Transcript Document 7214936

Criminology Today
Chapters 7 and part of 8
Chpt. 7 – Social Structure Theories
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Old saying – you can take the criminal out
of a bad environment, but you can’t take
the bad environment out of the criminal.
Suggestion is – negative influences of
social environment predispose some
people to lives of crime, and that such
negative influences may remain active
even when people’s circumstances
change.
Major Principles of Sociological
Theories
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Sociological theory – a perspective that focuses
on the nature of the power relationships that
exist between social groups and on the
influences that various social phenomena bring
to bear on the types of behaviors that tend to
characterize groups of people.
Social structure – the pattern of social
organization and the interrelationships among
institutions characteristic of a society.
Definitions
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Social process – the interaction between
and among social institutions, individuals
and groups
Social life – the ongoing (typically)
structured interaction that occurs between
person in a society, including socialization
and social behavior in general.
3 Key Sociological Explanations for
Crime
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Crime is the result of an individual’s
location within the structure of society
Crime is the end product of various social
processes, especially inappropriate
socialization and social learning
Crime is the product of class struggle.
The perspective emphasizes the nature of
existing power relationships between
social groups
Social Structure Theories Defined
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Social structure theories – they explain crime by
reference to the economic and social
arrangements (or structure) of society.
They see the various formal and informal
arrangements between social groups as the root
causes of crime and deviance.
They highlight those arrangements within
society that contribute to low socioeconomic
status of identifiable groups as significant causes
of crime.
Social structure theorists view members of
socially and economically disadvantaged groups
as being more likely to commit crime, and they
see economic and social disenfranchisement as
fundamental causes of crime.
Types of Social Structure Theories
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Social Disorganization (ecological
approach)
Strain Theory
Culture Conflict Theory
Social Disorganization Theory
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A perspective on crime and deviance that
sees society as a kind of organism and
crime and deviance as a kind of disease or
social pathology.
Theories of social disorganization are
often associated with the perspective of
social ecology and with the Chicago
School of criminology, which developed
during the 1920s and 1930s.
Social Disorganization
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A condition said to exist when a group is
faced with social change, uneven
development of culture, maladaptiveness,
disharmony, conflict, and lack of
consensus.
Social Ecology – the attempt to link the
structure and organization of any human
community to interactions with its
localized environment
Social Pathology
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Those human actions which run contrary to the
ideals of residential stability, property ownership,
sobriety, thrift, habituation to work, small
business enterprise, sexual discretion, family
solidarity, neighborliness, and discipline of will.
The tem referred simply to behavior not in
keeping with the prevalent norms and values of
the social group.
Definitions
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Cultural transmission – the transmission of
delinquency through successive generations of
people living in the same area through a process
of social communication
Ecological theory – a type of sociological
approach that emphasizes demographics (the
characteristics of population groups) and
geographics (the mapped location of such
groups relative to one another) and that sees
the social disorganization that characterizes
delinquency areas as a major cause of
criminality and victimization.
Chicago School
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Chicago School of criminology – an ecological approach
to explaining crime that examined how social
disorganization contributes to social pathology.
Chicago School – demonstrated the tendency for criminal
activity to be associated with urban transition zones,
which, because of the turmoil or social disorganization
that characterized them, were typified by lower property
values, impoverished lifestyles, and a general lack of
privacy.
The greatest contribution the ecological school made to
criminological literature can be found in the claim that
society, in the form of the community, wields a major
influence on human behavior.
The Criminology of Place
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(Also called Environmental Criminology) is an
emerging perspective within the contemporary
body of criminological theory that builds upon
the contributions of routine activities theory and
situational crime prevention, as well as the
ecological approaches.
It emphasizes the importance of geographic
location and architectural features as they are
associated with the prevalence of victimization.
Broken Windows Thesis
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Broken windows thesis – physical deterioration
and an increase in unrepaired buildings lead to
increased concerns for personal safety among
area residents.
Offenders from other neighborhoods are then
increasingly attracted by the area’s perceived
vulnerability.
Physical evidence of disorder, left unchecked,
leads to crime by driving residents indoors and
sending a message to would-be offenders that a
neighborhood is out of control.
Defensible Space
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A surrogate term for the range of mechanisms –
real and symbolic barriers, strongly defined
areas of influence, and improved opportunities
for surveillance – that combine to bring an
environment under the control of its residents.
Since the routine activities of places may be
regulated far more easily than the routine
activities of persons, a criminology of place
would seem to offer substantial promise for
public policy as well as theory.
Strain Theory
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Anomie – a social condition in which norms are
uncertain or lacking
Norms – wealth, status, happiness
Means – education, hard work, $ savings
Crime and deviance tend to arise as alternative
means to success when individuals feel the
strain of being pressed to succeed in socially
approved ways but find that the tools necessary
for such success are not available to them.
Strain theory – a sociological approach that
posits a disjuncture between socially and
subculturally sanctioned means and goals as the
cause of criminal behavior.
Page 272 – Relative Deprivation
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Relative deprivation refers to the economic and
social gap that exists between rich and poor who
live in close proximity to one another.
People assess their position in life by way of
comparison with things and people they already
know.
Relative deprivation creates feelings of anger,
frustration, hostility, and social injustice on the
part of those who experience it.
Distributive justice – an individual’s perception of
his or her rightful place in the reward structure
of society – could even apply to wealthy
General Strain Theory (GST)
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GST – a perspective that suggests that
lawbreaking behavior is a coping mechanism
that enables those who engage in it to deal with
the socioemotional problems generated by
negative social relations.
Strains most likely to cause crime include child
abuse and neglect; negative secondary-school
experiences; abusive peer relations; chronic
unemployment; marital problems; parental
rejection; erratic, excessive, and or/harsh
supervision or discipline; criminal victimization;
homelessness, racial, ethnic, or gender
discrimination; and a failure to achieve selected
goals.
Culture Conflict Theory
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a/k/a Cultural Deviance Theory – suggests that
the root cause of criminality can be found in a
clash of values between differently socialized
groups over what is acceptable or proper
behavior.
Conduct norms – shared expectations of a social
group relative to personal conduct
Because crime is a violation of laws established
by legislative decree, the criminal event itself,
from this point of view, is nothing more than a
disagreement over what should be acceptable
behavior.
2 types of culture conflict
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Primary conflict – arises when a fundamental
clash of cultures occurs – i.e. an immigrant
father who kills his daughter’s lover following an
old-world tradition that demands that a family’s
honor be kept intact.
Secondary conflict – when smaller cultures
within the primary one clash – i.e. prostitution
and gambling provided plentiful examples of
secondary conflict
Today – drug use and abuse provide more
readily understandable examples – some parts
of America – drug dealing is an acceptable for of
business
Subcultural Theory
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A subculture is a collection of
values and preferences, which
is communicated to subcultural
participants through a process
of socialization.
Subcultures differ from the
larger culture in that they
claim the allegiance of smaller
groups of people.
Ex. – wider Am. Culture
proclaim that hard work and
individuality are valuable, but
subculture may espouse the
virtues of deer hunting, male
bonding, and recreational
alcohol consumption. (Did they
just slam the South?)
Redneck Deer Stand
Delinquency and Drift
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Techniques of neutralization – culturally available
justifications that can provide criminal offenders
with the means to disavow responsibility for
their behavior
5 types of justification – p. 278
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Denying responsibility
Denying injury
Denying the victim
Condemning the condemners
Appealing to higher loyalties
Violent Subcultures
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Geographic distinctions among
violent subcultures in different parts
of the U.S.
A body of criminological literature
exists, for example, that claims that
certain forms of criminal violence
are more acceptable in the southern
U.S. than in northern portions of
the country
Some writers have also referred to
variability in the degree to which
interpersonal violence has been
accepted in the South over time,
whereas others have suggested
that violence in the South might be
a traditional tool in the service of
social order.
The notion of a “southern violence
construct” holds that an “infernal
trinity of Southerner, violence and
weaponry” may make crimes like
homicide and assault more
culturally acceptable in the South
than in other parts of the country.
TROY KING ASKS
SUPREME COURT FOR
EXCUTION DATES
King also filed a motion
for an execution date for
a second Wiregrass killer,
Phillip Hallford. Hallford,
61, was convicted of
shooting a 16-year-old
boy to death in the
Daleville area. Hallford
has been on death row
for 21 years for the April
13, 1986, shooting death
of Charles Eddie
Shannon, his daughter’s
boyfriend.
Differential Opportunity Theory
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Illegitimate opportunity structure –
subcultural pathways to success that the
wider society disapproves of
Reaction formation – the process by which
a person openly rejects that which he or
she wants or aspires to but cannot obtain
or achieve
The Code of the Street
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Contemporary street code that stresses a
hyperinflated notion of manhood that rests
squarely on the idea of respect.
At the heart of the code is the issue of
respect – loosely defined as being treated
‘right’ or being granted one’s ‘props’ (or
proper due) or the deference one
deserves.
Gangs
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80% of agencies serving a population of
50,000 or more reported gang-related
problems – only 12% of rural agencies
reported such problems
Estimates – 760,000 gang members and
24,000 gangs were active in U.S. in 2004
Critique of Social Structure
Theories p. 290
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The fundamental assumption of social
structure approaches is that social
injustice, racism, and poverty are the root
cause of crime. – If true, negates social
responsibility perspective.
Others argue the inverse is true – poverty
and what appear to be social injustices are
produced by crime.
Chapter 8: Theories of Social
Process and Social Development
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1999 Columbine shootings (15 people
died) – criminologist continue to debate
the influences in the lives of Harris and
Klebold that led up to the Columbine
shootings
2007 Virginia Tech shooting spree – death
of 33 people by student suffering from
mental problems
The Social Process Perspective
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a/k/a interactionist perspectives - A theory
that asserts that criminal behavior is
learned in interaction with others and that
socialization processes that occur as the
result of group membership are the
primary route through which learning
occurs.
Groups include – family, peers, work
groups – which one identifies
Types of Social Process Theories
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Learning Theory – a perspective that places
emphasis upon the role of communication and
socialization in the acquisition of learned
patterns of criminal behavior and the values that
support that behavior
According to learning theory, criminal behavior is
a product of the social environment and not an
innate characteristic of particular people
Differential association – the sociological thesis
that criminality, like any other form of behavior,
is learned through a process of association with
others who communicate criminal values
Differential Identification Theory
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An explanation for crime and deviance
that holds that people pursue criminal or
deviant behavior to the extent that they
identify themselves with real or imaginary
people from whose perspective their
criminal or deviant behavior seems
acceptable
Social Control Theory
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A perspective that predicts that when
social constraints on antisocial behavior
are weakened or absent, delinquent
behavior emerges. Rather than stressing
causative factors in criminal behavior,
control theory asks why people actually
obey rules instead of breaking them.
Containment Theory
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A form of control theory that suggests that a
series of both internal and external factors
contributes to law-abiding behavior.
Containment – aspects of the social bond that
act to prevent individuals from committing
crimes and that keep them from engaging in
deviance.
Social bond – the link, created through
socialization, between individuals and the society
of which they are a part.
General Theory of Crime
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Asserts that the operation of a single
mechanism, low self-control, accounts for
‘all crime, at all times’; including acts
ranging from vandalism to homicide, from
rape to white-collar-crime.
Control-Balance Theory
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Control ratio – the amount of control to
which a person is subject versus the
amount of control that person exerts over
others.
Labeling Theory
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Tagging – the process whereby an individual is
negatively defined by agencies of justice
Primary deviance – initial deviance often undertaken to
deal with transient problems in living
Secondary deviance – deviant behavior that results from
official labeling and from association with others who
have been so labeled.
Labeling – an interactionist perspective that sees
continued crime as a consequence of limited
opportunities for acceptable behavior that follow from
the negative responses of society to those defined as
offenders.
Moral enterprise – the efforts made by an interest group
to have its sense of moral or ethical propriety enacted
into law.
Reintegrative Shaming
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Stigmatic shaming – a form of shaming, imposed
as a sanction by the criminal justice system, that
is thought to destroy the moral bond between
the offender and the community
Reintegrative shaming – a form of shaming,
imposed as a sanction by the criminal justice
system, that is thought to strengthen the moral
bond between the offender and the community.
Dramaturgy
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Dramaturgical perspective – a theoretical point of view
that depicts human behavior as centered around the
purposeful management of interpersonal impressions.
Impression management – the intentional enactment of
practiced behavior that is intended to convey to others
one’s desirable personal characteristics and social
qualities
Discrediting information – information that is inconsistent
with the managed impressions being communicated in a
given situation
Total institution – a facility from which individuals can
rarely come and go and in which communal life is
intense and circumscribed.
Prosocial Bonds
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Bonds between the individual and the
social group that strengthen the likelihood
of conformity.
Prosocial bonds are characterized by
attachment to conventional social
institutions, values, and beliefs.
Next Week
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Start at page 317 in Chapter 8 and finish
Chapter 8
Chapter 9: Sociological Theories III