal legal system (eg, district attorneys, judges, city ordinances, police, FBI)

economic crises and deviance - Spitzer

• Lowering wages leads to overproduction and profit interruption

• Disposable industrial army becomes a social expense and risk

• As the maintenance of social harmony becomes more difficult and the contradictions of civil society intensify, the state is forced to take a more direct and extensive role in the management of problem populations

normalization

1. deviant populations are “swept under the rug”

conversion

1. troublemakers “rehabilitated” and brought into the fold 

containment

1. the physical, spacial, or geographic segregating of problem populations

support of criminal enterprise

1. creating/allowing a parallel illicit market that takes burden off of the state and “cools down” sources of social dynamite 

gender and crime - Messerschmidt

• Crime serves as a resource for men to "do" masculinity, particularly when other means of asserting dominance are unavailable.

• The way masculinity is constructed varies by class, race, age, and social setting.

gender and economic structures - Messerschmidt

• Women’s subordinate role in the labor market reinforces their subordination in the family, and vice versa.

• Economic dependency on men increases due to the male-provider model, limiting women’s agency.

• The gendered division of labor extends exploitation from the workplace into the household.

crime as a social practice - Messerschmidt

• Both legal and illegal behaviors are shaped by social structures and simultaneously reinforce them.

• Gender and crime are socially constructed phenomena rather than biologically determined.

neighborhood level delinquency factors

1. Low socioeconomic status

2. Residential mobility

3. Heterogeneity 

Race did not matter

• Groups came in and out and crime remained steady

• class>race

• Not about racial groups rather heterogeneity of groups inhibiting the development of local control 

aims of Sampson and Wilson

update this model to consider the social and structural factors that created racial inequality in terms of life chance, violence, and delinquency in the city 

The authors argue that existing scholarship has neglected to consider the role of both culture and structure in shaping life chances and experience of black urban dwellers

• As such the work has two aims:

  • Develop a theory that accounts for the disproportionately high crime rates found in black urban communities in the late 1980s and early 1990s

  • Identify how structure and culture play a role in producing these co

macro social factors - Sampson and Wilson

• Various factors make poor black neighborhoods different from those of any other groups in the us

  • Deindustrialization of urban cities - shifts from agoods producing to service producing industries (departure of manufacturing)

  • Black middle class exodus from the inner city 

  • Housing inequalities: unwillingness to invest in housing: redlining: segregationist federal housing programs, de facto or informal housing discrimination, and general neglect and disinvestment in black communities

• Argue that these factors results in concentration effects - which exacerbate social disorganization and limit access to resources, contributing to increased crime rates and reduced community cohesion.