DEVIANCE AND CRIME AN INTRODUCTION

1. A fist fight with a classmate. 2. Stealing from a stranger’s purse. Take the following actions and rank them from 1-10 (1 being the most deviant and 10 the least…Explain why?) What makes these actions deviant? 1. A fist fight with a classmate. 2. Stealing from a stranger’s purse. 3. Robbing a bank. 4. Cheating on the SAT’s. 5. Lying to your parents about where you have been. 6. Underage drinking. 7. Vandalism of school property. 8. Drunk Driving. 9. Using someone else’s credit card or identity (illegally) 10. Threatening a person with a weapon.

WHAT IS DEVIANCE? DEVIANCE: Any behavior, belief, or condition that violates significant norms in the society or group in which it occurs.

DEVIANCE IS RELATIVE This means the act becomes deviant when people define it as such. Definitions of deviance can vary greatly from culture to culture, group to group, situation to situation.

when it would be thought of as deviant. Asking for money. In our society activities may be acceptable in some circumstances and rejected in others. Name a situation in which each of the following activities would be accepted as “normal” when it would be thought of as deviant. Asking for money. Taking a human life. Hugging and kissing. Drinking alcohol. Fighting. Carrying a gun. Protesting Gambling

DEVIANCE AND CRIME Deviant behavior ranges in degrees of seriousness (Not returning a library book, cheating on an exam on up to violent assaults/murder) Some violations are a CRIME: A behavior that violates criminal law and is punishable by with fines, jail terms/ or other negative sanctions. (Once again, this can range from minor traffic infractions to murder.) The norms of the society and the societies government often determines which deviant acts should be punished.

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY Refers to a violation of law or the commission of a status offense by a young person. STATUS OFFENSE: Activities that are only illegal if they are done by an underage person. (underage drinking, skipping school)

Answer the following questions with a partner. 1. Think about rules here at school. Are their things that are considered deviant by the school that your disagree with? What are they and why? 2. Why do you think the school considers these actions deviant? 3. Do you think all deviant acts are crimes? Why or why not? Give examples. 4. When should a deviant act be considered a crime? 5. Why determines the severity of deviant acts in our culture? 6.What actions to do you think most societies consider criminal? (List 5)

SOCIAL CONTROL Refers to practices that social groups develop in order to encourage conformity of norms, rules, and laws and to discourage deviance. Create a list of things we as a society do to discourage criminal behavior.

LOW LEVEL OF DEVIANCE CAN HAVE POSSIBLE SOCIAL FUNCTIONS: SOCIAL CONTROL: enforcing norms through either internalization or sanctions. IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS: Deviance can sometimes bring about social change by identifying problem areas PROVIDES JOB: law enforcement agencies, courts, reporters, prison guards, parole officers, makes of safety equipment UNIFYING GROUPS: (Durkheim) Deviance can bring groups/communities together

Work with a partner: Find a current event to that demonstrates how low level deviance serves a function in terms of social control, identifying problems, providing jobs, and unifying groups. See Separate Rubric.