Sociology Chapter on Crime Theories

Deviance, Crime, and Social Control

• Deviance is a violation of established cultural, social, or legal norms.
• Crime is a violation of official law and punishable by formal sanctions.
• All criminal acts are deviant but not all deviant acts are criminal.

Social Control

• All societies use social control to regulate and enforce norms.
• The goal of social control is to maintain social order.
• Societies use various sanctions to enforce rules.
  • Positive sanctions are rewards for conforming to norms.
  • Negative sanctions are punishments for violating norms.

Informal and Formal Sanctions

• Sanctions can be informal or formal.
• Informal sanctions occur in social interactions.
  • Examples: expression of thanks, angry comment.
• Formal sanctions are officially enforced.
  • Examples: promotion at work, parking fine.

Functionalist Views of Deviance

• Deviance is a key component of a functioning society.
• Deviance can bring social change by challenging existing views.
• Punishing deviance reinforces social norms and contributes to societal stability.
• Deviance creates jobs in the social service sector, law enforcement, and correction systems.

Functionalist Perspective (Durkheim)

• A limited amount of crime is inevitable and even necessary for a society's well-being.
• A certain amount of crime contributes to social regulation, integration, and change.
• Too much crime can destabilize a society.

Conflict Perspective

• Traditional Marxist theories link crime to power inequalities in capitalist systems.
• Capitalism's inequality and injustices drive criminal behavior.
• Class-based analysis shows that both classes commit crime, but the crime of the wealthy and powerful is often more harmful but less punished.
  • The elite often control the law and justice system.
• Marxism highlights a historical period in 1970s for criminology.

Strain Theory

• Merton's strain theory identifies five ways people respond to a gap between socially accepted goals and available means.
• Conformity – pursuing goals through socially acceptable means,
• Innovation – pursuing goals through unacceptable means,
• Ritualism – lowering goals to fit available means,
• Retreatism – rejecting both goals and means,
• Rebellion – rejecting goals and means to create a new system.

Social Disorganization Theory

• Crime is more likely in communities with weak social ties and absent social control.

Cultural Deviance Theory

• Conformity to lower-class cultural norms contributes to crime.

Deviance: Conflict Theory View

• Deviance and crime are evidence of inequality within a society.
• The bourgeoisie use their power to shape laws and regulations to maintain their position.

The Power Elite

• A small group of wealthy and influential people hold the power and resources.
• The rules of society are often biased to favor the elite.
• While crime is typically associated with the underprivileged, the crimes of the wealthy and powerful frequently go under-punished and cause major issues.

Feminist Theory and Deviance

• Gender inequality influences the opportunities to commit crime, defining, detecting, and prosecuting crime.
• Women are considered doubly deviant – breaking laws and deviating from gender norms.
• The tendency exists to medicalize women’s deviance as a physiological or psychiatric issue.

Sexual Assault and Spousal Assault

• Sexual assault is an act of violence, not sex.
• Secondary victimization occurs when the women's history and consent are questioned, making victims less likely to press charges.
• Partner violence is often hidden as a private matter, and police engagement is low.
• Both are frequently under-reported crimes.

Twin Myths of Rape

• Feminist analysis challenged the myths that often underpin criminal justice proceedings for rape cases.
• Myth one: Women fabricate assault accusations for personal gain.
• Myth two: Women's verbal “no” to sex doesn't always mean “no.”

Symbolic Interactionist Perspective (Labeling Theory)

• Crime and deviance are socially constructed; agents of control label the powerless as deviant based on stereotypes, creating self-fulfilling prophecies.
• Deviance does not stem from individuals themselves but from societal reactions and labeling.
• Crime is viewed as a product of micro-level interactions, specifically interactions between individuals and police, rather than external societal forces.

Four Key Concepts of Labeling Theory

• Crime is socially constructed – those in power label harmful acts as crime.

• Negative labels (deviant/criminal) are often given to powerless by the powerful.

• Labeling has consequences leading to deviancy amplification and deviant careers.

• Labeling theory advocates policies that prevent labeling minor acts as deviant.

• Interactionism suggests the absence of inherently deviant acts; deviance is about societal reactions.

Deviance in Symbolic Interactionism

• Symbolic interactionists highlight the socially constructed nature of labels related to deviance.
• Crime and deviance are learned and influenced by environmental factors and reactions of people around individuals.

Labeling Theory (Detailed)

• What is considered deviant is based on societal reactions to behaviors.
• Primary deviance: the initial norm violation does not significantly affect the individual.
• Secondary deviance: occurs when the individual's self-concept and behavior change after societal labeling of their actions as deviant.
• Master status: describes the chief characteristic of an individual.

Differential Association Theory

• Individuals learn criminal behavior from those around them who provide models and opportunities for deviance.

Control Theory

• Social control is directly impacted by the strength of social bonds.
• Individuals who feel connected to society are less likely to commit crime. Travis Hirschi identified four types of social bonds:
  • Attachment: connections with others;
  • Commitment: investments in the community;
  • Involvement: involvement in socially legitimate activities; and
  • Belief: common values in society that encourage conformity.

Criminal Justice System

• A criminal justice system enforces legal codes.
• Three branches:
  • Police: law enforcement and public order maintenance;
  • Courts: decision-making based on law; and
  • Corrections: supervision of individuals.

Legal Codes and Crime

• Legal codes use laws to maintain formal social control.
• Crime is behavior in violation of official law and subject to formal sanctions.

Types of Crimes

• Corporate crime: committed by white-collar workers in business settings.
• Hate crimes: based on person's race, religion, sexuality, or other factors.
• Nonviolent crimes: theft or property damage without force.
• Street crime: committed by average people against others in public settings.
• Victimless crimes: activities against the law without harming others.
• Violent crimes: involve force or threat.

Reduction (of Crime)

• Punishments prevent future crimes through:
  • Deterrence: discouraging further criminal acts.
  • Rehabilitation: changing offender behavior.
  • Incapacitation: removing the offender's ability to re-offend.

Retribution

• Retribution: punishment that expresses societal outrage at the crime, even if not directly aimed at reducing future crime.

Practice Question

• Students are asked how different theoretical perspectives explain changes in marijuana laws in Guyana, the US, and Canada.

Quick Review

• This section summarizes core concepts covered: deviance, social control, theoretical perspectives, parts of the criminal justice system, and types of crimes.

This quiz explores various criminological theories including social disorganization theory, cultural deviance theory, and conflict theory. It also examines the role of gender in crime through feminist theory and the impact of social control mechanisms. Test your understanding of key concepts and their implications regarding crime and deviance.