Lecture 5: Deviance and Crime Flashcards
What norms are there?
- Folkways
- More (More-at)
- Taboo
What is a folkway?
Least severe of punishment when rule is violated
More (More-at)
core norm that most people is essential for societies/group survival
Taboo
strongest type of norm, harsh punishment when broken (aka revulsion)
Deviance criteria in breaking a norm
- time/place/culture-specific
- reflects power (not always)
- does NOT mean devious/bad/wrong
Harmless/no sanction criteria
- Informal
- Enforced through shaming, communal pressure
Severe punishment criteria
- formal
- enforced by laws
deviance that warrants negative sanctions criteria
- actions indicating disapproval
- informal punishments
- stigmatization
sanctions
- no-one noticing
- blaming someone else (scapegoat)
- glares + looks of disapproval
- butt of jokes
since deviant & criminal roles are learned …
actions of deviant + responses of others
labelling theory
our actions + responses from others
label meaning
judgements that we’re constantly and mutually recreating
stigma
type of negative label that has “gone toxic”
primary deviant
sense of deviance doesn’t negatively impact identity of sense of self
secondary deviant
- becomes part of identity and self worth
- manifest sense of shame/guilt/self-loathing/self-harm
deviance that goes against the law
- enforce by gov. bodies
- time/place/culture-specific
- reflect power
- followed by formal punishment in judicial system
concepts of crime and deviance (hogan)
(norm violations differentiated according to seriousness)
1. how harmful act was
2. agreement of how wrong action was
3. severity of punishment imposed on behaviour
moral panic
widespread fear that occurs when many people believe that a form of deviance or crime threatens society’s safety
who benefits from moral panic?
- mass media
- crime prevention and punishment
- criminal justice system
- politics
deviance: functionalist
deviance and crime are opportunities to establish 1. societal values
2. moral boundaries
3. increase social solidarity
4. allow for useful social change
dysfunctions: functionalist
insufficient opp. for success;
1. lead to strain results
2. find alternative + legit means of achieving goal
control theory
everyone would engage in deviance and crime if they knew they could get away with it
types of control
- attachment
- commitment
- values and beliefs
- activities
criteria of control theory
- set of ties bind young people to conventional world
- when ties are weak – deviance and crime occur
who created control theory?
Travis Hirschi
types of crimes
- street crime
- white-collar
Types of street crime
- robbery
- theft
what is robbery?
theft of property from another person through us of
1. threat
2. force
3. intimidation
do crime bc of said things above
what is theft?
- involves use of force
- punished severely bc life is in jeopardy
- the amount of force used & not value items determine level of punishment
difference between robbery and theft
robbery is considered property crime
theft is when force is used
white collar crime criteria
involves people from privileged background
Edwin Sutherland definition of white-collared
- “crime committed by a person of respectability + high status in course of occupation”
- crime committed on behalf of corporations
present definition of white-collared crime criteria
- includes all individuals
- middle class use market place for criminal activity, not just wealthy and powerful to commit crimes
- tax evasion and credit card fraud
feminist perspective and crime facts
- males more inclined in to crime and deviance (especially violent)
- deviant activities start earlier then later
- women and girls are becoming more violent (in gang activity) and is a growing problem
criteria of being a serial killer
2 or more victims over a long operate period of time
mass murder
large amount of death in small amount of time
characteristics of serial killers
- long history of violence in beginning of childhood
- maintain superficial relationships
- have trouble relating to the opposite sex
possible factors in being a serial killers
- mental illness
- sexual frustration
- neurological damage
- childhood abuse and neglect
- smothering relationships with mothers (sometimes fathers)
- childhood anxiety
how do sociologists view serial killers
- as sociopaths
- early childhood demonstrate bizarre behaviour (torturing animals, immune to victims suffering, enjoy media spotlight)
gender and crime: analysist
- female crime can be explained by concepts and theories used to explain male wrong-doings
- feminist ideas are more likely to argue for gender-specific theories (crime and deviance)
race and crime: analysis
controversial correlation
1. indigenous people and blacks are over-represented in prison
overrepresentation explanation
- racial bias
- greater criminal activity
- racial profiling (police officers of particular racial or ethnic groups)
punishment recall
1.sanctions (negative, formal, and informal punishment)
2. deviance is
Diversion: Redefining police services
- defunding =/ abolish
- defunding (divert funds from police budgets into social services)
- police are not trained in crisis care and shouldn’t be expected to lead tis important work
