Society: The Basics – Chapter 7
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Deviance
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The recognized violation of cultural norms.
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Crime
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The violation of a society's formally enacted criminal law.
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Social Control
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Attempts by society to regulate people's thoughts and behaviors.
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Criminal Justice System
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The organizations - police, courts, and prison officials - that respond to alleged violations of the law.
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Primary Deviance
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Deviance that provokes slight reactions from others and has little effect on a person's self-concept.
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Secondary Deviance
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Deviance during which a person takes on a deviant identity by talking, acting, or dressing in a different way, rejecting the people who are critical, and repeatedly breaking the rules.
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Stigma
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A powerfully negative label that greatly changes a person's self-concept and social identity.
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Retrospective labeling
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Interpreting someone's past in light of some present deviance.
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White-Collar Crime
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Crime committed by people of high social position on the course of their occupations.
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Corporate Crime
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The illegal actions of a corporation or people acting on its behalf.
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Organized Crime
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Business supplying illegal goods or services.
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Hate Crime
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A criminal act against a person or a person's property by an offender motivated by racial or other bias.
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Due Process
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The criminal justice system must operate according to law.
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Retribution
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An act of moral vengeance by which society makes the offender suffer as the suffering caused by the crime.
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Deterrence
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The attempt to discourage criminality by the use of punishment.
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Rehabilitation
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A program for reforming the offender to prevent later offenses.
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Criminal Recidivism
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Later offenses by people previously convicted of crime.
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Shock Probation
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A policy by which a judge orders a convicted offender to prison for a short time but them suspends the remainder of the sentence in favor of probation.
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Community-Based Corrections
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Correctional programs operating within a society at large rather than behind prison walls.
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What do biological and psychological approaches to deviance examine and how are they limited?
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Biological; biological traits in combination with environmental factors explain some serious crime. Problem? Most of the actions we define as deviant are carried out by people who are biologically quite normal. Psychological; deviance is view as the result of "unsuccessful" socialization. Problem? These approaches view deviance as a trait of individuals. Wrongdoing has more to do with the organization of society.
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What are the social foundations of deviance?
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1. Deviance varies according to cultural norms. 2. People become deviant as others define them that way. 3. How societies see norms and how they define rule breaking both involve social power.
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What is Durkheim's explanation for deviance?
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There is nothing abnormal about deviance and it performs four essential functions.
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According to Durkheim, what are the 4 functions of deviance?
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1. Deviance affirms cultural values and norms. 2. Responding to deviance clarifies moral boundaries. 3. Responding to deviance brings people together. 4. Deviance encourages social change.
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What is Robert merton's strain theory of deviance?
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The extent and type of deviance people engage in depend on whether a society provides the means to achieve cultural goals.
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What is labeling theory of deviance?
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The idea that deviance and conformity result not so much from what people do as from how others respond to those actions.
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What is Thomas Szasz's controversial view on deviance?
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He charges that people are too quick to apply the label of mental illness to conditions that simply amount to a difference we don't like.
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What does the medicalization of deviance mean?
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The transformation of moral and legal deviance into a medical condition. Examples: Alcoholism, Obesity, Drug Addictions, Child Abuse, and Sexual Promiscuity.
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How does transforming deviance from a moral and legal condition into a medical condition affect responses to deviance and perceptions of the "deviant" person?
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It affects who responds to deviance, police vs physicians. It affects how people respond to deviance, punishment vs treatment.
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What is the differential association theory?
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A person's tendency toward conformity or deviance depends on the amount of contact with others who encourage or reject conventional behavior.
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What is control theory?
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Social control depends on people anticipating the consequences of their behavior.
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According to the social conflict approach, what is the labeling of deviance based on?
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Deviance is linked to social inequality.
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According to Alexander Liazos, what behaviors and which people are more likely to be labeled deviant and why?
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The powerless - homeless, poor people - are more likely to be labeled because they threaten the wealthy, the powerful have the resources to resist deviant labels, widespread belief in norms and laws are natural and good masks the powerful's political character.
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According to Spitzer, who tends to be the target for deviant labeling and why?
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People who interfere with the operation of capitalism, because capitalism is based on private control of wealth, capitalism depends on productive labor, capitalism depends on respect for authority figures.
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According to Edwin Sutherland, how is white-collar crime usually solved, and how is this claim a social-conflict approach?
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They usually end up in a civil hearing rather than a criminal courtroom. These criminals are treated differently because of their status.
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According to the feminist theory, how does gender figure into the study of deviance?
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Virtually every society in the world places stricter controls on women than on men.
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Who commits more crime, men or women?
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Men.
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What are crimes against the person, what crimes are included in this category?
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Violent crimes or crimes that direct violence or the threat of violence against others; murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, forcible rape, and robbery.
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What are crimes against property, what crimes are included in this category?
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Property crimes or crimes that involve theft of property belonging to others; burglary, larceny-theft, auto theft, and arson.
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According to figure 7-2, which crime is most common in recent years?
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Larceny-theft.
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What are victimless crimes and what are examples?
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Violations of law in which there are no obvious victims; illegal drug use, prostitution, and gambling.
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Homicide
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The willful killing of one human being by another.
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Aggravated Assault
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An attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury.
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Forcible Rape
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The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.
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Robbery
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Taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of another person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or putting the victim in fear.
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Burglary
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The unlawful entry go a structure to commit a serious crime or theft.
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Larceny
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The unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession of another.
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Auto Theft
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The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle.
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Arson
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Any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn the personal property of another.
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From where does the FBI gather its criminal statistics?
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Victimization surveys.
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What are victimization surveys and what do they suggest about the actual amount of crime in the US?
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Asking a representative sample of people if they had any experience with crime. The actual number of serious crimes was more than twice as high as police reports indicate.
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Who is more likely to commit crime in terms of gender, age, social class, and race?
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Gender: Men Age: Late Teens Social Class: People of Lower Social Position Race: White
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What are possible reasons suggested by the text for correlation between social class and crime?
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The link is dependent on the type of crime.
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What are possible reasons suggested by the text for correlation between race and crime?
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First, race in the US closely relates to social standing. Second, black and white family patters differ. Third, prejudice prompts white police to arrest black people more readily and leads to citizens to report African Americans more willingly, so people of color are overly criminalized. Fourth, the official crime index does not include arrests for offenses ranging from drunk driving to white-collar violations. Finally, some categories of the population have unusually low arrest rates.
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According to Elliot Currie, what factors explain the high crime rate in the US?
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Crime stems from our culture's emphasis on individual economic success, frequently at the expense of strong families and neighborhoods.
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What does the concept of due process refer to?
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The criminal justice system must operate according to law.
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Throughout history, what is the oldest justification for punishing an offender?
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Satisfying retribution.
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What are advantages of community-based corrections?
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Reduced costs, reduce overcrowding in prisons, and allow for supervision of convicts while eliminating the hardships of prison life and the stigma that accompanies going to jail.
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What is the topic of Michelle Alexander's article, "The Color of Justice"?
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The ugly side of The War on Drugs.
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What is Alexander's main argument in "The Color of Justice"?
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Rates and patterns of drug crime do not explain the glaring racial disparities in our criminal justice system.
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According to Alexander, which racial groups have been the biggest victims of the War on Drugs?
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African-Americans and Latinos.
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What does Alexander's evidence show?
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A formally "colorblind" criminal justice system achieves racially discriminatory results by first, granting law enforcement officials extraordinary discretion regarding whom to stop, search, arrest, and charge for drug offenses. Second, demanding that anyone who wants to challenge racial bias in the system offer, in advance, clear proof that racial disparities are the product of intentional racial discrimination.
