Note
Studied by 7 peopleTest #1 SOC 110
Chapters 1 & 2 SOC 110: Sociology: Perspective, Theory, and Method & Culture
1.1 Apply the sociological perspective to show how society shapes our individual lives
Sociology: the systematic study of human society
Emerged due to changes such as the rise of a factory-based industrial economy, the explosive growth of cities, and new ideas about democracy and political rights
Society: people who interact in a defined territory and share a culture
Sociological perspective: seeing the general in the particular
Sociologists look for general patterns within the behavior of particular people
Social identity guides the traits individuals look for in partners (typically, individuals pick partners who are similar to themselves socially)
It can be easily identified that society greatly shapes the lives of those who live on the margins of society (being an outsider) and those who are living through a social crisis (such as the great depression)
Global perspective: the study of the larger world and our society's place in it
Global awareness is a logical extension of the sociological perspective
The world's nations can be divided into three broad categories based on their level of economic development:
High-income countries: nations with the highest overall standards of living (generate most of the world's goods and services)
Middle-income countries: nations with a standard of living about average for the world as a whole (many have considerable social inequality)
Low-income countries: nations with a low standard of living in which most people are poor
Global stratification explains the causes and consequences of global wealth and poverty
Where we live shapes the lives we live
Societies throughout the world are increasingly interconnected
What happens in the rest of the world affects lives here in the United States
Many social problems that we face in the United States are far more serious elsewhere
Thinking globally helps us learn more about ourselves
Positivism: a scientific approach to knowledge based on “positive” facts as opposed to mere speculation
Comte’s three stages of society:
Theological stage: medieval European society, dominated by the church
Metaphysical stage: society during the Enlightenment, shaped by the ideas of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau
Scientific stage: modern society, guided by physics, chemistry, and sociology
1.2 Identify the advantages of sociological thinking for assessing public policy, for encouraging personal growth, and for advancing in a career
By applying the sociological perspective, we are likely to become more active and aware and to think more critically in our daily lives. Using sociology benefits us in four ways:
The sociological perspective helps us assess the truth of “common sense”
The sociological perspective helps us see the opportunities and constraints in our lives
The sociological perspective empowers us to be active participants in our society
The sociological perspective helps us live in a diverse world
1.3 Summarize sociology's major theoretical approaches
Theory: a statement of how and why specific facts are related
The job of a sociological theory is to explain social behavior in the real world
Macro-level orientation: a broad focus on social structures that shape society as a whole
Micro-level orientation: a close-up focus on social interaction in specific situations
Theoretical approach: a basic image of society that guides the thinking and research of a sociologist. Consists of three major theoretical approaches
Structural-functional approach: a macro framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability (calls attention to social structure and looks for each structure's social functions)
Social-conflict approach: a macro framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change
An important social-conflict theory is gender-conflict theory, which is closely linked to feminism
Gender-conflict theory (or feminist theory): the study of society that focuses on inequality and conflict between women and men
Feminism: support of social equality for women and men, in opposition to the patriarchy or sexism
Another important social-conflict theory is the race-conflict theory
Race-conflict theory: the study of society that focuses on inequality and conflict between people of different racial and ethnic categories
Symbolic-interaction approach: a micro framework for building theory that sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals
Answers the questions “what issues should we study?” and “how should we connect the facts?”
Social structure: any relatively stable pattern of social behavior
Any social structure is likely to have many functions
Manifest functions: the recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern (The American educational system allows for students to gain an education)
Latent functions: the unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern (The American educational system also aids in selecting mates or marriage partners)
Social dysfunction: a consequence of any social pattern that disrupts the operation of society or is harmful to some category of the population (Uber is helpful to some, but puts taxi drivers out of jobs)
Social functions: the consequences of a social pattern for the operation of society as a whole
1.4 Describe sociology’s three research orientations
Three ways for sociologists to conduct research
Positivist sociology (also sometimes called empirical sociology): the study of society based on scientific observation of social behavior (discovers facts through the use of science)
Science: a logical system that bases knowledge on direct, systematic observation
Empirical sociology: information we can verify with our own senses
Interpretive sociology: the study of society that focuses on discovering the meanings people attach to their social world
Critical sociology: the study of society that focuses on inequality and the need for social change
Variable: a concept whose value changes from case to case (like the price of an item changes depending on the item)
Measurement: a procedure for determining the value of a variable in a specific case
Operationalize a variable: specifying exactly what is to be measured before assigning a value to a variable
Reliability: consistency in measurement (hitting the same spot on a bullseye consistently)
Validity: actually measuring exactly what you intend to measure (hitting the target on a bullseye)
Scientific research allows us to determine how variables are related
Correlation: a relationship in which two or more variables change together
Cause and effect: a relationship in which change in one variable causes change in another
Independent variable: variable that causes change
Dependent variable: variable that is changed
Spurious correlation: an apparent but false relationship between two or more variables that is the result of some other variable (delinquency rates are high when young people live in crowded housing, but this isn't because crowded housing causes youngsters to turn bad; instead, both are a result of poverty)
Objectivity: personal neutrality in conducting research
1.5 Identify the importance of gender and ethics in sociological research
Gender: the personal traits and social positions that members of a society attach to being female or male
Five ways in which gender can shape research
Androcentricity – approaching an issue from a male perspective
Overgeneralizing – when researchers use data drawn from only one sex
Gender blindness – failing to consider gender at all
Double standards – judging men and women differently
Interference – if the subject reacts to the sex on the researcher
1.6 Explain why a researcher might choose each of sociology’s research methods
Research method: a systematic plan for doing research
Experiments: a research method for investigating cause and effect under highly controlled conditions. Closely follow the logic of science, and is typically explanatory and meant to test a hypothesis
Hypothesis: a statement of a possible relationship between two or more variables
Survey: a research method in which subjects respond to a series of statements or questions on a questionnaire or in an interview. The most widely used research method and meant to study what cannot be directly observed
Participant observation (or case study): a research method in which investigators systematically observe people while joining them in their routine activities
Using existing sources: a research method in which the researcher doesn't collect their own data, but analyzes existing sources or data collected by others
Ten steps in sociological investigation
What is your topic? – applying the sociological perspective and generating ideas for research
What have otters already learned? – reviewing what theories and methods have already been applied to your topic
What, exactly, are your questions? – identifying if your study is descriptive or explanatory, and what questions to ask based on that identification
What resources will you need to carry out research?
Are there ethical concerns?
What method will you use? – considering all the major research strategies and choosing one
How will you record the data?
What will the data tell you?
What are your conclusions?
How can you share what you have learned?
1.7 Understand the links between the sociological perspective, sociological theory, and political analysis
Learning to use the sociological perspective, to engage in theoretical analysis, as well as becoming familiar with political analysis – will provide a suite of powerful skills that enhance understanding and encourage active citizenship
Sociological research tracks patterns of political affiliation in the United States population
The structural-functional approach, which focuses on the existing society, tends to be politically conservative
The social-conflict approach is an activist approach that leans to the left
The symbolic-interaction approach is more personal and less explicitly political
Looking at the discipline as a whole, sociology is more progressive than it is conservative because of its perspective, which examines structures of society rather than choices made by individuals
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2.1 Explain the development of cultures as a human strategy for survival
Culture: the ways of thinking, the ways of acting, and the material objects that together form a people’s way of life
Only human beings rely on culture for survival, as it shapes how we act, think, and feel, making it a human trait. The capacity to develop culture is a product of evolution
Nonmaterial culture: the ideas created by members of a society
Material culture: the physical things created by members of a society
Culture shock: personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life
The term ‘culture’ is often associated with the terms ‘nation’ and ‘society’: however, they each have slightly different meanings
Culture is a shared way of life
A nation is a political entity and a territory with designated borders
Society is the organized interaction of people who live in a nation or some other specific territory
2.2 Identify common elements of culture
Although culture vary greatly, they all have common elements
Symbols: anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture
Language: a system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another
Cultural transmission: the process by which one generation passes culture to the next
Sapir-Whorf thesis: the idea that people see and understand the world through the cultural lens of language
Values: culturally defined standards that people use to decide what is desirable, good, and beautiful and that serve as broad guidelines to social living
Beliefs: specific thoughts or ideas that people hold to be true
Values are abstract standards for goodness, while beliefs are particular matters that individuals consider to be true or false
Norms: rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members
Mores: norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance (such as society’s insistence that adults not engage in sexual relations with children)
Folkways: norms for routine or casual interaction (such as appropriate greetings and proper dress)
Social control: attempts by society to regulate people's thoughts and behavior (sanctions operate as a system of social control; the way people react to others' actions, like raised eyebrows or approving smiles)
2.3 Analyze how society’s level of technology shapes its culture
Culture is shaped by technology. We understand technological development in terms of stages of sociocultural evolution:
Hunting and gathering: the use of simple tools to hunt animals and gather vegetation for food
Horticulture & Pastoralism
Horticulture: the use of hand tools to raise crops
Pastoralism: the domestication of animals
Agriculture: large-scale cultivation using plows harnessed to animals or more powerful energy sources
Industry/ Industrialism: the production of goods using advanced sources of energy to drive large machinery
Postindustrial information technology/ Postindustrialism: the production of information using computer technology
Technology: knowledge that people use to make a way of life in their surroundings
Sociocultural evolution: the historical changes in culture brought about by new technology
2.4 Discuss dimensions of cultural difference and cultural change
We live in a culturally diverse society
Cultural diversity is a product of immigration and social inequality
This high level of diversity is due to our country’s history of immigration
Diversity also reflects regional differences in the United States
Diversity reflects differences in social class that set off high culture (available only to elites) from popular culture (available to average people)
High culture: cultural patterns that distinguish a society’s elite
Popular culture: cultural patterns that are widespread among a society’s population
A number of values are central to our way of life. But cultural patterns vary throughout our society. Subculture is based on differences in interests and life experiences
Hip-hop fans and jocks are two examples of youth subcultures in the united states
Subculture: cultural patterns that set apart some segments of a society’s population
Multiculturalism: a perspective recognizing the cultural diversity of the United States and promoting equal standing for all cultural traditions
Multiculturalism developed as a reaction to the earlier melting pot idea, which was thought to result in minorities losing their identities as they adopted mainstream cultural patterns
Multiculturalists criticize Eurocentrism, which is additionally countered by Afrocentrism
Eurocentrism: the dominance of European (especially English) cultural patterns
Afrocentrism: emphasizing and promoting African cultural patterns
Counterculture: cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted within a society
Any militant group in the United States that would plot to destroy Western society would be an example of a counterculture (a common example being hippies)
Cultural integration: the close relationships among various elements of a cultural system
Cultural change results from:
Invention (telephones, computers, COVID-19 vaccines, etc.)
Discovery (recognizing the medical value in certain plants)
Diffusion (the growing popularity in the United States of various ethnic foods and musical styles from other countries)
Cultural lag: the fact that some cultural elements change more quickly than others (typically technology or material things develop faster than ideas or nonmaterial things)
How do we understand cultural differences?
Ethnocentrism: the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one's own culture (Americans thinking that driving on the right side of the road is correct)
Cultural relativism: the practice of judging a culture by its own standards (Americans understanding that which side of the road you drive on changes in different countries, nothing is ever truly correct)
2.5 Apply sociology’s macro-level theories to gain greater understanding of culture
The structural-functional approach explains culture as a complex strategy for meeting human needs. This approach considers values the core of culture, as cultural values direct our lives, give meaning to what we do, and bind people together. Countless cultural traits have various functions and support the operation of society
Cultural universals: traits that are part of every known culture (families control sexual reproduction and care for children in almost every culture)
The social-conflict approach stresses the link between culture and inequality. Any cultural trait benefits some members of society at the expense of others
Feminists see conflict in being rooted within gender. Our way of life reflects the ways in which our society defines what is male is more important than what is defined as female
Gender: the personal traits and social positions that members of a society attach to being female or male
Critical race theory views culture as being rooted within race. Racial inequality is the intentional result of the way the legal system and the entire cultural system was and remain structured
Sociobiology: a theoretical approach that explores ways in which human biology affects how we create culture
2.6 Critique culture as limiting or expanding human freedom
Culture can limit the choices we make
It's largely impacted by habit, limiting our choices and driving us to repeat troubling patterns (injustices involving race, class, and gender)
As cultural creatures, we have the capacity to shape and reshape our world to meet our needs and pursue our dreams
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Chapters 3 & 4 SOC 110: Socialization: From Infancy to Old Age & Social Interaction in Everyday Life
3.1 Describe how social interaction is the foundation of personality
Socialization: the lifelong social experience by which people develop their human potential and learn culture
Personality: a person’s fairly consistent patterns of acting, thinking, and feeling
Socialization is a lifelong process
Socialization develops our humanity as well as our particular personalities
The importance of socialization is seen in the fact that extended periods of social isolation result in permanent damage (cases of Anna, Isabelle, and Genie)
Behaviorism is a theory that states that behavior is not instinctive but is instead learned
Socialization is a matter of nature and nurture
Human behavior was originally believed to result from biological instincts
For human beings, it is our nature to nurture
3.2 Explain six major theories of socialization
Sigmund Freud’s model of the human personality has three parts:
Id: the human being’s basic drives
Superego: the cultural values and norms internalized by an individual
Ego: a person’s conscious effort to balance innate pleasure-seeking drives with the demands of society
Id and Superego remain in conflict, and Ego manages the two opposing forces
Jean Piaget believed that human development involves both biological maturation and gaining social experience. He identified four stages of cognitive development:
Sensorimotor stage: the level of human development at which individuals experience the world only through their senses (knowing the world only through senses)
Preoperational stage: the level of human development at which individuals first use language and other symbols (starting to use language and other symbols)
Concrete Operational stage: the level of human development at which individuals first see causal connections in their surroundings (allows individuals to understand causal connections)
Formal Operational stage: the level of human development at which individuals think abstractly and critically (abstract and critical thought)
Lawrence Kohlberg applied Piaget’s approach to the stages of moral development
We first judge rightness in preconventional terms, according to our individual needs
Next, conventional moral reasoning takes account of parental attitudes and cultural norms
Finally, postconventional reasoning allows us to criticize society itself
Carol Gilligan found that gender plays an important part in moral development, with males relying more on abstract standards of rightness (justice perspective) and females relying more on the effects of actions on relationships (care and responsibility perspective)
George Herbert Mead developed a theory of social behaviorism to explain how experience develops an individual's personality
Self: the part of an individual’s personality composed of self-awareness and self-image
Develops only as a result of social experience
Social experience involves the exchange of symbols
Social interaction depends on understanding the intention of another, which requires taking the role of the other, so we can become self-aware
Human action is partly spontaneous (the I) and partly in response to others (the Me)
We gain social experience through imitation, play, games, and understanding the generalized other, typically done through significant others
Significant others: people, such as parents, who have special importance for socialization
Generalized other: widespread cultural norms and values we use as reference in evaluating ourselves
Charles Horton Cooley used the term looking-glass self to explain that we see ourselves as we imagine others see us
Looking-glass self: a self-image based on how we think others see us
Erik H. Erikson identified challenges that individuals face at each stage of life from infancy to old age
3.3 Analyze how the family, school, peer groups, mass media, and social media guide the socialization process
The family is usually the first setting of socialization
Family has the greatest impact on attitudes and behavior
A family’s social position, including race and social class, shape a child’s personality
Ideas about gender are learned first in the family
Schools give most children their first experience with bureaucracy and impersonal evaluation
Teach knowledge about skills needed later for life
Expose children to greater social diversity
Reinforce ideas about gender
The peer group helps shape attitudes and behavior
Peer group: a social group whose members have interests, social position, and age in common
Takes on great importance during adolescence
Frees young people from adult supervision
Anticipatory socialization: learning that helps a person achieve a desired position
The mass media and social media have a huge impact on socialization in modern, high-income societies
Mass media: the means for transmitting information from a single source to a vast audience
Social media: media that allows people to communicate with one another, to share information, and to form communities based on shared interests and goals
The mass media often reinforces stereotypes about gender and race
The mass media expose people to a great deal of violence
3.4 Discuss how our society organizes human experience into distinctive stages of life
The concept of childhood is grounded not in biology but in culture. In high-income countries, childhood is extended
The emotional and social turmoil of adolescence results from cultural inconsistency in defining people who are not children but not yet adults. Adolescence varies by social class
Adulthood is the stage of life when most accomplishments take place. Although personality is now formed, it continues to change with new life experiences
Early adulthood
Middle adulthood
Old age is defined as much by culture as biology
Gerontology: the study of aging and the elderly
Gerontocracy: a form of social organization in which the elderly have the most wealth, power, and prestige (typically found in lower-income countries or more traditional societies, as old age gives more influence and respect)
Industrial societies define elders as unimportant and out of touch
Ageism: prejudice and discrimination against older people
Acceptance of death and dying is part of socialization for the elderly. This process typically involves five stages: denial, anger, negotiation, resignation, and acceptance
Cohort: a category of people with something in common, usually their age
3.5 Characterize the operation of total institutions
Total institutions: a setting in which people are isolated from the rest of society and manipulated by an administrative staff
Includes prisons, mental hospitals, and monasteries
Staff members supervise all aspects of life
Life is standardized, with all inmates following set rules and routines
Resocialization: radically changing an inmate’s personality by carefully controlling the environment
Two-part process:
Breaking down an inmate's existing identity
Building a new self through a system of rewards and punishments
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4.1 Explain how social structure helps us make sense of everyday situations
Social structure refers to social patterns that guide our behavior in everyday life. The building blocks of social structure are status and role
4.2 State the importance of status to social organization
Status: a social position that a person holds
Part of our social identity and defines our relationships to others
Ascribed status: a social position a person receives at birth or takes on involuntarily later in life (such as a teenager, orphan, Mexican American, etc.)
Achieved status: a social position a person takes on voluntarily that reflects personal ability and effort (earned, such as being an honors student, a pilot, a thief, etc.)
Master status: a status that has special importance for social identity, often shaping a person’s entire life (being blind, having cancer, being a medical doctor, a police officer, etc.)
Can be ascribed or achieved
Status set: all the statuses a person holds at a given time (a teenage girl may be a daughter to her parents, a sister to her brother, and a student at her school)
Change over the course of life
4.3 State the importance of role to social organization
Role: behavior expected of someone who holds a particular status
A person holds a status and performs a role
Role set: a number of roles attached to a single status
Role conflict: conflict among the roles connected to two or more statuses
Results from tension among roles linked to two or more statuses (a woman who juggles her responsibilities as a mother and a corporate ceo)
Role strain: tension among the roles connected to a single status (the college professor who enjoys personal interaction with students, but at the same time knows that social distance is necessary to evaluate students fairly)
4.4 Describe how we socially construct reality
The social construction of reality: the process by which people creatively shape reality through social interaction
We construct the reality we experience (two people interacting both try to shape the reality of their situation)
Thomas theorem: situations that are defined as real are real in their consequences
The reality people construct in their interaction has real consequences for the future (a teacher who believes a certain student to be intellectually gifted may well encourage exceptional academic performance)
Ethnomethodology: the study of the way people make sense of their everyday surroundings
A strategy to reveal the assumptions people have about their social world
We can expose these assumptions by intentionally breaking the rules of social interaction and observing the reactions of other people
Both culture and social class shape the reality people construct (a short walk for a New Yorker is a few city blocks, but for a rural farmer in Latin America, it could be a few miles)
Social media: media that allows people to communicate with one another, to share information, and to form communities based on shared interests and goals
The expansion of social media has dramatically changed how people interact
The social construction of reality no longer requires people to have face-to-face interaction
4.5 Apply Goffman’s analysis to several familiar situations
Dramaturgical analysis: the study of social interaction in terms of theoretical performance (a status operates as a part in a play, and a role is a script
Performances are the way we present ourselves to others
Both conscious (intentional action) and unconscious (nonverbal communication)
Include costume (the way we dress), props (objects we carry), and demeanor (tone of voice and the way we carry ourselves)
Nonverbal communication: communication using body movements, gestures, and facial expressions rather than speech
Presentation of self (or impression management): a person’s efforts to create specific impressions in the minds of others
Gender affects performance because men typically have greater social power than women. Gender differences involve demeanor, use of space, smiling, staring, and touching
Demeanor – with greater social power, men have more freedom in how they act
Use of space – men typically command more space than women
Staring and touching – generally done by men to women
Smiling – a way to please another, more commonly done by women
Personal space: the surrounding area over which a person makes some claim to privacy
Varies by culture
Also impacted by gender, with men often intruding on women's personal space
4.6 Construct a sociological analysis of three aspects of everyday life: emotions, language, and humor
Emotions – The Social Construction of Feeling
The same basic emotions are biologically programmed into all human beings, but culture guides what triggers emotions, how people display emotions, and how people value emotions. In everyday life, the presentation of self involves managing inner emotions as well as outward behavior
Language – The Social Construction of Gender
Gender is an important element of everyday interaction. Language defines women and men as different types of people, reflecting the fact that society attaches greater power and value to what is viewed as masculine
Reality Play – The Social Construction of Humor
Humor results from the difference between conventional and unconventional definitions of a situation. Because humor is a part of culture, people around the world find different situations funny
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Chapter 8 SOC 110: Deviance
8.1 Explain how sociology addressed limitations of a biological or psychological approach to deviance
Deviance: the recognized violation of cultural norms
Crime: the violation of a society's formally enacted criminal law
Social control: attempts by society to regulate people's thoughts and behavior
Often informal, such as when parents scold their children
Criminal justice system: the governmental organizations – police, courts, and prisons – that respond to alleged violations of the law
Deviance is shaped by society, although there can be biological and physiological links, they are due to how they are perceived in society. No individual is “born bad”
Deviance varies according to cultural norms
People become deviant as others define them that way
How societies set norms and how they define rule-breaking both involve social power
8.2 Apply structural-functional theories to the topic of deviance
The key insight of the structural-functional approach is that deviance is a necessary part of social organization. There is nothing abnormal about deviance; it performs four essential functions
Deviance affirms cultural values and norms
Responding to deviance clarifies moral boundaries
Responding to deviance brings people together
Deviance encourages social change
Deviance can be born when the individual is unable to reach societal goals through traditional means
Deviant innovation: using unconventional means rather than conventional means to achieve a culturally approved goal
Deviant ritualism: not pursuing culturally approved goals out of interest, but pursuing them through conventional means out of moral obligation
Deviant retreatism: rejecting both cultural goals and conventional means
Deviant rebellion: rejecting both cultural goals and conventional means, but taking things an additional step further by forming a counterculture supporting alternatives to the existing social order
8.3 Apply symbolic-interaction theories to the topic of deviance
The symbolic interaction approach explains how people define deviance in everyday situations. Definitions of deviance and conformity become flexible
Labeling theory: the idea that deviance and conformity result not so much from what people do as from how others respond to those actions
Stresses the relativity of deviance
Primary deviance: norm violations that are generally regarded with less intensity and don't label individuals as deviant (like skipping school or jaywalking)
Secondary deviance: a type of deviant behavior that occurs after individuals have been labeled as deviant (secondary deviance typically arises when primary deviant actions form into habits, causing individuals to earn labels)
Stigma: a powerfully negative label that generally changes a person's self-concept and social identity
Operates as a master status
Medicalization of deviance: the transformation of moral and legal deviance into a medical condition
Impacts who respond to deviance, how they respond to it, and differentiates the personal competence of the deviant person
Differential association theory: Deviant behavior is learned through interactions with others, particularly within intimate social groups
Control theory: Social control depends on people anticipating the consequences of their behavior (stronger societal ties typically result in less deviance). Conformity results from four different types of social control.
Attachment
Opportunity
Involvement
Belief
8.4 Apply social-conflict theories to the topic of deviance
The social-conflict approach links deviance to social inequality
People typically defined as deviant (“nuts and sluts”) aren’t inherently bad, just powerless
White-collar crime: crime committed by people of high social position in the course of their occupations
Corporate crime: the illegal actions of a corporation of people acting on its behalf
Organized crime: a business supplying illegal goods or services
Hate crime: a criminal act against a person or a person's property by an offender motivated by racial or other biases
8.5 Identify patterns of crime in the United States and around the world
All crimes are composed of two elements: the act itself and the criminal intent
Types of crime:
Crimes against the person (or violent crimes): crimes that involve direct violence or the threat of violence against others
Murder, manslaughter, aggravted assult, rape, and robbery
Crimes against property (property crimes): crimes that involve theft of property belonging to others
Burglary, larceny-theft, auto theft, and arson
Victimless crimes (crimes without complaint): violations of law in which there are no obvious victims
Illegal drug use, prostitution, and gambling
Criminal statistics show that the rate of violent crimes has been increasing significantly
From previous data presented in government crime reports, we can create a general description of the categories of people more likely to be arrested for violent and property crimes
Between 15-24 years old
Males are much more likely to be arrested for both types of crime
Street crime is likely much more common among those of lower social class
8.6 Analyze the operation of the criminal justice system
The criminal justice system is a society's formal system of social control
The primary point of contact between a society's population and the criminal justice system is the police (they maintain public order by enforcing the law). Police decision-making is generally influenced by six factors:
Severity of the situation
The victims wishes
How cooperative the suspect is
History of the subject (if they've arrested the subject before)
Presence of observers
Precived danger (young, colored men are most likely to be arrested)
After arrests, courts determine a suspect's guilt or innocence
Plea bargaining: a legal negotiation in which a prosecutor reduces a charge in exchange for a defendant's guilty plea
Efficient in that it spares the justice system the time and expense of trials
Pressures potentially innocent defendants to plead guilty
Retribution: an act of moral vengeance by which society makes the offender suffer as much as the suffering caused by the crime
Community-based corrections: correctional programs operating within society at large rather than behind prison walls
Lowers costs, reduces overcrowding and prisons, and allows supervision for the supervision of convicts while eliminating the hardships of prison life and the stigma that accompanies going to jail (aids in proper rehabilitation)
Probation, shock probation, parole, and collateral damage as punishment
The death penalty is a widely controversial issue involving criminal punishment, but the United States is ultimately shying away from it for three reasons:
Increasing public concern that it is applied unjustly
The high cost of prosecuting capital cases
Most states allow judges and juries to sentence serious offenders to life in prison without parole
8.7 Apply political analysis to crime and criminal justice
Generally, conservatives support the legal system and favor “law and order”, taking a hard line against crime. In contrast, progressives seek to transform society and strive for greater social equality, often being critical of the justice system