Chapter 7: Deviance

Question 1

Deviance

Answer 1

The recognized violation of cultural norms.

Question 2

Crime

Answer 2

The violation of a society’s formally enacted criminal law.

Question 3

Social control

Answer 3

Attempts by society to regulate people’s thoughts and behavior

Question 4

Criminal justice system

Answer 4

The organizations- police, courts, and prison officials- that respond to alleged violations of the law

Question 5

Primary deviance

Answer 5

the violation of a norm or rule that does not result in the violator’s being stigmatized as deviant.

Question 6

Secondary deviance

Answer 6

deviant behavior that results from a stigmatized sense of self that aligns with society’s concept of a deviant.

Question 7

Stigma

Answer 7

A powerfully negative label that greatly changes a person’s self concept and social identity

Question 8

Retrospective labeling

Answer 8

Interpreting someone’s past in light of some present deviance

Question 9

White collar crime

Answer 9

Crime committed by people of high social position in the course of their occupations

Question 10

Corporate crime

Answer 10

The illegal actions of a corporation or people acting on its behalf

Question 11

Organized crime

Answer 11

A business supplying illegal goods or services

Question 12

Hate crime

Answer 12

A criminal act against a person or a person’s property by an offender motivated by racial or other bias

Question 13

Due process

Answer 13

The criminal justice system must operate according to law

Question 14

Retribution

Answer 14

An act of moral vengeance by which society makes the offender suffer as much as the suffering caused by the crime

Question 15

Deterrence

Answer 15

The attempt to discourage criminality through the use of punishment

Question 16

Rehabilitation

Answer 16

A program for reforming the offender to prevent later offenses

Question 17

Criminal recidivism

Answer 17

Later offenses by people previously convicted of crimes

Question 18

Shock probation

Answer 18

is the policy by which a judge orders a convicted offender to prison for a short time then suspends the remainder of the sentence in favor of probation.

Question 19

Community based corrections

Answer 19

Correctional programs operating within society at large rather than behind prison walls

Question 20

What are the social functions of deviance?

Answer 20

1. Deviance varies according to cultural norms
2. People become deviant as others define them that way
3. How society set norms and how they define rule breaking both involve social power

Question 21

What is Durkheim’s explanation for deviance? According to Durkheim, what are the four functions of deviance? What is Robert Merton string theory of deviance? Explain the process of deviance Merton identifies

Answer 21

Durkheim’s explanation for deviance is there is nothing abnormal about deviance
4 Functions of Deviance:
1. Deviance affirms cultural values and norms
2. Respond to deviance clarifies moral boundaries
3. Responding to deviants brings people together
4. Deviance encourage social change
Robert Merton’s strain theory of Deviance: Society can be set up in a way that encourages too much deviance
The processes of deviance Martin identifies is they extend into deviance people engage and depend on whether a society provides the means to achieve cultural goals

Question 22

What is the labeling theory of deviance (and what is the basic idea behind labeling theory)? What is Thomaz Szaz’s controversial view on deviance? What does the medicalization mean? Be able to give examples of the medicalization of deviance. How does transforming deviance from a moral and legal condition into a medical condition affect responses to deviance and perceptions of the “deviant” person? What is differential association theory? What is control theory?

Answer 22

Labeling theory of deviance: The idea that deviance and conformity result not so much from what people do as from how others respond to those actions; Thomas Szaz’s controversial view on deviance is that people are to quick to apply the label of mental illness to conditions that simply amount difference we don’t like.;
Medicalization of deviance: is the transformation of moral and legal deviance into a medical condition.
Examples: Moral terms: good or bad
Scientific objectives: sick or well; Transforming deviance from a moral and legal condition affects responses to deviance and perceptions of the “deviant” person is a moral issue defines deviants as offenders subject to punishment. Legal issues affects who responds to deviance.; Differential association theory is a process that takes place in groups;

Question 23

According to the social conflict approach what is the labeling of deviance based on? According to Alexander Liazos, what behaviors and which people are most likely to be labeled deviant and why? According to Spitzer who tends to be the prime targets for deviant labeling and why? According to Edwin Sutherland, how is white-collar crime usually resolved and how was this time a social conflict approach?

Answer 23

The social conflict approach links deviance a social inequality; Alexander Liazos the people that are more likely to be labeled deviant is the people who threaten the wealthy are likely to be labeled deviant; The behaviors are for taking people’s property or getting advocating a more egalitarian society; Spitzer says the people who are the prime targets for being deviant labeled is people who interfere with the operation of capitalism; Sutherland says white-collar crime is usually resolved by use their powerful offices to literally enrich themselves and others often cause insignificant public harm in the process

Question 24

According to the feminist theory how does gender figure into the study of deviance? Who commits more crime men or women?

Answer 24

Gender figures into the study of deviance by it defines cultural goals in terms of financial success; The gender who commits more crimes is men

Question 25

What are crimes against the person, what crimes are included in this category? What are crimes against property, what crimes are included in this category?; According to figure 7 to which crime is most common in recent years? What are victimless crimes and what are examples? Why is prostitution considered a victimless crime? What do the following mean? (Know how they are different from each other) homicide, aggravated assaults, forcible rape, robbery, burglary, larceny, auto theft and arson; From where does the Federal Bureau of Investigation gather it’s criminal statistics?; What is victimization surveys and what do they suggest is about the actual amount of crime in United States?

Answer 25

Crimes against the person is crimes that direct violence or the threat of violence against others; Crimes included in this category are murder and manslaughter; According to figure 7-2 the crime that is most recent in recent years is all violent crimes; Victimless crimes are violation of law in which there are no obvious victims; Examples are when young people steal to support a drug habit; Prostitution is considered a victimless crime because there is no obvious victim; Homicide is the deliberate and unlawful killing of one person by another; Aggravated assault: attempt to cause serious bodily injury to another; Forcible rape: the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will; Robbery: taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care custody or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and or putting the victim in fear; Burglary: The unlawful entry of the structure to commit a serious crime or a theft; Larceny: The unlawful taking carrying leading or riding away of property from the possession of another; Auto theft: The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle; Arson: any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn the personal property of another; The Federal Bureau of investigation gathers it’s criminal statistics by asking a representative sample of people if they have any experience with crime.;
Crimes against the person: crimes that direct violence or the threat of violence against others (murder and manslaughter, aggravated assault, forcible rape,and robbery)
Crimes against property: crimes that involve theft of property belonging to others (burglary, larceny-theft, auto theft and arson)
Victimless crimes: violation of law in which there are no obvious victims( illegal drug use, prostitution, and gambling)
Victimization surveys: ask a representative sample of people if they have had any experience with crime They suggest about the actual a lot of crime United States is The actual number of serious crimes was more than twice as high as police reports indicated

Question 26

Who is more likely to commit crime in terms of gender, age, social class, and race? What are possible reasons suggested by your text for the correlation between social class and crime and between race and crime? According to Elliott Currie what factors explain the high crime rate in the US?

Answer 26

Gender: Men are arrested almost twice as often as women of all property crimes.

Age: People between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four accounted 38.1% of all arrests for violent crimes.

Social Class: Street crime is more widespread among people of lower social divisions.

Race: 69.2% of arrests for the FBI crimes in 2011 involved white people

The correlation between social class and crime is it depends on the type of crime.

The correlation between race and crime is race in the United States closely relates to social standing.

Elliott Currie explains that the factors that explain the high crime rate in the U.S from our culture’s emphasis on individual economic success.

Question 27

What does the concept of due process refer to? Throughout history what is the oldest justification for punishing an offender? What are the advantages of community-based corrections?

Answer 27

The concept of due process refers to law; The oldest justification for punishing an offender is retribution (an act of moral vengeance by which society makes a vendor suffer as much as the suffering caused by the crime); The advantages of community-based corrections are do you reduce costs reduce overcrowding in prisons and allow for supervision of convicts while eliminating the hardships of prison life and the stigma that accompanies going to jail