chapter twelve Flashcards
victimization
the targeting of an individual or group for subjection to crime, unfair treatment, or another wrong
criminal victimization
the targeting of an individual or group for subjection to a crime, for example, a homicide, assault, robbery, fraud, or theft
victimization in society
- societies where victimization is more likely to occur are unpleasant places to live for everyone
- different populations in Canada are uniquely vulnerable to certain types of criminal victimization
- sometimes, the official (and unofficial) law enforcers contribute to victimization
correlated if crime
- age
- gender
- ethno-racial background
- socioeconomic status
- spatial location
maturational reform
- the idea that which age, we are less likely to commit crime or engage in deviant behaviour
- this can be due too:
- physiological limitation
- jobs, marriages and children are incentives to conform
- people come to depend on us (social bonds)
- more socially responsible as we age out of youth
age and victimization
- young people are often more likely to become victims of crime because:
- vulnerable and have fewer resources to protect themselves
- likely to be victimized by other young people, who have less “stake in conformity” than older people
- poorer judgment about the dangers of what they are doing as well as the consequences; they also have less understanding about what’s going on in the world
gender and victimization
- men are more likely to become criminally engaged compared to women
- men are more likely to be victims of violent crimes such as homicide
- men make up 99% of the accused in sexual assault of women/girls and 93% of men /boys
gender socialization
- we encourage boys to be high-risk taking and emphasizes that the same behaviour is not acceptable in women
- we socialize men to be aggressive and assertive (macho culture)
- women are characterized as more nurturing, and by emphasizing sexual virtue & female beauty
- families more strictly monitor young girls
- women have more sexual currency and can rely upon sex rather than other crimes
ethno-racial background and crime
- data suggests that some minority groups are overrepresented in police-reported crime statistics
- overrepresentation is believed to exist in all western societies
- black Canadians and Indigenous peoples are frequently overrepresented
radicalized canadians and hate crimes
- hate-motivated crimes are increasing in Canada
- nearly half of all hate-motivated crimes in 2017 resulted from the hatred of a person’s race or ethnicity
- hate-motivated crimes against the Black Canadians are the most common
hate-motivated crime
any crime motivated by prejudice or hate based on race, ethnicity, language, colour, religion, sexual orientation, or age
racial profiling
- any action taken for reasons of public safety that relies on stereotypes of a group, rather than on a reasonable suspicion, to single out individuals for different treatment
- a type of victimization that is perpetrated by our system
- racial profiling is to blame for the over-penalized of racialized populations
missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls
- Indigenous women and girls are overrepresented in homicide and disappearance statistics, often due to structural racism
- victim blaming, lack of police protection, widespread societal racism. and lack of will to seek change are factors of structural racism
economic marginalization
where individuals or groups are systematically excluded from or denied equal access to economic opportunities, resources, and the benefits of the economy
institutional marginalization
the systematic exclusion and disadvantage of certain groups within societal structures, particularly in areas like education, healthcare, and employment
sociological theories of criminal behaviour
- functionalism theory: strain theory
- conflict theory: instrumental vs. structural marxism
- symbolic interactionism: claims-making process & labelling theory
strain theory
- robert merton
- deviance increases when the social structure prevents people from achieving culturally-defined goals through legitimate means
- this strain creates various types of deviance including innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion
- many of us won’t achieve the “good life” without illegitimate means such as stealing, crime/gang life, exploitation etc
conflict theory
- conflict theories focus on the unequal distribution of wealth and power and study the ways people respond to inequality by breaking rules
- we can’t be surprised if people go through non-conventional avenues when unequal distribution of wealth and resources is prevalent throughout life
- explain deviance in reference to social and political factors; those in power define what is deviant and have the means to enforce measures of social control
Karl marx - conflict theory of crime
- workers/unemployed lack commitment to existing social order owing to its exploitive nature
- if you don’t trust the institutions and see the injustice, why would you do what society wants
instrumental marxism - conflict theory
- suggestion that politicians are a instrument of corporations
- people with money control politics
- they are tools used by the capitalist class to maintain their power and interests, rather than acting in the interests of all citizens
structural marxism - conflict theory
- opposes instrumental Marxist assumption that the state is the direct servant of the ruling class and instead says that politicians have their own agenda
- corporations are their to make money, politicians are there to protect the interests of the nation
- argues that state institutions function in the long-term interests of capitalism; to reproduce capitalist society
- the state and its institutions have a certain degree of independence from specific elites in the capitalist class (relative autonomy)
labelling theory
- Edwin Lemert stated that a deviance label may result in deviance amplification
- the government and the criminal justice system is criminogenic because they apply the deviant label which creates deviance
- identified two forms of deviance:
- primary
- secondary
- primary deviance moves into secondary deviance due to the societal response
primary deviance
- owing to deviant behaviour
- the initial, often minor, acts of rule-breaking or norm violation
- doesn’t necessarily impact our identity
secondary deviance
deviant behavior that results from an individual internalizing a deviant label and adopting it as part of their identity
