225-T6 - Interactionist Theories of Criminology Flashcards
What is the main concept of interactionist theory?
the deviant career
What are the 3 steps in the process of sybolic interactionism?
- A meaning to an object forms from interactions with other people
- Meanings are applied to objects and are occasionally modified
- people act according to the objects in their lives and their meanings
what is “deviance” under symbolic interactionism?
“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
what does interactionist theory explain about law and crime in terms of moral rules?
- the establishment of moral rules
- the application of moral rules via labelling
- the long-term consequences of moral rule-making and breaking for deviants and society
What four things can characterize deviant careers?
- Turning points (big moments in deviance)
- A sence of continuity
- perception of increasing opportunities
- Increased sophistication and possibly recognition by peers
What is a deviant career?
stages of personal involvement in criminal acivity
What are the two stages of deviation?
who developed them?
- primary (deviance is a hobby)
- secondary (deviance is a career)
Lemert, 1972
What does Matza (1990) say about young offender’s in their involvement with crime?
Attraction to certain marginal, masculine, and subterranean traditions.
Why do people deviate (criminally)?
- weak commitment to conventional norms
- a few young people have a strong value commitment to deviance
what are moral rhetorics and why are they used?
Moral rhetorics are used to justify deviant behaviour.
They are used to neutralize the stigma associated with deviance.
Stigma
personal characteristics negatively assigned and valued by others
allows people to mentally classify other people as an undesirable, rejected stereotype
Who studied stigma?
Erving Goffman
Three types of stigma
- stigma associated with mental illness
- stigma associated with physical deformation
- stigma associated with a particular race, ethnicity, religion, ideology, etc.
Agents of Social Control
involved with making law and order
e.g. police, judges, parole officers, other CJS members, and some ordinary citizens
Moral Entrepreneurs
Individuals who define/advocate new rules or laws or changing the enforcement of existing laws.
What does it mean to drift in behaviour?
The shift between conventional and deviant behaviour
What is the primary focus of crime prevention in terms of primary and secondary deviance?
Intervention should be presented to youths before their anti-social behaviour (primary deviation) turns into delinquet and criminal behaviours (secondary deviation)
Difference between secondary deviation and master status
Secondary deviation is a reflection of te way of living of an individual,
Master status is the label put onto someone by society
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?
Todd, because he becomes part of a deviant group, and would have an easier time being a deviant.
Career Contingency
an unintended event/situation that can affect the deviant career
e.g. interaction with agen of social control, e.g. being arrested
Continuance commitment
The awareness of commiting to the deviant career because of the penalties in going back to a non-deviant career
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?
- Structural (from community) - inability to get a job because of criminal record
- Personal (from personal attitudes and sense of self) - e.g. pride
Self-enhancing commitment
when a person is attached to their deviant activities and are unmotivated to leave this lifestyle
Self-degrading commitment
some refine the values and penalities assocaited with their identity and get attached to this.
How do moral entrepreneus construct “claim-making activities”?
- asserting the existence of a situation
- defining a situation as undesirable, but amenable to correction
- stimulating public scrutiny of the situation
What are the critiques behind mora entrepreneurs’ claim-making activities?
- quasi theories
- not based on empirical evidence
- overly simplistic, sometimes racist
Explain the actions of William Lyon MacKenzie as a moral entrepreneur
he criminalized opium and heroin
Explain the actions of the Temperence Movement as a moral entrepreneur
This movement culminated in the prohibition of liquor in the US in the 1920s
Explain the actions of Mothers Against Drunk Drives as moral entrepreneurs
drinking and driving stigma and laws
What are some examples of stereotypes in US and Canada? (4)
- Chinese-Canadians - stereotyped as using opium to “subvert” white society and use white girls
- Italian Immigrants - organized crime
- Mexican Immigrants - drug cartels and criminal trade
- African Canadians - drug dealers and gang-bangers
What are some way stereotypes contributed to criminal laws? Explain in terms of:
- Muslims
- Chinese and Mexican Minority Groups
- “Street” crimes and socially marginalized individuals
- Mentally Ill
- Drug Users
- Gangs
- Terrorism laws and perpetrating stereotypes and islamaphobia
- Heroin and marijuana criminal laws
- tough-on-crime laws (focusing on street crimes)
- Federal Conservatives’ Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act
- Federal Conservatives’ shutting down of safe injection sites
- Local groups are stigmatized due to the presence of their racial group’s famous gangs.
What is the general process of differential association?
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.
Who developed ideas of differential association?
Sutherland
What are some of the strengths of differential association theory and their explanations in criminality
- 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
Think about differential association theory and its process.
What are some critiques of differential association theory?
- motives and meanings are gradually learned, and can be influenced by interactions with non-deviants as well
- expressive reasons for committing crime (thrill, enjoyment) are ignored
- hard to operationalize
labelling theory
when authorities and other members of society impose labels on people, they act accordingly.
this includes if the label was related to crime/deviance
Criminal identity
who labels criminal identity?
a social category into which deviants are placed by others and into which they may place themselves
what are the two sides of labelling?
- being based on the interlocking critieria of the individual (e.g. actions, appearance, location)
- community identification
What issues is labelling theory highlighting?
- 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
the neo-marxist critiques of labelling theory (2)
- does not take into account larger society influences (history, politics, economics)
- fails to examine the division between powerful and powerless
the empiricist critiques of labelling theory (3)
- ignores non-labelled deviants
- not well conceptualized as a cause of deviance
- lacks testable hypotheses