Reactions to Deviance

Reactions to Deviance Whether it’s as simple as picking your nose or holding up a gas station…violations of norms invite reactions.

Reactions to Deviance The United States cannot build prisons fast enough. 2.3 million people are in prison/jail. This is about one out of every 140 citizens. The United States has more prisons than any other country in the world and the highest percentage of population than any country in the world in jail or prison.

Reactions to Deviance

Reactions to Deviance What conclusions can we draw from this chart? Most prisoners are younger than 35. Almost all prisoners are men. Even though African Americans make up only 12.8% of the population, close to half of all prisoners are African American. On any given day 1 of 9 A.A. men (ages 20-34) is in prison; Latinos 1 of 26; Whites 1 of 100) Most are not married nor educated past high school.

Reactions to Deviance “Get Tough” policy to use as a deterrent. “Three strikes and your in!” – when someone is convicted of a third felony, judges are required to give a mandatory sentence…sometimes life. Read “Three Strikes” article What are the unanticipated consequences of the policy?

Reactions to Deviance

Reactions to Deviance Violent crime has dropped in the US…Why? Is it because the US is getting tougher on crime or are there other sociological factors to consider? Higher employment Drop in drug use Abortion Can we support this claim today? With less employment is there a growth in violent crime? NY Times Article

Reactions to Deviance What is the goal of prisons? Do people when released stay away from crime? NO! Recidivism Rate  The proportion of released convicts who are rearrested. For people sent to prison for crimes of violence, within just three years of their release, two out of three (66%) are rearrested.

Reactions to Deviance

Reactions to Deviance Capital punishment  the death penalty. Is the death penalty an effective consequence? DNA testing gives opponents of the death penalty a strong argument: innocent people have been sent to death row. Others are just as passionate about keeping it, citing several heinous crimes. Is there an effective punishment?

Reactions to Deviance Bias Social class –wealthy rarely get sentenced to death Gender—almost unheard of for a woman to be sentenced to death. Race – Ex. VA 2,798 men convicted of rape between 1908 and 1963: 56% white 44% black. 54 men were executed: NONE WERE WHITE Furman v. Georgia – outlawed the death penalty citing racial bias 1972

Reactions to Deviance 1977 most state wrote new laws bringing back the death penalty. Today 65% of those executed are white 35% are black.

Reactions to Deviance

Reactions to Deviance

Reactions to Deviance Hate Crime  A crime that is punished more severely because it is motivated by hatred (dislike, hostility, animosity) of someone’s race-ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability , or national origin. Crimes change as society evolves. Are hate crimes of murder different than murder without hate as a motivation?

Reactions to Deviance

Reactions to Deviance Criminal statistics are bias. How? Interpretation of the law Consistency Social Class Police Discretion  the practice of the police, in the normal course of their duties, to either arrest or ticket someone for an offense to to overlook the matter.

Reactions to Deviance Another way society deals with deviance is to “medicalize” it. To make deviance a medical matter, to classify it as a form of illness that properly belongs in the care of physicians. Medicalization of Deviance deviance including crime is a sign of mental sickness. Rape, murder, stealing, cheating, and so on are external symptoms of internal disorders, consequences of a confused or tortured mind.

Reactions to Deviance Others argue that mental illnesses are neither mental nor illnesses. They are simply problem behaviors. Read page 223-224 Discussion: Is mental illness a reality that can cause deviance?

Reactions to Deviance Final thoughts Deviance is inevitable, one measure of society is how it treats its deviants. Prisons certainly don’t say much good about US society. Filled with poor, uneducated, and unskilled, they are warehouses of the unwanted. White collar criminals continue to get by with a slap on the wrist while street criminals are punished severely.