Crime and Deviance: Social Order/ Social Control Flashcards
What is a crime?
A behaviour which breaks laws and is punished by the legal system.
What is deviance?
A behaviour which goes against the norms, values and expectations of a social group or society.
Comparing crime and deviance:
Crime is mostly deviant, but not all deviance is criminal.
Causes of crime and deviance:
- Offenders social background.
- Upbringing, Social position.
- Inadequate socialisation, poverty.
The way society reacts to crime and deviance:
- Labelling Offenders.
- Treating them differently.
How/why some acts are defined as a crime:
- Power to make and enforce the law.
- Criminalise threats to the interests of the powerful.
- Punishment avoidance.
How are crime and deviance socially constructed?
They are created by social processes, rather than simply occuring naturally as a result they vary culturally and historically.
How does crime vary historically?
It was a crime to be homosexual before 1967 because it was illegal.
How does deviance vary historically?
It used to be viewed as deviant if a woman was wearing a skirt above her ankles in Victorian England.
How does crime vary culturally?
Polygamy is illegal in the UK, but in many other countries it is legal.
How does deviance vary culturally?
in the United States, Americans do not generally impose time-based restrictions on speech. However, in the Christ Desert Monastery, specific rules govern determine when residents can and cannot speak, and speech is banned between 7:30 pm and 4:00 am.
How do cultural norms influence deviance?
Cultural norms are relative making deviance relative also.
How are crime and deviance situation dependent?
They depend on the context of the interaction. For example, it is not deviant to swear at your mates but swearing at a teacher in school breaks norms, values, and expectations.
Plummer (1979)
Made a distinction between situational dependence and societal dependence.
Societal Deviance Plummer (1979)
Refers to acts which are seen by most members of society as deviant in most situations. E.g public exposure.
Situational Deviance - Plummer (1979)
Refers to acts which are only defined as deviant in particular contexts. E.g. Being naked at home versus in public.
What is Social control?
Refers to the various methods that are used to persuade or force individuals to conform to the dominant social norms and values of a society or group.
How does Social Control happen?
Socialisation
What is the aim of Social Control?
To avoid society collapsing into chaos and disorder and to maintain social order.
What is Social Order?
A relatively stable society in which people generally comply with social norms and values.
What are sanctions?
Rewards and punishments that reinforce social norms.
Formal Sanctions
Carried out by an official agency e.g. fine for speeding.
Informal Sanctions
Carried out by the public e.g. a pat on the back.
Negative Sanctions
A punishment for deviating from the norm e.g community service for stealing.
Positive Sanctions
A reward for conforming to the norm e.g. OBE.
List ways in which Crime and Deviance are socially constructed:
- Culturally
- Historically
- Situationally
Social Solidarity
Agreement among society’s members about what values are important, a shared culture.
Value Consensus
The integration of people into society through shared values, a common culture, shared understandings and social ties that bind them together.
Socialisation
The process of learning the culture of any society.
Anomie
A sense of normlessness - confusion and uncertainty over social norms - often found in periods of rapid social change and other disruptions of routines and traditions of everyday life. e.g. death of the Queen.
How does Functionalism see society?
- As based on value consensus; members of society sharing a common culture.
- They share the same norms, values, beliefs and goals. Sharing the same culture produces social solidarity; it binds individuals together, tells them what to strive for and how to conduct themselves.
How does society attempt to achieve solidarity?
- Socialisation
- Social Control
