Ch. 11 Crime and Deviance

Question 1

What is Deviance?

Answer 1

Socially defined as such; ambiguous; varies with degrees.

Question 2

Central Concepts of Deviance

Answer 2

Any behaviour, belief, or condition that violates cultural norms in the society or group in which it occurs.
Can be understood to mean not only behaviour but also beliefs.

Question 3

Social Control

Answer 3

Systematic practices developed by social groups to encourage conformity and to discourage deviance.

Question 4

Socialization Aspects

Answer 4

Norms, values, belief systems, etc.

Question 5

Formal Sanctions

Answer 5

Through the criminal justice system.

Question 6

Crime

Answer 6

Is an act that violates criminal law and is punishable with fines, jail terms, and other sanctions.

Question 7

Juvenile Delinquency

Answer 7

Refers to a violation of the law by young people under the age of 18 (in Canada).

Question 8

Strain Theory

Answer 8

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. (Don’t have the means or resources)

Question 9

Opportunity Theory: illegitimate opportunity structures

Answer 9

Circumstances that provide an opportunity for people to acquire through illegitimate activities what they cannot get through legitimate channels.

Question 10

Delinquent subculture forms (3 forms)

Answer 10

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.

Question 11

Control Theory

Answer 11

Deviant behaviour is minimized when people have strong bonds that bind them to families, peers, religious organizations, and other institutions.

Question 12

Social Bond Theory

Answer 12

The probability of deviant behavior increases when a person’s ties to society are weakened or broken.

Question 13

Social Bonding Consists of:

Answer 13

-Attachment
-Commitment
-Involvement
-Belief

Question 14

Differential Association Theory

Answer 14

Individuals have a greater tendency to deviate from societal norms when they frequently associate with persons who favour deviance over conformity.

Question 15

Labelling Theory

Answer 15

Deviants are those people who have been successfully labelled as such by others; directly related to the power and status of those persons who do the labelling.

Question 16

Retrospective labelling

Answer 16

Labelling someone based on past behavior.

Question 17

Primary Deviance

Answer 17

The initial (1st) act of rule breaking.

Question 18

Secondary Deviance

Answer 18

Occurs when a person who has been labeled deviant accepts the new identity and continues the deviant behaviour.

Question 19

Moral Entrepreneurs

Answer 19

People who use their own views of right and wrong to establish rules and label others as deviant. (moral judgement)

Question 20

Moral Crusades

Answer 20

Public and media awareness campaigns that help generate public and political support for their causes.

Question 21

Conflict Perspectives

Answer 21

Lifestyles considered deviant by political and economic elites often are defined as illegal.
Who has the power to define, enforce, and punish crime and deviance?

Question 22

Feminist Perspective

Answer 22

Focus: to examine the relationship between gender, deviance, and crime.

Question 23

Liberal Feminism

Answer 23

Women’s deviance and crime as a rational response to oppression and discrimination.

Question 24

Radical Feminism

Answer 24

Patriarchy keeps women tied to family and home.

Question 25

How the Law Classifies Crime:

Answer 25

Indictable Offenses: Serious crimes.
Summary Conviction Offenses: Minor Offenses.

Question 26

How sociologists classify crime:

Answer 26

-Street crime
-Occupational and corporate crime
-organized crime
-political crime

Question 27

Street Crime

Answer 27

Includes all violent crime, certain property crime, and certain moral crimes.

Question 28

Occupational Crime

Answer 28

Consists of illegal activities committed by people in the course of their employment.

Question 29

Corporate Crime

Answer 29

Illegal acts committed by corporate employees on behalf of a corporation.
(costly damages)

Question 30

Organized Crime

Answer 30

A business operation that supplies illegal goods and services for profit.

Question 31

Political Crime

Answer 31

Illegal or unethical acts involving the misuse of power by government officials or unethical acts against the government by outsiders to make a political statement.

Question 32

Crime Studies

Answer 32

Most of our crime statistics come from the Canadian Uniform Crime Reports (CUCR)

Question 33

Weakness of official statistics

Answer 33

Reporting of crime is inconsistent from place and time, especially crimes committed in corporate levels.

Question 34

Victimization Surveys

Answer 34

Less than 42% of the victimizations reported by respondents had been reported to the police.

Question 35

The Criminal Justice System

Answer 35

They are the concrete extension of the State to provide for social order.
Includes: police, the courts, and the prisons.

Question 36

The Courts

Answer 36

They decide the guilt or innocence of those accused of committing a crime.
-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.

Question 37

Punishment

Answer 37

Any action designed to deprive a person of things to value (including liberty), because of some offence the person is thought to have committed.

Question 38

Functions of Prisons.

Answer 38

-Retribution: penalty on the offender.
-Social Protection: Imprisoned.
-Rehabilitation: return offenders to the community as law abiding citizens.
-Deterrence: seeks to reduce criminal activity.

Question 39

Restorative Justice

Answer 39

The focus of the justice system to repairing the harm that has been done to a victim and the community.
-Reconciliation

Question 40

Aboriginal Community Circle Sentencing

Answer 40

Bringing the offender, victim, and community together.

Question 41

Community Corrections

Answer 41

Shifts responsibility for corrections back to the community and minimizes the separation of the offender from society

Question 42

Deviance and Crime in the Future

Answer 42

The present system cannot solve the problem of crime and continued deviance.
Need more structural solutions: education, affordable housing, equality, and social openness.