Lecture 9 Flashcards
Takeaway from the monopoly game
- Rich player - moved around the board louder, signs of dominance and power, eat more pretzels (more consumer behaviours)
- More likely to showcase how well they are doing
- When asked why they won (it was a rigged game) - they talked about all the things they’ve done. They were blind to the privilege.
Does crime occur in all aspects of society?
Yes, crime occurs in all aspects of society.
What effect does wealth have on a person’s empathy?
As a person’s level of wealth increases, their levels of compassion and empathy go down. Their ideology of self-interest goes up.
Rich people and prosocial behaviour?
Poorer individuals gave more moeny to the stranger than the richer person.
What is General Strain Theory?
A theory by Robert Agnew that broadens the scope of strain theory to include emotions, social class, gender, race, and relationships.
* He broadened the scope of the theory.
* He suggested that we should not just focus on material goals.
* He emphasized the role of negative relationships.
What are the three types of negative relationships in General Strain Theory?
- With people who prevent goal achievement (people who block you from attaining your goals)
- With people who remove positive stimuli (ie: person dying)
- With people who present a negative stimuli (ie:abusive boss)
What factors make strain likely to result in deviance?
- Considered unjust
- Strain is especially strong
- Lack of perceived control
How do men and women typically respond to stress according to the text - robert agnew?
Men are more concerned with material success and may react with crime and anger, while women may respond with self-destruction.
Even though women are disadvangtaged and blocked from achieving goals (more strain) but there is still less women in crime. Why?
What is a fundamental aspect missing from the functionalist theory of deviance?
- The idea of power
- Structure and hierarchies play an important role.
- Must look at political power - how is it distributed and how it causes deviance
According to Marxist theory, what are the two broad divisions of class?
- Bourgeoisie: The higher socioeconomic classes (those who own the means of production)
- Proletariat: The lower socioeconomic classes (those who do not own means of production)
What is the premise of marx’s thoery
- It is all based on extraction of labour (abusive lowkey). The owner of the means of production will always want to make the most profit margin - cut the cost as much as possible - this is done by constantly introducing new technologies that make your work more efficient (but leads to people losing their job) - hence reduces the survival of the labourers.
What is the ‘infrastructure’ in Marxist theory?
The basic relations of economic production and means of production (the base of every society).
What is the ‘superstructure’ in Marxist theory?
The social institutions that help the bourgeoisie maintain their power position.
How do power relationships dictate deviance?
- The state and all the power positions determining deviant behaviours are at the base.
- People who makes the laws are implicated themselves into the system.
Why is Spitzer’s theory good?
Spitzer looks at:
* The definition of what is deviant
* Problem populations that fit into this description
* Control systems - why are the control systems changing?
* Change - why do we see certain behaviours that have been seen as deviant are no longer seen as deviant?
Who does Spitzer identify as deviant?
- Those who challenge private ownership
- Those who cannot or refuse to work
- Some who abuse substances
- Those who disobey authority
- Those who fight against capitalist ideology
What are ‘social junk’ and ‘social dynamite’?
- Social junk: unproductive but passive populations
- Social dynamite: youthful, alienated, and politically volatile populations
What are the control methods for ‘social junk’?
Containment and regulation through mental institutions, retirement homes, and shelters.
What are the control methods and institutions for “social dynamites”
- Control: rapid, focused and highly repressive.
- Legal and carceral systems because the reaction to them needs to be intense and swift
What contradictions arise from capitalism?
Capitalism requires increased productivity, which leads to more machines and fewer workers.
* Capitalism requires increased productivity to survive
* Increased productivity is only made possible by raising the ratio of machines to men
* More and more workers become redundant
Problem populations and welfare state?
- Church - engaged in taking care of the rejects of capitalist society.
- Take people in the “risk population” and socialize them to become good workers (but if in a recession, this is too costly).
What do we do with the surplus population when we have too much of it?
1) normalization
2) conversion
3) containement
4) organized crime
What is normalization in the context of deviance?
Reducing the number of people considered deviant, such as legalizing certain drugs.
or reducing the people in mental institutions.
What is conversion?
take deviant populations and convert them (spitzer: make them into the people that go against deviance - police officer)
What is containment?
put them in a neighbourhood (closing people off and surveilling the borders).
What is organized crime?
presume that organized crime contradicts the goal of the state.
* Cheaply control uncontrolled groups - it becomes an alternative structure for the economy (how they take care of themselves, gives them their own place to exist)
* Important functions: parallel structures, easy transition from the criminal world, provides goods and services through alternative way, make their own type of industry
* Ie: mafia, peaky blinders, gangs
What is the significance of the study ‘The Saints and the Roughnecks’?
It illustrates the difference in community and law enforcement reactions to two groups of youth with similar deviant behaviors.
What is the difference in their deviant behaviours?
- No essential difference in the act of deviance
- Differences in the community’s and law enforcement agencies’ reactions to the two gangs
- Different outcomes for the future
Note: tbh the Saints engage in more dangerous behavioirs –> they actually endanger people’s lives.
What factors contributed to the different perceptions of the Saints and Roughnecks?
- Visibility - The delinquency of saints is invisible because they have cars to go to less visible places (out of sight, out of mind). Roughnecks don’t have this possibility.
- Behaviour towards authorities - saints apologize towards authorities (nice to them)
- Bias - personal bias, seen as “good kids”
Take home from Saints vs Roughnecks
These reactions (labelling) influenced the future years of these kids
