Welcome to
SOCI 1010
Introduction
to Sociology
Deviance of
another sort….
Agenda for Class #12
• Note book check
• Continue Deviance
Deviance
Chapter 7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Peltier
• Leonard Peltier (born September 12, 1944) is an
American activist and member of the American Indian
Movement (AIM) who was convicted and sentenced in
1977 to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for
aiding and abetting the execution style murder of two
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents during a 1975
shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Peltier's
indictment is the subject of the 1992 documentary
Incident at Oglala, a film by Robert Redford and Michael
Apted.
• Peltier's supporters present him as a political prisoner,
although his murder conviction has survived appeals in
various courts.
• Amnesty International issued this statement: "Although
he has not been adopted as a prisoner of conscience,
there is concern about the fairness of the proceedings
leading to his conviction and it is believed that political
factors may have influenced the way the case was
prosecuted."[1] Numerous lawsuits have been filed on his
behalf but none has succeeded.
• Peltier is currently incarcerated at the United States
Penitentiary, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. His projected
release date is October 11, 2040.[2]
• On July 28, 2009, Peltier was granted a full hearing
before the United States Parole Commission. On August
21, 2009, US Attorney Drew Wrigley announced that
Peltier’s parole request had been denied.
• Peltier's next scheduled hearing will be in July 2024.[3]
Explanations for Deviant
Behavior
• Supernatural
• Classical Criminology
• Positivism
Classical School
• Individuals are aware of the consequences
of actions and if the consequences are
rational, fair and certain and if individuals
choose deviant actions, then they should
be punished.
Let the punishment fit the
crime.
Positivistic Response
• There are some circumstances that are
out of the individual’s control
• There are individuals who are unable to
make rational choices
Positivism
• Therefore, there are times when it is
impossible to hold the individual
responsible
• There are times when we need to “treat”
the individual instead of punishing
Let the punishment fit the
offender
Review
• Deviance is violation of __?__.
• In a supernatural explanation, the cause of
deviance is __?__.
• Classical criminology says, “Let the
punishment fit the __?__.
• Positivism says, “Let the punishment fit the
__?__.
Positivistic Explanations
for Deviance
• Biological
• Psychological
• Sociological
Biological Explanations
• Lombrosian Positivism
(Cesare Lombroso)
• Phrenology
• Somatotypes
(Wm. Sheldon, the Gluecks)
• Hormone imbalance
• XYY Chromosome
theory
Richard
Speck
Flaws in the Biological Theories
•
•
•
•
Only explains a few minor cases
Studies did not include control groups
Male- biased studies
Some forms of treatment may be
impossible or inhumane
Psychological Explanations
Psychoanalytic
(Sigmund Freud)
• ID - selfish, pleasure
orientation
• EGO - reality orientation
• SUPEREGO - morality orientation
Psychological Explanations,
continued
• Insufficient personality
– Too much ID
– Not enough superego
– Weak ego
• Frustration / Aggression
– Given excessive frustration, individuals will
become aggressive
– ex. Urban crowding, competition for resources
• Mental illness
• Pathological conditions
– Insanity - at the time of an action (crime)
– Incompetence - at the time of a court hearing
– Case of Vernal Walford
• It was every parent's worst nightmare come to
life. On Dec. 20, 1974, Carter Zeleznik and his
9-year-old boy, Arnold, were walking down the
second-floor corridor of the Crossways Airport
Inn on Lejeune Road in Miami. Carter reached
into his pocket and discovered the room key.
Realizing that his wife, Betty, and younger son,
Bobby, would be unable to lock up when they
were finished changing out of their swimming
suits and ready to leave the room, Carter told
Arnold to wait where he was for a minute while
he returned the key to Betty.
•
From: FIRST BORN. The Death of Arnold Zeleznik, Age Nine: Murder,
Madness and What Came After. By John Katzenbach. 284 pages.
Illustrated. Atheneum. $14.95.
Treatment for
Psychological Causes
• Institutionalization and therapy
• Aftercare for psychiatric patients
• Socialization of morality
– Agents of socialization: parents, school,
church, media, peers, etc.
Sociological Explanations
• Anomie Theory
• Differential association and other
socialization theories
• Labeling theory
Durkheim
Anomie Theory
Emile Durkheim
• Anomie = Normlessness
Deviance results when the norms
are weak or conflicting; rapidly
changing so that they no longer control
the individual’s behavior
• Anomic suicide - killing oneself when not
sure what else to do.
Variations on Anomie
Theory
Robert Merton
Discrepancy between goals and
socially accepted means to achieve
them
• Conformity is non-deviant
Innovation
Retreatism
Ritualism
Rebellion
Merton’s Deviant
Adaptations
• Innovation
Accept goals
Reject means
• Ritualism
Reject goals
Accept means
• Retreatism Reject goals
• Rebellion
Reject goals
but replace
with new ones
Reject means
Reject means
but replace
with new ones
Differential Association
Edwin Sutherland
• Chicago school
• Symbolic Interactionism
• Deviance is learned in primary groups and
from significant others
• Provides the rationale for separate juvenile
facilities and programs
Differential Association,
In Detail
• Criminal behavior is learned
• It is learned in interaction with others via the
process of communication
• Learning occurs primarily within intimate
personal groups
• Learning includes techniques, motives, drives,
rationalizations and attitudes toward deviance
and crime
Labeling theory
• Behavior is deviant when others label it as
deviant
• Labels may be:
– informal - name calling
– formal - applied by some designated official
• Status degradation ceremony
Labeling theory
• Primary Deviance
– isolated incidents
– no label attached
• Secondary Deviance
– lifestyle deviance
– deviance becomes an
occupation
– label is attached
Edwin Lemert (1912-1996)
Treatment from a
Sociological Perspective
• Adequate,
appropriate
socialization
experiences
• “repair” negative
social conditions
– ie., poverty,
unemployment,
illiteracy, despair,
prejudice
Treatment, continued
• Identify and enforce the rules
• Equity for individuals to seek and achieve
goals
• Avoid arbitrary labels
• Good role models
– teachers, parents, “big brothers and sisters”,
mentors
Purposes of Punishment
• Prison as an example
• Revenge, retribution
• Deterrence
– general - for everyone
– specific - for offender
• Incarceration, incapacitation
– out of circulation
Punishment, continued
• Rehabilitaion
• Restitution
Victim compensation
In Small Groups
• Think of ways that these purposes have
been used in specific cases
• How well do they work?
• What alternative treatment of the offender
may have worked better?
• Be ready to report out in 10 minutes.
What Can We Do to
Control Deviance?
• Prevention and public awareness
• Primary prevention - before it happens
• Secondary prevention - prevent it from getting
worse
• Individual solutions
• Societal solutions (treatments)
• Governmental intervention
Measuring and Reporting
Crime
• FBI - Uniform Crime Reports
– Index offenses
– Other crimes
• Problems with official reports
• Victim surveys
• The Crime Clock represents the annual
ratio of crime to fixed time intervals.
The Crime Clock,
based on 2006 crime data
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
One major crime reported every 32 minutes
One violent crime reported every 4 hours
One homicide every 13 days
One forcible rape every 4 days
One robbery every 9 hours
One aggravated assault every 8 hours
One property crime reported every 36 minutes
One burglary every 2 hours
One larceny every 58 minutes
One auto theft every 7 hours
Assignment
• Conclude deviance
• Social Stratification
Chapters 8 and 9