lecture 7; deviance, crime and social control

Social Control

the ways in which a social system attempts to regulate people's thoughts, feelings, appearances and behaviours

Sanctions

used to encourage conformity and dissuade deviance

Internal social control

the regulation of people through socialization, which shapes their minds so that they come to regard deviant actions as undesirable

Functionalists: socialization is a necessary ongoing process, affects the internal social control immensely

External social control:

the regulation of people by imposing punishments and offering rewards

Informal social control

social control out by ordinary people through such means as laughter, smiles and ridicule

Formal social control

social control carried out by authorized agents such as police, officers, judges, school administrators and employers

Deviance

any behavior, belief, or condition that violates a norm and others define the violation as deviance

Crime

deviance that is against the law

Stigma

any physical or social attribute or sign that so devalues a person's social identity that it disqualifies that person from full social acceptance

"Badge of dishonor" → badge determines how others see you

Courtesy Stigma, Stigma Management (goffman)

Defining Deviance

Across cultures (cultural relativity)

Over time (historical relativity)

In different contexts or situations (situational relativity)

Deviant behavior varies in its degree of seriousness

The definition can change depending on the context

Functionalist Perspective of Deviance

→ deviance is a normal part of human existence, with positive (and negative) consequences for social stability

Functions of Deviance: (Durkheim and Kai Erikson)

Used the example of prostitution, argues that sex work is functional for society

Deviance as a positive aspect of society

Social solidarity 9/11 bonded Americans, therefore even terrorism has a function in society. The problem with this, provided the dysfunction of terrorism which is the prejudice against the middle eastern individuals.

Boundary setting tells us where the line is between deviance and non deviance

Raining the value of conformity

Innovation

Strain Theory (Robert Merton aka the latent/manifest functions guy)

People are going to have common goals and agree on how to get there in a smooth functioning society

Assumption: society promotes legitimate goals and means to achieve them

Goal: Success/ Means: hard work (in the united states there is the societal norm of hard work and education)

→ what happens in a society with these emphases

People must adapt by conforming or deviating from cultural expectations of success and hard work

Differential Association Theory (Edwin Sutherland)

→ criminal behavior is learned through interactions with others

→ builds off cultural transmission school of criminology

Deviant association → deviant attitudes → deviant behavior

Labeling Theory (Howard Becker, Edwin Lemert)

→ deviance is not a quality, it's a label that gets applied

→ who gets labeled? How do labels get applied? Consequences of labels? Who can resist labels?

→ labels can become a self-fulfilling prophecy

→ application and internalization of labels

→ deviant label often becomes a master status

informal punishment

a mild sanction that is imposed during face-to-face interaction rather than by the judicial system

formal punishment

the judicial systems penalty against someone for breaking the law

stigma

a negative evaluation because of a marker that distinguished a person from the others and that is labelled as societally unacceptable

social diversions

minor acts of deviance that are generally perceived as relatively harmless, evoking at most a mild societal reaction such as amusement or distain

social deviations

non-criminal departures from the norms that are nonetheless subject to official control because some people see them as harmful while others do not

conflict crimes

illegal acts that many (but not all) people consider harmful to society but are not punishable by the state

consensus crimes

illegal acts that nearly all people agree are bad in themselves and harm society greatly and are subject to severe punishment by the state

victimless crimes

violations of the law in which no victim steps forward and is identified

self-report surveys

respondents are asked to report their involvement in criminal activities either as perpetrators or victims

moral panic

an extreme over response that occurs when many people fervently believe that some form of deviance or crime poses a profound threat to society's well being

durkheim on deviance

made the claim that society benefits from deviance and crime, that when one breaks a rule it gives the others a chance to condemn and punish them reminding them of common values

merton on deviance

expanded durkheim's theory highlighting the dysfunction, arguing society rarely provides legitimate opportunities for success

subculture

a set of distinctive values, norms, and practices within a larger culture

conflict theorist

maintain that rich and powerful members on society impost deviant and criminal labels on others, particularly those who attempt to defy the existing social order (steven spitzer- capitalist societies are centred on private ownership of property)

control theory

the theory that because rewards of deviance and crime are ample, nearly everyone would engage in deviance and crime if they could get away with it, so the degree to which people are prevented from violating norms and laws accounts for variations in the level of deviance and crime

intersectionality

the way in which gender and/or race, social class and sexuality interact to produce unique outcomes with respect to health,, education, income and other aspects of life

panopticon

a prison design that allows inmates to be constantly observed without their knowledge

surveillance society

a society that uses all encompacing technology to optimize social control

criminalization

the process by which an activity is turned into an illegal act

restorative justice

an approach to justice that focuses not on punishment but on rehabilitating offenders though reconciling with victims and community