Chapter 4: Crime & Social Control Flashcards
Define and distinguish between deviance and crime
Deviance: behavior that violates widely held cultural norms;
Crime: behavior that violates a society’s formally enacted criminal law
Is deviance universal?
No; deviance is defined culturally and thus varies significantly across the globe.
Explain Merton’s strain theory.
Two assumptions - Every society has (1) culturally defined success goals (such as “get rich” in the U.S.), and (2) legitimate means of attaining goals (such as getting an education);
High rates of deviance & crime result when the legitimate means of attaining goals are not equally available to all groups. Those who do not have access to legitimate means are predicted to turn to illegitimate ones in pursuit of cultural goals.
What do the terms “conformist” and “innovator” refer to for Merton’s strain theory?
Conformist - accepts the cultural goals and has access to legitimate means;
Innovator - accepts the cultural goals but lacks access to legitimate means. Innovators are the persons expected to pursue crime and deviance.
How do subcultural theories explain crime?
Subcultural theories are a set of theories arguing that certain groups or subcultures in society have values and attitudes that are conducive to crime and violence.
Explain Travis Hirschi’s social control theory.
Social control theory assumes that we are all born with motivations to be deviant/criminal. To prevent people from acting on these inborn impulses, society must foster bonds between individuals and society. Four bonds can be created:
Attachment - Warm bonds with others (parents, teachers, peers, etc.);
Commitment - One’s dedication to conventional, non-deviant activities;
Involvement - Amount of time spent pursuing conventional, non-deviant activities;
Belief - Respect for society’s core rules and laws (having a conscience);
These bonds give people “stakes in conformity.” People are less likely to behave criminally if they risk losing these bonds to society.
What do sociologists who use the conflict perspective expect to see when it comes to crime and deviance?
They are concerned with how inequality impacts the criminal justice system. They expect to see a system that reflects group conflict and benefits the most powerful groups in society.
Explain labeling theory as it applies to crime.
The logic of labeling theory - Perceiving a deviant act leads to labeling the deviant. Labeling the deviant (and internalizing the label) leads to recidivism.
Put differently, if someone is labeled and treated consistently with that label over time, that person may integrate that label into their self-concept and then behave in a manner consistent with that label as it is now a part of who they are.
Define primary and secondary deviance. Which is the focus of labeling theory?
Primary – The first time a person violates a given law; Secondary – More frequent/more severe deviance caused by a person’s new “deviant” self-image
How does differential association theory explain criminal behavior?
Criminal behavior is learned behavior. Learning criminal behaviors and attitudes that support such behaviors is most likely to occur among primary groups. Thus, the more people with such skills and attitudes in one’s primary groups, the more likely they will adopt such behavior and attitudes.
According to McCollister and colleagues (2010), what are the tangible and intangible costs that crimes impress upon society?
Tangible -
Victim costs: medical expenses, lost wages, property damage, risk of homicide, etc.
Criminal justice system costs: police protection, legal costs, corrections costs.
Crime career costs: productivity loses over the course of a career;
Intangible costs -
Pain & Suffering: subjective determination often by a jury dependent upon type of injury (Jury Compensation Approach).
Corrected risk of homicide: beyond the tangible costs of lost productivity, added subjective value to loss of life
What are the 3 reasons that criminal justice policies today are trending towards emphasizing rehabilitation rather than incapacitation?
1) research indicates that incarceration may not deter crime.
2) Second is the accusation that strict punishments are not equally applied.
3) keeping citizens incarcerated is increasingly expensive
The theories discussed suggest four ways that criminal justice policies can cut down on crime; what are they?
- Reducing “structural strain” (as described in Merton’s theory);
- Fixing the imbalance in how poor and rich criminals are treated;
- Mitigating the effects of stigmatizing labels;
- Increasing the personal “costs” of deviance (social controls)
