Chapter 5 - Moral Regulation

Moral Judgement/Regulation

means of social control (both formal and informal) used to regulate behavior through condemnation, shaming, and social exclusion

-imposing a set of moral values onto people who don't agree with it can be oppressive and can infringe on human rights

Can also change from time and location

Moral Regulation (cont.)

Can be attributed to power relations, as one group imposes ideological hegemony through morals

Also depends on Morals and Ethics that vary

Morals

dictate what is good and bad

Ethics

dictate what is right and wrong

Sovereign Power

a dominant power that historically enforces what is good/bad, or illegal/legal in societies

Maintains biopower over it’s population

Moral Regulation Theory

how those in power decide what is good or bad for the social order and impose ideological hegemony on the populace

Morals

the notion of what we believe is good and bad

Ethics

the idea of what we believe to be right and wrong in terms of taking action

vice crimes

often thought of as crimes against morality, are illegal activities that have no complaining participant(s)

often called victimless crimes

Moral Crusaders

Individuals with traditionally conservative beliefs who blame social problems on "moral wrongdoings" and conflict with progressive standpoints

e.x. people who were Islamophobic post-9/11

Moral Police

law enforcement or community groups that formally enforce moral standards, often targeting behavior deemed inappropriate or immor

Eastern World's form of moral regulation is...

More formal and authoritarian
e.x. outlawing homosexuality by stoning offenders to death

Western World's form of moral regulation is...

More informal and revolves around the dominance of morals over other groups

e.x. making homosexuality shameful in professional settings such as the RCMP

Prositution

Has been viewed as a moral crime

Initially criminalized to limit disorderly conduct

It's criminalization resulted in the suffering of women, rape victims, sex workers, etc
-Also led to stigmas and values surronding specific women

Nova Scota Act 1759

First act to regulate prostitution

Allowed imprisonment for "lewd" behavior

The British 1824 Vagrancy Act

People who ran, frequented, or worked in brothels could be detained

1892 - Criminal Code

Made it an offence to procure women for sex

-Men weren't prosecuted as heavily as women were
-Concerned brothels

Sexual Revolution 1960's-80's

challenged repressive social norms and pushed acceptable sex practices

contributed to:
-legalizing homosexuality, contraception, and abortions
-normalizing porn and nudity

challenged negative views on prostitution

1967 Criminal Law Amendment Act

Decriminalized homosexual acts performed in privacy
-Still outlined as deviant

e.x. the "cleanup of Downtown of MontreaL" targeted gay bars and arrested people on brothel charges

Second-wave feminism (1960s)

Critiqued patriarchal institutions, and cultural norms
-Gender equality in public and private sectors

Pushed notions of fighting sexual exploitation and the criminalization of female sex workers

sex-positive movement

social movement that promotes more open ideas towards sex that includes:
-body positivity
-gender expression
-LGBT rights

Third Wave Feminism

recognized the intersectionality through race, gender, class, etc

looks at the different grouds discrimination can operate on

Legal Moralism

theory of law that supports the usage of laws to control behavior according to society’s moral values

e.x. how public indecency is illegal because we use the law to prohibit it

Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (2014)

Criminalizes the purchase of sex services, but not the prostitutes themselves

Objective to decrease the demand of sex services to slowly eradicate it

Inspired by the Nordic model
"exploitation is inherent in prositution"

Problems with the "Protections of Communities and Exploited Persons Act"

By making soliciting illegal, it pushed prostitution further into underground crime making workers more prone to unsafe environments

-Income of sex workers was impacted
-Street prositutes were displaced by cops as soliciting was illegal

Minors in Sex Work

Moral entrepreneurs try to use the issue of minors being recruited to shoot down pro sex work arguments

-Only 2% of sex trafficking victims are youths and migrants
-Majority of women work for themselves in large cities

We should prosecute these cases rather than criminalizing sex work

Sex Work as a Human Rights Issue

Argued that access to sexual services should be considered a right for people who can't have sex because of disabilities

Scholars argue legalizing prostitution doesn't reinforce exploitation, but protects the rights of sex workers

Exploitation ranges from power, gender, and immigration status factors
-Sex work needs to be seen from this perspective instead of a moral issue

Rape Culture

a set of beliefs, norms, and values that normalizes sexual violence against women

-society fails to condemn rapists
-seen as an "extension of patriarchal hegemony"

Rape Culture in South Asia

Growing awareness about this issue
-e.x. an SA and murder of a student caused the country to take action against this

Several countries in South Asia have also outlawed virginity tests
-Medical exams of a woman's hymen used within rape cases

Tests are considered to be a "part of the structure of patriarchy"
-Perpetuates the myth of a perfect virgin

Misconceptions surrounding rape

Stems from:
-Women lie about being victims of SA
-"Ask for it" by wearing revealing clothes
-Acts that don't include penetration

Influences perecption of consent

Misconceptions surrounding rape (cont.)

If SA doesn't meet the expectations of what is considered rape, victim is less likely to identify as a victim

-e.x. Jian Ghomeshi in 2016 was found not guilty on three counts of SA

Sexual assault is also only seen happening to attractive women, ruling out "unwanted women"

Sexual Assault statistics (Canada)

460,000 Sexual Assaults Annually
For every 1,000 incidents, 33 are reported

Only 12 result in charges
6 go to trial
3 lead to a conviction

Vamp

a label to describe a woman who uses her charm to seduce men

-labels can occur from looks, cocky personality, and if no weapon was used

Marry Your Rapist Laws

In some places, it is a law that requires a woman to marry her rapist so the man is not prosecuted

-e.x. in India, historical laws require women to marry their offenders

Linked to moral values regarding female virginity, family honor, and reinforcement of the patriarchal culture

Cultural Misogyny

Misogyny embedded within the patriarchal structure

e.x. female genital mutilation, honor killings, acid attacks, femicides

Honor Killings

the killing of a female family member for the perceived shame she has brought onto the family

Moral Regulation of Women

Justified through means such as;
values of shame, dishonor, and social status

-Women are expected to maintain sexual honor
-Women who are raped in war are condemned for "bearing the seed of the enemy"

Calling women "slurs" such as slut are also contemporary forms of moral regulation

How have women been suppressed and antagonized through history?

Glass-ceiling effect - prevents them from reaching positions of power

Portrayed as monstrous within fiction, history, and mythology
-shaped the perception of the public and justice system

Eve was seen as the one to cause human suffering and the causation of Original Sin within the bible

Gambling became illegal in..

1867, with the criminalization of dice games and gaming houses
-Considered a sin in 16th century Protestant views

Legal History of Gambling

Gambling was deemed illegal until 1969, where
-Pierre Trudeau allowed federal and provincial governments to conduct lotteries

In 1985,
-In exchange for a one time payment of $100, the federal govt. amended to Criminal Code to grant provinces authority over lotteries and electronic gambling

Current History of Gambling

Criminal law now works to protect the government monopoly on gambling.
"Canadians gamble against or for the state"

Justification for criminalizing gambling include addiction

Problem gambling

obsession over the thought of gambling and the loss of control over gambling behavior despite it's consequences

Sociolegal Construct

ideas created through social norms and reinforced through law

(e.x. vice crimes such as gambling being criminalized)

The War on Drugs

In the late 70s and 80s, this campaign fought the new levels of poverty, crime, & drug addiction in the inner cities.

actually a "war on certain ethnic people";
-opiates were criminalized to target Chinese farmers
-Crack was funneled into black neighborhoods

Temperance Movement

a lobbying effort within the 19th and 20th centuries to limit and prohibit alcohol and recreational drugs

Judge Emily Murphy

infamous moral reformer / crusader

• wrote articles “linking the procurement of drugs to the destruction of the white race”

• Blamed the proliferation of drugs on Chinese, Mexicans, Blacks, and Greeks

How has the criminalization of alcohol predominantly affected Indigenous Communities

It was illegal for anyone to sell liquor to an Indigenous person (Indian Liquor Ordinance Act - 1867)

It was also illegal for an Indigenous person to be found in a state of intoxication