Ch 13. Interactionist Theories of Crime

Question 1

Interactionism centers on what happens to criminals once their deviant activities commence. Some groups or individuals have the power to force the deviant label on the less powerful. Thus, deviance is not a quality of an act, but a label. what is this an explanation of?

Answer 1

“The Deviant Career” for Symbolic Interactionalist

Question 1

1. People act according to objects in their lives and the meanings those objects have for them
2. These meaning emerge from interactions among people
3. Meanings are applied and occasionally modified

Answer 1

Three Basic Premises of Symbolic Interactionism

Question 2

how do some deviants escape public detection?

how have some deviated and not been labeled as such?

Answer 2

questions that interactionists ask about deviant career

Question 3

Everyone has been involved in deviant/criminal behaviour. What makes certain people stay? Deviant careers are also characterized by the following (4):

Answer 3

• turning points (early onset of delinquency)
• a sense of continuity
• perception of increasing opportunities
• increased sophistication and possibly recognition by peers

Question 4

Primary Deviance vs Secondary Deviance

Answer 4

Primary Deviance occurs when an individual commits deviant acts but fails to adopt a primary self-identity as a deviant while

Secondary Deviance occurs when an individual accepts the label of deviant. The result is the adoption of a deviant self-identity that confirms and stabilizes the deviant lifestyle.

Accusations of deviance are the most influential factor in redefition

Question 5

people who are willing to engage in deviance have a weak commitment to…

Answer 5

…conventional norms and identities. (ex. keeping the rules have worked to their disadvantage)

Question 6

What are two things that keep people from deviant careers?

Answer 6

1. Agents of Social Control: police, judges, CJS members,
2. Moral Entrepreneurs: individuals who define/advocate new rules/laws or the different enforcement of the existing laws

Question 7

Claims and assertions are used to justify one’s deviant behaviour. They are used to neutralize the stigma (personal characteristics negatively valued by others) associated with deviance.

Answer 7

Moral Rhetorics
(sometimes the rhetoric and reality doesn’t match)

Question 8

Secondary deviance occurs when the deviant label because someone’s…

Answer 8

…master status, which is when society considers someone’s criminality as their defining characteristic, leading to a deviant career

Question 9

when individuals take on secondary deviation and find others who share similar experiences they become a…

Answer 9

…subculture, where they learn how to cope with the problems associated with their deviance.

Question 10

1. assert existence of situation involving human activity + care
2. define it as undesirable but amendable to correction
3. stimulate public scrutiny of the situation

Answer 10

Moral Entrepreneurs “Claim Making” Activities

Question 11

an unintended event or situation that occurs by chance that establish the course of a deviant career

Answer 11

career contingency (happens in secondary deviance)

Question 12

a theory that explains how people learn to be criminals through interaction with other criminals, and how they acquire a criminal identity

Answer 12

Differential Association Theory

Question 13

a category in differential association theory into which deviants are placed by others and place themselves through internalization

Answer 13

Criminal Identity

Question 14

the two sides of labelling

Answer 14

1. based on a variety of criteria (appearances, associates, actions)
2. community identification of people tends to be highly pervasive, even for deviants themselves

Question 15

(differential association theory) crime is a learned behavior through ??? and occurs ????

Answer 15

learned through interaction, and occurs in small groups

Question 16

(differential association theory) claims that all behaviour, values, and norms are learned and criminals learn ???(4) and disregard???

Answer 16

learn 1. techniques 2. motives 3. attitudes 4 rationalization and disregard legal community

Question 17

1. does not consider structural barriers
2. may not address WHY people commit crime in the first place
3. what about non-labeled deviants?

Answer 17

weaknesses of interactionist theories of crime