Chapter 4 Crim Strain Theory PDF

Chapter 4 crim strain theory Sociological positivism = square/ rectangle , liberal , situational , realist. 3 key periods 1. The rise of sociology as an academic discipline (mid 19th- 20th century) 2. Professional sociology (early 1920-ww2) 3. Postwar period late 1940s, 1950s First period The rise of sociology as an academic discipline. Sociologists applied the approaches and concepts of the natural sciences to the study of society. They presumed consensus over values and norms (supportive of status quote) Square/rectangle but still believes in consensus. Sociology cell Says society is the cell/ its own organism It mutates, regrows, etc. In order for cell to punction optimally all parts of cell have to work together, if one part dies it wont be able to continue growing Parts of the cell are institutions (family, etc.) If all institutions are working well, the cell(society) will work well Sociology loves institutions. First period mid 1800s - 1920 The sociological method constructed broad categorizations of different societal types (pre- industrial, industrial) Society was presumed to shape individual behaviour. Criminal behaviour was believed to be a manifestation of social pathology; flawed structures and values and institutions in society. Second period early 1920s- WW2 Sociology was linked to expert or technical solutions to problems such as poverty and crime (professionalism emerges) Wide scale migration of war, political and economic refugees to countries like Canada, us, Australia, and new Zeeland due to class struggles and armed conflicts Russian revolution (1917) Great depression (1929-1939) Nazi movement in Germany (1930s) Ww11 (1939-1945) Key question emerged; how did successive waves of immigration impact crime rates? Third period - postwar to 1950s Period of economic boom and growth, optimism rising living standards (capitalism seen as model for success) Problem: how to explain persistent crime rates despite good socio- economic conditions. Answer: examine distribution of opportunities in society and how people interact with and learn from each other. (economic boom was distributed to white men, not other classes , not linear) Basic concepts Definitions of crime: Crime is a social problem, and is caused by social phenomenon (social disjuncture or structural processes) that represent strain within society. Based on sociological understanding of individuals and group behaviour. It is a violation of the general consensus and values of society (rather than strictly a violation of the legal code or court convictions).(things we feel are wrong/ have widespread agreement its wrong) Crime is things that caused social breakdown/ public disorder. Focus of analysis: Strains is caused by social tensions and cultural processes rather than individual psychology or biological traits. Strains are associated with "structural opportunities" and "cultural processes" Considers the nature of social learning (crime is a product of social structures and value systems) Analyzes particular subcultures to see how values are transmitted. Studies crimes that are undetected by the criminal justice system through alternative methods (victim surveys, self report measures) Strain is always bad (less strain society good, more strain society more criminogenis) Realist perspective. Historical development Emile Durkheim (founder of strain theory tradition) - 1893 -- Society is characterized by collective consciousness (common belief) which forms a determinant system. Crime is an integral part of society. - Durkheim -- Society determines nature of crime and the regulation of criminal behaviour. -- believe crime as a symptom, not the cause of the problem. -- crime gives us the chance to check in with our collective consciousness. -- crime is the way society tests our limits of acceptances. Collective consciousness includes: norms (manners) Values (things we hold to be true, broadly our conceptions of right and wrong, linked w morality) Beliefs sometimes laws (rule of order within society - how does it operate, what are the expectations) Influence of social phenomena Durkheim attempted to empirically demonstrate the relationship between social structure and norms of society (social and cultural life) Study of suicide -- higher rates of suicide in protestant vs catholic societies. (sin to Catholics) (suicide more normalized for protestants, not so much social/political impact) more devote catholic less likely to commit (collective consciousness of Catholics) -- suicide is a social pheromone not explained solely in terms of choices or psychological factors. OCTOBER 16TH Influence of social phenomena cont'd According to Durkheim society is structures around division of labour Mechanical solidarity (preindustrial society where individuals share the same skills, tasks and beliefs) vs organic solidarity (industrial societies that are more heterogenous with respect to skills, specialization, and beliefs) Preindustrial societies with mechanical solidarity emphasize conformity and cultural homogeneity. Industrial societies with organic solidarity are linked through law and interdependence. According to Durkheim deviants are dealt with differently depending on the type of society in which they live : Society with mechanical solidarity; repressive justice aimed at reaffirming common beliefs and distancing deviant from collective. Society with organic solidarity; restitutive sanctions aimed at restoring social disruption and reintegrating deviant. Egoism and anomie Egoism; the desires of the "presocial self" that must be limited by society. (what wed all do absent the controls- borrowed from freuds ID) Anomie; lack of social regulation in which the appetites of the individual conscience are not adequately held in check. (close to chaos, complete deregulation, lack social order) happens when institutions begin to breakdown. The Chicago school Crime is facilitated by destructive ecological conditions in urban slums rather than biological or psychological inferiority. Study of diverse aspects of social life within its immediate geographical environment. (what features exist in high crime neighborhoods, but also what's missing? Found per valiant poverty, high unemployment, high rates of transiaty, area no one wants to be, low moral, high rates of immigrants and people of colour ) Drawing on concepts from biology, ecological model studied the impact of lifestyle, urban growth, and social change. There has to be something structurally at play. Redlining policy; prohibited people of colour from renting or owning land outside of the city (in affect until the late 1960s) "ghettoization" Indig. street gang match to Chicago school: higher crime rates because of higher rates of racialized poverty, legitimized alternative process by which to obtain respect, money belonging. Video: warriors of the rex; Aboriginal gangs in Winnipeg Felt like outcasts wanted to make a "support system"/ brotherhood. Largest urban Aboriginal population. Gangs promise money, respect, brotherhood- appealing to aboriginal kids who are manly disadvantaged. Canada stripped indigenous people of their language, culture, way of life etc. Canada did it deliberately "kill the Indian in the child" Forced indigenous people to move to the city without the resources needed for work or education. Intergenerational trauma, reproduces learned ways of living from residential school. Kids starting gangs; didn’t really consciously think about making a gang, just came from their experiences and learned way of life. Most the kids involved in gangs had a role reversal with parents, making them the provider for family, at a young age the need to be the provider can make one turn to crime for fast money. "I don’t want him to be like me but its hard to show him anything different" (Indian posy affiliate) he doesn’t know how to teach his kids right from wrong, because he doesn’t know right from wrong. Memory of segregation still fresh in indigenous minds. Unless there is change on this aspect gangs will continue. OCTOBER 18TH; The Chicago school cont. Chicago theorists observed that certain city areas shared common characteristics; poverty, decaying housing, transient residents, large immigrant groups, and greater rates of deviance than more stable areas. Social disorganisation theory; show and McKay linked life in transient slum areas to the inclination to commit crime (influenced criminology for 8 centuries) If society causes the problem society will be the solution. (causation by society; general argument opportunities not equally distributed, then you will have groups of people with inequalities whom lead to commit crime.) Shaw and McKay placed crime within the context of the changing urban environment. Observed distinct "natural areas" characterized by affluence or poverty corresponding into 5 concentric circles with stable and differing crime rates. Transition zones are characterized by frequent changes in composition bringing divergent cultural and moral standards. Changes precipitated a breakdown of neighborhood traditions and inability to enforce moral standards. Zones farthest from the city center had low rates of crime. (crime mapping). Crime mapping leads to hotspot policing, tells you go where the crime is, a lot of crime in an area then you should spend more time there in the hopes of stopping the deviant acts. What could be unintended consequence of hotspot policing; more resources to one area then less in other areas, you only find gold in the rocks your looking in. looking at high crime area you'll find crime, but if you spent the same amount of time in another you will also find crime. Lead to over policing of marginalized communities, continuing to marginalize them. Crime and culture; Sutherland and Cressy's differential association. Criminal behaviour is learned in particular neighborhoods and social situations. Directed at explaining youth subcultures. They are learned and values that are transmitted in certain areas. Importance of criminal values will vary depending on when your exposed to them, how frequently your exposed, and how attached you are to the people giving you that exposure. Particularly true for youth as their highly susceptible and impressionable to value transmission as they don’t know who they are nor what they want, their looking to society to tell them. Differential association; Differential association describes the process in which behaviour is differently associated insofar as some individuals associated with carriers of criminal norms. Techniques of committing crime. The motives, drives attitudes and rationalizations associated with crime. Definitions of legal code as favourable or unfavourable. Differential associations may very in frequency, priority, and intensity. (differs for boys and girls - boys ; frequency is important, how much time you spend with criminogenic peers. Girls ; intensity of relationship, if its your best friend you are more likely to start committing, how attached you are to criminogenic person, family is much more protective to girls than boys, boys are more likely to look to peers for protection, education much stronger protection for girls than boys. Age also matters, high exposure in pre teen periods higher change they begin acting in the same deviant way) Subcultures; Albert Cohen argued that certain subcultures emerge as an alternate cultural system that develops because of conflict between classes and blocked opportunities experienced by working class young people. Instead of measuring success in conventional terms, the subculture focuses on alternative goals related to their experiences (eg. Seeking respect rather than financial success). System of belonging. Often mirror legitimate practices. Subcultures manifest as gangs. Gang involved communities are typically marginalized, excluded, less access to resources, less social support, poverty ridden, etc. Subcultures contd; Cloward and ohlin argued that crime is collective in nature (learned from peers) Where legitimate opportunities are blocked or absent, illegitimate opportunity structures develop where culturally defined goals are still sought (due to a sense of injustice). Mechanism for achieving normal goals and opportunities you will turn to illegitimate methods to achieve the same goal. Merton typologies of deviance ; 5 categories( institutionalised means) on top, (cultural goals) on the left side. Argues criminality is the result of desire to achieve cultural goals. But unavailable through institutional means Vast majority of criminals in innovation category, but not all innovators are criminals but all criminals are innovators. The impact of social disorganization cont; Merton Conformism; those who accept the culturally defined goals and the institutionalized means of attaining them. (least likely to become criminal Innovation; those who accept the culturally defined goals but who lack the institutionalized means to attain them. They therefore resort to innovative means to attain the goals, such as turning to crime. Most likely to turn to crime Ritualism; those who accept the culturally defined goals but who know they cannot attain them. Nevertheless they continue perusing institutional means, regardless of outcome(least likely to become criminal) OCTOBER 21ST Robert Mertons typology cont'd; Retreatism; those who reject both the culturally defined goals and the institutionalized means of attaining them. They retreat from society in varying ways (eg. Substance abuse) Rebellion; those who substitute their own cultural goals and institutionalized means in place of the conventional goals and means in society. They create their own goals and means of achieving them (eg. Ecologically sustainable hippie lifestyle). Contemporary examples; Social ecology; examines spatial features of offences (eg. Actions of individuals and groups within certain times of the day or week.) Spatial features; contextual aspects. Analysis of community level social disorganization: --focus on structural and cultural aspects of certain types of neighborhoods such as inner city ghettos. The neighborhood effect; --the impacts of social status and crime rate are seen to affect choices regarding criminal behaviour (eg. Culture of violence) Belief that once you understand the frameworks you can interrupt criminality. Urban design and crime; Environmental criminology theory; Illustrated by work of architect Oscar Newman (1972) Considers the impact of architecture and physical environments (i.e.. Design of the community) on crime. Defensible space; inhibit crime by increasing the levels of surveillance and creating spaces that discourage crime (e.g. Neighborhood watch programs) Hostile architecture: mechanism to discourage homelessness/ anti social behaviour, with the idea that it will limit crime. Routine activity theory; Sets a premise that most of us behave in fairly consistent predictable ways. Put forward by Lawrence e. Cohen and Marcus Felson. People can take proactive measure to lower our risk profile of victimization. Expands ecological theory to study crime and victim rates over time. Target hardening; measure one can take to prevent criminality or victimization. Belief that Steps can be taken to decrease the likelihood of criminality. Different crimes, different types of target hardening. First put forward to explain property crime but expanded 3 structural changes in everyday routines increase crimes against property and individuals: 1. Presence of motivated offenders. 2. Presence of suitable targets (e.g. Unlocked cars). 3. Absence of capable guardians (e.g. Police, homeowners). Believes criminality will occur if measures are not put in place to discourage it. You can decrease your risk of one crime and increase your risk of other crimes. Have to be very careful with target hardening, and the belief of dissuading criminality, why?: victim blaming, why didn’t they just do x etc. removes responsibility from offender onto victim. Routine activity theory cont'd; Potential for violent or criminal behaviour increases with exposure to violent or delinquent activates; "principle of homogamy" (Sampson and Lauritsen 1990, 1994) Assumption built into the theory that everyone will engage in criminal behaviours unless prevented from doing so. Focus on crime prevention aimed at lifestyle changes that can prevent targets for criminal offenders (e.g. Increasing presence of capable guardians) Violence may be condoned or legitimated in certain subcultures. OCTOBER 23; Life course criminology; Development and crime are evolving processes that must be understood as a constant series of interactions between the individual and environment. Primary methodology; longitudinal studies of individuals. Factors causing criminal career are present within each specific stages. (external factors that highly affect our probability) Examines role of human agency in development of criminal behaviours. What factors influence transition. Life course criminology cont'd; Focuses on two key concepts and their impact on behavioural stability and turning points; Trajectory; path of development over lifespan representing patterns of behaviour (e.g. Work, career, family) ( overarching theme or pattern that your transitions fall in, your trajectory can change based on your transitions). Transition; life events (e.g. Finishing school, job, retirement) vast majority of transitions are not linear, there are positive and negative transitions, the same transitions will not affect everyone the same. (individual events, mile marker events, some kind of change). Theory in current research; Lussier and Mathesius (2012) Deployed life course criminology in order to examine sex offenders to determine the age of consent for such offenders. They were able to reveal that official data incorrectly reflected the age of onset sexual offending by an average of seven years. Found that juvenile sex offending was not necessarily an indicator of later adult sex offending and that many juvenile offenders desist before adulthood. Revealed many adult offenders were never juvenile offenders. On average, the later the onset of sex offending the longer offenders avoid detection. Risk and resilience; A framework examining risk factors (e.g. Poverty or drug abuse) as well as "protective" or "resilience factors" (e.g. Family cohesion) on emergence of criminal behaviour. Focus on quantitative analysis (e.g. Poverty treated as risk factor rather than requiring investigation of systemic social inequality.) Critique; Near exclusive focus on working class crime. -Exception of Sutherlands (1983) work on white collar crime. Problematic presumption of social consensus about goals and desired life style (status quo) -different values are considered deviant. -denies pluralism of values in society. Oversimplification link between lack of opportunity and crime; -there may be a generalized strain that underlies offending, but strain and subculture theories do not adequately explain individual differences in offending. Conclusion; Recognized that criminal activity is meaningful for those who lack opportunities. Opened the way for progressive reforms that ranged beyond punitive approaches and psychological rehabilitation. What was left unchallenged was the legitimacy of basic structures of society and the way society itself influenced the way some activities were criminalized and others not. Book notes ; Chicago school; A school of thought favoring free market economics- focus on exploring and recording the diverse aspects of social life located in its immediate geographical environment. Basing their theory on concepts found in biology, created an ecological model in which to study the impact of urban growth, the lifestyle of residents, and the effects of social change on the city. Increase in social disorganization appeared to occur with rapid increases in social complexity, which lead to higher rates of deviance. Specific city areas or zones that shared common characteristics including poverty, decaying housing, transient residents, and myriad of large immigrant groups, exhibited greater rates of deviance than more stable areas. Social disorganization theory; Popularized by the work of two Chicago sociologists, Clifford Shaw, henry McKay who built on Ernest burgess and Robert parks work. Placed crime and delinquency within the context of the changing urban environment and ecological development in the city. These various and distinct areas represented a series of five concentric circles or zones, which there are significant stable differences in crime rates. Highest levels of crime were in transient zones; characterized by frequent changes in population composition as new immigrants moved into the area, brining divergent cultural and moral standards and the gradual industrialization of the area. Zones farthest from the city had lower crime rates. Concluded there exists a blend of cultures and values that in transitional neighborhoods represent conventional and deviant norms. Young people find that adults who adopted a deviant lifestyle were the most financially successful and many young chose to emulate this type of behaviour. Adoption of deviant values means that slum youth often come into conflict with existing middle class norms, characterized by strict adherence to the legal code. Result of this conflict the delinquent youth and their peers are further distanced from conventional society. Ensuring increase in isolation from conventional goals results in a fuller internalization of deviant goals and behaviour. This isolation translates into the development of neighborhood street gangs. Areas with the highest crime rates retained high crime rates even when the ethnic composition of the neighborhood changed. Social disorganization concepts; Put forward by Shaw and McKay One of the most valuable contributions is the notion that crime is facilitated by the destructive ecological conditions in urban slums. People do not engage in criminal behaviour because they are biologically, intellectually, or psychologically inferior. Crime is instead a result of neighborhood decay and disorganization and is a natural reaction to adverse social and environmental conditions. Economic deprivation meant that, even where mainstream goals had been internalized, people were denied opportunities to achieve those goals. Thus a depressed, and stratified economic structure could engender conditions that lead to greater incidence of crime. Merton; Argued the notion that crime rates are related to society's ability to establish norms that regulate behaviour of the populace. Claimed crime could be understood in relation to two variables; the culturally defined goals of society and the institutionalized means whereby one can attain these goals. "mal-integration"; occurs when there is a disjuncture between the cultural goals and the institutional means. Argued that all individuals basically share the same cultural goal- but they have different institutional means available to them, some people experience blocked opportunities and are unable to achieve their goals through normal or legitimate means. Depending on the opportunities available to them, people decide to accept or reject the cultural goals and to accept or reject the institutional means to attain commonly accepted goals. The decision one makes is determined or shaped by their position or status in society. Those in lower end of socio-economic ladder will experience greater likelihood or blocked opportunities than those from better off or wealthier families. This impacts behaviour. Merton developed abstract typology of response to means/ ends equation. Described individual adaptations to the goals and means. Mertons 5 responses to different ways of structure of opportunities available; Conformism; those who accept the culturally defined goals, and the institutionalized means of attaining them. Innovation; accept the culturally defined goals but lack the institutionalized means to attain them. Therefore they resort to innovative means to attain their goals ; such as, turning to crime. Ritualism; accept the culturally defined goals but knows they cannot attain them. Nevertheless they continue perusing institutionalized means , regardless of the outcome. Retreatism; reject both the culturally defined goals and the institutionalized means of attaining them. They retreat from society in various ways (substance abuse). Rebellion; substitute their own cultural goals and institutionalized means in place of the conventional goals and means in society. They create their own goals and means of achieving them. Strain theory point of view; the choices available to people reflect problems stemming from the structure of society itself. The relationship between cultural goals and institutional means ultimately determines the kinds of opportunities and choices available to different groups. Sutherland and cressy explaining the nature and development of youth subcultures; Argued that crime was cultural in nature, in the sense its learned behaviour. People in particular social situations learn about criminal behaviour by interacting with those people, the most significant interaction occurs within intimate personal groups; peer groups. Differential association - Sutherland and cressy; Describe a process in which behaviour is differentially associated insofar some individuals will associate with carriers of criminal norms while others will not. The learning of criminal behaviour includes; the techniques of committing crime (how to hotwire), the motives, drivers, attitudes and rationalizations associated with crime, and definition of the legal code as favourable or unfavourable ( car theft, people have insurance anyways.) Differential association may vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity. Those who become delinquent or persistent offenders do so because of a greater number of definitions favourable to violation of the law over definitions of unfavourable to violations. (shared by group interaction) The issue of peer groups and offending cultures are seen as being of central importance. Subcultures; Deviant or criminal behaviour is collective in nature and is based on shared experiences and perceptions. Argued strain between cultural goals and institutional means is reflected in specific subcultures. Albert Cohen; argued that working middle class subcultures can be seen as a product of the conflict between working class and middle class subcultures. Such a subculture is an alternative cultural system that develops because of blocked opportunities and low self esteem experienced by working class young people. Cohen saw crime and delinquency in terms of collective behaviour associated with different aspirations, expectations and lived experiences of two different class groups. His research indicated youth do not necessarily accept the culturally transmitted social goal of economic success and financial accumulation that appeared to motivate adult offenders. Instead of financial success, youth were searching for the status and respect they were unable to command in school, and communities. These institutions were based on middle class values and morals and incorporated what Cohen referred to as "working class measuring rod" to judge youth. Status frustration resulted when working class youth were unable to meet the standards demanded of them by their teachers and communities. Strain could manifest in many ways; they could strive to meet the expectations determined by the middle class measuring rod , or they could reject these standards and develop their own working class expectations. Like minded youth and form delinquent subcultures that allowed the participant to achieve the status they craved. Achieving this status in a subculture could involve turning over middle class values and expectations and doing the opposite of what is expected. Cloward and Ohlin; view that all classes have the same basic cultural goals but the working class is disadvantaged in gaining these desired ends. Illegitimate opportunity structures will develop in those situations where the culturally defined goals are still sought, but legitimate opportunities are blocked or absent. The issue here is not a conflict between class cultures but the relationship of certain subcultural practices to specific class backgrounds. Matza and Downes; argued that working class young people neither rejected nor inverted the dominate, culturally prescribed values of society. They saw working class youth subcultures as simply accentuating particular "subterranean values" (risk, adventure, fun) that are part of a normal society, but are taken too far. Response to restricted opportunities young people resort to forms of "manufactured excitement" of their own creation. Contemporary; There are several broad strands to contemporary strain theory. Social ecology; looks at how aspect of the physical and social environment at the local level influence patterns of offending and fear of crime. The emphasis is on exploring the spatial features of offences and offending by examining the natural and built environments, studying the actions of individuals and groups within certain places at certain times and evaluating the processes of social regulation. The intention of such research is to explain the uneven distribution and impact of crime and to develop crime prevention and policing strategies that take into account the characteristics of the local environment. Neighborhood effect; Based on analysis of community level social disorganization. Focus is on particular kinds of neighborhoods such as inner city, marginalized communities. Argued that resident high crime among black youth is due to both structural and cultural factors. Specifically a "culture of violence" is sustained among the new urban "underclasses" through structural disorganization and cultural isolation that stem from the concentration of poverty, family disruption, and residential instability. Stresses the importance of considering the impact of "neighborhood effect" when it comes to crime. The social status and crime rate of a neighborhood have been shown to have an effect on a persons chances of becoming involved in offending behaviour, regardless of their socio- economic status. A young person from low income background living in a high crime area is far more likely to engage in offending behaviour than an identical person in a low crime neighborhood. Community context is integral part of why some employed and marginalized young people have greater propensity to commit crime. Explored the impact of social disorganization on levels of fear in a community, and the impact of this fear on the community behaviours. When crime rates are high in areas with social disorganization, levels of fear underwent a significant increase, and that perception of crime and victimization create high levels of neighborhood fear. Fear becomes contagious. Leads to decrease in their participation in outside activities and a withdrawal from community life. When fear starts to affect community participation, business conditions begin to deteriorate and population mobility increase as people move from the community to areas perceived safer. Conditions that encourage "criminal elements" to move into neighborhoods, which increase the chance of victimization and the level of fear in the neighborhood. Fear may develop a siege mentality where the outside world is viewed as the enemy. This results in both mistrust of all outsiders including business and governments, and in individual communities becoming self conscious and overly sensitive. Changes in ethnic makeup and a decrease in population density and socio-economic status mark this period of decline. Areas may transition to a renewal stage in which housing is replaced or upgraded and the neighborhood is gentrified. Snel, glas and engbersen argue that neighborhoods undergoing these transformations see increase In their crime rates. Others have focused on examining the impact of neighborhood disadvantage on mechanisms of informal social control. Neighborhood disadvantage increases, its level of informal social control decreases. Results in the likelihood that children may become involved with deviant peer groups and then engage in socially repugnant behaviours. A result social institutions such as schools and churches are not able to effectively work im an atmosphere of mistrust and alienation. "the absence of local political power limits access to external funding and police protection. Without money from the outside the neighborhood lacks the ability to get back on their feet." Social control is further weakened by the presence of unsupervised peer groups and gangs that disrupt or block the influence of neighborhood control agents. A result young people who live in socially disorganized neighborhoods find that their ability to participate in conventional social institutions such as school, is blocked and they are instead exposed to recruitment into gangs. Environmental criminology theory; Social disorganization theory applied in attempt to create buildings and neighborhoods that discourage criminal behaviours through design. Oscar newmam, considers the impact that the actual environment of different neighborhoods can have on crime rates. "defensible space": becomes a model for projects designed to inhibit crime by increasing levels of surveillance and the creation of environmental spaces that discourage criminal activity. This is accomplished through variety of measures that include "real and symbolic barriers, strongly defined areas of influence, and improved opportunities for surveillance" it can include elements such as the use of strategically placed lighting, the use of play areas and benches. The goal of the creation and implementation of defensible spaces is to decrease criminal activities by bringing the environment under the control of its residents. The idea of increased surveillance and resident control has been the foundation for the development and implementation of the popular neighborhood watch programs. Routine activity theory; Spinoff of ecological theory. Seeks to expand the ecological explanation of criminality to an exploration of crime and victim rates over time. Argue that structural changes in the routine activities undertaking daily life, influences crime against both property and individuals. 3 factors play a primary role in how structural changes to routine activities can and do affect the types and rates of crime. : first factor, the presence of "motivated offenders" such as, teen males, drug addicts or unemployed individuals. Second factor, the presence of suitable targets, such as unlocked cars, or homes. Last factor, the absence of capable guardians such as police officers, homeowners or security systems. Cohen and Felson argue that all 3 factors must be present for successful completion of crime, by removing one or more factors, communities and individuals can significantly reduce the potential for successful criminal activities. Posits that the potential for violent or delinquent activities increase with individual exposure to violent or delinquent activities. Criminologists refer to this concept as "principle of homogamy"; individuals increase their likelihood of violence the more frequently they come into contact with or associate with members of demographic groups that contain violent offenders. Also posits that individuals who experience violent crime environments and victimization will legitimate the use of violence as a viable solution to conflict much more readily than those who don’t. Argue that subcultural expectations may exist that condone retaliation. Strong relationship between violence at the home and future anti social behaviour. Claim that youth model the actions of their parents and internalize the idea that the use of violence is an acceptable interpersonal strategy to deal with conflict. Aggression is a viable means of problem solving and gaining compliance of others. Violent experiences sway youth to seek out and create violent situations, situations may include joining other youth who approve and encourage the use of violence while providing a sense of belonging. Exposure to and participation in violence leaves youth more vulnerable to violence and victimization, also more likely to be influenced by expectations and tolerance for violence. Focus is not on criminal motivation but instead on methods to prevent criminal activities. Assumption that all people will engage in criminal behaviours unless prevented from doing so. Criminal activities are so fundamentally located in the legitimated opportunity structure of modern society and in the freedom and prosperity that some people enjoy that the only way to reduce crime is to significantly modify our everyday way of life. Crime prevention strategies concentrate on potential crime victims who must instigate lifestyle changes to ensure they are no longer easy targets. Focus is therefore placed on protecting the immediate environment through the creation of defensible space, target hardening, and increased presence of capable guardians. A crucial factor appears to be the location of specific minority groups in segregated, marginalized communities. The result of a concentration of ethnic minority groups in heavily disadvantaged areas is the systemic exclusion of these groups from mainstream social, economic, and political life. Can also be associated with alternative forms of gaining social status, including the use of violence, and reliance on criminal or illegal activity. Area of study particularly growing in interest; youth gangs and youth groups. This type of work has generally attempted to provide more precise definitions of different types of youth groups, to examine the kinds of activities and associations linked with diverse group formation and to explain the origins, dynamics and changes in group formation as these relate to social, economic, and policing factors. Significant issues include those of poverty and unemployment but also racism and the impact of ethnic divisions and inequality on group behaviour. Attention also directed at patterns of policing and how these impinge on different populations of young people in different ways. Social development theories; Deals with personal, family and social factors that influence the life chances and life decisions of young people. This research and resultant theories draw upon elements of strain theory, as well as biological and psychological research. Key risk factors associated with youthful offending; Prenatal and perinatal factors (early child rearing, substance use during pregnancy) Hyperactivity / impulsivity (adhd, inhibition) Intelligence and attainment (low nonverbal intelligence, cognitive deficits) Parental supervision, discipline and attitude (erratic or harsh parental discipline, violent behaviour) Broken homes ( parental conflict, maternal or paternal deprivation) Parental criminality (convicted parents, poor supervision) Large family size ( insufficient parental attention) Socio-economic deprivation ( low family income, poor housing) Peer influences (male group behaviour, delinquent friends) School influences (use of praise and punishment, classroom management) Community influences (high residential mobility, type of housing, neighborhood disorganization) Situational influences (specific opportunities, benefits outweigh the expected cost) Combination of these factors and their association with certain categories of young people are seen to explain variations in the propensity for criminal behaviour and criminalization among young people. These risk factors coincide and to be interrelated in complex ways, such as they do not yield easy or simple answers. Emergence of life course criminology can be traced to recent developments within the field of developmental criminology, which focuses on subdividing the offender population into specific stages of criminal career and assumes that different causal factors are present within each specific stage. Life course criminology; Revised theory of social control, posits that development must be viewed as a constant series of interactions between individuals and environments and includes an examination of the role human agency plays in the development of criminal behaviours. Emergence resulted in time, context, and process being understood as more significant dimensions of theory and analysis. Posits that crime is an evolving process that cannot be fully explained by either individual or environmental factors. Relies on two fundamental concepts. First concept ; trajectories, a trajectory is a pathway or line of development over the life span of the individual and can include elements as work, career, family pathways. Trajectories represent long term patterns of behaviours but they are subject to changes in condition and future options. Second; transitions, which represent specific life events such as leaving school, birth of a child, first job. Transitions evolve over a shorter time span and are enabled in trajectories. Transitions are changes in state that are more or less abrupt, transitions are not necessarily age related. Focus of life course span analysis; time, ordering and duration of major life events and the impact these factors have on later social development. Behavioural stability also plays a fundamental role in life course analysis. Fairly consistent relationship between early transitions and later experiences and events. Implications of early adult choices can extend as far as the years of retirement and old age. Argues the ability to adapt to life events is crucial because the same event or transition followed by different adaptations can lead different trajectories. 3 important themes incorporated in this perspective. 1- the social meaning of age throughout the life course. 2- the intergenerational transmissions of social patterns. 3- focuses on the effects of major events, and structural location on the life histories of the individual. Primary goal of the study of the life course is to connect social structure and social history to the unfolding of human lives. To explore these themes individual lives are studied through time with particular attention paid to aging, cohort effects, historical context, and the social influence of age graded transitions. Focus means that primary methodology is longitudinal studies of individuals over the course of many years. Risk and resilience; There are risk factors (drug abuse) but there are also protective factors (family cohesion) that influence whether or not an individual engages in criminal or anti social behaviour. Resilience factors focus on positive adaptation to adverse conditions and are concerned with the success, social competence, good academic adjustment in youth who are considered at risk. This focus on protective or resilience factors has increased with many researchers looking at the combination of risk and resilience and how this combination affects a young persons decision. Seen to be an overlap in offending behaviour and other types of problem behaviour as well as a close connection between immediate social context and the developmental pathways of serious and violent young offenders. Multifactorial perspective leans toward quantitative and empirically based analysis of offending. Pitches causal explanations not at the more general level of wider social structures but at its immediate and observable features of society and behaviour. Poverty is treated as a risk factor rather than phenomenon stemming from systemic social inequality. Notion that there are distinct criminal subcultures is an important component of republican theory. Critique: Problems with the main thrust of strain theory. Strain theories almost exclusive focus on working class crime. Strain theorists largely accept the "shape" of the official crime statistics. Sutherland work in white collar crime; the majority accepted that the crime in working class neighborhoods was that which needed explaining and eradicating. Reflected an acceptance of a consensus of values in society, all people in society want to achieve the same goals and share the same lifestyle. Strain theory accepts status quo. Rather than seeing the goals and aspirations of society as moulded by those in positions of power, strain theory sees such aspirations as a genuine consensus of values. The concept of a general social consensus has several consequences, first; it denies pluralism of values in society, a conflict of values must mean that ones groups values are wrong. Second; strain theorists tend to accept that the gender roles in society were part of this consensus. Cohen 1950 felt that major strain in the lives of young women was the tension associated with wanting an ideal husband, it did not occur to him that the roles of young women were imposed or that given the choice they might desire a career outside the home. Cohens view was distinctly middle class. In working class areas the strain of unemployment could be as great on working class women as on their male counter parts. Argued that accepting the status quo in terms of "core values" strain theory fails to take account of structural inequities- the way the capitalist system by its very nature renders some people "marginal" and so criminalizes their activities. The process of criminalization is such that only those who challenge that status quo are labelled as criminal. Without tackling issues relating to the inequalities of the system itself, some argue that strain theory simply attempts to adapt the individual to a system where structurally he or she has no place. Often an inbuilt resistance to this kind of change. The system will actively react against any attempts to "adapt" marginalized groups and to provide them with equal opportunity. Ex of this "reaction by the system" or "backlash" is shown by the eventual collapse of the "war on poverty". Part of the reason for the lack of effectiveness of this program was the resistance by those in power to the new realities created by the movement toward empowerment. The resistance by the status quo- and particular politicians who were now faced with an organized, aggressive, inner city urban population. Argued some variants of strain theory oversimplified the link between lack of opportunity and crime. There are also additional factors like, school, family and peers who offend, which are not counted for in this account. While there may indeed be some generalized strain that underlies offending, how this affects individuals, and why some individuals respond with offending behaviours and others do not, is not explained adequately by strain and subculture theories. Criticism of life course criminology are similar to the critics levelled at strain theories in general. Argue life course criminology ignores the potential influences of biological or psychological factors on criminal behaviour. Its also unable to offer a comprehensive explanation for why some individuals who are faced with negative surroundings and poor role models avoid becoming involved in criminal behaviours and activities. How are these individuals able to resist "learning" from what they are surrounded by. They raised level of debate away from a focus on the individual to the influence society has on the behaviour of the members of the working class who offend. In doing so it established a strong link between societal context and the nature of the criminal or deviant activity. Recognized that criminal activity for those who lack opportunities is meaningful for those involved, given their reduced opportunities or peer group supports. Opened a way for more progressive reforms politically and away from knee jerk punitive approaches. Conclusion; A structural perspective, crime is seen to be more a matter of "normal" people in "abnormal" situations than disturbed individuals acting out their pathology. Within the aegis of a structuralist perspective, there is a wide range of strain perspectives that share some similarities yet also clearly differ in their detail and emphasis. Early theorists such as Shaw and McKay emphasized the disorganization of the poor and lack of a cohesive identity that lead to offending. Later theorists such as Merton, emphasized the strain between goals and means and the way criminal means would be used to attain goals in the absence of legitimate avenues. Sutherland and cressy shifted attention to the interaction between individuals that leads to offending behaviour and looked at the way criminal associations supply the techniques, motivations and rationalizations necessary to act criminally. Subcultural approaches such as the work of Cohen and cloward and ohlin, took the association between individuals a step further and emphasized the formation of subcultures as a response to the lack of opportunity in society for working class youth. The relationship between lack of opportunity, alienation and criminal behaviour is, if anything, more important in the current economic climate. Levels of youth unemployment are high, and the inequalities between rich and poor continue to grow. If strain theorists are right, the levels of youth crime and levels of gang formation should also increase. Strain and subculture theories saw movement of analysis of criminal behaviour away from concentration on the conditions of the offender to the circumstances of criminalization itself- that is, crime as a social process in response to the inequalities in society. What was left unchallenged was the legitimacy of basic structures of society and the way society itself influenced the way some activities were criminalized and not others. Sociological approaches; View crime as manifestations of social pathology rather then individual pathology. Social structuralism; Introduces and focuses on the concept of strain as a means of understanding crime and criminogenic behaviours. Strain theory first period (middle 19th century - beginning of 20th); Emerged within the context of the rise of sociology as an academic discipline. Felt that one could apply the approaches and concepts of the natural sciences to the study of society. Sociology assumes a consensus of values and norms across society. Supportive of the statues quo. The role of social scientists was to intervene in shaping the direction of social development by providing positive solutions to identified social problems. Sociological method; Constructed broad categorizations of different types of society. Attempted to show how structures of a society mold and shapes individual behaviour. Criminal behaviour seen as a manifestation of a social pathology- the outcome of something wrong in the structures and values of society. To respond to crime, we must go beyond measures that see it as being simply the result of individual malaise. Institutional reform would be necessary. Strain theory second period (early 1920s-ww2) Industrial revolution fostered the development of professions and was linked to the idea of expert or technical solutions to problems such as crime and poverty. The economic position of the individual in society was seen as an important factor in the commission of crime. Strain theory third period (post war-1950s); In this time the most capitalist countries entered a long boom period of economic growth. Problem was how to explain persistent crime rates in the face of good economic and social conditions. Answer was to examine more closely the distribution of opportunities in society and ways in which people interact with and learn from each other. Task was to formulate concepts that would best express the social nature of crime. Strain theory overview; Crime is caused by social disjuncture or social processes that represent a social strain within society. Strains or sources are social rather than individual. Cause of crime located in social structures or values of systems. Focus is on strains associated with "structural opportunities" and "cultural process" "opportunity theory": cause of crime is seen to lie in inadequate or inappropriate means or opportunities to achieve certain goals relative to other people in society. Restricted or blocked opportunities can lead some to pursue alternative means to gain desired social goods. Second broad approach examines how through various social circumstances, people associated with others who share their cultural understandings regarding acceptable and unacceptable behaviours. "social learning theory"/ "subculture theory": emphasis is on how criminal behaviour is learned in social situations. Analysis od subcultures to learn how norms and values are transmitted. Response to crime; enhance opportunities to reduce social strain. (education programs, employment projects, leisure and recreation outlets, particularly for disadvantaged individuals/groups). Crime reduction strategy; resocialize the offender into conventional goals and means. Stress is on combining the individual rehabilitation with a series of social programs. Crime prevention leans toward measures that expand education, employment and social opportunities that foster healthy peer group activity. Focus is on developing strategies and policies that involve some degree of institutional reform, rather than souley changing / modifying the individual in some way. Deviance/ criminality is related to problems faced by groups of individuals in disadvantaged situations, the solution to crime must be to remedy the disadvantage as far as possible. Strain theory basic concepts; Notion that crime is a social phenomena. Based on a sociological understanding of individual and peer group behaviour- sees crime as somehow related to and shaped by wider social process and structures. Rather than looking at personal psychological or biological traits, theory argues crime is socially induced. Criminal or deviant is a product of a specific kind of social order. Wider societal factors and forces determine the activity and values of the offender, the offender has few conscious choices regarding their available options. Rather than viewing crime as souley the behaviour that formally violates the legal code, crime is seen as any violation of the general consensus of values and norms in society. Important to measure natural crime by alternative means; victim survey, self report studies. Historical development; Emergence of sociology as an academic discipline. Central figure; Emile Durkheim; a French sociologist. Durkheim consistently presented an analysis of society and social problems that demonstrated the close relationship between social structure (organization of society) and the norms and values of society (social and cultural life). Influence of social phenomena; Durkheim analysis premised on the notion that there are "social facts" that can be studied and used to describe social phenomena. Social facts are seen to be independent of the wishes or actions of individual people. Ex; one can quantify social facts as the distribution of population in a certain area/ district or, can ascertain the prevailing norms, rules, regulations, religious beliefs and legal codes of society. Either way phenomena represents social facts, which can be measured and exist as independent entities in their own right. In order to analyze social phenomena, its necessary to acknowledge that different societies give rise to different structures, beliefs, sentiments, thus different behavioural patterns. Durkheim employed 2 basic conceptual tools in his analysis of society. Argued society is structured around a kind of "division of labor" with specific types of work tasks and roles. "mechanical solidarity"; preindustrial society, individuals tend to share the same skills, work tasks, customs, beliefs and religions. "organic solidarity": industrial society, far more homogenous in terms of wealth, ethnicity, religions and beliefs, which have a high level of work specialization. Each society was said to be characterized by a particular form of collective conscience. "collective conscience" referred to as a set of beliefs and sentiments common to a whole society which forms a determinate system. Collective conscience has a feature of shaping and regulating our behaviour as an independent external force. In a society characterized by mechanical solidarity, the emphasis tends to be on rigid conformity and cultural homogeneity. Organic solidarity society is one which people are linked through law and interdependence rather than similarity of life experience. Individual vs societal norms; The nature of the society in which one lives will determine the manner in which deviants will be dealt with. Society with mechanical solidarity; generate repressive justice, which reaffirms the common beliefs and values by distancing the deviant from the wider collective. Society with organic solidarity; generate restitutive sanctions that aim to restore the social disruption by reintegrating the deviant back into the network of interdependencies. Organization of society, as shaped by its division of labour and collective conscience, determines the nature of crime and the regulation of criminal behaviour. Durkheim argued crime is normal and an integral part of any society. He argued where you have unhealthy division of labour or unhealthy regulation of collective conscience, greater likelihood of widespread crime. Healthy society characterized by a collective conscience that regulates behaviour smoothly. Unhealthy society, values are not well established or where they work against the aims of integration and regulation. Egoism; Refers to the desires of the "personal self", desires that society must shape and limit. Dysfunctional societies characterized by an overemphasis on egoism, where value is placed on the unrestricted pursuit of individual societies, here norms of society can produce deviant behaviour. Anomie; Refers to a lack of social regulation in which the unrestricted appetites of the individual conscience are no longer held in check; state of normlessness in which society fails to impose norms that inhibit such behaviour. Durkheim as a foundational thinker; Established that crime is a social phenomena- its inextricably related to the nature of society itself. Also emphasized that crime is caused by a social disjuncture or social strain in society, thus criminality is a product of social order. Crim chapter 5 labelling theory Labelling theory (1950) : non geometric form (focus on individual), structural, radical. Introduction; Labelling perspectives were introduced in the 1950s and 1960s. To understand crime we have to explore both objective and subjective dimensions of the criminal justice experience. Labelling perspective challenge positivist criminology (biological, psychological, or sociological) by arguing that crime is a social process. Crime is not an objective phenomenon, seen as an outcome of specific types of human interaction. Concern is with how human being actively create their social world. Question is who get the label of criminal and why not others, why? Economic growth, rise od baby book, end of war. Social context; The rise of labelling perspectives accompanied the social changes that replaced the dominate images of the 1950s. Collective interests. Consensus on core values. Economic prosperity for everyone (increases consumerism) , gives to the rise of suburbia (this is where we can the idealized standard living) Standards of deviance and conformity. Gi bill entitled American service members, free college, access to reduced rate home loans, job with pensionable salary. First form of rebellion against suburban cultures; beatniks (children of ww2 service members, who started to reject idea of consumption, consumerism with idea that we should be focusing on art, music, poetry, knowledge.) biggest "slur" was if you got labeled a "square" Challenge to dominate social relations; By the 1960s conventional values and basic assumptions of the "American way of life" were challenged. Youth culture; birth of rock and roll Gay and lesbian rights Women's liberation movement Civil rights movement Resistance to Vietnam war Conflict went to the heart of mainstream society. This process completely changes to definition of deviance (whose ideologies are going to win, who will be in the position to label others) Challenge to dominate social relations, cont'd; Sociologists started to view society as pluralistic. Society was made up of a number of diverse interest groups and classes. Social life was nit immutable but subject to constant change associated with interactions between groups. What was deviant one day might not be the next. Likewise, what one group thought of as deviant might be acceptable to another. Meaning given to events depended on negotiated definitions Basic concepts; Definition of crime; Crime and criminal behaviour are a social process. The definition of behaviour or crime depends on who has the power to label. A deviant or criminal label is conferred by those who have the power to label (i.e. criminal justice system and its officials) Focus of analysis; Focus is on the nature of the interaction between offenders, victims and criminal justice system officials. Analysis of relationship between the offender and those with the power to label. Examination of stigmatization as a consequence of the labelling process. Controlled substance act :1969 Basic concepts cont'd; Cause of crime; Crime results from stigmatization and the negative effects of labelling. If a person is officially branded as criminal or deviant, this may result in the person acting in a manner that fits the label. Negative labelling also results in individuals seeking out the comfort of others who have likewise been cast as outsiders. Nature of the offender; Determined by the labelling process. Those who have been negatively labelled may not only engage in criminal behaviour but may actively seek out others who have been given the same negative label. Response to crime; Criminal justice system designed based on spirit of tolerance and recognition of the power of labelling. Diversion from the system to minimize the stigmatizing aspects of the criminal justice system. Less serious offences should not warrant arrest, court appearance or incarceration. Argues we should get comfortable with radical idea of decriminalization. Maximize diversion, minimize labelling. OCTOBER 28TH: Matza drift theory: Not all crime needs to be responded to. - argues labelling intervention is what interrupts the drift back into law abiding, and pushes one further into criminal behaviour. Instead of formal possess, it argues for a process of diversion, diversion avoids formal labelling, criminal record, sanctions and consequences that happen when you’ve been labelled. Goal of diversion is to say that conduct has consequences, but consequences shouldn't be as severe as formal criminal record. Absolute or conditional discharges, these result in your criminality not giving you a criminal record. Absolute discharges, are rare and involve warning from judge, for low level crime. Conditional discharge: much more common, stipulate criminal record will be erased so long as you complete the conditions the judge imposed on you. This is a way the system has begun to recognize how hard it is to reintegrate into society with a criminal record. Labelling theory focuses on youth experience, argument if you can prevent criminality in youth, then well significantly interrupt and prevent future criminality. Video; Adam Fross a prosecutors vision for a better justice system; Everyone has committed crimes at some point in their life (under 25) but none want that label to follow them their whole lives. All criminals he met had histories of victimization, poverty, disengagement etc. (views that these criminals are in need of help, but the system is sending them away) He wanted to be a defender to support those criminals but the power dynamics made him a prosecutor. Criminal justice reform; we complain about things, but rarely talk about the prosecutor. One man wanted to go to school but his job wasn’t supporting the opportunity so he stole and sold 30 laptops, he was found, and this felony can affect the whole trajectory of his life and goals. We are Told that Criminal justice system brings accountability etc. even in the face of it not. Without job, stable housing person who stole computers will become further entrenched in criminality. Prosecutor power "boundless" the decision on how to prosecute was souley the prosecutor decision. Prosecutors are unaware and untrained in the consequences of their convictions and labels. After not prosecuting Christopher he got funding and went to school and got his 4 year degree, some Christophers are locked in our system. An employed Christopher is better for society than a criminal. He didn’t see a criminal their he saw himself (something anyone would do with the version of opportunities that were presented/ we have done and haven't been caught of labelled.) One kid to go to school was scared and instead of brining a lunchbox he brought a gun. Labelling theory argues it better for public safety to allow this drift back to law abiding pro social behaviour, opposed to the wrath of the criminal justice system. Crime prevention; Potential calls to decriminalize certain victimless or nonpredatory activities to reduce stigmatization and its consequences. Prevention based on the principle of (radical) non-intervention, or at least minimal intervention. Less serious offences should not warrant arrest, court appearances, or incarceration. Operation of the criminal justice system; Should not have a stigmatizing effect. Focuses on greater tolerance and minimal intervention. Impact of labelling; The self concept and social opportunities of the offender influenced by the labelling process. The stigma sticks to offender and affects how offenders see themselves. Stigma creates an impetus for similarly labelled individuals, to participate in criminal subcultures. (rejected from society/excluded) This is why we want to avoid negative labelling. Historical development; Labeling perspectives were widely influenced by social psychology, phenomenology, and ethnomethodology. They are strongly linked to the symbolic interactionist perspective in sociology. -examines the social construction of reality. Employs concepts such as "self" and "symbol" to explain social behaviour and action. Examines the diversity of individual responses to social situations. Focuses on how people typify one another (e.g. Mentally ill, young offender) and relate on the basis of these typification's. Stereotypes; (typification's) Generalizations of groups of usually negative- people based off 1 dimensional labels. Negative pre-judgement We put people into boxes and categorize them off little information we have, we then use these typification's to make judgements. We give typification's meaning by how we behave. Prejudice usually discriminates. The way in which we dehumanize people with these labels (monster, predator, perpetrator) allows us to legitimize the different treatment we provide to those individuals, when individuals experience this, they begin acting in ways the fit the labels expectations (self fulfilling) Self fulfilling prophecy; Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) People internalize self concepts framed for them. People play roles ascribed to them by those that define their reality (people labelled stupid etc.) Happens when our interpretation of that label matches the expectations of the label put on us (internalize) General process; Negative labelling. Stigmatization. New identity formed in response to negative label. (doesn’t always happen, some can reject this) Commitment to new identity based on available roles and relationships. (teens most susceptible, their identity is fluid, fitting in/belonging very important) OCTOBER 30TH The role of self; Individuals respond to situations by reading symbols (gestures, words) around them. The self refers to how people see themselves. Human beings role play by taking on the role of the "other' The self doesn’t just simply respond to events. Its built through social interaction. We collectively construct reality into typification's (signs and symbols that each of us interpret in the same way). Self constantly evolving and changing, we often update or change our self. (because we want to alter how others see us) Humans bad at anticipating events. Perception; It doesn’t matter what the situation is - what matters is hiw we define it (a light in the sky could be either a comet or a supernatural being) Phenomenology; the study of phenomenon. Primary/secondary deviance (self fulfilling) Primary and secondary Self fulfilling goes to secondary (internalized the label, acting that way) Primary also called "exploratory deviance" If you don’t experience formal sanction after primary deviance you wont see yourself as criminal. Most deviance ends in primary stage. Subjectivity: Deviance is not a quality of the act but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an "offender" Becker (1963) focused on how people regulated the margins of society. According to Becker, people are placed on the "outside" because their particular behaviour has been labelled by more powerful interest groups. Labelling theorists suggest that self reports (who got thr label and who didn’t, mostly people of colour, but that didn’t match who was telling they were engaged in criminal behaviour) and surveys indicate crime and victimization range across all classes, gender and ethnic boundaries. (universal juvenile experience) Primary and secondary deviance; Lemert provided a socio-psychological level of analysis examining why people iniciate deviant behaviour and why they maintain a commitment to those activities. Primary deviance; deviant label is a passing event that doesn’t change a persons self concept. Secondary deviance; formal labelling due to official reaction (young offender) leads to fundamental reorienting of self concept. Labelling theory tends to look at non violent, non serious initial offending. Labelling theory doesn’t look at informal labels, only formal labels. (belief that informal labels are much less sticky) Labelling and youth; Labelling perspectives are an ingrained part of how we think about youth justice. Matza (1964) argued that most youth drift between conventional and unconventional behaviour but are not permanently delinquent unless they face official interventions. As a result labelling theorists argued for a hands off attitude of radical non-intervention. Matza theory most influential in Canadian justice system. Labelling theory says vast majority of youth deviance shouldn’t be intervened in, but there are some that require intervention. Effect on policy development; Diversion programs where youth are diverted away from the formal criminal justice system in order to reduce negative labelling. Protection of anonymity of young offenders in media or police database (young offender act of 1984, and subsequent youth criminal justice act of 2003) Theory in current research; Sanders and hannem (2012) examined the role of technology in policing. Argued background information gathered through arbitrary stopping of individuals without cause (carding) can be used to legitimatize "tracking" and policing of the "usual suspects" Access to database technology can lead to over policing in certain areas (poor neighborhoods) and labelling of already marginalized groups. This is why the gov was clear stop and frisks violates the constitution. Test talk; Same format. Political orientation, measurement, context, geometirc form Adam fost ted talk Introduction/ social context: Labelling theory introduced the idea that to understand crime we have to explore both objective and subjective dimensions of the criminal justice experience. non geometric form, structural, radical. Labelling perspectives challenge positivist views of crime by arguing that crime is a social process, it involves different perceptions of what constitutes good or bad behaviour and the particular power relationships that ultimately determine what or who is deemed to be deviant. To labeeling theory crime is not an objective phenonenon; it is an outcome of specific types of human interaction. Development of labelling perspectives within criminology was due to comination of the influence of certain intellectual currents and wider changes occuring in society generally. A central concern of the "new deviancy" theory was the issue of subjective meaning and how this impinged on objective social relationships. The concern was with how human beings actively create their social world. Challenge to dominate social relations: By the 1960s the presumed consensus was disintigrating. Popularity of elvis presley signalled a new cultural form that was premised on energy, separateness, novelty, and rebellion. Birth of rock and roll music led to creation of leisure based youth culture- represented a sharpe break with the existing "culture" of parents. Deviancy in the youth cultural revolution was consiously perpetrated and simultaneiously, hotly contested by the young themselves. The second wave of feminism, in form of militant womens liberation movement, actively challenged, traditional, conservative notions of the female role and womens place in society. Conventional ideas regarding sexuality and sexual orientation were subject to increasing analysis and condemnation by feminists and gay/lesbian activists. American civil rights movement also challenged the concept of consensus. Radicalism of mlacom x and martin luther king jr dream of creating a more just, equal and free society for black americans were both crucial components in a mass social movement for fundamental social transformation. The breakdown of convention, and elevation of social differences to cultural and politcal prominence further entrenched throught the fierce public resistence. One consequence of these great movements for change and reform was that social scientist started to rethink their conception of society, social order, and deviancy. Society was now seen as pluralistic in nature- made up of diverse interest groups and classes. Basic concepts: Labelling perspectives start from the premise that crime and criminal behvaiour are a social process. Focus of concern is with the nature of the interaction between offender, victim, and the criminal justice officials. What counts as a crime is determined by the activities of the criminal justice system and its officals; that is, the defintion of pparticular behaviour or an individual as criminal depends on who does they labelling. - those who have power do the labelling. The measurement of crime is a process in which the particular actions of certain people are defined by those in power within the criminal justice system as being deviant or criminal. This institionalist perspective on crime measurement stresses that crime is not in fact objective - it is shaped by the nature of interactions and selective labelling by memebers of the criminal justice system. Impact of labelling: A key area of analysis is the relationship between the offender and those who have the power to label. The consequence of this relationship and especially the labelling process is that stigmatization can occur. Negative affects can arise from labelling, such as the person being labelled takes on the role perscribed in the label. Other words, a person is branded offically as a deviant, an offender, or a criminal then this may result in a person acting in a manner that fits the label. The labelling perspective points to the impact of labelling on the psychological and social development of offenders. The self concept and social opportunities of the offender are determined of influenced by the labelling process. The stigma sticks to offenders and it affects how others see them, as well as how they perceive themselves. One result of stigmatization is that some people who have been negatively labelled not only engage in further criminal, offending, or deviant ativeity but also seek out or find comfort in the company of others who have likewise been cast as outsiders. Another consequence, it creates an impetus for similiarly labelled people to associate with eachother- in the form of deliquent or criminal subcultures. From labelling perspective, the potentcally negative outcomes of the labelling process are seen to outweigh the necessity to intervene in the first place. For young people in particular the stigmatization of offical criminal justice system intervention may well propel them into a criminal career. The response of the criminal justice system to offending behaviours should be based on a policy of diversion from the more stigmatizing aspects of the system. The idea is that every attempt must be made to divert certain offenders from contact with the more formal elements of the system, to reduce the chances of stigmatizing them. Less serious offences should not warrant arrest, court appereance, and incarceration. Rather the response should be based on the principle of (radical) non intervention or at least minimal intervention. There may be calls to decriminalize certain "victimless" or "nonpredatory" activities to reduce the possibility of unwarrented or unecessary stigmatization. The power to label is substantial and has lasting impacts; it should be used judiciously and only when absolutely necessary. Historical development: Labelling perspectives have a wide range of intellectual influences; include social psychology, phenomenology, and ethnomethodology. Broadly labelling perspectives have strong links to symbolic interactionist perspective in sociology. This perspective employs concepts such as "self" and "symbol" to explain social behaviour and social action. The logic revolves around the diversity of individual responses to social situations. The role of "self": All human beings have to learn how to respond to different situations by accurately "reading" the symbols around them. The self is not a psychological concept but refers to how people see themselves. This is built through social interaction. In this sense we can talk about the "looking glass self"; that is, you image of yourself is simply what you see of yourself reflected in those around you. Part of human interaction revoles around role playing- for role playing to occur each individual has to be able to "take on the role of the other" - to see things as others see them. Interaction can occur only because each person is able to attribute appropriate meaning to the symbols - words, gestures- of the other. The "self" does not simply passively respond to event and people, it also plays an active part in selecting how it responds. How we respond to other people in our social interactions depends on how we define the situation. The symbolic nature of behaviour means that the first stage of any interaction is one of defintion. The taken for granted world may appear to us as the "real world" that exists outside us as hard, concrete, objective fact. However we are in fact collectively involved in constructing reality through the use of signs, and symbols that each of us generally interprets the same way. The basis of our interaction with other people is the use of typifications, which are drwan upon as part of our knowledge that we use to make sense of the world. Perception: First step in communication is one of defining situations in a process of interaction. Sometimes situtations are misinterpreted if we define them incorrectly. From these types of propositions it is concluded that, at one level it does not matter what the actual situation is- what matters is how we define it. Human beings are not passive, how oother people perceive us does have real and immedaite effects on how we see ourselves and how we behave. Self fulfilling prophecy: Important concept here is self fulfilling prophecy. The idea behind this is that who I am is determined bu who defines my reality and how this is done. Its suggested that once a person has been labelled a particular kind of person, they are liable to be treated in a different way from others who engage in the same kind of behaviour but who have not been labelled. The general process can be represented as 1) negative labelling, 2) stigmatization, 3) new identity formed in response to negative label, 4) commitment to new indentity based on available roles and relationships. Labelling perspectives in general are based on this kind of processional model- model says that stigmatization occurs in association with labelling. A person who is stigmatized is seen by others in terms of one particular character trait or behavioural pattern, based on the initial negative label. If the stigma attaches, then the person may commit themselves to the new label, and change their identity to fit the label. Within labelling perspectives, labelling is usually seen to produce negative consequences. The broad interactionist perspectives focuses on how people typify one another (e.g. mentally ill, young offender). How people relate to one another on the basis of typifications, and what consequences are of these social processes. From the point of view of criminology, the influence of perspectives that wish to examine the "social construction of reality" is manifest in two major questions; 1) how do individuals come to be labelled as deviant or criminal?, 2) how do individuals come to be comitted to a deviant or criminal label and untilmately career? Deviance or criminality is not something that is simply objective given it is subjectively problomatic, it can be argued that deviancy itself can be the result of the interactive process involving individuals and the criminal justice system. Subjectivity: Early versions of the labelling perspective , it was asserted that deviancy is not an inherent property of behaviour. Rather deviancy is something that is conferred upon an individual by society. The impact of social reaction to certain types of behaviour or particular categories of people is crucial to explaining the criminalization process. Social groups create deviance by making the rules whos infactions constitutes deviance and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them as outsiders. From this point of view, deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an offender. Deviant behaviour is behaviour that people have labelled as so. The importance of this view was twofold; 1) it calls into question the social nature of the defintions of crime by altering us to the variability in human behaviour, 2) it shows us that crime is a matter of who has the power to offically label behaviour or individuals as criminal. According to labelling theorists the use of self report and victim surveys indicates that crime and victimization are ubiquitous- that is, they are found in all social classes, across gender and ethnic boundaries. Hence the crucial issues are 1) who gets labelled by whom, and 2) what are the consequences of this labelling? Primary and secondary deviance: Lemert provided one explaination of the importance of labelling on people future bahviour. The main concern is with the social - psychological level of analysis.- we want to know the reasons why a person engages in a deviant act to begin with and what maintains the commitments to deviant activity. According to lemert to describe the process of labelling we can distinguish between primary deviation and secondary deviation. Primary deviations refers to initial deviant behaviour. Proposition here is that most of us, at some stage in our development, engage in activities regarded as deviant, but we do so because of a wide variety of social, cultural, and psychological reasons. Little to nothing is said about primary causes of deviant behaviour, except they are wide ranging and involve a multitude of individual factors. Important point at this initial stage of deviation people do not fundamentally change their self concept, individuals psyche do not undergo a symbolic reorientation or transformation. There is no change in indentity, and deviance is seen as nothing more than a passing event. The main focus of leballing perspectives is with secondary deviation. This occurs when an individual engages in some kind of primary devation (shoplifting) and there is an offical reaction to the behaviour, if the police apprehend a person, that person may be offically labelled as deviant. The individual may begin to employ a deviant behaviour or role based on this new status, which was conferred upon them by state officals, as a means of deference or adjusment to the overt and covert problems created by the public reaction to the original behaviour. Second devation is said to occur when, because of the social reaction to primary deviation, the person experiences a fundamental reorientation of theur self concept, and thus their behaviour. Contemporary examples: Labelling perspectives have become an ingrained part of how we think about juvenile justice insitutions and processes. Many of the core ideas of labelling perspective have spurred further conceptual development in the areas of "restoritive justice" and "reintegrative shaming" that are at the heart of republican theory of criminal justice. Cultural criminology: Katz argued that knowledge of labelling processes may itself consitute part of the impetus to engage in deviant or offending behaviour. Katz was interested in the relationship between crime and the emtional states of the offenderss. He turned his attention at the seductions of crime and the compulsions that are felt by people as they engage in various types of crime. Crime, in emotional terms, is exciting and exhilirating. It represents a transendence of the mundane, an opportunity to creatively explore emotional worlds beyond that of "normal", rational behaviour. Part of the thrill of crime is seen to lie precisly in the risk that one will be shamed if caught. Thus being sucessful in an activity such as shoplifting, or joyriding is not only about "getting away with it" but also about avoiding the shame they would feel if they did get caught. These risks constitute an important part of the excitement of the deviant experience. If an arrest does occure katz sees this as a kind of "metaphysical shock" in that it implies that persistence in the activity would now signal a commitment to a deviant activity. Mcclanhan and south, it is important to examine the lived experiences of criminality- to consider the emotional and interpretive qualities of crime. Emotions such as humiliation etc. are oftem central to why we act as we do. It is argued that different states of emtional arousal, from fear and anger through to pleasure and excitement have major bearings on individual and group behaviour and for policies and practices od criminal justice institutions locating activity within the emotional universe is one of the characteristic features of what is known as cultural criminology. Cultural criminology developped in part out of the new criminology emerging in britan during the 1970s and integrated the fields of criminology and cultural studies. Phenomenological theory: Cultural criminology can be understood as a phenomenological theory because of its approach to studying social phenomena. Phenomenological theories distance themselves from a reliance on traditional quantitative research methods. Instead, cultural criminology shifts the focus to understanding and articulating why people do what they do. This focus therefore is on the interaction of cultural dynamics with crime and crime control. From this perspective the meaning of crime as a constructed event is established through competition between subcultural, social and crime control interests and behaviours. Crime itself is seen as the interrelationship between meaning and emtion as expeienced by these surrounded by the event. The meaning of crime and criminality in everyday life is of fundamental importance to cultural criminology. The meaning of crime develops as the result of complicated processes through which illicit subcultures, the mass media, political authorities, criminal justice professionals, and others contrest the meaning of crime and criminality. Cultural criminologists see crime as located in everyday events of subcultural expression and attempts by the crime control industry to control and manage those expressions. The control of larger meanings and the primary presentation of those meanings occur fundamentally through media. The media use crime and crime control as a commodity to sell to consumers, which means they have a strong interest in how the "story" or crime and crime control is presented. Ultimatly the result is the creation of images that are themselves interpreted versions of images, which ultimately loops back to create a version of reality for the public and participants. Crime as a construct: Crime is more of a constructed phenomenon than a real one. Cultural criminologists argue that there is no simple linare pattern of deterministic action and reaction as most positivist theorists would have it. The real issue to be studied is the contested versions of crime images. Crime For cultural criminologists is less a real behaviour than a concept to be considered. Cultural criminology refers to a body of scholarship that tends to focus on the pleasures, excitement and opportunities for "psychic resolution". The focus therefore tends to be on the varied emotional dynamics and experiential attractions that constitute as essential element of much crime and anti social behaviour. Ferrell describes the liberating feeling and sense of power and resistence associated with grafitti. A common theme in his work is that deviance offers the perpertartor a means of "self transendence" - a way of overcoming the conventiality and mundaneness of everyday life. More sophisticated accounts also make the link between the loss of ontological security at an individual level that makes people feel at risk in an unstable world and achieving a sense of "controlled loss of control" by engaging in risky practices. According to cultural criminologists as everyday life becomes more routinized and sanitized so too will there be greater propensity among people to transgress the boundaries of what is deemed aceeptable behaviour. Effect on policy development: The labelling approach has had a marked impact at the level of policy development. Particularly the case with respect to young people abd children. For example; diversion programs operate in many juristdictions. These take form of pre court programs and alternatives to court. The emphasis is to divert the young person away from the more formal aspects of the criminal justice system and therefore reduce the likelihood of stigma and negative labelling. The systemic response to labelling perspectives is the way in which a number of jurisdictions attempt to protect young people from being stigmatized and penalized for the rest o

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