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SOCIOLOGY
Richard T. Schaefer

Deviance and Social Control

McGraw-Hill

2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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8. Deviance and Social Control

Social Control Deviance Crime Social Policy and Social Control

McGraw-Hill

2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Social Control
Techniques and strategies are employed for preventing deviant human behavior in any society Conformity and Obedience
Conformity: going along with peers who have no special right to direct behavior Obedience: compliance with higher authorities in an hierarchical structure
Sanctions: Penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm
McGraw-Hill
2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Social Control
Conformity and Obedience
Conformity to Prejudice
Research demonstrates that people may conform to attitudes and behavior of peers even when it means expressing intolerance towards others Milgram pointed out that in the modern industrial world, we are accustomed to submitting to impersonal authority figures, whose status is indicated by a title or uniform
McGraw-Hill
2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Social Control
Informal and Formal Social Control
Informal Social Control: used casually to enforce norms Formal Social Control: carried out by authorized agents
Under conducive circumstances, otherwise normal people can and often do treat one another inhumanely

McGraw-Hill

2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Social Control
Law and Society
Some norms are so important to a society that they are formalized into laws
Law: governmental social control Control Theory: our connection to members of society leads us to systematically conform to society s norms

McGraw-Hill

2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Deviance
What is Deviance?
Deviance: behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society
Involves violation of group norms, which may or may not be formalized into law Subject to social definition within a particular society and at a particular time

McGraw-Hill

2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Deviance
Figure 8-1. The Status of Medical Marijuana

Source: Developed by author based on data from Marijuana Policy Project 2004, 2005

McGraw-Hill

2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Deviance
What is Deviance?
Deviance and Social Stigma
Stigma: labels society uses to devalue members of certain social groups

Deviance and Technology

Technological innovations can redefine social interactions and standards of behavior related to them

McGraw-Hill

2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Deviance
Explaining Deviance
Functionalist Perspective
Deviance common part of human existence, with positive as well as negative consequences for social stability. Durkheim Legacy
Anomie: loss of direction felt in society when social control of individual behavior becomes ineffective

McGraw-Hill

2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Deviance
Explaining Deviance
Functionalist Perspective
Merton s Theory of Deviance Anomie Theory of Deviance: how people adapt in certain ways by conforming to or by deviating from cultural expectations, including conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion
McGraw-Hill
2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Deviance
Table 8-1. Modes of Individual Adaptation

Source: Adapted from Merton 1968:194

McGraw-Hill

2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Deviance
Explaining Deviance
Interactionist Perspective
Cultural Transmission Theory
Cultural Transmission: humans learn how to behave in social situations, whether properly or improperly Differential Association: the process through which exposure to attitudes favorable to criminal acts leads to the violation of rules (Sutherland)

McGraw-Hill

2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Deviance
Explaining Deviance
Interactionist Perspective
Routine Activities Theory
Criminal victimization increases when motivated offenders and suitable targets converge

Labeling Theory/Societal-Reaction Approach

Some individuals or groups have the power to define and apply labels

McGraw-Hill

2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Deviance
Explaining Deviance
Conflict Theory
Agents of social control and other powerful groups can impose their own self-serving definitions of deviance on the general public

Feminist Perspective
Society tends to treat women in stereotypical fashion Emphasizes deviance, including crime, tends to flow from economic relationships
McGraw-Hill
2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Deviance
Table 8-2. Approaches to Deviance

McGraw-Hill

2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Crime
Types of Crime
Crime: violation of criminal law, for which some governmental authority applies formal penalties

Laws divide crimes into categories based on:

Severity of offense Age of offender Potential punishment Jurisdiction
McGraw-Hill
2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Crime
Types of Crime
Victimless Crimes: willing exchange among adults of widely desired, but illegal, goods and services Professional Crime
Professional criminal: person who pursues crime as a day-to-day occupation

Organized Crime: group that regulates relations between various criminal enterprises involved in illegal activities
McGraw-Hill
2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Crime
Types of Crime
White Collar and Technology-Based Crime
Computer Crime: use of high technology to carry out Computer Crime: use ofact bytechnology to carry out Corporate Crime: any high a corporation that is illegal activity illegal activity the government punishable by

Transnational Crime
Crime that occurs across multiple national borders
McGraw-Hill
2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Crime
Crime Statistics
Not as accurate as social scientists would like Understanding Crime Statistics
Reported crime is very high in the U.S. Public regards crime as major social problem Victimization Surveys: surveys of ordinary people, not police officers, to determine whether they have been victims of crime
McGraw-Hill
2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Crime
Crime Statistics
International Crime Rates
Violent crimes much more common in U.S. than Western Europe in 1980s and 1990s Disturbing increases in violent crime are evident in other Western societies

McGraw-Hill

2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Crime
Table 8-3. Types of Transnational Crime

Source: Compiled by author based on Mueller 2001 and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 2005

McGraw-Hill

2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Crime
Figure 8-2. Victimization Rates, 1973 2003

Source: Catalano 2004:1

McGraw-Hill

2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Social Policy and Social Control

Gun Control
The Issue
Over the past 10 years, two-thirds of all murders committed with firearms 1994 Brady Act mandates firearms dealers run criminal history background checks on people who wish to purchase handguns
About two percent of all purchases denied

McGraw-Hill

2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Social Policy and Social Control

Gun Control
The Setting
The Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right of the people to keep and bear arms 30 to 35 million people in the United States own handguns About 45 percent of U.S. households have some type of firearm on the premises.
McGraw-Hill
2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Social Policy and Social Control

Gun Control
Sociological Insights
Since Brady Act, support for stricter measures declined Conflict theorists contend that groups like National Rifle Association (NRA) dominate the legislative process because they can mobilize resources

McGraw-Hill

2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Social Policy and Social Control

Gun Control
Policy Implications
Advocates for stricter gun control want:
Total ban on assault weapons Tight restrictions on permits to carry concealed weapons Increased penalties for leaving firearms where they are easily accessible

Unlawful use of guns is a global issue

McGraw-Hill
2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.