Notes on Deviance and Crime

Deviance: A behavior, trait, or belief that departs from social norms and generates negative reactions in a particular group.
Definitions of deviance vary based on cultural, historical, and situational norms.
Example: What is deviant in one culture may be perfectly acceptable in another.

Significance of deviance often focused on obvious forms:
Crime, mental illness, sexual deviance.
Emphasis on behaviors of the poor and powerless, sometimes accepting norms of powerful groups uncritically.
Importance of understanding the complexity of deviant social worlds and questioning definitions of deviance that perpetuate inequalities.

Social Control: The formal and informal mechanisms used to enforce conformity to values and norms.
Example: In a classroom setting, norms dictate behavior, such as bathing before entering.
Responses to deviance vary across cultures and time periods.
U.S. utilizes imprisonment for serious crimes, while historically, corporal punishment was common.
Other cultures may employ methods like shunning or banishment.

Émile Durkheim identified two main functions of deviance:
Clarifying moral boundaries: Helps society establish what is considered right/wrong.
Promoting social cohesion: Unites the community in response to crime.
Social Control Theory (Travis Hirschi): Strong social bonds promote conformity and reduce deviance.
Deviance can foster social change (e.g., civil rights activism).

Developed by Robert Merton, addressing stress from societal goals:
Differentiation between types of deviants based on responses to societal pressures.
Typologies:
- Innovators: Accept goals, reject means.
- Ritualists: Abandon goals but adhere to means.
- Retreatists: Reject both goals and means.
- Rebels: Create new goals and means.

Suggests rules and their enforcement are unequal across social groups.
Deviance is a result of social conflict and inequality reproduced through the definition of deviance.
Example: Capitalism can create scenarios where deviant behavior is almost unavoidable for disadvantaged groups.

Emphasizes interpersonal relationships and daily interactions in understanding deviance.
Differential Association Theory (Edwin Sutherland): Deviance is learned through interactions.
Labeling Theory (Howard Becker): External judgments lead to self-concept changes and responses to labeled individuals.
Types of deviance:
- Primary deviance: Initial acts causing a deviant label.
- Secondary deviance: Identity develops post-labeling.
- Tertiary deviance: Redefining a stigmatized label positively.

Stigma: A physical or social attribute that devalues an individual's identity (Erving Goffman).
Examples: Types include physical, moral, and tribal stigma.
Goffman notes stigma is often specific to social norms of a group or context.
Passing: Presenting oneself as a member of a different group to avoid stigma.
In-Group Orientation: Stigmatized individuals reject negative judgments and promote identity.
Deviance Avowal: Self-identification as deviant, which can have positive implications for individual roles.

Crime data reveals patterns influenced by class, age, gender, and race.
Evidence shows higher crime rates in poorer urban areas, raising questions about police practices and societal inequalities.
White Collar Crime: More leniently treated as it is often associated with higher social status.

Younger people more prone to crime, while older individuals often commit less visible crimes (e.g., embezzlement).
The societal perception of criminals often skews towards younger demographics.

Racial disparities in arrest and incarceration rates are significant.
Hate Crimes: Targeted crimes based on demographic characteristics, with specific increases noted during societal crisis events.

Shift towards privatization of prisons, which may prioritize profit over rehabilitation.
Community-oriented policing seeks to improve police-community relations.

Definitions of deviance can be contestable and fluid.
Positive Deviance: Actions that initially appear deviant but later become accepted or viewed as heroic (e.g., civil disobedience).

Scandinavian systems focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment.
Notably lower recidivism rates due to humane treatment and policies based on social science rather than political agendas.