225-T6 - Interactionist Theories of Criminology

Question 1

What is the main concept of interactionist theory?

Answer 1

the deviant career

Question 2

What are the 3 steps in the process of sybolic interactionism?

Answer 2

1. A meaning to an object forms from interactions with other people
2. Meanings are applied to objects and are occasionally modified
3. people act according to the objects in their lives and their meanings

Question 3

what is “deviance” under symbolic interactionism?

Answer 3

“deviance” is what society names as deviant. it is based on consensus, or when a group/individual puts a label on it

e.g. parent says tattoos are bad, government says stealing is illegal

Question 4

what does interactionist theory explain about law and crime in terms of moral rules?

Answer 4

1. the establishment of moral rules
2. the application of moral rules via labelling
3. the long-term consequences of moral rule-making and breaking for deviants and society

Question 5

What four things can characterize deviant careers?

Answer 5

1. Turning points (big moments in deviance)
2. A sence of continuity
3. perception of increasing opportunities
4. Increased sophistication and possibly recognition by peers

Question 6

What is a deviant career?

Answer 6

stages of personal involvement in criminal acivity

Question 7

What are the two stages of deviation?

who developed them?

Answer 7

1. primary (deviance is a hobby)
2. secondary (deviance is a career)

Lemert, 1972

Question 8

What does Matza (1990) say about young offender’s in their involvement with crime?

Answer 8

Attraction to certain marginal, masculine, and subterranean traditions.

Question 9

Why do people deviate (criminally)?

Answer 9

• weak commitment to conventional norms
• a few young people have a strong value commitment to deviance

Question 10

what are moral rhetorics and why are they used?

Answer 10

Moral rhetorics are used to justify deviant behaviour.

They are used to neutralize the stigma associated with deviance.

Question 11

Stigma

Answer 11

personal characteristics negatively assigned and valued by others

allows people to mentally classify other people as an undesirable, rejected stereotype

Question 12

Who studied stigma?

Answer 12

Erving Goffman

Question 13

Three types of stigma

Answer 13

1. stigma associated with mental illness
2. stigma associated with physical deformation
3. stigma associated with a particular race, ethnicity, religion, ideology, etc.

Question 14

Agents of Social Control

Answer 14

involved with making law and order

e.g. police, judges, parole officers, other CJS members, and some ordinary citizens

Question 15

Moral Entrepreneurs

Answer 15

Individuals who define/advocate new rules or laws or changing the enforcement of existing laws.

Question 16

What does it mean to drift in behaviour?

Answer 16

The shift between conventional and deviant behaviour

Question 17

What is the primary focus of crime prevention in terms of primary and secondary deviance?

Answer 17

Intervention should be presented to youths before their anti-social behaviour (primary deviation) turns into delinquet and criminal behaviours (secondary deviation)

Question 18

Difference between secondary deviation and master status

Answer 18

Secondary deviation is a reflection of te way of living of an individual,

Master status is the label put onto someone by society

Question 19

John and Todd both were occasional shoplifters when they were 12-15. When they were 16, John moved away and joined a gang in New York, while Todd continued to shoplift in Denver. Who is more likely to move into secondary deviance? Why?

Answer 19

Todd, because he becomes part of a deviant group, and would have an easier time being a deviant.

Question 20

Career Contingency

Answer 20

an unintended event/situation that can affect the deviant career

e.g. interaction with agen of social control, e.g. being arrested

Question 21

Continuance commitment

Answer 21

The awareness of commiting to the deviant career because of the penalties in going back to a non-deviant career

Question 22

What are the two types of penalties that could influence a continuance commitment to a deviant career?

What are some examples of these two penalties?

Answer 22

1. Structural (from community) - inability to get a job because of criminal record
2. Personal (from personal attitudes and sense of self) - e.g. pride

Question 23

Self-enhancing commitment

Answer 23

when a person is attached to their deviant activities and are unmotivated to leave this lifestyle

Question 24

Self-degrading commitment

Answer 24

some refine the values and penalities assocaited with their identity and get attached to this.

Question 25

How do moral entrepreneus construct "claim-making activities"?

Answer 25

1. asserting the existence of a situation 2. defining a situation as undesirable, but amenable to correction 3. stimulating public scrutiny of the situation

Question 26

What are the critiques behind mora entrepreneurs' claim-making activities?

Answer 26

- quasi theories - not based on empirical evidence - overly simplistic, sometimes racist

Question 27

Explain the actions of William Lyon MacKenzie as a moral entrepreneur

Answer 27

he criminalized opium and heroin

Question 28

Explain the actions of the Temperence Movement as a moral entrepreneur

Answer 28

This movement culminated in the prohibition of liquor in the US in the 1920s

Question 29

Explain the actions of Mothers Against Drunk Drives as moral entrepreneurs

Answer 29

drinking and driving stigma and laws

Question 30

What are some examples of stereotypes in US and Canada? (4)

Answer 30

1. Chinese-Canadians - stereotyped as using opium to "subvert" white society and use white girls 2. Italian Immigrants - organized crime 3. Mexican Immigrants - drug cartels and criminal trade 4. African Canadians - drug dealers and gang-bangers

Question 31

What are some way stereotypes contributed to criminal laws? Explain in terms of: 1. Muslims 2. Chinese and Mexican Minority Groups 3. "Street" crimes and socially marginalized individuals 4. Mentally Ill 5. Drug Users 6. Gangs

Answer 31

1. Terrorism laws and perpetrating stereotypes and islamaphobia 2. Heroin and marijuana criminal laws 3. tough-on-crime laws (focusing on street crimes) 4. Federal Conservatives' Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act 5. Federal Conservatives' shutting down of safe injection sites 6. Local groups are stigmatized due to the presence of their racial group's famous gangs.

Question 32

What is the general process of differential association?

Answer 32

People **learn** to engage in crime through interaction and later **association** with a criminal group. In this association, they learn the group's motives, attitudes, and rationalizations, **conducting their crimninal behaviour as a response to the needs and values of the group**.

Question 33

Who developed ideas of differential association?

Answer 33

Sutherland

Question 34

What are some of the strengths of differential association theory and their explanations in criminality

Answer 34

- it could explain the behaviour/motives/attitues of techniques by tying it into the associating groups' values - it highlights the importance of relationships/ties to deviant peers

Question 35

# Think about differential association theory and its process. What are some critiques of differential association theory?

Answer 35

1. motives and meanings are gradually learned, and can be influenced by interactions with non-deviants as well 2. expressive reasons for committing crime (thrill, enjoyment) are ignored 3. hard to operationalize

Question 36

labelling theory

Answer 36

when authorities and other members of society impose labels on people, they act accordingly. | this includes if the label was related to crime/deviance

Question 37

Criminal identity | who labels criminal identity?

Answer 37

a social category into which deviants are placed by others and into which they may place themselves

Question 38

what are the two sides of labelling?

Answer 38

1. being based on the interlocking critieria of the individual (e.g. actions, appearance, location) 2. community identification

Question 39

What issues is labelling theory highlighting?

Answer 39

- difficulties in reintegration to broader community after being labelled - putting youth at risk with labels - shows that deviant career is a process involved by everyone

Question 40

the neo-marxist critiques of labelling theory (2)

Answer 40

- does not take into account larger society influences (history, politics, economics) - fails to examine the division between powerful and powerless

Question 41

the empiricist critiques of labelling theory (3)

Answer 41

1. ignores non-labelled deviants 2. not well conceptualized as a **cause** of deviance 3. lacks testable hypotheses