SOC 112 Final 6 Flashcards
What is crime?
A concept used to designate certain behaviours and actions (including acts of negligence) that require a formal response through control and that warrant social intervention.
What is deviance?
Involves actions that violate social norms and in some cases may be against the law.
What did Howard Becker argue in regards to deviance?
Argued that it is not the act itself but instead other people’s reaction to the act that make it deviant.
What is social deviance defined by?
Moral entrepreneurs - the people in positions of power who develop, define and change society’s moral codes. They can be politicians, gov’t, scientists, religion, media, etc.
What are the two types of crime?
Violent and non-violent crime.
What is violent crime?
Assault, assault causing bodily harm, sexual assault, torture, murder.
What is non-violent crime?
Theft, fraud, unlawful solicitation, public intoxication, traffic offences, trespassing, selling illegal drugs, vandalism.
What does Emile Durkheim (functionalist theory) say about deviant behaviour?
The concept of “anomie” - which is a state when social norms are confused, unclear or not present. People are at risk of criminal or deviant behaviour when social norms are absent or in a state of disarray.
What does Robert Merton (functionalist theory) say about deviant behaviour?
Strain theory - people experience “strain” when their goals cannot be reached within culturally defined means (e.g., they want to become rich but they are not educated enough - so they turn to organized crime).
What is Richard Cloward (functionalist theory) say about deviant behaviour?
Illegitimate property theory - not all people who pursue goals by illegitimate means have the opportunity to do so. Individuals must be in a deviant “learning environment” (e.g., a gang) that will give them the opportunity to gain the skills necessary to commit crime.
How does conflict theory view crime and deviance?
Crime is the outcome of class struggle. The laws are biased in favour of the wealthy. Some crimes, like white collar crime, are punished more leniently than street crime. Criminal law, as a social institution, is a “tool” that is used to protect the interests of the wealthy and powerful groups.
What are the two theories in symbolic interactionism about crime and deviance?
- Differential association theory
2. Labelling theory
What is differential association theory?
Argues that criminal and deviant behaviour is learned. It is based on shared experiences and perceptions. Through social interaction with others people learn values, norms, notices, rationalization, and techniques of criminal behaviour.
What is labelling theory?
Deviance is socially produced by making rules whose violation represents deviance and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them as “outsiders.” No particular act is inherently deviant until a group with a socially powerful status or position labels it as such. Once an individual is labelled, he/she will accept that label, and continue to behave in a deviant manner.
What is feminist theory concerned with crime and deviance?
Concerned with how men and women are treated differently in the criminal justice system. E.g., if a man kills someone, they are “evil”, if a woman kills someone, she is “sick”
