Midterm Crim #2 Flashcards
Durkeim: The rules of the sociological method? 3 points
- social factors control individual behaviour
- without crime in society, society would be abnormal
- what function does crime serve? : crime defines what is socially acceptable and what is not, creating boundaries and defining laws and order
Society of saints
durkheim predicted that in a perfect society with “perfect indivuduals” where crime doesnt exist. there would still be crime (because we would need to define deviance as something), and instead what we consider small transgressions would be major threats
What is abonormal in a society
- too much crime
- too little crime
- too much control
- too little control
Anomie is a product of / what is anomie (5 points)
- sense of normlessness and rules are broken
- evolution of a society creates a loss of equilibrium or balance
- industrial process where changes are too fast or rapid
- social components become isolated
- Without a regulated society as a guide, individuals are confused and can’t adjust, this is anomie
Durkhiems view of social history (explain)
due to the industrial process society went from mechanical solidarity to modern organic solidarity
Mechanical solidarity (4 points)
- everyone performs the same task
- society is self-sufficient group with the same values
- goal is to protect society and fufill group needs
- argarian foundation,, everyone behaves the same
modern organic solidarity (5 points)
- labour division (not everyone is doing the same tasks)
- goal is to protect the individual not the group
- use of law to regulate society
- society runs on contract relationships
- people behave differently
argarian foundation
everyone behaves the same
Societal changes disrupts the equilibrium of mechanical solidarity by: 4 points
- production becomes unbridled (uncontrollable) and unregulated
- separation of owners, workers and consumers
- disasters, economic crises and commercialism cause breakdown of norms
- markets grow too fast
____ societies have a continual state of anomie
modern organic societies
Robert Merton social structure and anomie 3-4 points
- 1938
- he uses aggregate (collective) rates of crime and suicide attempts to explain
- durkheims rapid industrial development is like our modern society
- societal level events explain how changes affect groups (classes) of people
- deviant behaviour is based on different types of social adaptation
Anomie Theory Foundations (goals and means)
- focuses on imbedded social structure and cultural disparities (imbalance) in society
- saw strain and social disjuncition (lack of consistency) between goals and the means in a society
Goals: what one should strive for (money, success, status)
Means: the way of attaining goals (acceptable or not)
American Dream and Anomie (3 points)
- society tells us what we should desire, but not everyone has access to these socially approved means
- access to these means are limited and unequally distributed by class
- social class pyramid keeps poor on the bottom
Social Disorganization and common values
- societal members share common values
- value system gives us goals and means through appropriate and institutionalized ways of achieving these goals
- social disorganization creates differing access to goals and mean as they are unequally distributed
- availability and unavailability in goals and means creates pressure towards deviance
- anomie is then a result of society overemphasizing success and goals
Modes of adaptation (5 types)
- conformity: accepts goals and means, most common adaptation
- innovation: accepts goals, rejects means and makes up their own (most crimes are this way)
- ritualism: reject goals as unreachable and focuses on means (bueareacrat and someone graduating hs then going to uni bc it is expected)
- retreatism: rejects both means and goals (drop out)
- rebellion: accepts own goals and means // replaces original goals and means (example left and right extremists)
5 steps of anomie
- common value system is established
- value system tells us goals and means to use to achieve success
- there is structural disorganization in a complex organic society
- lack of equilibrium results in differential access to opportunities
- disjunction between goals and means results in deviant behaviour
The functions of adaptations
- the typology of behavioural choices
- drives and desires aren’t habitual but influenced by societal and cultural pressures for monetary success
- lower class is caught in a bind, thus more likely to perform deviant acts
- societies overemphasis on economic goals is pathological (habitual)
- this causes anomie, an overemphasis on achievement as “success”
Critisim of Mertons Anomie Theory: 3 points
- too much focus on lower class crimes
- more of a logical explanation of property crimes
- assumes everyone feels pressured to have social goals
what did Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin believe?
- existing theories were too deterministic (relied on other causes and factors)
- they believed social factors / pressures and strain are not the only causes of deviance
- access to illegitimate means may also cause someone to deviate
Illegitimate and legitimate opportunities
- legitimate opportunities: (zoning, politics, laws, businesses, structures) upper to middle class people who have primary access
- illegitimate opportunities: (organized crime, drug dealing networks) lower, poor class people and kids, dont have access to means, had to work harder to get ahead
Three types of gangs
Criminal Subculture: well developed illegitimate opportunities, organized and integrated. little violence, gangs serve apprenticeship, profit making, high respect for territories and traditions
Retreatist subculture: raising money for drugs or selling drugs, unable to succeed in either opportunity structure
conflict subculture: non-integrated, gangs are unrestrained, violent, competitive, focus on getting respect and there is property damage
Criticism of Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin
- it focuses on lower class delinquency
- oversimplifying the subcultures of delinquency to only 3 types
- it ignores the complex variety of upper to middle class delinquency. example: gambling
Origins of the labeling theory
Thomas, lemert, tannenbaum
- Short and Nye self-report studies (1957-58)
- first notable to use this method of research for crime data
- school kids were asked to “self-report” their deviant behaviour
- the results did not match ucr when classified by race and social class
- lower class were a bit more delinquent but not to the extent shown in the ucr
-
why does ucr show substantially more deviance in lower class?
- lower class kids tend to have lower iqs
- culture becomes an issue when considering iq
Is labelling concerened with motivation or societal reaction?
Societal reaction. Actual deviance may not even be known or occur if it wasnt for the reactions.
What is emphasized through William I Thomas and Dorthy Swaine Thomas (1899-1977)’s story?
if men define a situation as real it is real in their consequences. the interpretation of the situation causes the action. Making it subjective.
Example: no negative word for sexually promiscious men but there are several negative ones and not a single one for women. Gender component.
Frank Tannenbaum (1938) crime and community (3 stages)
Delinquency relates to stigmatization.
- focused on juveniles who were labelled delinquents or deviant
- concept of “dramatization of evil” is introduced
- meaning evil acts are transformed from a definition to an act as evil
first stage: initial rule breaking
second stage: gradual shift from the individual as evil, to be looked upon with suspicion through all their acts
third stage: a change in the way they view themselves
- the child will then go onto see that the definition of themselves is different than the other kids and will associate with these changes
Edwin M. Lemert (1912-1996)
discovered 2 types of deviance
primary deviance
- initial act of norm violation
- stuttering (what was considered deviant)
- could be caused by anything; cause is not important
- not significant by the actor
Secondary deviance
- actor realizes its label and its effect
- actor begins to recognize her
Assumption of offender deficit
The view that offenders who break the law have some psychological deficit that distinguishes them from normal, law-abiding citizens. Hinting to the idea that there is something psychologically wrong with those who commit crimes.
Assumption of discriminating traits
The view that offenders are distinguished from non-offenders by, for example, their high levels of impulsiveness and aggression. Personality tests would be used in order to find levels of aggression etc.
Recidivism
likelyhood of a criminal to offend again
what are the two sources of secondary deviance
- Feedback from society - public thinks the person is deviant, so looks for evidence to support that belief; keep looking until you can find anything that will support that perception of deviance (our own bias, gordon ramsey)
- Weak self-concept: person accepts label as their identity
Sees themselves as others react toward them and begin to act that way
Live up to expectations - take on role of deviant
Conform to that role
Retrospective interpretation
reconstruct the identity of the individual, re-examine previous behaviour and reinterpret it as deviant because of new information, make label fit person today
Howard s. Becker - Labeling outsiders
Interactionism
- social reaction to crime
- people react to things based on the meanings behind them
- symbolic interactionalist
Master status labels
label given to someone that overpowers any other label given
- prof , even outside of uni or campus are still considered mr or mrs ___
- but this would not occur for a plumber
subculture
A group of people who share a
distinctive set of cultural beliefs
and behaviours that differs in
some significant way from that of
the larger society
Personal Traits and Caveat
Mental illness, low intelligence, depression, psychopathology and brain injuries.
Some may get brain injuries then become violent, others may be violent then get an injury and are no longer violent
Families and Violence
Physical and sexual abuse, physical punishment, inconsistent discipline
Children that receive extensive physical punishment have been known as factors to commit violence
Brutalization process: parents victimize children, causing them to develop belligerent and angry demeanor
What could cause violence?
- Instinct
Sigmund Freud believed we had two instincts
Eros (life instinct)
Thanatos (death instinct) expressed externally (violence) or internally (alcoholism)
what causes violence
-evolution
Konrad Lorenz: aggression pays off
Argues evolution has caused males to be more aggressive over ressources
Which has led to more violence
what causes violence
- Cultural Factors
Wolfgang and Ferracuti conducted a study on the subculture of violence
“The overt use of force or violence, either in interpersonal relationships or in group interactions, is generally viewed as a reflection of basic values that stand apart from the dominant, the central, or parent culture”
Violence is a culturally learned way of dealing with violence
Promotes use of violence to solve disputes
Ex. for gangs it can be ritualistic, fights in order to join the gang and creates a family
causes of violence
- Substance use and Abuse
Alcohol can lead to disinhibition
Trafficking creates disputes
Ex drug dealers or traffickers, they can’t go to court it may end up being handled in a physical and violent manner
Addiction creates need for money
Which can lead to violence
violence causes
- Firearms Availability
Over the past 25 years, there have been an average of 1,300 firearms deaths per year in Canada.
2,095 homocide victims from firearms 2008-2018
Mainly suicides (81%) and accidents
Presence of guns in homes increases risk of violence no matter how they are stored
Children may get a hold of their parents firearms
Mass shootings
Political issue
Some people wish to constrain or abolish gun ownership others believe arming more people would solve mass shootings
types of rape
- Power Reassurance and Assertive
Exert control over women. - Anger Retaliation
Means of expressing rage. - Excessive brutality.
Sadistic - Abusive and degrading.
Involves ritual and torture. - Gang Rape
Peer Pressure
types of rapists
- Stranger rape
More violent
More predominant in official stats
More likely to involve weapons - Aquaintances rapes
Less likely to be reported
Probably make up the majority of rapes
About one-half of reported rapes
Also family members
Homicide
The act of causing death to another person, whether directly or indirectly, by an unlawful act or negligence.
Culpable homicide is a criminal offense (e.g., murder, manslaughter, infanticide).
Non-culpable homicide is considered legally justified (e.g., self defense).
First degree murder
Requires that the action is planned and deliberate
manslaughter
murder through gross negligence
second degree murder
malice but no premeditation
- life in prison 10 yeard parole or 20
Occupational crime
WWC committed by an individual or group individuals exclusively for personal gain
Example: using a friends discount code from their work
Organizational crime/ corporate crime
Crimes committed with the support and encouragement of a formal organization and intended in part to advance the goals of that organization
Crime submitted in support of an organization
sutherland coined the term white-collar crime
as a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation”
Why does the justice system not deal with WCCs more effectively?
The public is more concerned about street and violent crime
WWC is complex and costly to prosecute
WW crime may be multi-jurisdictional
WWC criminals are non-violent and are often paroled to the community quickly
The state, public policy and OC
Governments create demand for illegal goods and services by outlawing vices or through high tariffs or taxes (for example, high tariffs and taxes on cigarettes)
This creates an underground market, which is eventually dominated by OC
A fundamental reason why OC exists is that governments have criminalized certain VIces
Examples: prohibition (1920s), drug trafficking in women for the sex trade
