DEVIANCE AND CRIME DEVIANCE AND CRIME DEVIANCE BEHAVIOR

DEVIANCE AND CRIME

DEVIANCE AND CRIME DEVIANCE: BEHAVIOR, BELIEFS OR CONDITIONS THAT VIOLATE CULTURAL NORMS NO ACT OR BELIEF IS INHERENTLY DEVIANT • RELATIVE TO TIME AND CULTURE • SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED

FUNCTIONALIST VIEW OF DEVIANCE DURKHEIM • DEVIANCE OCCURS IN ALL SOCIETIES • DEVIANCE CLARIFIES RULES • DEVIANCE UNITES A GROUP • DEVIANCE PROMOTES SOCIAL CHANGE

MERTON’S STRAIN THEORY OF DEVIANCE FIVE MODES OF ADAPTATION • • • CONFORMITY INNOVATION RITUALISM RETREATISM REBELLION

Typology of Individual Modes of Adaptation MODES OF ADAPTATION CULTURAL INSTITUTIONALIZED GOALS MEANS 1. CONFORMITY + + 2. INNOVATION + - 3. RITUALISM - + 4. RETREATISM - - +/- 5. REBELLION

Strain Theory: Anomie MAJOR PREMISE People who adopt the goals of society but lack the means to attain them seek alternatives, such as crime. STRENGTHS Points out how competition for success creates conflict and crime. Suggests that social conditions and not personality can account for crime. Can explain middle- and upper-class crime.

OPPORTUNITY THEORY OF DEVIANCE • CLOWARD AND OHLIN THEORY • ILLEGITIMATE OPPORTUNITIES EXIST IN SOME SUBCULTURES • WHEN LEGITIMATE MEANS ARE NOT AVAILABLE TO ACQUIRE SOCIETIES GOALS

Cultural Deviance Theory: Cloward and Ohlin’s Theory of Opportunity MAJOR PREMISE: Blockage of conventional opportunities causes lower-class youths to join criminal, conflict, or retreatist gangs. STRENGTHS: Shows that even illegal opportunities are structured in society. Indicates why people become involved in a particular type of criminal activity. Presents a way of preventing crime.

INTERACTIONIST VIEW OF DEVIANCE • DEVIANCE IS LEARNED THROUGH SOCIAL INTERACTION • THEORIES: – DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION (EDWIN SUTHERLAND) – LABELING THEORY

DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION • DEVIANCE IS LEANED THROUGH ASSOCIATION WITH THOSE MORE FAVORABLE TO DEVIANCE • LEARNING INCLUDES TECHNIQUES, MOTIVES, ATTITUDES AND RATIONALIZATION • THE ASSOCIATION MUST BE: FREQUENT, INTENSE, AND LONG LASTING

Social Learning Theory: Differential Association Major Premise: People learn to commit crime from exposure to antisocial definitions. STRENGTHS Explains onset of criminality. Explains the presence of crime in all elements of social structure. Explains why some people in high-crime areas refrain from criminality. Can apply to adults and juveniles.

LABELING THEORY • FOCUSES ON THE PROCESS NOT THE BEHAVIOR • DEVIANTS ARE THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFULLY LABELED AS DEVIANT • LABELING DONE BY THOSE IN AUTHORITY • PRIMARY DEVIANCE • SECONDARY DEVIANCE

Primary and Secondary Deviance Social reaction Deviant act Secondary deviance Negative Label Degradation Ceremonies THE LABELING PROCESS Deviance amplification Selflabeling Deviant subculture

CONFLICT VIEW OF DEVIANCE • THE POWERFUL USE LAW TO PROTECT THEIR INTERESTS • LAW IS USED TO CONTROL LOWER CLASSES • AFFLUENT NOT PROSECUTED AS ARE POOR • THE POOR AND UNEDUCATED MORE LIKELY TO BE ARRESTED AND PROSECUTED

Conflict Theory STRENGTHS Accounts for class differentials in the crime rate. Shows how class conflict influences behavior. MAJOR PREMISE Crime is a function of class conflict. The definition of the law is controlled by people who hold social and political power.

CRIME • DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CRIME AND DEVIANCE • SOCIOLOGIST CLASSIFICATION OF CRIME • STREET CRIME: PROPERTY AND PERSONS • OCCUPATIONAL/WHITE COLLAR CRIME • CORPORATE CRIME • ORGANIZED CRIME • POLITICAL CRIME

Classification of Crime FELONY MISDEMEANOR More serious offenses Less serious offenses Punishable by death or imprisonment for more than a year in a state prison. Punishable by incarceration for less than a year in a local jail or house of correction.