Objectives:  Explain deviance from a symbolic interactionist perspective. Describing and applying the components of differential association theory, control theory, and labeling theory  List and give examples of neutralization techniques  Know from functionalist perspective which functions deviance fulfills in society  Understand Strain theory and discuss its social implications  Understand the role power plays in defining and punishing deviance from a conflict perspective

Differential Association Theory  Edwin Sutherland  associating with some groups results in learning an “excess of definitions” of deviance, and, by extension, in a greater likelihood that one will become deviant  what we learn influences us toward or away from deviance  Families, friends, neighborhoods, subcultures all influence us

Control Theory  Walter Reckless  idea that two control systems—inner controls and outer controls—work against our tendencies to deviate  inner controls (conscience, religious principals, ideas of right and wrong, desire to be good, fear of punishment)  outer controls (family, friends, police)  stronger our bonds are with society, the more effective our inner controls are  bonds are based on attachments, commitments, involvements, beliefs

Labeling Theory  the view that the labels people are given affect their own and others’ perceptions of them, thus channeling their behavior either into deviance or into conformity  labels are names and reputations

 Techniques of Neutralization: ways of thinking or rationalizing that help people deflect society’s norms 1. Denial of Responsibility  I’m not responsible because…;I couldn’t help my self 2. Denial of Injury  I wasn’t wrong because nobody got hurt 3. Denial of a Victim  Do you think they deserved it? 4. Condemnation of Condemners  Who are you to talk? 5. Appeal to Higher Loyalties  I had to help my friends…wouldn’t you do the same thing?

 most people resist being labeled deviant, but others revel in it  music, clothing, hairstyles  labeling can become a self-fulfilling prophecy  Roughnecks vs Saints  doors of opportunity open for those with positive labels and close for those with negative labels

 deviance, including crime, is a natural part of society and fulfills necessary functions Functions of Deviance (Durkheim): 1) clarifies moral boundaries and affirms norms 2)promotes social unity 3) promotes social change

 Robert Merton  analyze what happens when people are socialized into desirable cultural goals but denied the institutionalized means to achieve those goals  ie: people are socialized to be successful, but their paths are blocks because of social class, gender, etc…  being unable to achieve those goals leads to strain (frustration)  this can lead to anomie (sense of normlessness) because some people find it difficult to identify with these norms  This can motivate people to deviant behavior

Responses to cultural goals and institutionalized means : 1) Conformity: using socially acceptable means to achieve goals Or when anomie is present… 2) Innovation: accept the goals of society but use illegitimate means to try and reach them (drug dealer) 3) Ritualism: give up on achieving goals, yet accept the means (burnt-out teachers) 4) Retreatism: reject both goals and means of achieving them (severe alcoholics) 5) Rebellion: reject both goals and means; replace existing goals with new ones (revolutionaries)

Street Crime  robbery, burglary, drug dealing, prostitution, etc  lower classes want to achieve cultural goals, but don’t fit into the institutionalized means  schools are set up based upon middle class values and ideals; lower class don’t fit, so many drop out  Illegitimate Opportunity Structure: opportunities for crimes that are woven into the texture of life  for the lower class = street crime “hustling”  hustlers are role models and attract disadvantaged youth into crime

White Collar Crime  committed by people of respectable and high social status in the course of their occupation  ie: bribery, embezzlement, price fixing  Opportunity structures are different, but they still commit crimes  can be more costly than street crime  financially costs billions a year (Zeune 2001)  unsafe working conditions kill about 100,000 Americans each year, five times the number killed by street criminals

Gender and Crime  Women are committing a larger proportion of crimes than they committed in the past  Women are still less likely to commit crime than men  but are committing more and more, particularly white-collar crimes as they enter the professional and corporate world

 power plays a central role in defining and punishing deviance  the group in power uses the law and criminal justice system (system of police, courts and prisons) to maintain its power and privilege over other groups  the fundamental division is between the capitalist class (those who own the means of production) and the working class (those who sell their labor to the capitalist class)

 Marginal working class: the most desperate members of the working class, who have few skills, little job security and are often unemployed  many times they commit street crimes through desperation, which threatens social order, therefore they are severely punished