Idea Transcript
Bellringer 3/14 • You see on the news that there has been a mass shooter and 25 people are killed. Write down what would cross your mind if they were: – African American – Caucasian (white) – Arab/Middle Eastern
Chapter 7 Section 3: Symbolic Interactionism and Deviance
Two Theories Associated with Symbolic Interactionism and Deviance • Differential Association theory • Labeling theory
Differential Association Theory • Theory that individuals learn deviance in proportion to number of deviant acts they are exposed to • Emphasizes role of primary groups in transmitting deviance • More individuals are exposed to people who break the law more apt they are to become criminals
Three Characteristics of Differential Association Theory • The ratio of deviant to nondeviant individuals – More deviants one knows…more likely to learn deviant behavior
• Whether the deviant behavior is practiced by significant others – More likely to copy deviant behavior from someone important to you
• Age of exposure – Younger kids learn deviant behavior more quickly than older kids
Labeling Theory • Theory that society creates deviance by identifying particular members as deviant • Labeling theory helps explain why deviance is RELATIVE. The other theories help explain why deviance happens. • Deviant behaviors are always a matter of social definition
Examples of Labeling Theory • Pregnant young women more stigmatized than the young fathers to be • African American/Caucasian crime • “Affluenza” • Mass shooters based on religion
Degrees of Deviance • Primary deviance: deviance • Secondary deviance: involving occasional deviance in which an breaking of norms that is individual’s life and not part of a person’s identity are organized lifestyle or self-concept around breaking society’s norms – Isolated acts of deviance – Deviance as a lifestyle and personal identity – Deviance overshadows all other aspects of someone’s identity
Scenarios are primary or secondary deviance? • • • • •
Skipping school Developing alcoholism Using drugs constantly Kleptomaniac Joining some counterculture movement
• Underage drinking • Talking back to your guardians/parents • Armed robbery • Getting a tattoo or piercing
What are the consequences of labeling? • Labeling someone as deviant can cause pain/suffering for the person • Alter direction of their lives • Stigma: undesirable trait or label that is used to characterize an individual – Denies someone social acceptance
Chapter 7 Section 4: Conflict Theory and Deviance
How Industrial Societies Protect Culture Against Deviance • Critics of industrial society are seen as deviant because their beliefs challenge its economic, political, and social basis • Because industrial societies require a willing workforce, those who don’t work= deviants • Those who threaten private property (esp. for rich) are prime targets for punishment
Continued • Industrial societies need respect for authority. People who show lack of respect for authority are treated as deviants – Protesters/nonviolent demonstrations – Agitators on the job
• Certain activities encouraged depending on how well they fit within industrial society
Race, Ethnicity, and Crime • Relationship between minorities and the judicial system is a good way to view deviance through conflict perspective • Supporters of conflict perspective believe minorities receive unequal treatment from American criminal justice system
Statistics • When criminal offense the same…African Americans/Hispanics more likely than whites to be convicted • Interracial murders= Af. Am is 13x more likely to be sentenced to death for murder of white person as a white person for murdering an Af. Am.
Victim Discounting • What is it? – Process of reducing the seriousness of crimes that injure people of lower status
• Minorities generally do not have the economic resources to buy good legal services • Crimes against whites tend to be punished more severely than crimes against minorities
Victim Discounting • “Granted, the percentage of pregnancies due to rape is small because it’s an act of violence, because the body is traumatized. I don’t know what percentage of pregnancies are due to the violence of rape. Because of the trauma the body goes through, I don’t know what percentage of pregnancy results from the act.” California GOP Assembly President Celeste Greig, March 2013
• “I’ve struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen.” Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, 2012
Young black men were nine times more likely than other Americans to be killed by police officers in 2015, according to the findings of a Guardian study that recorded a final tally of 1,134 deaths at the hands of law enforcement officers this year.
White Collar Crime • What is it? – Job related crimes committed by high-status people
• Used for economic crimes: price fixing, insider trading, illegal rebates, embezzlement, fraud, bribery, tax evasion, etc. • White collar crime is 18x more costly than street crime • People who commit these crimes treated more leniently than other criminals. Less likely to be imprisoned...shorter sentences
Stats on White Collar Crime (you don’t have to write this down) • Most white-collar criminals are charged/convicted but typically escape punishment • Government study found: those convicted of fraud normally paid less than 10% of what they owed/stole, they hide money/assets to avoid paying up • ½ convicted of embezzlement (more serious WCC) ever served a day in jail – 53% received prison sentences, rest put on probation or pay a fine
Survey: What do you think is worse? • Street crime- larceny, robbery, burglary, auto theft, and murder • White collar crime- money laundering, insider trading, embezzlement
Stats • More than $100 million per year is laundered through banks by white-collar criminals • Cost of corporate crime in USA= 10x greater than all combined street crime listed on previous slide • For every murder committed, 2 people die as a result of unsafe working conditions associated with WCC
Does this change your view on whether white collar crime or street crime is worse?
Chapter 7 Section 5: Crime and Punishment
What is crime? • Acts committed in violation of the law • More than 2800 acts are considered “federal crimes” • Many more acts violate state/local laws
How much crime is in the U.S. today? • Crime increased between the 1960s-1990s • Violent crime rates in the U.S. considerably higher than in other industrialized nations • Crime rate usually 2-3 times what is reported
How are crime statistics collected? • Major source= FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) • Gathered by police departments and voluntarily given to law enforcement agencies around country
• UCR coves 9 types of crimes: – – – – – – – – –
Murder Forcible rape Robbery Aggravated assault Burglary Larceny-theft Motor vehicle theft Arson Hate crimes
How reliable are UCR statistics? • UCR provides considerable info about crime • Strength of the system= experienced police officers decide whether an incident should be reported as a crime • Serious limitations of the UCR System (6): – UCR tends to overrepresent lower classes and undercount middle and upper classes
– Some crimes not as likely to be reported to the police – Prostitutes/intoxicated persons can be arrested in public but not in private settings w/o a warrant – About 2/3 of crime not reported at all – Crime reporting varies from place to place and crime to crime. – White collar offenders seldom included
Are there any other places for crime stats/reporting besides the UCR? • National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) launched in early 1970s • Survey conducted semiannually for the Bureau of Justice • Stats by U.S. Census Bureau
• Two Advantages of the NCVS: – Helps make up for underreporting of crime – Surveys more scientifically sound than methods used for the UCR
Juvenile Crime: legal violations among those under 18
• 3rd largest category of offenders in the U.S. • Includes deviant acts that only those under 18 can commit: – Underage drinking – Smoking – Not going to school
Approaches to Crime Control • Criminal justice system has 4 approaches to control and punish lawbreakers – Deterrence – Retribution – Incarceration – Rehabilitation
Deterrence • Discouraging criminal acts by threatening punishment • Debate on whether this is an effective method or not • Deterrence works if potential lawbreakers know 2 things: – They’re likely to get caught – Punishment will be severe
Deterrence- Capital Punishment • Attitude towards death penalty depends on race/ethnicity • Death penalty doesn’t cause a decrease in homicide rates • People still support death penalty regardless of whether it deters those from committing violent crimes
Methods of Execution • • • • •
Lethal Injection • http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/m ethodsGas Chamber execution?scid=8&did=245#state Electrocution • http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/s Firing Squad ome-examples-post-furmanHanging botchedexecutions?scid=8&did=478
Do you agree with the death penalty? • Yes • No • Depends on the act
Retribution • Punishment intended to make criminals pay compensation for their acts • “eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”
Incarceration • A method of protecting society from criminals by keeping them in prisons • Mass incarceration occurred in the 1990s2000s
Rehabilitation • Process of changing or reforming a criminal through socialization • Most prisons have programs aimed at giving prisoners both social and work skills to help them upon release • 30-60% released from prison are sent back within 2-5 years • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTBEOfE auwA
Recidivism • A repetition of or return to criminal behavior • Reasons for high rates of recidivism: – Basic nature of offenders – Influences of more hardened criminals – The stigma of being an ex-convict
Alternatives to Prison • Combination of prison and probation – Mixed or split sentence= shock probation
• Community-based programs – Gets convicts out of prison for part of the day
• Diversion strategy – Referral to community-based treatment program