Crime and Deviance
...ys to achieve cultural goals o Innovation o There is discrimination in the criminal justice system o There is little class difference especially among young people with deviance o Among more serious crimes there are more disadvantaged people as victims and offenders o Strain may be a necessary but sufficient condition for many criminal behaviours · Learning Theories o People learn to engage in deviant activities o Ones environment provides the motivation to engage in crime o Edwin Sutherland--- (Differential association) deviance is because a persons has experienced more pro-deviant influences § White collar crimes---express contempt for the law like street criminals share organizational culture that rewards rule breaking and associate with others from whom they can learn both the skills and the rationalizations needed to carry our their crimes o Techniques of neutralization --- criminals rely on this to reconcile the two worlds § Rhetoric or vocabularies that nullify guilt and the blame of others § Use them to deny personal responsibility for their actions, condemn those who pass judgement on them, claim that their victims deserved what they for or deny that they cause any real harm § Long exposure to violent images desensitized young people to violence and conveys the message that violence is an acceptable way to respond to frustration · Control and opportunity Theories o Deviance and crime are rewarding o Deviance and crime occur because of the absence of control o Hirschi argues that juvenile delinquency results from the lack of strong bonds to conventional social institutions o Young people with strong social bonds will not want to risk breaking the rules o Social control is the key to conformity o People who lack self control will try to get what they want quickly without thinking about what other people think or feel—they enjoy excitement o Difference in gender---families exert greater control over girls Opportunity Theories o If there was an absence of controls most people would engage in crime § The type of crime we choose would depend on the opportunities available to us The Consequences of Deviance · Durkheim –crime and deviance has benefits o Since crime and deviance occurs in all societies it must serve a positive social function o Increased social solidarity---collective expression of outrage and loss o The clarification of a groups moral boundaries o In defining and confronting deviance a group highlights its standards of right and wrong to its members o It allows those who follow the rules to feel virtuous and reinforces their conformity by reminding them of the costs of rule breaking o Societies need deviance to keep them flexible and allow them adapt to a changing world · Societal reactions to deviance are an important cause of deviance · Labelling perspective o Primary and secondary deviance—everyone has primary deviance. This can turn into secondary deviance, when it becomes public and there is a negative reaction by others o Deviance may become a person’s Master Status: other status’ will matter very little in comparison to your status as a deviant o You become what you were defined as—your commitment to your deviance increas...