Chapter 7
Deviance and Crime
Defining Deviance


Behavior that is recognized as violating expected rules and norms.
Behavior that departs significantly from social expectations.
Sociological Definition of Deviance



Stresses social context, not individual behavior.
Recognizes that not all behaviors are judged similarly by all groups.
Recognizes that established rules and norms are socially created.
Sociological Perspectives of Deviance
Functionalism
Deviance creates social cohesion.
Symbolic Interaction
Deviance is learned behavior.
Conflict Theory
Dominant classes control the definition of deviance.
Sociological Perspectives of Deviance
Functionalism
Deviance results from structural strains in society.
Symbolic Interaction
Deviance results from social labeling.
Conflict Theory
Deviance results from inequality in society.
Sociological Perspectives of Deviance
Functionalism
Occurs when attachment to social bonds is
diminished
Symbolic Interaction
Those with the power to assign deviant labels
create deviance.
Conflict Theory
Elite deviance goes largely unpunished.
Defining Deviance


This photo of a woman being
executed by the Taliban
illustrates the extreme sanctions
that can be brought against
those defined as deviant by a
powerful group.
This photo mobilized world
condemnation of the Taliban
regime for its treatment of
women.
Smoking and Deviance

Once considered “cool”, smokers
are now considered to be
deviants, scorned as polluters,
and often banished to outside
office buildings, as here
.
Durkheim: Three Types of Suicide
1.
2.
3.
Anomic - disintegrating forces in society make an individual feel lost and alone.
Altruistic - for the sake of a higher cause.
Egoistic - occurs when people feel totally detached from society.
The Navajo

Strong ties among the Navajo
produce social integration,
resulting in the fact that the
Navajo have one of the lowest
suicide rates of any group in the
United States, and also lowest
among other Native American
tribal groups.
Merton’s Structural Strain Theory



Culture establishes goals for people.
Social structures provide, or fail to provide, the means for people to achieve those
goals.
Imbalance between cultural goals and structurally available means can compel
individuals into deviant behavior.
Merton’s Structural Strain Theory
Cultural goals
accepted?
Institutionalized
means toward
goal available?
Conformity
Yes
Yes
Innovative deviance
Yes
No
Ritualistic deviance
No
Yes
Merton’s Structural Strain Theory
Cultural goals
accepted?
Institutionalized
means toward
goal available?
Retreatism
No
No
Rebellion
No (old goals)
Yes (new goals)
No (old means)
Yes (new means)
Social Control Agents

From the point of view of conflict
theory, social control agents play a
significant role in defining deviant
behavior.
Social Control Theory: Hirschi




Travis Hirschi developed social control theory to explain the occurrence of deviance.
According to social control theory, deviance occurs when a person’s (or group’s)
attachment to social bonds is weakened.
Most of the time people internalize social norms because of their attachments to
others.
When that bond is broken, deviance occurs.
Symbolic Interaction Theories
Differential Association
 Deviant behavior is learned through interaction with others.

People pass on deviant expectations through their social groups and networks
Labeling Theory
Responses of others is most significant in deviance.
A person may become deviant because of a label, even if he/she did not engage in deviant
behavior.
.
Deviant Communities


Some deviance develops in
deviant communities, such as
the “skinheads” shown here
marching in a Ku Klux Klan rally
protesting the Martin Luther
King,Jr. holiday.
Such right-wing extremist
groups have become more
common in recent years.
Social Stigmas



A stigma is an attribute that is socially devalued and discredited.
People with stigmas are defined in terms of their presumed deviance.
In hiding their stigma, they isolate themselves from communities where they can
find support.
Substance Abuse

Patterns of use vary by many factors such as age, gender, and race:
◦ People under age 25 are more likely to use marijuana and cocaine and binge
drink.
◦ Men are more likely than women to be problem drinkers and drug abusers.
◦ African Americans and Hispanics are less likely to drink than Whites and are far
less likely to be binge drinkers.
Use of Selected Substances by
High School Seniors
Crime and Deviance



Crime is a type of deviant behavior, but not all deviant behavior would be called
crime.
Deviance becomes crime when it is designated by the institutions of society as
violating such a law or laws.
Criminology is the study of crime from a scientific perspective.
Sociological Theories of Crime
Functionalist
Crime is learned through social interaction.
Symbolic Interaction
Societies need a certain level of crime to clarify norms.
Conflict Theory
The lower the social class, the more the individual is
forced into criminality.
Sociological Theories of Crime
Functionalist
Crime results from social structural strains within
society.
Symbolic Interaction
Labeling criminals tends to reinforce rather than deter
crime.
Conflict Theory
Inequalities in society tends to produce criminal activity.
Sociological Theories of Crime
Functionalist
Crime may be functional to society, thus difficult to
eradicate.
Symbolic Interaction
Institutions with the power to label produce rather than
lessen crime.
Conflict Theory
Reducing social inequalities will reduce crime.
Violent Crime in the United States
Classifications of Crimes




Personal crimes - murder, aggravated assault, rape, robbery
Property crimes - burglary, larceny, auto theft, arson
Victimless crimes - gambling, illegal drug use, prostitution
Hate crimes - assaults and other malicious acts motivated by bias
White-collar or Elite Crime



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Examples: embezzlement, insider trading, tax evasion
In terms of dollars, white-collar crime is much more consequential for society than
street crimes
Andrew S. “Fast Andy” Fastow, former chief financial officer of the Enron corporation,
is being taken to court by FBI agents.
Martha Stewart the media/household tycoon, spent five months in prison for stock
fraud.
Organized Crime


Crime committed by organized groups, typically involving the provision of illegal
goods and services to others.
Organized crime syndicates include any group that exercises control over large
illegal enterprises, such as the drug trade, illegal gambling, prostitution or weapons
smuggling.
Corporate Crime and Deviance



Occurs in the context of a formal organization or bureaucracy and is sanctioned by
the norms and operating principles of the organization.
Can occur within any of organization: corporate, educational, governmental, or
religious.
Example: Sexual assault of youths by Catholic priests, and the attempted cover-ups
by assigning offending priests to parishes in different towns or states.
Race, Class, Sex and Crime


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Certain groups are more likely than others to commit crime given that crime is
linked to patterns of inequality in society.
Sociologist Ramiro Martinez Jr. explored the connection between rates of violence in
Latino communities and the degree of inequality in 111 U.S. cities.
His research shows a clear link between likelihood of lethal violence and
socioeconomic conditions for Latinos in these different cities.
Race and Crime


Minorities constitute 25% of the population of the United States but are more than
33% of the people arrested for property crimes and almost 50% of the people
arrested for violent crimes.
Sociological research has shown that police discretion is strongly influenced by class
.
and race judgments
Victimization by Crime: A Class
Phenomenon
Arrests by Race
Crime
White
Black
American Indian
Asian/
Pacific
Islander
Murder
48.7
48.8
1.0
1.5
Forcible Rape
63.7
34.1
1.1
1.1
Robbery
44.2
53.9
0.6
1.2
Forgery
68.0
30.0
0.6
1.4
Incarceration
Rates for Selected Nations
State and Federal Prison
Population, 1980–2004
Terrorism



A crime that violates international and domestic laws.
Terrorism, whether domestic or international, is best understood not only as
individual insanity, but also as a politically, economically, and socially oriented form
of violence.
Threats of terrorism, such as bioterrorism, have resulted in increased security and
countermeasures, particularly in urban areas