1. Crime, Deviance And Social Control
© Alan S. Berger

2. What Do we want to Know How is deviance defined and who defines it
Is it the person or the action?
How is deviance distributed in society and how do we know
What causes deviance
How is deviance controlled
© Alan S. Berger

3. © 2009 The McGraw Hill Companies
Social Control
Social control: techniques and strategies for preventing deviant human behavior in any society
Sanctions: penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm
Society partly defined by people’s willingness to accept shared beliefs and practices
Society can limit individual freedom and advance interests of some at expense of others
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4. Conformity and Obedience
Conformity: the act of going along with peers—individuals of our own status who have no special right to direct our behavior
Obedience: compliance with higher authorities in a hierarchical structure
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5. Informal and Formal Social Control
Informal social control: used casually to enforce norms
Formal social control: carried out by authorized agents
Interplay between formal and informal social control can be complicated because we have to balance one source of control against another
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Law and Society
Some norms are so important to a society that they are formalized into laws
Law: governmental social control
Control theory: our connection to other members of society leads us to systematically conform to society’s norms
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7. Defining Deviance
Deviance is the violation of Norms, especially widely held norms
Crime is an action declared illegal by some government or agency
Usually, by a legislative body
Sometimes by administrative actions
Is all deviance criminal ?
Pushing children into fashion shows, sports ?
Subcultures and deviance
© Alan S. Berger

8. Defining Deviance Not all crimes are deviant Non Criminal Deviance
PETA
Bullying
Speeding
Gambling
White Collar crime
Non Criminal Deviance
Music preferences
Body piercing
Marrying someone
Your parents disapprove of
Your parents want you to
Being a Geek or a Nerd
Where do “rolling Stops” and other trivial driving violations go?
© Alan S. Berger

9. Distribution of Deviance
Crime Rates vs Crime Statistics
Variance in Reporting Issues
To Police
To FBI
By Type of Crime
By nature of offender and victim
Blaming the Victim
Location
Organized Crime
White Collar Crime
Non Criminal Deviance… What do we Know
Not much
© Alan S. Berger

10. Explanations of Deviance
Historical non Social-scientific explanations
Patterns of Bumps on head
The Devil made me do it
Mental issues
Bad Seed
Sociological Explanations
Functionalist:
Deviance provides an example of what must be avoided because it is wrong
Some deviance can lead to positive social change
© Alan S. Berger

11. Controlling Deviance Is all deviance controlled?
What choices does society have in controlling deviance?
Internal
External
Who controls Deviance
Under what circumstances some forms of deviance not controlled
What is required to control deviant behavior?
How about deviant thoughts?
Presidential Candidate who admitted “Lusting in his thoughts”
How does the nature of society impact the nature, extent and control of deviance?
© Alan S. Berger

12. Explanations of Deviance
Anomie The norms are weak or are in conflict. This is the basis for Strain theory
Social structure limits the abilities of certain groups to satisfy culturally dictated goals and aspirations and means to achieve them.
Cultural goals which are acceptable in our society
Wealth
Power
Status
Material Goods
Acceptable means to achieve them
Education
Jobs
Some talents
© Alan S. Berger

13. Explanations of Deviance
Conflict or Strain between goals and means produce "anomie” and possibly a high level of maladaptive behavior due to cultural imbalance between goals and means.
Social structure explains differences in upper and lower class crime rates.
Distribution of legitimate opportunities to achieve wealth through legitimate means.
Since goals are not always achieved, means become valuable in themselves.
Often times, means are placed under severe stress.
Little reward in means alone.
Strain falls on a wide variety of people:
mostly concentrated in lower-classes.
because of differential emphasis placed on ability to attain goals.
Goals "open to all."
© Alan S. Berger

14. Anomie created by disjunction of goals and means causes great discomfort. To overcome sense of anomie, different modes of adaptation are used:
Source
© Alan S. Berger

15. Symbolic Interactionist Theories
Social control or Social Bonding
Doesn’t ask why people are deviant, but why they aren’t.
Not A Crime If I Can't be Caught .pdf
Strong Interpersonal ties often lead to strong commitment to the norms
Cultural Transmission, Differential association and subcultures
Who you associate with
Learned behaviors
Interaction with other groups with other norms
© Alan S. Berger

16. © 2009 The McGraw Hill Companies
White-Collar Crime
White-collar crime: illegal acts committed in the course of business activities, often by affluent, “respectable” people
Corporate crime: any act by a corporation that is punishable by the government
Computer crime: use of high technology to carry out embezzlement or electronic fraud
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17. © 2009 The McGraw Hill Companies
Victimless Crimes
Victimless crime: willing exchange among adults of widely desired, but illegal, goods and services
Supporters of decriminalization are troubled by attempts to legislate moral code for adults
Critics object to notion that these crimes are “victimless”
© The McGraw Hill Companies

18. Social Order, Deviance, and Crime
Durkheim’s Theory of Deviance
Nothing inherently deviant or criminal in any act
Society identifies criminals for the sake of social order
When societies experience anomie, social integration is weak and people are free to pursue deviant paths
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19. Social Order, Deviance, and Crime
Merton’s Theory of Deviance
Anomie theory of deviance: five basic forms of adaptation to cultural expectations
Conformist
Innovator
Ritualist
Retreatist
Rebel
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20. Interpersonal Interaction and Local Context
Cultural transmission: individuals learn criminal behavior by interacting with others
Differential association: process through which exposure to attitudes favorable to criminal acts leads to the violation of rules
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21. Interpersonal Interaction and Local Context
Social disorganization theory: attributes increases in crime and deviance to the absence or breakdown of communal relationships and social institutions
Labeling theory: attempts to explain why certain people are viewed as deviants while others engaged in the same behavior are not
Also known as the societal-reaction approach
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Power and Inequality
Criminal justice system serves the interests of the powerful; protect their own interests and define deviance to suit their own needs
Race and Class
Suspects are treated differently based on their race, ethnicity, and social class
Differential justice: differences in the way social control is exercised over different groups
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23. © 2009 The McGraw Hill Companies
Power and Inequality
Gender
Existing approaches to deviance developed with only men in mind
Society tends to treat women in stereotypical fashion
Cultural views and attitudes toward women influence how they are perceived and labeled
As women take on more active and powerful roles both in the household and in business, gender differences in deviance and crime have narrowed
© The McGraw Hill Companies

24. The Criminal Justice System
Based on Adversarial system, Conflict
Only available for crimes, not for non criminal deviance
Religious laws deal with some of the non criminal deviance
Made up of
Courts
Police
Corrections
How else is deviance sanctioned?
Hiring practices
Public Opinion ?
© Alan S. Berger