Ch. 6

Ritualists

aren't interested in the goals of the society, but they do accept the means of achieving those goals

Stigma

-a negative social label that changes your behavior toward a person and also changes that person's self-concept and social identity -has serious consequences in terms of the opportunities made available—or, more likely, not made available—to people in a stigmatized group

It can be difficult to measure crime rates over time for a variety of reasons, including:

-changes in how crimes are defined -fluctuations in whether people report crimes -in the case of murders, improvements in medical technology

Devah Pager interview

Devah Pager discusses her field experiments, racism, and the stigma men with a criminal record face when they're in the job market. Devah Pager discusses her field experiments, racism, and the stigma men with a criminal record face when they're in the job market. Does this stigma increase the recidivism rate?

What does Victor Rios research?

Gangs and the policing of black and Latino boys.

What are examples of formal social control?

Laws and authority of police officers.

Labeling theory

People see how they are labeled and accept the label as being "true." People behave the way they think someone with their label should behave. Further info: People unconsciously notice how others see or label them, and over time they internalize these labels and come to accept them as "truth." People then behave in accordance with expectations surrounding the label they've been assigned or that's been assigned to another. In this way, deviance becomes a social construct. Labeling individuals can lead to those individuals' acting out their labels. This is especially true if the labels are anchored or confirmed among many agents of socialization. (So, if a child is labeled as bad by the parent, and then by the school, and then at after-school care, and then by friends, the label is more likely to become part of that child's self-perception.)

What is the role of prison? Is it punishment or rehabilitation? Does going to prison make offenders more likely or less likely to reoffend in the future?

Research has shown that prison has very little effect on whether adults commit future crimes. For juveniles, time spent behind bars actually increases the likelihood of their reoffending. These findings raise the question of why we spend so much money on incarceration.

What has lead to mass incarceration in the U.S.?

Since the 1970s, there has been a change in the United States from a more rehabilitative sense of justice to a more punitive one. This is evidenced by historically high rates of incarceration.

What Is Social Deviance?

Social deviance is any transgression of socially established norms. Minor transgressions of these norms can be described as informal deviance. Formal deviance or crime involves the violation of laws. Further info: Deviance isn't necessarily bad, it's just different from what the group considers to be normal. For instance, a woman having a size 13 shoe isn't bad, but it's definitely different, so it may elicit a reaction from the group that makes up the majority (those with average shoe sizes). When sociologists use the term deviant, they are making a social judgment, not a moral one.

Symbolic Interactionist Theories of Deviance

Symbolic interactionists take a micro view of society, examining the beliefs and assumptions people bring to their everyday interactions to find the causes or explanations for deviance

informal social sanctions

Unspoken rules and expectations about people's behavior. Help maintain a base level of order and cohesion in society and form a foundation for formal social control

What does Victor Rios talk about

Victor Rios discusses how opportunities helped him "make it out of the ghetto." Rios points out that it was luck and opportunity, not just hard work, that kept him from becoming one of the gang members he studies. Victor Rios discusses how opportunities helped him "make it out of the ghetto." Rios points out that it was luck and opportunity, not just hard work, that kept him from becoming one of the gang members he studies. Ask your students whether they think they'd be more likely to commit crimes and/or have regular confrontations with police officers if they grew up in the kind of neighborhood Rios describes in the two clips.

Deterrence theory

a philosophy of criminal justice based on the notion that crime results from a rational calculation of its costs and benefits Further: According to deterrence theory, stiffer penalties, increased prison terms, and stricter parole guidelines should help reduce crime.

Corporate crime

a type of white-collar crime committed by the officers or executives of a company

Conformists

accept the goals of the society and the means of achieving those goals

Secondary deviance:

acts of rule breaking that occur after primary deviance and as a result of a person's new, deviant label

Robert Merton's strain theory

argues that deviance occurs when a society does not give all its members equal ability to achieve socially acceptable goals. Further info: Strain theory, sometimes also called structural strain theory, acknowledges that there are certain goals that society deems acceptable. Ask your students if they can think of what these goals might be. Common responses include: a nice car, a big house, a family, a good job, lots of money, and so on. You may be able to discuss the "American Dream" and the idea that there is a common theme in what Americans should achieve to be called successful. Strain theory then discusses the difficulties that many people have in trying to achieve these goals. The frustration that occurs between knowing what the goals are and not being able to achieve those goals is the basis of Merton's strain theory typologies.

White-collar crime

committed by a professional against a corporation, agency, or other business

Retreatists

don't accept the goals of the society or the means of achieving those goals IE: Homeless

Rebels

don't accept the goals of the society or the means of achieving those goals, so they create their own goals using new means.

Rehabilitative justice

examines the specific circumstances of an individual transgressor and attempts to find ways to rehabilitate him or her.

Broken window theory of deviance (Philip Zimbardo):

explains how social context and social cues affect the way individuals act People who wouldn't exhibit a certain behavior in one social context might do so in another context where the behavior seems more permissible. Further: Do you think that people would be more likely to vandalize a car in a "rundown" neighborhood than in a gated community? This theory tells us that they would—but not because there are more criminals in that area. Instead, people might be more likely to vandalize a car because in that context it looks like vandalism is more acceptable.

Punitive justice

focuses on making the violator suffer and thus defines the boundaries of acceptable behavior.

Innovators

individuals who accept society's approved goals but not society's approved means to achieve them

Social control

is the set of mechanisms that create normative compliance in individuals.

Émile Durkheim theorized that social cohesion is established either through:

mechanical solidarity—based on the sameness of society's parts or members, or organic solidarity—based on the interdependence of specialized parts or members. Further info: If you think of the United States, we are a rather diverse group. However, if you think of smaller groups like college students at your school, you might find many similarities. In many societies, you can find examples of both mechanical and organic solidarity.

Recidivism

occurs when a person who has been involved in the criminal justice system reverts to criminal behavior. Further: There are numerous unintended consequences of deterrence theory that may ultimately result in increased recidivism. For instance, many critics argue that first-time offenders who commit petty crimes actually learn more about criminal activity while they are incarcerated. Additionally, after incarceration, it is harder to find work, since your record now shows that you've been convicted of a crime. This potentially makes crime a likely avenue, since traditional employment is less available. While commitment to a total institution is supposed to help an individual learn to function as a productive member of society, there are many aspects of total institutions that lead to the opposite result.

Street crime

refers to crime committed in public and is often associated with violence, gangs, and poverty

Social cohesion

refers to the way people form social bonds, relate to each other, and get along on a day-to-day basis. Further info: Without seeing deviant behavior, we would have a hard time classifying what is normal. It isn't until our group norms are challenged that we come together as a group to defend these norms. For example, the tragic events following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, challenged a norm that many people in the United States took for granted: safety. When those norms were challenged by the attacks, new policies and procedures were put into place (for instance, airport security) to preserve that norm.

What are the consequences of this mass incarceration

staggering costs, the disenfranchisement of millions of former felons, and a disproportionately high rate of imprisonment for black males, which has a ripple effect throughout black communities and beyond.

In his interview, what does Rios talk about?

the "youth control complex." He focuses on black and Latino young men. Ask the class to describe the youth control complex and give evidence to support or contradict Rios's claim that it controls the lives of many young black and Latino men. Ask them to consider the following discussion questions: Does the youth control complex described by Rios also control other groups of young people, such as white and Asian boys and girls of all races? Are there other youth control complexes that supervise these groups to a greater extent than the one described by Rios?

Normative Compliance

the act of abiding by society's norms or simply following the rules of group life

Primary deviance:

the first act of rule breaking, which may result in the rule breaker's being labeled "deviant" and thus influencing how people think about and act toward him or her