Essay 1

Ch6 Deviance, Crime, ad Punishment

Introduction: Rules are Made to be Broken

· Deviance and conformity are normal and socially constructed

· Struggle to achieve order/uniformity (absence of intolerable differences)

· Benchmark for what is considered deviance always changing

The Selective Punishment of Deviance

· Social structure: any enduring, predictable pattern of social relations among people in society

· Deviance is an indicator of social order/structure

· Demonstrates failure to make everyone behave in same way in given situation

· Or adapt in expected ways as they pass from one situation to another

· Deviance not breakdown of or moral lapse of people

· It’s failure of social controls to enforce expected degree of conformity

· Deviance/crime usually hidden (only come into view when look for them)

· For every documented act of rule-breaking there re many more comparable acts

· Incidents of rule-breaking funnelled through system of partial observation, enforcement, reporting, conviction that produces statistics on few rule-breakers

· Decrease from crimes committed to crimes reported

· Another decrease from crimes reported to crimes recorded by police

· Of all recorded crimes, only some are investigated

· Portion of investigations turn up suspects, portion of suspects charged/convicted

· Portion of convictions end in disposition (punishment)

Varieties of Deviant Behaviour

· These types of deviance not blameworthy = not deviant in themselves, only in relation to given normative order = informal penalties (ex. Ridicule/exclusion)

· Appearance deviance: violation of appearance norms

· Shows it’s easy to break society’s rules without meaning to

· Includes ways of dressing that mainstream society considers less usual/acceptable

· Also includes obesity, anorexia, etc.

· Forms of appearance vary widely, but still have some features in common

· Violate prevailing culture standards

· All social in their effects

· Give rise to deviate communities and subcultures (in response = stigmatism)

· Violation of social expectations (evidence people can become deviant without meaning to)

· Mental illness: type of unintentional deviance

· Deviant in sense that it’s feared, stigmatized, and treated as though it’s statistically unusual

· Communicate differently from other people

· While being form of deviance, some mental illness is also result of deviant behaviour

· Ex. Family violence, substance abuse

· Sexual deviance: three types non-normative sexuality common in society

· Violations of sexual double standard by women

· Violations of sexual fidelity by married couple

· Violations of heteronormativity

· Heteronormativity: social institutions, practices, norms that support automatic assumption that people are/should be heterosexual

· Wider discussion includes fetishism, pornography, prostitution (some judged criminal, others not)

· Paraphilias: any sexual deviator or departure from the norm

· Some harmless; some risk harming deviant; some risk harming other people

· Sexuality/response to sexuality are gendered = attitudes towards these behaviours differ depending on one’s gender

· Marital infidelity: intimate contact (sexual/emotion) with another partner one’s not married to

· Impose labels/constraints on people’s tastes, designating some as normal and others as perverse

Edwin Schur’s - Crimes Without Victims

· Victimless crimes should be decriminalized

· Crimes without victims – consensual acts by adults that break the rules prescribed in law

· No third party is involved or harmed

· Making these acts illegal serve no purpose apart from making criminals law abiding citizens

· Criminal laws rarely effective in curbing the prohibited behaviour

· These acts hidden from public view = police not likely to witness without advance notice

· Laws have negative effect on society = show inability of law to deter certain behaviours

· Attempting to inhibit victimless behaviours through criminal law = likely to create secondary deviance and set stage for police corruption

The Social Construction of Crime: The Moral Panic

· Moral panic: social concern about/overreaction to certain deviant behaviours that may be trivial in nature or frequency

· Sparked/fuelled by moral entrepreneur (someone who stands to gain from panic and may have defined the problem

· According to Goode and Ben-Yehuda (1994)

· Moral panics start with growing perception that the behaviour of group/category in question likely having negative impact on society

· Result = increasing hostility develops/clearer divisions form (group viewed as “folk devils”)

· People accepts group in question as real threat to society

· Result = actions taken/urged disproportionate to actual threat of group

· Public concern about issue flow quickly and often ends with sudden disappearance of public interest as media shifts to new topic

Moral Panic Diagram:

Functionalism

· How is deviance treated under functionalism, which studies the way the universal features of social life contribute to social order?

· Durkheim proposed that crime is universal/unavoidable, regardless of society or its laws

· By violating social boundaries, criminals/deviants help renew commitment to those boundaries

· Punishment of crime/deviance strengthens social bonds and remind people need to obey rules

· In Suicide, proposed that suicide rates increase with sudden social, cultural, political, economic shifts

· Make norms/values weak and result in anomie

· Anomie: state of alienation/normlessness

· People experiencing not tied to social order as securely as usual = feel released from normal controls on their behaviour

· For Durkheim, anomie is social condition that can’t be reduced to individual suffering (could have personal effects)

· People relied on the play their learned/social roles in society’s key institutions

· Number of factors (ex. Rapid social change) can upset these processes

· Consequences: crime, addiction, suicide, etc.

· Assume we can identify deviant acts worthy of censure, and there’s agreement between people about which acts are unacceptable

· Because of agreement, people who break the rules rightly suffer censure of peers

· People can get locked into deviant careers (Sampson and Laub)

· Process of cumulative disadvantage can cause long-term stability in deviant behaviour

· Early involvement in crime weakens social bonds to significant others and conventional institutions

· Fail to build social networks outside crime early in life can keep people locked in lifestyle

· Can transition out of criminal lifestyle by undergoing key life event = form new social bonds/impose control on behaviour

John Hagan and Bill McCarthy’s - Mean Streets

· What causes young people to enter and grow out of teenage crime/deviance?

· Parental neglect/abuse, family unemployment, inadequate education, socioeconomic marginalization

· Examine how/why youths leave home for life on the street

· Identify risks facing young people who live on streets

· Criminal capital: criminal knowledge and skill but also describes social embeddedness in community of young people who sees crime as necessary way of life

Symbolic Interactionism

· Stresses importance of social interaction/negotiation, symbolic meanings, stigmatization

· And effects of labelling on sense of self as factors determining deviant/conforming behaviours

· Human need to make sense of life, self, society

· Deviance = social label some groups used to describe/stigmatize behaviours of other groups

· Being labelled deviant increases deviant behaviour due to label’s negative impact on social status, “life chance,” and sense of self

· Backbone of labelling theory

· Social life like a game (as children that we learn how to participate in society)

· Play social games by taking coordinated roles and anticipating roles of others

· Leads to focus on cultural socialization

· Differential association theory (Sutherland): communities are “differently organized” subcultures with own values, traditions, and norms of behaviour

· Members of deviant community interact regularly, participate in/communicate deviant acts

· Hold/express positive views of these acts

· Sutherland proposes deviance/crime learned through process of socialization:

· Deviant behaviour learned in association with others in intimate social relationships

· Views about deviance learned through communication with others who share same cultural meanings of particular deviant behaviour

· Deviant behaviour occurs when people share excess of favourable definitions of deviance, compared to unfavourable ones

· Symbolic interactionism used to examine how larger social problems are constructed through interactive social processes

· Blumer proposed that all social problems develop in stages

1. Social recognition: point at which given condition/behaviour first identified as potential social concern

2. Social legitimating: society/institutional elements formally recognize social problem as serious threat to social stability

· At both stages, many people involved in discussing, defining, building shared sense of the problem

· Social problems are socially constructed

· Social-constructionist approach examines how certain patterns of behaviour are defined as social problems

· Even most catastrophic social acts need to be propelled into public visibility and “constructed” as problems

Conflict Theory

· Ask who benefits and who suffers from existing social order

· Not look for universal benefit look for particular groups that will benefit most and has power to seize this benefit

· Think that powerful members of society make/enforce laws to their advantage

· Less powerful members break laws when it’s to their advantage

· Rule making-rule breaking = manifestations of conflict aimed at gaining material benefits

· Sometimes not material but symbolic = aimed at increasing social status or lash out against unfair society

· Within context of social inequality/conflict, rule-breaking is rational

· Strain Theory (Merton): criminal behaviour is result of desire for material success combined with lack of legitimate opportunities to obtain that success

· Can be viewed in Marxist terms in relation to contradictions of capitalism:

· Deviance happens when people caught in structural contradictions of capitalist system that depends on accumulation/exploitation

· Desire for material success is universal and culturally learned

· Success depends on factors beyond hard work and luck

· Those denied socially acceptable opportunities increases likelihood of deviant behaviour

· Can be viewed as Functionalist attempt to explain rime

· From standpoint of strain theory, crime helps people maintain faith in capitalism and success through innovation/effort

Feminism

· Focuses on relations of inequality (relations of dominance/subordination between men and women)

· Gradual increase in documented criminal activity by women (but gender gap remains)

· Issue of victimization central concern

· Examine how women are targets for victimizing behaviour on many levels

· Ex. During an attack, reporting process, court process, etc.

Postmodernism

· Analysis of prisons and imprisonment (Foucault)

· All modern society is a prison (panopticon) which guards constantly watch prisoners without being seen

· Technologies of power: new types of dominations in modern society (in Disciplines and Punish)

· Rejection of Enlightenment tradition, in which knowledge considered basis of progress, citizenship, good government

· Horrors of totalitarianism = Foucault saw knowledge as being oppressive

· Modern society relies on structures/dominance/control/surveillance that relies on expertise

· Control better achieved by monitoring those controlled than by physical constraints (panopticon applied – all-seeing internal/external authority)

· Instrument through which modern discipline replaced pre-modern sovereignty as fundamental power relation self control

· Techniques of control: hierarchical observation, normalizing judgment, examination

· Feature of modern power is concern with what people have not done

· Ex. Failure to reach standards

· Concern with normalizing judgment shows primary role of modern disciplinary system: correct deviant behaviour

· Goal of discipline not revenge but reform (correcting deviations and bringing deviant’s in line with society’s standards/norms)

· Discipline and Punish = study of way techniques/institutions developed for different/harmless purposes converge to create modern system of disciplinary power

· Goals of power/knowledge are united: in knowing we control, and in controlling we know

· Ex. Examinations objectify individuals and set norms/standards

· Foucault’s prison is structure of maximum surveillance, charged with negative meanings

· Role of experts/technologies of power

Violent Crime

· Crime: any deviant behaviour that breaks the criminal law of a given society

· Victimization by criminals causes people to lose trust in existing social institutions and reduce participation in community life

· Best understood form of deviant behaviour

· Committed against friends, family, acquaintances, etc.

· Criminology concerned with why people ac in ways perceived to be criminal

· Why society and its agents of formal control (ex. Police) respond to criminal acts the way they do

· Crime has declined in recent decades

· Media portrayal makes Canadian think crime occurs more often than it actually does

· Violent behaviour best understood as result of interaction between:

· Economic disadvantage (related stress)

· Cultural attitudes that encourage/reward disputatiousness

· Absence of community cohesion that would moderate violent expression of conflict

· Irrational conflict in respect to honour, pride, dignity, esteem, etc.

· Gendered: men far more likely than women

· Social reasons: proving masculinity/courage, save face, seek honour

· Violence reflects absence of order and failure of stable mechanisms of solving dispute

· Violence declines with development of rational-legal modern state and rise of fair judicial system

· Some societies hold views that glorify aggression/violence while others don’t

· Some societies have confidence in their public institutions of law/order while others don’t

· Violent communities – how values and belief systems contribute to violent criminal behaviour

· Ex. Young men embrace identities/subcultures that encourage challenges/competitions for honour

· Family violence: can be viewed as deviance or normative enforcement of patriarchy

· Physical, emotional, sexual, etc.

· On children, spouses, older generation, etc.

Non-Violent Crime

· Goal of most non-violent crime is to gain money or property, not to inflict harm

· More frequent/repetitive than violent crimes

· Committed against strangers, based on rational calculation of costs and benefits

· Calculated, planned ways of making a living; learned through observation, apprenticeship, imitation

1. Organized crime

· Relies on quiet threat of violence

· Ability to “do business” without much violence/public attention = made crime profitable

2. Business crime (corporate/suite crimes)

· Committed by corporations in their own corporate interest

· White-collared crimes committed by individual business people in their own personal interest

· Often at expense of larger corporate body within which they work

· Victimizes millions of people (Sutherland)

· Robs businesses, undermines legitimacy of public institutions

· Rely on offshore banking and bank secrecy to hide money stolen from people throughout world

3. Street crime

· Common as need least experience, skill, technology, organization, capital

· Occur in public places by amateurs = most likely arrest

· Often people with little education, financial/social capital

Trends in Crime

· Decrease in crime in Canada = due to ageing population

· Becoming “information society” = focus more on theft/abuse of information

· Technology = makes it easier to commit crime and track/catch crime

· Globalization affecting technology, commerce, communication, crime

· People who commit transnational crimes often live outside jurisdiction of nations where crime occurs

· Integrating law enforcement agencies and introducing new technologies that strengthen global interconnectedness of police

· Cyberspace great impact on social problems

· Internet shapes relationship between consumers, producers, knowledge

Critical Theme – Victimization

· Criminal victimization, crimes without victims, ordinal rule benders, victims of conscience

· Ordinary rule-benders: people with deviant appearances, unusual sexual preferences, of non-conformists

· Don’t hurt anyone = not criminals

· Victims of conscience: bend/break rules because their principles not let them conform to society’s dominant beliefs

· Challenge “received wisdom of society” whether religious, political, or moral

· Three theories explain why some groups of people more likely to be victims of crime:

1. Routine Activity Theory

· States that crime depends mainly on opportunities which are created by activity patterns

· Victimization predictable result of how/where people spend their time

· Criminal acts promoted by situations involving alcohol/drug use (Mustaine and Tewksbury)

· Result = individual lifestyle/social affiliation shape risks of victimization

· Hot spots: locations where risks of crime especially high

· Downtown entertainment districts, tourist attractions, bars, etc.

· Young people higher risk of being victims of violent crime

· More likely than old people to visit public hot spots

· Inmates of total institutions (ex. Mental hospitals) risk victimization every day

· Suitable targets: people regularly exposed to crime/vulnerable for other reasons

· Risk higher among some demographic groups than others

· Ex. People who appear powerless, single people, people who live in urban areas, etc.

· Three characteristics put people to victimization:

· Vulnerability – physical weakness/psychological distress

· Gratifiability – possession of objects offender wishes to have

· Antagonism – possession of qualities that incite anger/hostility

2. Lifestyle Theory

· Builds on idea that victimization depends on person’s lifestyle

3. Victim Precipitation Theory

· Proposes that people create their own risk of being victimized

· Verbal provocation, body language, wearing certain types of clothes, etc.

· Active precipitation – attacking first/acting provocatively

· Passive precipitation – victim unknowingly motivating offender

· Builds on fact that some people are repeated victims of crime while others rarely/never suffer

Critical Theme – Controlling and Punishing Criminal Deviance

· Durkheim suggested we can be victimized as result of too little social order or too much social order

· We can be victimized by absence of state control, or by imposition of an inappropriately harsh state control (ex. Despotism, absolutism)

· Victimization never product of naturally “bad” humans

· Occurs due to some form of social organization better than others from preventing this

· Different kinds of control suitable in different kinds of societies (Durkheim, Division of Labour)

· Small/undifferentiated: most people perform same work/have same values

· Can be controlled through informal mechanisms at family/tribal value

· Large/differentiated: cannot assume everyone has same values

· Controlled by market in jobs/other desired resources, rule enforcing authorities

· Debate around control rests on image of offender

· Those who view offender as unchangeable/flawed opts for control strategies (imprisonment, security)

· Those who view offender as changeable/blameless opts for rehabilitation strategies (work, education)

· Debate centred on whether deviance should be tolerated as something we cannot control, or elimination should be attempted

· Harm reduction vs standing on principle

· Traditional/conservative/religious background = make every effort (law/punishment) to show disapproval of crime

· Some people support harm reduction through social engineering aimed at preventing crime

Approaches at Punishment

· In the past punishment was quick and harsh

· Now it’s slow and aimed at remediation/rehabilitation

· Most people in developed societies now assess punishment in terms of effectiveness, not moral intention

· Not universally true

· General concern with punishment: which punishments will work best to prevent crime?

· Which will reduce likelihood of recidivism (repeat offending)?

· Which will make society safer/healthier in long run?

· Can see formal punishment as type of institutionalized violence

· Death penalty = banished in most countries even if it’s less costly

· Risk of killing innocent person, no evidence that it’s effective

· Countries that still practice capital punishment today are countries that practice corporal punishment and torture

· Society without strong rule of law/protected civil liberties

· Society with authoritarian/dictatorial government

Aims of Punishment

· Differing approaches to punishment due to different objectives

· Retribution (an eye for an eye)

· Deterrence: method used to prevent crime by imposing significant costs on offender

· Rehabilitation: reforming convicted criminals to help them become law abiding members of society

· Solitary confinement, harsh personal discipline, rigorous work schedules

· Reflected idea that imprisonment aimed at penitence (repentance)

· Rehab today focuses on provision of support and supervision to ensure no crime when reintegrated

· Restorative justice: ensure offenders take responsibility for harm they caused

· Victim has “voice” in determining punishment

· Ensure offender makes restitution to victim and repairs any harm to community

· Incapacitate: rely on imprisonment

· Prisonization (Clemmer): degradation of prisoners during socialization into prison life, causing later inability to function effectively outside of prison environment

· Debilitate people, making them less competent instead of more

· Immersion in prisoner subculture = become more deviant than before

· Leads to recidivism

· Foucault argued point of prison is to punish people through discipline, not corporal punishment or torture

· Physical discipline and surveillance

Coming into Focus

· Thrasher’s - The Gang: A Study of 1,313 Gangs in Chicago

· Social disorganization approach to street gangs out of favour

· Present day research more concerned with examining organization (not disorganization) of street gangs

· Criminalization: process by which behavioural/individual may be made “criminal” when certain acts/behaviours are made illegal through legislation or judicial decision

· Hate crimes: crimes committed out of racial, religious, or sexual prejudice, targeting minority groups