1. Crime and Deviance

2. Introduction to Crime and Deviance
*Though crime is an issue that dominates the public imagination, is the subject of regularly lurid tabloid headlines, and keeps politicians of all parties awake at night, we nonetheless have an ambiguous attitude towards it.
For example, how many of you have ever broken the law?

3. What is Deviance? 1.Behavior that violates a norm
Behavior that is successfully labeled deviant
Interestingly – one who is considered “deviant” by one category of people may be seen as “conformist” in another group*

4. II. The Nature of Deviance
Violation of norms is inevitable
Depends on the situation (example- Murder: A police officer/Soldier who kills someone in the line of duty is not deviant)
Depends on society (example: divorce is not deviant in the U.S., but it is in the Philippines)

5. Defining Deviance Not all crimes are deviant Non Criminal Deviance
Bullying
Speeding
Gambling
White Collar crime
Non Criminal Deviance
Music preferences
Body piercing
Marrying someone
Your parents disapprove of
Being a Geek or a Nerd
Driving…. “rolling Stops” ?
Crossing against the light?
Eating a piece of candy from the bulk bin at Wegmans?
Bring food to the movie theater?*

6. What are the Social Functions of Deviance? (Name 3)
Clarify Norms—defines boundaries
Unify the Group—identify the outsider
Diffusing Tension—only if a minor act; demonstrations
Promoting Social Change— if a lot of people violate a norm, maybe it shouldn’t exist any longer; department bans on tattoos
Providing Jobs— judges, lawyers, police, prison personnel, parole officers, crime reporters, criminologists

7. What is a crime?
A crime is any act which breaks the formal, written laws of a state.
Can you think of examples?
What formal sanctions await those involved in either committing a crime, or allowing such acts to take place?

8. 3 Types of Crimes Violent Crime
Murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault
Occurs every 22 seconds in the U.S.
Crimes Against Property
Burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson
Occurs every 3 seconds in the U.S.
Victimless Crime: prostitution, illegal gambling, illegal drug use, and vagrancy*

9. If you could be totally invisible for 24 hours and were completely assured that you would not be detected or held responsible for your actions, what would you do?
2012 Harvard study-The average number of antisocial responses given by college students is (36%) NO different than the number of antisocial responses given by inmates at a maximum security prison.

10. Is Deviance Normal? Were your responses “Deviant”?
What stops you from committing deviant acts?
Men in church story……
Motivation doesn’t matter, Interaction and perception does*

11. Interactionalist View of Deviance
Howard Becker
“Social groups create deviance” by making the rules that infraction constitutes deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people, and labelling them as outsiders.
Those in church do the labelling (Majority Labels).
From this point of view deviance is a consequence of the application by others to the rule and sanctions to an ‘offender’.
The deviant one is one to whom the label has successfully been applied; the deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label.”
Becker is suggesting that in one sense there is no such thing as a deviant act. Do you Agree?
An act only becomes deviant when others perceive it to be deviant*

12. Interactionalist View of Deviance
Examples?
Nudity is not seen as deviant in bedroom where partners sleep. However, if a third party enters it is.
-In certain situations such on a naturist holiday or nude beach, it would not be considered deviant.
-At an NFL football game male spectator who streaked might be seen as a drunk idiot but if he exposed himself to a crowd he would be seen as a ‘pervert’.
Thus there is nothing intrinsically normal or deviant about the act of nudity.
It only becomes deviant when others label it as such.
Depends on…….
Interpreted by the audience.
Who commits the act,
When and where it was committed*

13. Interactionalist View of Deviance
Last Example- Skipping school…..
In the past, against the rules, STILL is but…..
When your doing it in a group, is it less deviant?
What about on the day of a Regents exam?
The acts are the same, but the meanings given to them by the audience differ.
Thus deviance is not a quality that lies in behaviour itself, but in the interaction between the person who commits an act and those who respond to it*.

14. Interactionalist View of Deviance
Is a person walking in the hall “deviant” behavior?
When is it not…?
AM, coming in, going home, to and from lunch, Called down to someplace, Nurse, making deliveries.
When is it so…?
During class, with no reason, w/o permission, not a student or parent*

15. Is this deviant? Why-why not?

16. Crime and Deviance
Some acts, previously considered deviant and/or criminal, may well become routine and unexceptional in the future (and vice-versa).
Can you think of any examples?

18. Going walk about…..

19. Drugs Legalize? Is use “up” or “down”?
In general, peak in 1979, down in 80s, up through mid-90s, down recently
True of alcohol, smoking, marijuana and many more serious
E.g., marijuana
In 2015, 21% HS seniors last 30 days, 48 % lifetime
1979, 37% HS seniors last 30, 60% lifetime*
map*

20. Deviant Examples… Robbery – taking from another by force
Burglary – unlawful entry and theft
both a young person’s game, a male game - 91% of those arrested of robbery males under the age of 25.
Burglary 5 times more common than robbery
Why do you think Burglary is 5x higher?

21. Homicide Rate today “high” or “low”?
50s and 60s about 5 per 100,000
1980 peak 10.2 per…
Today about 5.5 per…
. US Rate “high” or “low” compared to other countries?
High, but less so than 20 years ago
Killers often quite similar to victims (in race, age, sex)
Today more than 50% killed by stranger (up from 1990s)
For women victims well over 50% killed by non-stranger
In fact, over 50% female victims killed by someone they knew as “intimate”

22. Theory can focus on three causes
. Etiology…. Study of causes…. “why do they do it?”
How does something come to be seen as deviance in the first place – How are deviance categories “constructed”

23. Etiology - Why do they do it?
.Biological theories
E.g., gender
.Psychological theories
E.g., Mental illness, Personality Theories
Crimes of Passion, or of the moment
. Sociological theories
E.g., learning, Peer groups, TV, Family, Religion*

24. Bio factors do matter IQ related to crime
Gender and age powerful social structural predictors of crime. Why?
Gender, some say only socialization
But why gender/age stronger predictor of violent crimes ?
Probably also has to do with strength
A man more likely to be physically capable of violent crime
Strength and energy decline with age*

25. Behavioral Genetics A study in Denmark examined 3,586 twin pairs.
Identical twins - if one twin had a serious criminal record, odds were 50-50, the other twin did, too.
Fraternal twins - if one twin was a criminal, the odds were only 1 in 5 that the other twin also was a criminal.
. It there a genetic factor crime?

26. Labeling Theory
Looking glass self, W.I. Thomas Theorem, Self-fulfilling prophecy
If told you suck,,,,, you suck. Reverse is true as well
What did your parents tell you?
The POWER is in knowing that you are shaped by these forces….

27. 8. Self-fulfilling prophecy

29. Labeling Theory
Looking glass self, W.I. Thomas Theorem, Self-fulfilling prophecy
If told you suck,,,,, you suck. Reverse is true as well
.Primary deviance is the behavior a person engages in that causes others to label him or her as deviant.
.Secondary deviance is behavior that is a reaction to having been labeled a deviant.

30. Three Ways Labels Cause People to Deviate (1 or 2)
A deviant label, such as burglar, alcoholic, or prostitute, limits legitimate economic and occupational opportunities.
A deviant label will impact attachments (friends, groups, social activities)
Being labeled a deviant can affect their “self concept”. (If others see us as deviants, we may come to accept their judgments.

31. Control Theories
Replaces the question: Why do they do it? with Why don’t they do it?
Durkheim says “moral” and “social”
“stakes in conformity” – “social bonds”
attachments
Investments
Involvements
Beliefs
Social consequences
“Social Integrations”*
NEXT…… Gender?? Fin.