Crime & Deviance Flashcards
Outline Reiman and Leighton’s (2013) view on crime
Media distorts the reality of crime, crime is typically white-collar, it is an “illusion in our society”
Define deviance
non-normative behaviour, a violation of a norm (causes a response)
Define crime
Breaking a law
Provide an example of something that is criminal, but not deviant
Speeding a little bit
Provide an example of something that is deviant, but not criminal
Having full-bodied tattoos or piercings
Define consensus crime
Crime that is very harmful and carries harsh sanctions
Define conflict crime
Crime with faces less agreement on its consequences and degree
Consensus and conflict crime; which Latin phrase goes with which?
“Mala in se” (or bad in itself) - consensus
“Mala prohibita” (or bad because it is illegal) - conflict
Define social deviance
Legal but stigmatized behaviour or actions
Define social diversion
How people appear to others
Compare formal and informal forms of control
Formal - control by state or institutions
Informal - control exerted by peers, socially
What is the most successful form of control?
Internalized self-control
Explain the “crime funnel”
Upside-down pyramid; 1) 100% - all crime (detected + undetected), 2) detected (reported + unreported), 3) reported (founded + unfounded), 4) founded, 5) crime taken to court (convicted + acquitted), and 6) < 10% - convicted
Define moral crusaders
People that believe there is a serious evil that exists in society and must be eliminated
Define what constitutes a moral panic
MUST have 1) concern (awareness a group may be harmful), 2) hostility (“us vs. them”), 3) consensus (large number of people), 4) disproportionality (exaggerated fear), and 5) volatility (arise and fade quickly)
Provide examples of moral panics
McCarthyism (“The Red Scare”), Satanic Panic, modern Trans Panic
Explain a pluralist’s view of law
Laws reflect what society views as important
Explain the conflict view of law
The bourgeoisie construct the law
Explain a postmodernists view on law
Society socially constructs the law, as in the media controls the image of crime
What explanation of law pairs with neo-Marxists?
The conflict approach
Explain strain theory
(extra: in 1950s); Suggests people behave defiantly when they are strained, “rising expectations and falling realizations”
Outline Robert Merton’s approach to strain theory
Defined types of people based on their “acceptance of cultural goals” and their “ability to achieve those goals”
What are the 5 types of people Merton described?
Conformity - accepts goals, can achieve them
Innovation - accepts goals, cannot achieve them
Ritualism - doesn’t accept goals, can achieve them
Retreatism - doesn’t accept goals, can’t achieve them
Rebellion - seeks to change goals and how people achieve them
Provide an example of the 5 types of people described by Merton
Conformity - average person
Innovation - one with too much ambition
Ritualism - people from rich families
Retreatism - mentally ill, or homeless people
Rebellion - activists, communists
Explain learning theory
People learn deviance the same way they learn other skills, usually involves “differential association” (influence of criminal kids on others)
Explain control theories
People engage in criminal and deviant activity because it is enjoyable, those who conform were taught self control
Explain labelling theory
People behave defiantly because they were defined by society as deviant, it is internalized, comes from an authority figure
