Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
executable file
·
113 lines (92 loc) · 3.55 KB

Chapter11.md

File metadata and controls

executable file
·
113 lines (92 loc) · 3.55 KB

Chapter 11: Social Control, Deviance, and Crime

A. Social Control

  • Participants in social control are directed at unacceptable (deviant) acts
  • Types of social control:
    • Can be formal or informal
    • Can be retroactive or preventative
    • Can be directed at others or at ourselves

B. Deviance

Objective Views of Deviance

Deviance can be defined by:

  • Statistical rarity
  • Harm
  • Negative societal reaction
  • Normative violation

Subjective Views of Deviance

  • Deviance is socially constructed
  • Something is deviant "if enough important people say so"
  • Distinguishes between high-consensus and low-consensus deviance

C. Crime

Definitions and Characteristics

  • Criminal behavior is a specific form of deviance
  • Crime = any behavior that violates criminal law
  • Criminal law is part of public law and is codified (e.g., Criminal Code of Canada)

Views on Law and Crime

  1. Consensus Model

    • Society agrees on certain acts that threaten societal survival
    • Broad consensus on some crimes (e.g., pedophilia)

  2. Conflict Model

    • Criminal law represents values of the ruling class
    • Criminal justice system as a means of controlling powerless classes

  3. Interactionist Model

    • Focus on special interest groups competing for power
    • Interaction between groups with various types of power (financial, racial, religious, political)

Legal Ingredients of a Crime

  • The act must be defined as criminal
  • Requires two key elements:
    1. Actus Reus (guilty act)
    2. Mens Rea (guilty mind/intent)

Types of Offences

  • Indictable Offences (more serious)
    • Examples: homicide, sexual assault, fraud
  • Summary Offences (minor)
    • Examples: trespassing, causing a disturbance
    • Result in fines or shorter jail terms (24 months or less)

Crime Statistics

  • Measured by Uniform Crime Reporting System (UCR)
  • Discrepancy between media perception and reality
    • Media portrays violent crime as out of control
    • Reality: Most crimes are property crimes
    • Crime has declined since 1991

Diverse Forms of Crime

  • White-collar crime
  • Corporate crime
  • Organized crime
  • Cybercrime

Ethnicity and Crime in Canada

  • Aboriginal overrepresentation
    • 3% of population, 17% of federal inmates
    • Also overrepresented as victims
  • Black overrepresentation
    • 2% of population, 6% of federal inmates
  • Limited systematic data due to lack of police reporting

D. Theorizing Deviance

Positivist Theories

  1. Functionalist Theories

    • Social structure causes deviance
    • Concepts of anomie and gap between goals and means

  2. Learning Theories

    • Deviance is learned through:
      • Social learning (rewards, punishments, modeling)
      • Differential association
      • Neutralization techniques

  3. Social Control Theories

    • What restrains people from deviance?
    • Social bonds: attachment, commitment, involvement, belief

E. Theorizing Perceptions of Deviance

Interpretive Theories

  1. Interactionist Perspective

    • Importance of significant others and self-perception
    • Developing understanding of what is "deviant"

  2. Labelling and Stigmatization

    • Primary deviance vs. secondary deviance
    • Impact of being labeled

Critical Theories

  1. Conflict Theories

    • Powerful groups define "normal" and "deviant"

  2. Feminist Theories

    • Deviance standards are gendered
    • Gender impacts experiences of social control

  3. Postmodern Theories

    • Being monitored leads to self-surveillance

This summary captures the key points from the PDF, organizing the complex discussion of social control, deviance, and crime into a structured overview.