Sociology Chapter 7 How Should The Government Step Regulate These

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CHAPTER 7: DEVIANCE AND CRIME

BRIEF CHAPTER OUTLINE

I. Deviance: What Is It?

A. More Than Individual Behavior

II. Deviant Identities, Careers, and Communities

A. The Sociology of Stigma

B. Deviant Careers

C. Deviant Communities

III. Counting Crime

IV. Types of Crime

A. Personal and Property Crimes

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Define deviance as a social phenomenon.

2. Learn how deviant identities and communities are formed.

KEY TERMS (listed in text)

altruistic suicide (168)

anomic suicide (168)

anomie (168)

crime (156)

criminology (156)

cybercrime (162)

deviance (151)

deviant career (155)

deviant community (156)

KEY PEOPLE

Emile Durkheim (153, 167)

Robert Merton (169)

Edwin Sutherland (172)

W. I. Thomas (172)

LECTURE OUTLINE

I. Deviance: What Is It?

The sociological definition of deviance—behavior recognized as violating expected

A. More Than Individual Behavior

Sociologists emphasize that deviance is not just individual behavior—it is behavior

within a social context. What is perceived as deviant in one culture may not be seen

as deviant in another culture. Sociologists distinguish between two types of

deviance: formal deviance, which is behavior that breaks laws or official rules

(crime), and informal deviance, which is behavior that violates customary norms

(body piercing). There are six key characteristics of deviance:

1. Social context. Behavior that is deviant in one circumstance may be

normal in a different situation, or behavior may be ruled deviant only

when performed by certain people (e.g., heterosexual or homosexual

II. Deviant Identities, Careers, and Communities

A. The Sociology of Stigma A social stigma is defined as an attribute that is socially

devalued and discredited. People with stigmas are likely to be stereotyped and

III. Counting Crime

Crime is one form of deviance—behavior recognized as violating rules and norms

of society—specifically that behavior which violates particular criminal laws and

for which sanctions are imposed by officials or agents to bring people into

conformity with the cultural and social norms. Criminology is the study of crime

or deviance that violates specific criminal laws. National data about crime come

from two primary sources:

1. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program is published annually and

is based on reports from police departments across the nation. It measures

the extent of crime and its rise and fall over time.

2. The U.S. Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Surveys

(Bureau of Justice Statistics) are surveys in which nationally

representative samples of people are periodically asked if they have been

IV. Types of Crime

A. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Programs categorizes crimes as:

1. Personal and Property Crimes. Personal crimes (murder, aggravated

assault, forcible rape, and robbery) have actually been declining somewhat

in recent years. Property crimes (burglary, larceny, auto theft, and arson)

are the most frequent criminal infractions.

2. Hate Crimes (assaults and malicious acts motivated by social bias).

3. Human Trafficking. The FBI defines human trafficking as compelling or

6. Victimless Crimes (such as gambling, illegal drug use, and prostitution)

violate laws but there is no complainant. However, there is clearly some

degree of victimization.

7. Elite and White-Collar Crime is defined as criminal activities by people

of high social status who commit their crimes in the context of their

occupation (e.g., embezzlement, insider trading, tax evasion).

8. Corporate Crime is institutionalized deviance that occurs within the

V. The Criminal Justice System

A. The Policing of Minorities

Socioeconomic status correlates with crime, but prosecution by, and

treatment within, the criminal justice system—from official arrest statistics,

B. Arrest and Sentencing

1. The poor are more likely than others to be arrested, prosecuted, convicted,

and sentenced to prison for crimes.

2. A strong correlation exists between unemployment, poverty, and crime, but

law enforcement is also concentrated in lower-income and minority areas.

3. In addition to the factors that affect official rates of arrest and conviction—

bias of official statistics, influence of powerful individuals, discrimination

separated women—have the highest likelihood of being raped.

6. African Americans and Latinos experience higher bails, have less success in

plea bargaining, are found guilty more often, are likely to get longer

sentences for the same crimes, and are less likely to be released on

probation compared to Whites.

7. Sentencing also differs depending on the racial identity of the judge.

8. The criminal justice system reflects the racial and class stratification in

VI. Explaining Crime and Deviance

A. The Functions of Crime and Deviance

Functionalism views deviance as necessary to clarify a society’s norms, to give

people a heightened sense of social order, and to create social cohesion.

Sociologists have linked the condition of anomie to a variety of social problems,

1. Applying Durkheim’s Theory of Suicide: School Shootings

a. Two-thirds of all mass murderers die by their own hand or by

2. Merton: Structural Strain Theory—Robert Merton developed structural

strain theory, which traces the origins of deviance to the tensions caused by

the gap between cultural goals and the means people have to achieve those

3. Social Control Theory—Hirschi’s social control theory assumes a

common value system within society and that social deviance occurs

when a person’s (or group’s) attachment to social bonds is weakened.

4. Functionalism: Strengths and Weaknesses

a. Functionalism emphasizes that social structure, not just individual

motivation, produces deviance, and it points out that what appears to be

B. Deviance, Power, and Social Inequality

1. Conflict theory links the study of deviance to power relationships and

social inequality resulting from the economic organization of capitalist

societies.

a. Crime committed among the poorest groups is viewed as the result of

the economic status of those groups and the ability of those who engage

2. Conflict Theory: Strengths and Weaknesses

a. Conflict theory provides insight into the significance of power

relationships in the definition, identification, and handling of deviance.

C. Symbolic Interaction Theories of Deviance

Symbolic interaction theories are microstructural theories that emphasize how

deviance originates in the interaction between individuals and different groups.

This perspective emphasizes the meanings surrounding deviance and how people

respond to those meanings. W. I. Thomas and the Chicago School developed

situational analysis, an approach that views deviance as a normal response to the

social conditions in which people find themselves.

1. Differential association theory

This theory emphasizes the influential role of primary group members on deviant

D. Labeling Theory

Labeling theory is a branch of symbolic interaction theory. This theory evaluates

the meaning of deviance in terms of the breaking of norms and rules and how

people react to those behaviors. Deviance is created by groups who make rules

and label offenders as outsiders. Labeling theory is also linked with conflict

LECTURE/DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS

1. Hate Crimes. Find data on hate groups and hate crimes in your state or city and

compare them with national trends. Lead a discussion on the causes and significance

of local trends.

2. School Violence. Use statistics in your state or city from the Department of Education

3. Types of Crime. Use a prominent example of deviant behavior from the news, which

could include corporate and governmental deviance, white-collar crime, street crime,

4. Cigarette Smoking as Deviance. Use the example of cigarette smoking (page 153) to

discuss the effects of social and historical context, labeling, and the impact of social

5. Prison Population. Use statistics on the prison population in your state, including

statistics on offense and sentencing, as well as gender, race, and any other data easily

6. Sentencing. Use reports from The Sentencing Project

7. Stigma. Invite a speaker who is involved in a movement or organization working on

8. White-Collar Crime: Enron and Martha Stewart. Have students study white-collar

9. Private Prisons. Collect data on private prisons in order to debate their advantages and

disadvantages. Hold a debate on the social reality of allowing investment in prisons in

society. Should a society profit from incarceration?

10. Race and Crime. Have your students debate the impact of race on criminal justice

12. Outlandish Drug Traffickers. As a class, view “The Most Outlandish Stories from

the Drug War in Mexico” from News Desk blog for The New Yorker at

13. Criminal Activities Survey. As a class, take a quick criminal activities survey asking

students how often they had broken various “minor” laws such as speeding. Engage the

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

1. Images of Violent Crime. Assign a research and writing project based on A

2. Explaining Deviance. Give student groups media descriptions of actual deviance that

includes some kind of popular analysis or commentary. Make sure that the examples

illustrate variation in the types of deviance and correlation with race, class, gender,

3. Sex Offenders. Have students organize a debate on the labeling of convicted sex

offenders, weighing the priority of community safety versus the problems of

4. Labeling. Have students write a reflective essay on a time when they engaged in

deviant behavior or declined to participate in deviant behavior despite heavy peer

5. Service Learning. There are many opportunities for students to engage in service-

learning with groups labeled as deviants. Such service-learning opportunities enable

6. The Medicalization of Deviance. Diagnoses and the prescription of medications for

attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder are at an all-time high. Have students conduct

Internet and InfoTrac searches for evidence supporting or questioning the

medicalization of this deviant behavior in school-age children. What are the social

7. Corporate Crime. Have students explore the websites of CorpWatch

8. Racial Profiling. Racial profiling, which had been standard practice against African

Americans and Latinos, has gradually become viewed as deviant or criminal behavior

9. College Drinking and Rape. Have students visit the website of the Robert Wood

10. Images of Violent Crime. Ask students to watch local television news programming

for a week and record news stories about violent crime. Have them pool their statistics

11. An Ethnomethodological Assignment. Have students walk around campus carrying

a teddy bear, doll, potted plant, or other unusual object (keeping it in sight at all

12. Differential Association. Assign students to look at their peer groups as they grew up

and apply differential association theory to their lives. Have them address how they fit

the theory. What forces impacted their direction? Have students evaluate the

13. Strain Theory. Create a classroom debate evaluating strain theory. In the discussion,

have students evaluate the main ideas, including blocked opportunities.

14. The Death Penalty and Deterrence. The death penalty is an issue of great

controversy in the United States. A major argument of death penalty proponents is that

it acts as a deterrent against the most heinous crimes. First, examine the research

VIDEO SUGGESTIONS (Videos with a * next to them have corresponding activities

below.)

The Way We Live: Introduction to Sociology: Against the Grain

V for Vendetta (2005, 132 min.)

This film, based on a comic book series, explores the dynamics of a fictional, future,

fascist British government. This film could provide a starting point for a discussion on

deviance, social control, or collective behavior.

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (2011, 121 min.)

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, the conclusion of Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s award-

winning trilogy that spawned a worldwide movement to free three convicted men, tells the

complete story of one of the most notorious child murder cases in U.S. history. Beginning

Obedience: The Milgram Experiment (2008 [1962], 45 min.)

The video of Milgram’s classic experiment on obedience and conformity remains a

powerful tool for teaching students about the impact of social influence. Despite aging

visuals and audio, the experiments are fascinating.

Quiet Rage: The Stanford Prison Experiment (1992, 50 min.)

Quiet Rage is another aging but powerful documentary about a classic social

Prisontown, USA (2007, 75 min.)

This POV special looks at the economic and social impacts of basing a local economy

Spin the Bottle: Sex, Lies and Alcohol (2004, 45 min.)

This 2004 film features both Jean Kilbourne (Killing Us Softly series) and Jackson Katz

The Meth Epidemic (2011 [2006], 60 min.)

This Frontline special is available to be viewed in full online. The program looks at the

* America’s Longest War (2011, 67 min.)

This is a documentary about the extraordinary costs of the U.S. government’s 40-year war

on drugs. Drug prohibition has failed. Drug usage rates have not declined, and illegal

VIDEO ACTIVITIES

After watching America’s Longest War, have students research the current efforts in the

INTERNET EXERCISES

1. The Federal Bureau of Investigation website (https://www.fbi.gov/) is

particularly useful for its crime statistics and reports information. This includes

the Uniform Crime Reports, as well as reports on hate crimes, terrorism, family

3. The Sentencing Project (https://www.sentencingproject.org) conducts extensive

studies on the criminal justice system, with particular attention to sentencing

4. Have your students look at the Critical Criminology website from the University

of Ghent below. Have your students discuss which video is the most interesting

Note: Resources from these websites can be used for student research papers,

short written assignments, group projects, or online discussions.