C3 Theories of Crime and Deviance Flashcards
Master status
a status that becomes so important by society it overrides all othet statuses and becomes part of a person’s sense of self/self-identity
Becker - Social construction of deviance
Social groups create deviance by creating rules and applying them to particular people they label “outsiders”.
An act or a person only becomes deviant once labelled.
Moral Entrepreneurs
people who lead a moral ‘crusade’ to change the law
Social factors that may affect whether an act is seen as deviant or not
Place - Nakedness acceptable in bathroom but not while shopping
Social situation - killing acceptable in war, but not otherwise
Cultute: Alcohol abuse tolerated in Western cultutre and illegal in Saudi Arabia
History - Bear-baiting and cock fighting were popular pastimes until outlawed in England and Wales in 1835
Who commits the action: Violent behaviour is sometimes tolerated if committed by men but less so by women
Differential Enforcement
Not everyone who commits offence punished as agencies of social control label certain groups criminal.
Cicourel - Typifications and Negotiation of Justice
Police use stereotypes of ‘typical deviant’ and judges use images of typical delinquents.MC delinquents committing same crimes get off lighter with help of parents’ cultural capital than WC as judges interpreted behaviour as ‘one off incidents’ or ‘out of character’ behaviour’ but WC fitting stereotypes stopped, arrested, charged
Crime stats: topic, not resource to be trusted
WC fit police typifications > police patrol WC areas > more WC arrests
CRIME STATS DO NOT GIVE A VALID PICTURE OF CRIME PATTERNS - should not use as source of facts as product of differential enforcement but should treat as topic and investigate processes constructed
Lemert, Becker - Effects of labelling
societal reaction of labelling certain people as deviant encourages them to be more so - a ‘secondary deviance’
can provoke a crisis for sense of identity and solved by accepting deviant label > self fulfilling prophecy - lead to deviant career from accepting stigmatised social status
Primary deviance
acts not publicly labelled that are often trivial, uncaught but not part of organised deviant way of life and can be rationalised away - “moment of madness”
e.g fare dodging, driving 32mph in 30mph zone
Secondary deviance
societal public reaction of deviant labels involving stigmatising, shaming, humiliating or excluding from normal society - becomes master status of deviant
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Individual accepts deviant label and sees themselves as the world sees them
Deviant career
people become confirmed in a deviant career and accept negative or stigmatised social status, and may involve joining a deviant subculture offering deviant career opportunities
Deviance amplification spiral
media exaggeration and distortion create a moral panic which causes growing public concern
