2.2
Social Control Theory-
symbolic interactionism
Travis Hirschi
the reason people don’t commit crimes is because of 4 strong bonds
crime is deviant behavior
not all deviant behavior is a crime
drinking too much at home and staying home deviant but not criminal
1 Attachments
if you're strongly attached to social institutions such as your family
if you care about your family and what they think you're not going to commit a crime because you don’t want the family to frown upon you
if you're deeply attached your not going to do something to ruin that
2 Commitments
committed to different types of social institutions like school and you don’t want to harm your opportunity
committed to your job and you don’t want to lose it
the bond or tie you have is what keeps you from committing deviant behavior
3 Involvement
different types of activities
school, after-school activities, church, working
the time you’re involved in your activities you don’t have time to commit crime
4 Beliefs
Believing the law is to be obeyed
its the right thing to do to follow the laws
if you follow all of these your less likely to commit deviant behavior
when you weaken on bond it will cause others to weaken
if your not as committed to school and drop out and you know your parents won’t like it but you do it anyway
prisons with different exercise equipment; well these individuals are working out their engagement in activities so they’re not thinking of something stupid to do . involvement doesn’t give them time to do something stupid, their learning a trade doesn’t give them time to plan more deviant acts
labeling theory- your label as whatever. whether you’d earned the label or not
often times more than one label
theorys to deal with these labels
or to neutralize these labels
Techniques of Neutralization-
Sykes and Matza
man juvenal delinquents
use these techniques to justify or rationalize this behavior
trying to neutralize this
they don’t want to be label as a delinquent
1 Denial of responsibility
I’m not responsible because …
I’m not responsible because I’m a victim of society
2 Denial of Injury
injury you usually think physical
what I did well the person didn’t really get hurt
hate crime
the offender see the victim of less than human
“their animals it doesn’t really matter that they got hurt”
financial injury
shoplifting
the store is ripping us off so I’ll rip them off they won’t miss it
stealing a car then leaving it somewhere or having insurance and buying a new car
3 Denial of a victim
somebody got a bad grade and vandalized a teacher’s car
they felt it was an unfair grade and damaged the car
shoplifting; the store owners are crooked they deserve to get ripped off
4 Condemnation of the condemnors
condemners; parents, police, teacher, authority figures
authority figures do things that are wrong so why can’t I
my parents use drugs so why can’t I
if cops can take bribes why can’t I
they point the finger at you so you point right back
5 Appeal to a higher loyal
gang members
you got even cause something happens to one of your members
being loyal to your gang is more important then the norms of society
they are trying to cast off that label
apply to adult criminality
paying taxes and cheating a little but saying everyone does it so it’s fine they won’t miss it. politicians cheat so can I
how people view different types of situations
sometimes deviants will clash with different definitions and situations
Crime is Functional
functionalism- society is a like and assembly line if one part breaks then society is out of balance
crime may be seen as functional
Emile Durkheim
crime helps to contribute to the social order
not saying crime is good but that it does serve a purpose in society
1 Clarfies moral boundaries and affirms norms
moral boundaries; how people should think and act
devinats challenges these boundaries
staying within the boundaries and following the norms
helps us to understand what it means to be a member of that group
2 Promotes social unity
idea that we punish offenders; people who push the moral boundaries
you’ve done something wrong and we can’t let you get away with that
makes us a tighter group as a society
we have identity people who have pushed the boundaries and we want to do something about that
3 Promotes social change
if we have enough people who are doing things that we consider deviant that shouldn’t be deviant any longer; maybe we should changes because we have enough people doing this
changes in marijuana laws
medical marijuana and rec are now legal
because enough people did it they re-evaluated and changed
promoting change to catch up with the times
Strain Theory-
crime is a nature part of society
Robert K. Merton
Durkheim talked about strain theory in Europe
Merton applied it to the US
Anomie
Normlessness or lawlessness
norms of society are no longer effective in controlling behavior
no longer able to control behavior
US overriding goal to acquire wealth
money to buy happiness
money to buy a nice house and car, etc.
money shows were successful
how do you gain all this wealth
acceptable means to acquire this wealth
going to school and getting a high degree
not everyone has that opportunity
they aren’t going to get that wealth which makes people frustrated
you find other ways to achieve that wealth
can’t do it the right way so you do it other ways
people working around rules and find other ways to acquire wealth
1 Conformity
following the rules
agrees with the goal of getting wealth within following the rules
most of us are conformists
playing a game and winning by the rules
2 Innovative
being creative
they want to win
they don’t want to follow the rules
or they can’t
I could sell drugs to make some money in a short amount of time
I can get it now by doing this
they want wealth but don’t want to follow the rules
one to be concerned about
3 Ritualism
ritual something you do over and over again
an individual who doesn’t care about winning
but they will follow the rules
doing enough to survive
4 Retreatism
retreat; running away from
rejects goals and the means
they don’t care about winning but won’t play by the rules
dropping out of school and doing drugs and school
cares about the highs for the day and worrying about tomorrow when it gets here
one to be concerned about
5 Rebellion
one in which the groups rejects the goals and means
they don’t care about winning or following the rules
they are looking for something new
they’ll go along with the institutionalized means until something better comes along
a group in texas they were gonna take their own part of texas and make it their own
revolutionary or political activist
one to be concerned about
Can be used to explain crime in upper and lower class
the poor individuals get bombarded with ads but having the newest and best things
schools are middle class run by the middle class at odds with the lower class
to be able to make it selling drugs or resorting to prostitution or robbing
these people become role models for those of the illegitimate world, this explains street crime
white collar crime by middle-class and more upper class; tax evasion, embezzlement and bribery, insider trading
this happens because of their experiences and place in society
there path may be blocked
they have money but want more so they lie and cheat to get more
this explains white collar classes