1. CHAPTER 7 Deviance and Social Control
Sociology
4/25/2017
CHAPTER 7 Deviance and Social Control
Section 1: Deviance
Section 2: Crime
Chapter 8

2. Objectives: Section 1: Deviance Define deviance
Explain the nature and social functions of deviance.
Compare the theories that have been proposed to explain deviance.

3. Read the following behaviors
Continuously talking to oneself in public
Drag racing on a public street or highway
Regularly using illegal drugs
A man wearing woman’s clothing
Attacking another person with a weapon
What do they all have in common?

4. Deviance
Most people internalize the majority of the norms in their societies, but may not internalize all the norms and so there isn’t total social control
There are always people who break the rules of a society
Behavior that violates significant social norms is called deviance

5. Read the following behaviors
Continuously talking to oneself in public
Drag racing on a public street or highway
Regularly using illegal drugs
A man wearing woman’s clothing
Attacking another person with a weapon
What do they all have in common?
They are all examples of deviant behavior

6. Nature of Deviance
Because there are so many norms governing behavior, occasional violations are unavoidable
What is considered deviant varies from society to society…
society determines what is deviant
Society determines the consequences for deviant behavior

7. How does a person come to be considered a deviant?
people are considered deviant for repeat behavior
So if they once get a ticket for driving their car too fast…that is not deviant
If they continue to be caught driving at high speeds and have reputation of a reckless driver, then called a deviant
commits an act that has serious negative consequences for society
i.e. rape, murder, sexual assault, robbery

8. How do we know something is deviant?
Labeling deviance has 2 components:
to be considered deviant by society, an individual must first be detected committing a deviant act, behavior is known to others
the individual must be stigmatized by society
stigma – mark of social disgrace that sets the deviant apart from the rest of society
Cut/burn marks on person, public punishments, executions, imprisonment, cut direct , spoiled reputation
What is considered deviant varies from society to society and during different time periods

9. Social Functions of Deviance
Emile Durkheim’s The Rules of Sociological Method observed that deviance has some uses in social life.
Unifying the Group – serves to draw the line between conforming members of society and “outsiders” – the nonconforming members
Clarifying Norms – defines the boundaries of acceptable behavior
Diffusing Tension – acts that allow individuals to relieve tension without disrupting the basic fabric of society

10. Social Functions of Deviance
4. Promoting Social Change – can help prompt social change by identifying problem areas
Providing Jobs – provides legitimate jobs for a wide range of people
judges, lawyers, police officers, prison personnel, parole officers, crime reporters
criminologists – social scientists who study criminal behavior
(continued)

12. Deviance SECTION 1 Perspective Theory Questions Functionalist
How do individuals respond to culturally approved goals and the legitimate means of achieving them? (conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, rebellion)
Strain
Conflict
What is the result of competition and social inequality? (deviance) Who decides what is deviant? (ruling classes)
Interactionist
Why do people conform to norms? (The strength of social ties determines conformity.)
Control
How do people learn conformity or deviance? (through socialization, or interaction with others) Where does this learning mainly occur? (primary groups)
Cultural Transmission
How do people become identified as deviant? (through secondary deviance, or being labeled as deviant)
Labeling

13. Functionalist Theory

14. Theories of Deviance #1 Structural-Strain Theory–
Proposed by Robert K. Merton
Theory views deviance is a natural part of society and as the natural outgrowth of the values, norms, and structures of society
American society places high value on certain goals, not everyone has access to legitimate means to achieve these goals
People are judged on the basis of how well they meet those goals
under the strain of incompatible goals and means, individuals fall victim to anomie
anomie – situation that arises when the norms of society are unclear or are no longer applicable, leave individuals without guidelines for behavior and confusion

15. Sociologist Robert K. Merton suggest that individuals respond to the culturally approved goals and legitimate means of achieving goals in 5 ways.
Conformity
Innovation: end up deviant
Ritualism: end up deviant
Retreatism: end up deviant
Rebellion: end up deviant

16. Mode of Adaptation
Definition
Stand on Cultural Goals
Stand on Cultural Norms
Conformity
many accept culturally approved goals and means of achieving these goals
Accept
Innovation
accept cultural goals, but do not accept the approved means to reaching these goals, devise new means for achieving goals and then violate accepted norms (become deviants)
Reject
Ritualism
find it impossible to achieve cultural goals by acceptable means, they abandon the goals while continuing expected rules of behavior
Retreatism
reject both cultural goals and acceptable means of attaining them, may drop out of society
Rebellion
want to substitute a new set of goals and means for the approved set
Reject and Replace

17. Conflict Theory

18. Theories of Deviance #2
Conflict Theorists – deviance is a result of competition and social inequality, struggle between those who possess power and those who do not
people with power commit deviant act to maintain power
people without power to obtain economic rewards or because of low self-esteem and feelings of powerlessness

19. Richard Quinney’s Conflict Theory:
ruling class labels threatening behavior as deviant
lower class has limited opportunity, forced into deviant behavior
to protect their power, ruling class establishes ideologies to explain deviance as a problem among lower class
law enforcement are directed toward the types of crimes committed by lower classes (results in higher arrest rates)
people without power do not necessarily commit more crimes than others, but are the types of crimes that are most likely to be detected and punished

20. Interactionists
as either natural in people with weak ties to the community (control theory)
as a learned behavior (cultural transmission theory)
or as a label (labeling theory)

21. Theories of Deviance #3
control theory – natural occurrence, interest in why people conform rather than the causes of deviance
social ties determine conformity, high integration causes conformity
communities with strong social bonds have lower rates of deviance because strong social control over those who deviate

22. Travis Hirschi Interactionist Perspective:
control theory:
people form bonds in 4 ways
form attachments with others who accept the norms of society
strong belief in the moral codes of society
show commitment to traditional societal values and goals
fully involved in non-deviant behavior and activities

23. Theories of Deviance #4
Cultural Transmission theory [Interactionist]– based on socialization and sees
deviance is a learned behavior
Learned through interaction with others who are engaging in deviant acts
the norms and values being transmitted are deviant, the individual becomes socialized into deviant behavior rather than socially acceptable behavior
cultural transmission views all individuals as conformists
difference between deviants and rest of society is the norms the individual chooses to conform to
Deviant chooses to conform to norms that are not accepted by the larger community

24. differential association – refers to the proportion of associations a person has with deviant versus non-deviant individuals
If the majority of a person’s interactions are with deviant individuals, the person will be socialized into patterns of deviant behavior
Based on Edwin Sutherland, learning of deviant behavior occurs in primary groups and have personal relationships with people who commit crimes

25. Theories of Deviance #5
labeling theory – focuses on how individuals come to be identified as deviant, rather than why people perform deviant acts
all people commit deviant acts yet not everyone is labeled as deviant

26. Lemert and Becker: deviance has 2 types: primary and secondary
primary deviance – nonconformity that goes undetected by those in authority, occasional acts and well concealed acts, do not consider themselves deviant and neither does society
secondary deviance – results in the individual being labeled as deviant and accepting the label as true
degradation ceremony – public setting, individual is denounced, found guilty, or given new identity of a deviant, people are judged in light of their new label, becomes master status, restricts options in society, self-fulfilling prophecy

27. Objectives: Section 2: Crime
Identify the principal types of crime in the United States.
Explain the characteristics of the American criminal-justice system.

28. What is crime?
crime – any act that is labeled as such by those in authority, is prohibited by law, and is punishable by the government

29. Crime Statistics
Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) published annually by the FBI
chart page 187
limits on statistics:
not all complaints make it to official stats of formal reports
not all crime reported (family or friends)
only file formal reports on serious crime
officer is influenced to file a formal report based on attitude of individual making the complaint

30. Principal Types of Crime in the U.S.
1. Violent Crime – includes murder, robbery; most victims are African Americans; small percent of all crimes committed
Robbery- larceny from the person or presence of another by violence or threat.
2. Crime Against Property – stealing or damaging other’s property; includes burglary, larceny (theft other than auto), vehicle theft, arson; more common than violent crimes (1 every 3 seconds)
Burglary- the act of breaking and entering a dwelling at night to commit a felony
Larceny- the unlawful taking and removal of another person's property.
3. Victimless Crime – includes prostitution, gambling, illegal drug use; offender is the only victim

31. 4. White Collar Crime – committed by high-status individuals in the course of their professions (politicians, corporate employees); includes fraud, tax evasion, embezzlement; estimate costs of $300 billion
(continued)
Bernie Madoff

32. 5. Organized Crime – the pursuit of crime as a big business, use legitimate business as a front for criminal activities
crime syndicate – large-scale organization of professional criminals that controls some vice or business through violence or the threat of violence

34. SECTION 2
Crime
Question:
What are some characteristics of the American criminal-justice system?

35. Juvenile-Justice System
SECTION 2
Crime
AMERICAN CRIMINAL-JUSTICE SYSTEM
Police
have the most control over who is arrested for crimes; use police discretion, which has raised the controversial issue of racial profiling
Courts
determines the accused’s guilt or innocence in a court trial and then assigns a punishment; actually settles 90 percent of cases through plea bargaining
Corrections
includes probation, imprisonment, parole; serves four functions—retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and social protection
Juvenile-Justice System
applies to offenders younger than 18; guarantees juvenile defendants the same legal rights and privileges as adults; often provides more services

36. AMERICAN CRIMINAL-JUSTICE SYSTEM
SECTION 2
Crime
AMERICAN CRIMINAL-JUSTICE SYSTEM
Police

37. Police – have most immediate control over who is arrested for a criminal act
police discretion – police have the power to decide who is actually arrested
size of population, number of criminal offenses, and number of police officers make discretion necessary
factors that influence police discretion: seriousness of offense, wishes of the victim, attitude of suspect, presence of bystanders, race
racial profiling - practice of assuming that nonwhite Americans are more likely to commit crime than white Americans

38. AMERICAN CRIMINAL-JUSTICE SYSTEM
SECTION 2
Crime
AMERICAN CRIMINAL-JUSTICE SYSTEM
Courts

39. Courts – determine the guilt or innocence of an accused person by means of a trial and assigns some form of punishment if there is a guilty finding
90% of all case are settled through plea bargaining
plea bargaining – process of legal negotiation that allows an accused person to plead guilty to a lesser charge in return for a lighter sentences
allows courts to reduce volume of caseloads with avoiding expensive and time-consuming trials

40. AMERICAN CRIMINAL-JUSTICE SYSTEM
SECTION 2
Crime
AMERICAN CRIMINAL-JUSTICE SYSTEM
Corrections

41. Corrections – sanctions (prison, parole, probation) used to punish those found guilty of crimes
sanctions serve 4 functions
retribution: act of revenge for victim and society
deterrence: discourage offenders from committing future crimes
rehabilitation: reform criminals so they can return to society as law-abiding citizens
social protection: prevent additional crimes
recidivism – term for repeated criminal behaviors, 62% of released prisoners will be charged with new crimes, 41% will return to prison within 3 years

43. Amnestyusa.org

44. Juvenile-Justice System
SECTION 2
Crime
AMERICAN CRIMINAL-JUSTICE SYSTEM
Juvenile-Justice System

45. Juvenile-Justice System – used to punish offenders younger than age 18, developed in the 1960s
courts must now guarantee juveniles same legal rights and privileges as adult defendants
try to provide more services
can be tried as adults for serious offenses