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Conformity, deviance, and crime What is deviance? • It depends who you ask • It depends on when you define the term • Sociologists define it as “non-conformity to a • • given set of norms that are accepted by a significant number of people in a community or society. Are there other definitions? Yes Four models are used to clarify what deviance is. Spiritual Model of Deviance • The source of deviant behavior is demonic • • possession or that the deviant behavior may be rooted in some spiritual imbalance. This model was the earliest of the four and has more or less been replaced by the others. It had a profound impact on how deviant behavior was viewed and how it was treated. Social Standards Model • This model suggests that deviance is defined by • • society itself. Depending on the society, the timing, and the situational demands on that society, some behaviors may or may not be considered deviant. Examples of this controversial model are numerous and include some of the writings of Thomas Szasz, a noted American psychiatrist. Statistical Model • This model suggests that deviance is defined by • • the relative infrequency of a particular behavior. It is a model that modern psychology uses, especially behaviorally oriented theories, and looks at such things as base rates of particular symptoms or disorders. It may be somewhat tricky to use this model to defined deviance but allows for relatively easy measurement of the deviant behavior. Medical Model • This model is the most current and dominates • • • the provision of care for the deviant. The model suggests that deviance comes from pathological states. To treat the deviance one must treat the pathology. It includes such terms as diagnosis, etiology, prognosis, and treatment. While it sounds like this may be the most convincing approach to defining deviance it has many problems associated with it. Other sociological models • Lombroso (1870’s) – the atavistic man – Suggested that criminals are “throwbacks to earlier periods in human development” • Sheldon (1940’s) – Body type – Ectomorph – Endomorph – Mesomorph Social Pathology Model • The deviant or criminal person is a produce of “social sickness” or social disintegration. • This notion is all but discredited among professionals because it suggests no real theory of causality. Cultural Conflict (Conflict Theory) • Cultural conflict creates opportunities for • • deviance and criminal gain in deviant subcultures (like prohibition creating opportunities for organized crime). Marxian Theory suggests that capitalism produces poor and powerless masses who may resort to crime to survive. The rich employ their own agents to break laws and enhance their power and wealth. However, crime still exists in societies that have sought to eliminate capitalism. Interactionist • Crime exists through differential association • Criminal careers result from recruitment into criminal groups based on association and interaction with criminals. • Difficult to explain deviant careers but explains how people get into groups. Interactionist • Labeling suggests that deviance is created by groups that have the power to attach labels to others, making particular people as outsiders. It is difficult to she a label once it has been established and the labeled person tends to behave in the expected manner. Functionalists • Functionalist believe that deviance is a natural • • part of society and it exists for a reason…it serves a function. It develops because of structural tensions and a lack of moral regulations within the society. If the aspirations held by individuals and groups in society do not coincide with the available rewards, this disparity between desires and fulfillment will be felt in the deviant motivations of some of its members. Durkheim • Suggested that in modern societies traditional norms and standards become undermined without being replaced by new ones. • Anomie exists when there are no clear standards to guide behavior in a given area of social life. • Under these circumstances, people feel disoriented and anxious…anomie is therefore one of the social factors influencing dispositions to suicide. • Durkheim coined the idea of “social facts” and saw crime and deviance as inevitable and necessary elements in modern societies. • People are less constrained in the modern world. And, because there is more room for choice, it is inevitable that there will be some nonconformity. • No society will ever be in complete consensus about the norms and values that govern it. • Deviance fulfills two important functions: – Deviance has adaptive functions (it is an innovative force that makes society adapt and change) – It promotes boundary maintenance between “good” and “bad” promoting solidarity and clarifying social norms of behavior. Merton • Also a functionalist, he believed that the source • • of crime was in the very fabric of American society. He believed that there is strain or anomie placed on the individual when “accepted norms” conflict with “social reality”. For example, in American society there is value placed on material success and the means for achieving success are self-discipline and hard work. • It is believed that if you just work hard enough that you will be successful. This “fact” however is not the reality because there are plenty of people who work hard and do not have the means or opportunity to advance. • This may create great pressure to get ahead by any means available. • Therefore, deviance is a by-product of economic inequalities. Merton’s Modes of Adaptation Cultural Goal Institutional Means Conformity + + Innovation + - Ritualism - + Retreatism - - +/- +/- Rebellion Merton’s Modes of Adaptation Examples The Poor The Middle Class The Rich Conformity The Working Poor The Suburban Family Wealthy civic leader Innovation The mugger The embezzler The stock manipulator Ritualism The chronic welfare recipient The resigned bureaucrat The hedonist Retreatism The wino or junkie The skid row alcoholic The bohemian Rebellion The bandit The anarchist The fascist Control of Deviant Behavior • The ways in which society prevents deviance • • • and punishes deviants are known as “social control”. Police, prisons, and mental hospitals, etc. are responsible for applying social control. Less threatening forms of deviance are controlled through everyday interactions of individuals. Three dimensions, power, culture, and voluntary vs. involuntary behavior and the most important determinants of crime. Stigma • Is a personal attribute that is deeply discrediting. • While stigmatized individuals may deviate from societies norms they are not necessarily deviants. Crime • Is usually defined as an act or the omission of an act for which the state can apply sanctions. • Which behaviors constitute crime and what degree of sanction is appropriate is questionable. Crime • Is there such thing as a “victimless” crime? • The most serious and frequently occurring crimes, called “index crimes” are reported in the FBI’s crime index. • Most crimes in this index are grossly underreported; may be 2 or 3 times higher. Crime • Deviant behavior can be categorized in terms of • • the degree of consensus on whether they are deviant and on the appropriate degree of sanction to be applied. As a culture’s values and norms change, so do its notions of what kinds of behaviors are deviant and how strongly they should be sanctioned. Individuals may belong to subcultures in which a particular form of deviant behavior is practiced. While they may be deviant in terms of societies norms the behavior of its members is not considered deviant within the group. Deviance in the US before the Civil War Weak sanction weak consensus Weak sanction strong Strong sanction weak consensus consensus Strong sanction strong consensus • • • • • • Killing native Americans Lynching African Americans Prostitution Wife or child beating • Political Corruption Corporate Crime • • • • • Abortion Indebtedness Illegitimacy Divorce Adultery • • Major felonies against whites Treason Homosexuality Deviance in the US more currently Weak sanction weak consensus Weak sanction strong Strong sanction weak consensus consensus Strong sanction strong consensus • • • • • • Recreational drug use Homosexuality Abortion • • • Schizophrenia Driving under the influence of alcohol Public drunkenness Corporate crime Wife or child beating • • • Sale of whiskey during the prohibition Prostitution Abortion before 1973 • Major felonies Treason Crime Rates Incarceration Rates Male Crime Rates – Urban vs. Rural Crime Rates Committed by Men Crime Rates in the US 1983-1999 Homicide Rates per 100,000 in 2003 Prison Population Justice Employment and Crime Rate