InQ chapter 6 - social control and deviance

Robert Merton

developed strain theory as a functionalist account of social deviance

punitive social sanction purpose

to enact vengeance on the wrongdoer

restitutive social sanction purpose

to restore the status quo that existed before the offense

In the first part of his interview with Dalton Conley, what does Rios say are the functions of the Youth Control Complex?

to stigmatize, punish, and criminalize young people

rehabilitative social sanction purpose

to transform the wrongdoer into a productive member of society

What would be recommended by differential opportunity theory as a way of reducing crime?

tougher penalties for felonies and increased returns on legitimate work

(T/F) Zimbardo's prison experiment at Stanford (1971) had short-term adverse psychological effects not only on the students assigned the role of prisoner, but also on those acting as guards.

true

What factors, according to Robert Merton, make someone a social deviant?

1) failure to recognize and accept socially approved means of achieving one's goals, 2) not recognizing or not accepting socially approved goals

Some crime prevention researchers believe that increasing police presence in an area leads to higher crime statistics in that neighborhood. A chain of events can produce this paradoxical result in several ways. Place the events in chronological order.

1. more police are sent to a troubled area 2. the arrest rate rises 3. more members of the neighborhood are convicted and incarcerated 4. convicts released from prison have a hard time finding jobs 5. unable to find legitimate employment, ex-convits return to crime (so the corresponding statistics go up)

What happened in the famous Stanford Prison Experiment (Zimbardo, 1971)? Place the events in chronological order.

1. volunteers were assigned roles as guards or prisoners and given corresponding uniforms and duties 2. a day passed without incident 3. the prisoners stages a revolt that lasted several days 4. guards subjected prisoners to various forms of humiliation and abuse 5. the experiment was ended after less than half its planned duration

Consider the following four cases of suicide. Albert has no friends and does not feel any emotional connection with his coworkers or even with his own family members. He kills himself because he does not see any point in continuing with his life. Bernice became wealthy almost overnight as a result of extremely lucky financial investments. She quit her job, spent lavishly on gifts for friends, family, and associates, but finds it impossible to settle into a new, happy, routine. Instead, feeling increasingly disoriented and adrift, she deliberately overdoses on sedatives. Carlotta, sentenced to life in prison for a crime she did not commit, and unable to stand the unvarying daily routine of prison life, hangs herself with a bed sheet. Dan, a lieutenant in the Marines, is disciplined and then discharged for leadership mistakes in battle that led to the death of two soldiers in his platoon. Despondent about the deaths of the soldiers and the loss of his military career, he kills himself a few months after his discharge. Place each person in the appropriate location of the graph, based on Durkheim's theory of the causes of suicide.

Carlota - fatalistic, too much social regulation (x) Bernice - anomic, too little social regulation (x) Dan - altruistic, too much social integration (y) Albert - egoistic, too little social integration (y)

In labeling theory, what is the difference between primary deviance and secondary deviance?

Secondary deviance is an eventual effect of primary deviance, where deviance begins.

The graph shows the number of persons executed in the U.S. each year from 1976 to 2012, and also the racial breakdown. Based on this information, what can be said about Durkheim's views on modern versus premodern punishment? A stacked bar graph describes "Number of Executions and Race of Prisoners Executed, 1976-2012."

The graph suggests that the death penalty has more staying power than Durkheim would have expected.

How, according to Conley, does the deviant member of a society end up contributing to the strengthening of the social fabric?

The other members of the group join together in order to punish and/or rehabilitate the offender. The deviant member publicly reminds everyone of the line between what is acceptable and what is not.

A criminal released from prison struggles to remain law-abiding, but feels oddly disoriented and at loose ends in his new free life. Soon he is caught stealing cars and is sent back to prison. Although several things could be said about this chain of events, which explanation would be grounded in Durkheim's theory of the roots of deviance?

The transition from the highly structured prison environment to a comparatively free and instructed life caused the man to suffer from anomie.

What are the distinguishing features of a symbolic interactionist theory of social deviance?

a focus on individual psychology rather than the social dynamics of large populations and a recognition of the impact of assigning labels to behaviors and to people

An educator, disgusted with standardized testing and teaching methods, decides to start a charter school that doesn't give students grades and encourages creative thinking over rote learning. How would Robert Merton's strain theory of deviance classify this character?

a rebel (dissatisfactio ninth the existing order of things by working for change)

recidivism effects in prison

ability to use improvised weapons in a fight, learned in prison; acquaintance with the social codes of gangs, learned in prison

A psychology experiment (Rosenhan, 1973) applied labeling theory to the diagnosis of schizophrenia in a psychiatric setting. What were the results?

an initial diagnosis of schizophrenia tended to color the medical staff's interpretation of patients' later behaviors; patients were kept under observation for an average of almost 3 weeks, despite behaving normally all the time

What, in broad terms, is the definition of social deviance?

any transgression of socially established norms

Howard Becker

applied labeling theory tot he question how deviance begins

Erving Goffman

applied social interactionist theory to the dynamics of total institutions

Foucault draws several contrasts between premodern and modern penal practices: where premodern practice targets the -, modern practice targets the -; where premodern practice is -, modern practice is -; and where premodern practice is about -, modern practice is about -.

body, soul; putative, rehabilitative; spectacle, surveillance

The graph shows the violent crime rate in the United States from 1960 to 2012. Which of the following might be part of the explanation for the dramatic increase in the years leading up to 1990, followed by a sharp reversal in the trend starting around 1992?

changes in the definitions of certain crime, which affects how the statistics are compiled; changes in reporting by victims and bystanders, due to changed perceptions about the value of reporting

rehabilitation effects in prison

college degree completion while in prison; a commitment to attend AA meetings in prison and after release

conformist

embraces socially acceptable goals and the means to achieve those goals

innovator

embraces socially acceptable goals but rejects the means to achieve those goals

ritualist

embraces socially acceptable means but rejects the goals

informal behavioral sanctions

ex. a paramedic shouts at a patient to slow down in the hospital parking lot; an adult scowls and shakes her head at a child, not hers, playing roughly in a store aisle with toys pulled off the shelves

formal behavioral sanctions

ex. a parent explains to a child that the law requires kids to go to school; a police officer directs traffic near the venue of a major sporting event

deterrence effects in prison

fear of going to prison, following participation in a 'scared straight' youth program; the memory of prison as an experience not to be repeated

The graph shows annual homicide deaths in the United States from 1950 to 2012. (A line graph shows the homicide victimization rate per one hundred thousand people from 1950 to 2010 in increments of ten years. Data points for each year. What could one confidently infer from the data?

fewer people died of homicide in 2010 than 1990 and fewer homicides were reported

What is the name for the kind of theory that explains the existence of social phenomena by the functions they perform?

functionalism

What are likely application so f the broken windows theory of social deviance?

graffiti-proofing walls with a wash-off coating and a crackdown on petty crime, like drinking in public

The graph shows how many persons in the United States were under correctional supervision from 1980 to 2011. What, according to experts, is the main explanation for the steady rise in the number of people under correctional supervision from 1980 to 2005?

harsher sentencing laws

What, according to Rios, is the effect of having police officers on duty in schools and community centers?

it creates juvenile crime

What would urban theorist Jane Jacobs include as part of the eyes and ears of the street?

kids playing on the sidewalk, keeping watch for a parent's return from work; a shopkeeper writing down the license plate numbers of cars driving too fast

Emile Durkheim

offered a functionalist theory of the causes of suicide

What does Durkheim hypothesize will happen over time as a society becomes more and more fully modern in character?

one might expect the death penalty to entirely disappear, mechanical social sanctions will still be present but the ratio of organic to mechanical social sanctions will increase

Durkheim describes schemes of social cohesion as being either modern or premodern. Associate each principle below with the type of scheme it characterizes.

premodern: mechanical or segmental solidarity, sameness of function, similarity of parts modern: organic solidarity, interdependence of parts, specialization of function

retreatist

rejects both socially acceptable goals and the means to achieve the goals, and does not participate in society

rebel

rejects both socially acceptable goals and the means to achieve the goals, and wants to change or destroy the social order

In this picture, taken in 1944, a mob marches through the streets of Paris two French women accused of collaborating with the Nazis. This event illustrates a couple of points Durkheim makes about the function of social sanctions. What are those points?

social sanctions reinforce the boundaries of acceptable habit and bring people together as they act to deal with offenders.

What factors make white-collar crime different from street crime?

committed in different settings and by different people, does not involve force