DEVIANCE AND CRIME

Deviance

Most people internalize social norms, but not even sanctions can bring about complete social control.

Deviance is: Behavior that violates significant social norms.

Examples include: Continually talking to oneself in public Drag racing on a public street Regularly using illegal drugs Using a weapon to attack another person Retreating from society Committing murder

Norms help society to run smoothly. Norms vary from personal cleanliness

and table manners to the safety of society.

Violating norms varies from culture to culture, and what is considered deviant varies from culture to culture.

The label of “Deviant”

If you get a speeding ticket, are you deviant?

If you are continually being caught driving at high speeds, are you deviant?

If you steal a pencil from Ms. Heck, are you deviant?

If you steal $50,000 from a company you work for, are you considered deviant?

The label of “Deviant” A STIGMA is a mark of social disgrace that

sets the deviant apart from the rest of society.

A deviant person only becomes deviant when a society labels them as such. If you commit murder, you will be labeled a

deviant, even if it’s the only norm you’ve broken.

Social Functions of Deviance When norms are made, there will always

be deviance. Some acts of deviance are positive:

Deviance helps clarify norms, unify groups, and promote social change (civil rights movement)

Deviance also provides jobs. Police, court system, etc.

Why are people deviant?

Three perspectives…. Remember these?

Functionalist Conflict Interactionist

Functionalist Perspective:

Functionalist Perspective: Deviance is a natural part of society. It

clarifies social norms, both positive and negative ones. Deviance results from the strain of goals incompatible with the means of achieving them.

Functionalist Perspective (con’t)

Strain theory: Deviance is the natural outgrowth of values, norms, and structure of society. Ie. American society places a high value on goals,

like economic success, but not everyone has access to the means to achieve these goals.

Anomie: the situation that arises when norms of society are unclear or are no longer applicable. Anomie leaves people without guidelines for behavior. Ie. During industrialization, there were high rates of

suicide. One explanation is that people didn’t know how to react to the changes of industrialization.

Conflict Perspective:

Conflict theorists believe that competition and social inequality lead to deviance. A struggle between the people with power and

without power. Those with power are deviant to keep their power, and those without power are deviant to obtain economic rewards or stop feeling powerless.

Interactionist Perspective: Interaction among individuals influences

deviance. Control theory-people conform to norms

because of strong social bonds. Cultural transmission theory: deviance is a

learned behavior (conformist) Labeling Theory: how individuals are

labeled (does society see you as deviant or not) Treating people as deviant can make them deviant.

Poster:

Get out a piece of paper and fold into thirds.

Label the sections with the three perspectives of Deviance.

Write a definition of each perspective, and provide a picture and an example for each perspective. (You may focus on theories within a

perspective)

Crime

Norms are elevated to laws when they are seen as protecting people from significant harm

The U.S. suffers from more crime than almost all other modern countries

Crimes are more prevalent in cities than rural areas (countryside)

Minorities are more likely to be victims of crimes

Types of Crimes

Violent Crime: Murder, rape, assault, robbery. These are a small percentage of all crimes

Violent Crime Stats

Stats: A violent crime occurs every 22 seconds in

the U.S. Every 37sec. An aggravated assault occurs A robbery occurs every 1.25min. A forcible rape occurs every 5.75min. A murder occurs every 31min.

Types of Crime

Property Crime Stealing or damaging someone else’s

property Burglary, larceny, vehicle theft, arson, etc.

Types of Crime

Victimless Crime – these crimes, theoretically, harm no one but the person committing the crime. Prostitution, illegal gambling, illegal drug

use, etc.

Types of Crime

White Collar Crime: offenses committed by people of high social status in their professional lives. Politicians, employees of corporations, or

corporations themselves. Examples include: fraud, tax evasion,

embezzlement, price-fixing, political corruption

Types of Crime

Organized Crime: An organization of professional criminals that control a business through violence, or threat of violence. Many of these organizations run legitimate

businesses as “fronts” for hiding money for gambling, hijacking of merchandise, drug trafficking, etc.

Videos

US Prison Population the Largest in the World http://www.learnliberty.org/videos/us-prison-pop

ulation-largest-world

Why is the US Prison Population so Large? http://www.learnliberty.org/videos/why-is-the-US

-prison-population-so-large?utm_source=Video%20Viewers&utm_medium=video%20annotation&utm_content=Prison%203%20-%20Opps%20annotation&utm_campaign=General

Racial Inequality in the Prison System http://www.learnliberty.org/videos/racial-inequality-i

n-the-criminal-justice-system?utm_source=Video%20Viewers&utm_medium=video%20annotation&utm_content=Price%20System%20-%20Opps%20annotation&utm_campaign=General

Look up on youtube

Prison

Get with a partner and discuss these questions then write down your answers: Is prison designed to discourage crime,

protect the public, punish offenders, or rehabilitate inmates?

Do you think our prisons working? Explain.

In the large scheme of things, do prisons help or hurt our society? Explain.