DEVIANCE

Learning Goals

You will:

- Describe theories related to deviance

- Summarize and interpret statistics on deviant behaviour

- Describe methods of deterrence used in societies

- Explain how social panic happens

- Explain how deterrence and civil liberties conflict

What is Deviance?

• Behaviour that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society (Wickman, 1991)

• Could be considered deviant in one society and normal in another

• Standards of deviance based on:

– Location

– Age

– Social status

– Individual societies

• People could be considered deviant based on their appearance, trait or physical ability

• Stigma (Goffman) – labels society used to devalue members of certain groups

• Stigmas can change over time

• What are some stigmas that you are aware of?

http://youtu.be/nefwFjyjarg

• Consensus crimes have near-unanimous agreement that they are intolerable, harmful and require severe penalties

• Conflict crimes may be illegal, but there is disagreement about seriousness and penalties

• social deviations are not illegal acts but regarded as serious or harmful

• Social diversions violate norms in a provocative way – distasteful, but harmless

Social Control

• Internal – developed during socialization and lies within the individual

• External – based on social sanctions, both positive (smiles, words, awards) and negative (criticism, fines, imprisonment)

• Informal sanctions – applied by most members of the group

– Thanking, ridiculing, gossip, facial expressions

• Formal sanctions

– Imposed by authority figures, ie. Judges, teachers, police

Functionalist

Perspective

• A common part of human existence, with both positive and negative consequences for social stability

• Negative – deviance erodes trust, widespread suspicion, causes nonconforming behaviours

• Positive – punishments demonstrates to others what society expects, defines proper behaviour

• Strain theory – deviance will be limited because people share goals and agree on the means to achieve them – deviance will be limited to when gaps exist between the goals and the means

• Control theory – conformity depends on strong bonds between individuals and society – if bonds are weak, deviance occurs

Symbolic Interactionis

t Perspective

• Deviance is learned through interaction with others

• Differential Association Theory

– People learn the techniques, attitudes of deviant behaviour from those with whom they associate – tendency to deviate when they frequently associate with people who favour deviance

• Labelling Theory

– Attempts to explain why certain people are labelled deviants and others not even if behaviour is similar

– Deviants are people who have been labelled as such

Conflict Perspectiv

e

• Suggests that the activities of the poor and lower-income individuals are more likely to be defined as criminal

• The criminal justice system treats suspects differently on the basis of their racial and ethnic backgrounds

What is crime?

• A deviation from social norms

• Subject to formal penalties

• Varies by time and place

– Example: prohibition/alcohol

• Tends to affect some groups more than others

– Example: violence against women

• 87.3% of sexual assaults

• 76.3% of confinement, kidnapping, abduction

• 75.7% of criminal harassment

How is crime tied to inequality?

Why is crime underreported?

The Correctional System

• Designed to punish and deprive a person of freedom because of a criminal offence

• Four functions:

– Retribution – imposing a penalty that fits the crime

– Social protection – removing an offender from society rendering them incapable

– Rehabilitation – attempts to return offenders to the community as law-abiding citizens

– Deterrence – attempts to prevent crime by making people fear punishment

• Deterrence is meant to use punished criminals as an example to keep others from committing crimes

• This requires that lawbreakers know 1) they are likely to get caught and 2) the punishment will be severe

• PROBLEM – the probability of being caught, arrested and convicted is low.

Does the Prison System Benefit Society?

Restorative Justice

• Aims to restore social relationships rather than simply punishing

• Aims to repair the harm done to the victim and the community

• Involves the victim and community members as active participants to help reconcile offenders with those who were harmed

• The offender must acknowledge the wrongs committed and repair the harm caused

• https://youtu.be/Ee-3NyfOxz4