Deviance and Society

Deviance and Society

• Deviance is a social construct, as societies create rules, apply them to individuals, and label them as outsiders.
• Deviance is the responses to actions, which can be problematic or extreme.
• It is not accurate to assume that labeled deviants have necessarily broken a rule.
• Some people who engage in deviant behavior are not labeled due to escaping apprehension.
• There are no common personality or life factors that determine who becomes deviant.

Varying Reactions to Deviant Acts

• Reactions to deviant acts are dependent on factors like the time, the person committing the act (social class, race), and the consequences of the act.
• Crime committed by corporations is prosecuted as civil cases, whereas crime committed by individuals may be treated as criminal offenses.

Rules and Enforcement

• The existence of a rule does not guarantee its enforcement.
• Enforcement is triggered when something provokes it, requiring someone to punish the culprit and bring it to the attention of others.
• Moral entrepreneurs create and enforce rules.
• Rule creators want to destroy evil by creating rules with the advice from higher ups which they create in a way to benefit them.
• Moral crusades can be a success or failure, and can lose momentum over time resulting in stricter laws.
• Rule enforcers need new rules, so new agencies and officials are created that become devoted to enforcing the new rule.
• Rule enforcers may not care about the content of the rule, but the rule is needed for the job/income.
• Rule enforcers show they care by enforcing the rule since the job relies on it.

Gangsta Paradise and Theories of Deviance

• Topics included were drift theory (Matza), control theory (Hirschi), differential association theory (Sutherland & Cressey), strain theory (Merton), structural functionalism (Durkheim), Conflict theory (Quinney), Reaction theory (Cohen), and lower-class culture theory (Miller).

Labeling Theory (Becker)

• Positive labels improve self-image and motivation.
• Negative labels decrease self-image and reinforce the labeled behavior.
• Labeling theory: Military discipline to straighten out youths doesn't actually work in order to deter youths from jail causing more damage.

Tannenbaum (1938) and Dramatization of Evil

• Tannenbaum defined "dramatization of evil" as arrest, adjudication, and sentencing in the justice system which shames people to prevent people from committing crimes again.
• The process of shaming juveniles can be damaging, in the long run they will see themselves as bad.
• Juveniles in a new world are conscious of themselves as different after arrest and become classified as a bad person.
• Tagged juveniles are forced into companionship with similar kids, exposing them to criminal practices which leads to criminal behavior.

Tannenbaum (1938) on Policy

• They process of labeling someone will defining, making them conscious and evoking traits that are complained of.
• Tannebaum's suggested policy says to refuse evil and the less said the better because if you don't draw attention to the mischief behaviors they will outgrow it.

Lemert and Societal Reaction

• Primary deviance: Minor violation that may not evoke an official response.
• Secondary deviance: An official response where deviance becomes public knowledge and the person is labeled as a criminal.
• Reactions from others can cause a shift from primary to secondary deviance.
• A primary deviant may engage in further deviance to defend against societal reaction.

Becker (1963) on Societal Reaction

• The centerpiece of criminological analysis should be the societal reaction instead of the behavior.
• Society creates crime.
• Social groups create deviance by making rules, applying the rules to particular people, and labeling them as outsiders.
• Behaviors are neutral and dependent on definition for social value.

Becker (1963) on Creating Deviants

• Creating deviants involves three steps: defining an act as deviant, defining the actor as deviant, & the actor accepting the label.
• Labels put on someone by Tannenbaum and Lermert can end in a self-fulfilling prophecy resulting in society’s creation of crime.

Labeling Process Summary

• An initial criminal act occurs, if not caught no new label will be imposed.
• If the action is caught then the secondary deviance process begins.
• A criminal label is imposed, and a new identity takes hold, a master status change occurs. Now a normal and good person is called and seen as a criminal which can result in a self-fulfilling prophecy.
• If the label of the act is accepted then deviancy amplification will occur completing the process, however if there is no acceptance then there will only be negative consequences from the primary deviance.

Differential Enforcement

• Due to bias in the CJS, more poor than rich people get caught because they lack economic resources to protect themselves.
• Police may be less likely to use powers on those from "good families" because they fear the come back.
• The poor are more likely to experience secondary deviance and thus a change to their self-concept.
• Laws status can cause people who are not criminal to be labelled as a deviant.
• Police hound ethnic minorities more so because thy suspect guilt or quilty.

Fall of Labeling Theories and Criticisms

• Labeling theory treats being raised in criminogenic conditions as inconsequential.
• Criminality emerges early in life, before state intervention.
• It cant explain primary deviance.
• Suggestions of not labeling caused crime to climb.

Social Constructionist Stance

• Key Ideas of the Constructionist: Deviance is socially created and only becomes deviant when society defines it.
• The constructionist stance challenges the idea that deviance is natural or universal, highlights the role of power in shaping laws and norms, and explains why some groups are more likely to be labeled deviant than others.
• The Role of Claimsmakers and Moral Entrepreneurs: certain individuals create and enforce rules.

Macro & Micro Levels of Social Construction

• On the macro level, large scale institutions define and enforce deviance.
• On the micro level, individuals shape deviance through personal actions and biases.

How the Constructionist Explains Deviance

• Step 1: An act is identified and framed as a problem
• Step 2: Powerful groups label act through laws.
• 3: Labeling affects how people see themselves.
• 4: Definitions of deviance change over time.