Crime and Deviance Chapter Seven.

Crime and Deviance Chapter Seven

Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada
Outline What is Deviance? Functionalist Perspectives Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives Critical Perspectives Feminist Perspectives Postmodern Perspectives Crime Classification and Statistics The Criminal Justice System Deviance and Crime in the Future Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

What is Deviance? Central concepts: Deviance: any behaviour, belief, or condition that violates cultural norms in the society or group in which it occurs (p. 198) Social control: systematic practices developed by social groups to encourage conformity and to discourage deviance (p. 198) Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

What is Deviance? Can be understood to mean not only behaviour but also beliefs Deviance is relative: an act becomes deviant when it is socially defined as such Example: Members of a gang may shun mainstream conformity, yet conform to the group’s code of dress, etc. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

What is Deviance? Deviance is Ambiguous: Good and bad definitions vary so much that sometimes it is difficult to consider what is deviance and what is not Deviance varies with degrees: It ranges from mild transgressions of folkways (sexual overtones) to serious infringements of laws (rape) Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

What is Deviance? Crime: is an act that violates criminal law and is punishable with fines, jail terms, and other sanctions (p. 201) Juvenile delinquency: refers to a violation of the law by young people under the age of 18 (in Canada) (p. 201) Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Functionalist Perspectives to Explain Deviance and Crime
Strain Theory Opportunity Theory Control Theory Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Strain Theory Defined: people feel strain when they are exposed to cultural goals that they are unable to obtain because they do not have access to culturally approved means of achieving those goals (p. 201 and from R. Merton) Example: a study of Canadian Mohawks involvement in the organized crime of smuggling in the early 1990s. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Opportunity Theory Defined: for deviance to occur people must have access to illegitimate opportunity structures—circumstances that provide an opportunity for people to acquire through illegitimate activities what they cannot get through legitimate channels (p. 202) Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Opportunity Theory Three different forms of delinquent subcultures: Criminal: Focus on economic gain and includes theft, extortion, and drug dealing Conflict: groups that fight over territory and adopt a value system of toughness, courage, and status-enhancing qualities Retreatist: Those who avoid mainstream society and adopt alternative lifestyles: example: Destructive cults like the Solar Temple Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Control Theory Theme: deviant behaviour is minimized when people have strong bonds that bind them to families, peers, religious organizations, and other institutions Thesis: that the probability of deviant behavior increases when a person’s ties to society are weakened or broken (p. 204 and after Hirschi) Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Social Bonding Consists of:
Attachment Bonds to other people Commit-ment To rules and regulations Involvement- In conventionalactivities Belief In the legitimacy of conventional values and norms Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives
Differential Association Theory Labelling Theory Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Differential Association Theory
Defined: That individuals have a greater tendency to deviate from societal norms when they frequently associate with persons who favour deviance over conformity (p. 205 and Sutherland) Variations: Likelihood increases to the level a person has frequent, intense, and long-lasting interactions with others who violate the rules. Example: subcultural groups in schools Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Labelling Theory Two elements are involved in defining deviance: 1. Some people act in a manner contrary to the expectations of others 2. Others disapprove of and try to control this contrary behaviour Part of this control process involves labelling people as deviants Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Labelling Theory The theory defined: it suggests that deviants are those people who have been successfully labelled as such by others (p. 206) Process: directly related to the power and status of those persons who do the labelling One kind of those with power and status: Moral entrepreneurs: Persons who use their own views of right and wrong to establish rules and label others as deviant (p.208) Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Labelling Theory Other terms: Primary deviance: the initial act of rule breaking Secondary deviance: occurs when a person who has been labelled deviant accepts the new identity and continues the deviant behaviour Example: the study of the effects of two different ways of treating blind people Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Labelling Theory Moral entrepreneurs often create moral crusades: public and media awareness campaigns that help generate public and political support for their causes (p. 208) Examples: Mothers Against Drunk Driving The Women’s Temperance movement of the early 20th century that resulted in Prohibition Campaigns against abortion, prostitution, and child abuse 2003 example: Roman Catholic, Evangelical, Muslim, and Sikh leaders united against same-sex marriages Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Conflict Perspective Theme: these scholars maintain that lifestyles considered deviant by political and economic elites often are defined as illegal Issue: who has the power to define, enforce, and punish crime and deviance? Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Conflict Perspective Elements: The marginalized commit crime in order to survive, not to become rich Frequently, in the struggle for survival, marginalized persons victimize other marginalized persons Law protects the interests of the affluent and the powerful and not, as is claimed, the “common good” Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Feminist Perspective Focus: to examine the relationship between gender, deviance, and crime Various nuances of Feminist theory: Liberal Feminism: Women’s deviance and crime as a rational response to oppression and discrimination Radical Feminism: Patriarchy keeps women tied to family and home. Example: prostitution—women are more likely to be charged than the “Johns” Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Feminist Perspective Various nuances of Feminist theory: Socialist Feminism: Authors contend that women are exploited by capitalism and patriarchy. Because women, more than men, have low-paying jobs they may become involved in prostitution and shoplifting Add: Nuanced by class, race, and ethnicity. Example: Female victims of child abuse are more likely to become involved in crime than those who have not been abused Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Postmodern Perspectives
From the work of Michel Foucault His thesis: Prisons control the inmates not by physical punishment but by constant surveillance The Panoptican: a structure that gives prison officials the possibility of complete observation of criminals at all times Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Crime Classification and Statistics
How the Law Classifies Crime How Sociologists Classify Crime Crime Statistics Street Crime and Criminals Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

How the Law Classifies Crime
Indictable Offenses Includes serious crimes such as homicide, sexual assault, robbery, and break and entry Summary Conviction Offenses Relatively minor offences including fraudulently obtaining food from a restaurant, causing a disturbance, or committing an indecent act Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

How Sociologists Classify Crime
Street Crime Occupational and Corporate Crime Organized Crime Political Crime Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Street Crime Defined: that which includes all violent crime, certain property crime, and certain moral crimes (p. 213) Examples: robbery, assault, break and enter Several types: Violent Property Moral Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Types of Street Crime Violent Force against others
Produces most anxiety Victims are physically injured Victimizers: intimate persons Property Break and Entry Theft Arson Vehicle theft Moral Illegal action voluntarily engaged in by individuals Kinds: prostitution, gambling, illegal drugs, illegal pornography Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Occupational and Corporate Crime
Occupational or white-collar crime consists of illegal activities committed by people in the course of their employment or in dealing with their financial affairs Key Element: a violation of a position of trust in business or government Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Examples: employee theft, soliciting bribes or kickbacks, embezzling The computer has enhanced this possibility even more Corporate Crime: illegal acts committed by corporate employees on behalf of the corporation and with its support. Example: Enron Corporation in Houston Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Costs: Exceeds that of street crime Tax evasion: costs about $30 billion a year in Canada Calgary Bre-X gold mining company lost around $5 billion of share holders investment--a geologist had “salted” core samples with gold Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Costs: Occupational accidents and illnesses were the third leading cause of death in Canada: some of the causes are unsafe working environments Problems: More stigma attached to street crime Hard to convict Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Organized Crime Defined: is a business operation that supplies illegal goods and services for profit (p. 215) Examples: drug trafficking, prostitution, liquor and cigarette smuggling, loan-sharking, money laundering, and large-scale theft like truck hijacking Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Organized Crime Elements: Not a centrally controlled organization Public demand for cheap goods encourages the crime Deadly nature: biker gangs in Montreal result in many deaths Linked to legitimate enterprises. Example: Some terrorist groups use Muslim charities to gather illicit funds for nefarious ends Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Political Crimes Defined: refers to illegal or unethical acts involving the misuse of power by government officials, or illegal or unethical acts perpetrated against the government by outsiders to make a political statement, undermine the government, or overthrow it (p. 215) Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Political Crimes State officials may use their position to engage in graft through bribery, kickbacks, or “insider” deals Costly to tax payers Some use these methods to hang onto power Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Four Types of Political Deviance
Secrecy and Deception To manipulate public opinion Abuse of power Prosecution of individuals due to their political activities Official Violence Police brutality Canadian Example: During the 1960s, The Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ) tried to bring about an independent Quebec using terrorism Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Crime Statistics Official Statistics: Most of our crime statistics come from the Canadian Uniform Crime Reports (CUCR) From the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics of Statistics Canada Figures 7.3 and 7.4 show that, contrary to public opinion, crime rates have decreased Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Crime Statistics Weakness of these official statistics: Police statistics always underreport the actual amount of crime Reporting of crime is inconsistent from place to place and from time to time Example: Why such an increase of domestic violence in Winnipeg from 1444 in 1990 to 3387 in 1996? Not that there was actually more violence in 1996, but that there was more violence reported. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Crime Statistics Weakness of these official statistics: Many crimes reported by persons of highest SES status are routinely handled by the administrative or quasi-judicial bodies or by civil courts Victimization Surveys: Many surveys (some from Statistics Canada) have attempted to fill the gap Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Crime Statistics Victimization Surveys: One survey found that less than 42% of the victimizations reported by respondents had been reported to the police Value: Additional information With both kinds of statistics, a truer picture of the reality of crime is possible Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Street Crime and Criminals
Who is more likely to commit street crime? What are the correlates of street crime? Significant correlates: Age Gender Class Race Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Age One of the most significant factors Pattern: arrests increase from early adolescence, peak in young adulthood, and steadily decline with age This pattern reveals that crime is a young person’s game Common in all societies where data is available Why? Adulthood is a time of expected conformity. Also, simple maturation processes seem relevant Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Gender Another one of the most significant factors Pattern: most crime is committed by males Some statistics: Men make up over 80% of those charged with crime They are more involved in violent crime and major property offences However, there is a narrowing of the gap From , the percentage of offences committed by women increased from 9 % to 18% Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Increase of Female Crime In Canada (from data on page 220)
Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Gender Why has there been this increase? Cross cultural data reveals that where men are dominant, women are less likely to commit crime; however, where there is more equality between men and women, crime rates are higher. Another theory, the feminization of poverty as an impetus to commit crime Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Social Class Some possible correlates: Does crime increase with times of unemployment? No Do poorer cities, provinces, and countries have higher rates? No In Canada, the poorer provinces (Newfoundland and New Brunswick) have lower crime rates than the rich provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. See Map 7.2. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Social Class Some verified correlates: Lower class are overrepresented in arrest and prison admission Why? Is it because they commit more crime or are they more likely to be targeted? Suicide, alcoholism, mental illness, and drug addiction are more common in lower classes On the other hand, occupational or white collar crime (costing Canadians more than street crime) is higher among the middle and upper classes Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Race and Ethnicity US statistics: African American and Hispanic peoples are more likely to commit street crime than others In Canada, non-Aboriginal visible ethnic minorities were underrepresented in the federal correctional institutions Aboriginals: Many studies have shown that they are overrepresented in prison after committing crime Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Race and Ethnicity Why are Aboriginals overrepresented in prison after committing crime? More likely to be discriminated against than other visible minorities They have much less power and fewer resources Strong social bonds are less likely (see control theory) Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Region and Crime Difficult to get international figures as each country varies in how they report crime Best to consider the homicide rate as it is measured the same in most countries which keep crime statistics See graph on next slide: Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Some International Homicide Rates (from data on page 224)

The Criminal Justice System
Defined: the criminal justice system includes the police, the courts, and the prisons However, it is not a large, complete, and unified system. Rather, it is a collection of “somewhat interrelated, semi-autonomous bureaucracies”. Each part has significant discretionary jurisdiction apart from the others. Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

The Criminal Justice System

The Police Function: They are the concrete extension of the State to provide for social order This is extended to maintain peace in the community Broad range: finding lost children, counseling crime victims, notifying next of kin in fatal accidents Why? Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Why So Many Functions? 1. The police are one of the few public agencies open 24 hours a day 2. They service clients that other agencies may not be interested in 3. The police may not know about or may not have access to other agencies 4. Historically, the role of the police has been to keep the peace Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

The Police What ties these diverse functions together? 1. They have authority 2. Authority is backed by non-negotiable force 3. Have high degrees of discretion Two kinds of Discretion: A. Administrative B. Individual Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

The Courts Function: they decide the guilt or innocence of those accused of committing a crime Process: adversarial: Prosecutor: A lawyer who represents the State Defense lawyer: asserts that the accused (the defendant) is innocent Judge (or jury): Final decision as to the guilt or innocence of the defendant Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Punishment Defined: any action designed to deprive a person of things of value (including liberty) because of some offence the person is thought to have committed (p. 228) Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Functions of Prisons Retribution Imposes a penalty on the offender Social Protection In prison, he or she cannot commit crime anymore Rehabilitation Seeks to return offenders to the community as law abiding citizens Deterrence Seeks to reduce criminal activity by instilling a fear of punishment Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Incarceration Rates in Various Countries (p. 232)

Restorative Justice Defined: to seek to return the focus of the justice system to repairing the harm that has been done to the victim and the community (p. 230) Elements: The involvement of the victim and other members of the community as active members in the process To reconcile offenders with those they have harmed Roots in traditional societies Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Restorative Justice Elements: Some aboriginal communities use what is called circle sentencing: bringing the offender, the victim, and the community together Some current attempts: Victim-offender reconciliation Family Group Conferencing: for young people linked to the victim and the family members Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Community Corrections
Defined: shifts responsibility for corrections back to the community and minimizes the separation of the offender from society at a number of different stages in the correctional process Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Deviance and Crime in the Future
The present system cannon solve the problem of crime More structural solutions like: Better education and jobs Affordable housing More equality Less discrimination Socially productive activities Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Key terms Corporate crime Crime Deviance Differential association theory Illegitimate opportunity structures Juvenile delinquency Labelling theory Moral crusades Moral entrepreneurs Occupational or white-collar crime Organized crime Political crime Primary deviance punishment Secondary deviance Social bond theory Social control Strain theory Street crime Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

Review Questions Chapter 7 Crime and Deviance
What is deviance? What is the strain theory of deviance? How does social control theory explain crime? What are the major types of crime? What are the main sources of crime statistics? How are age, sex, and social class related to crime? Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada

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