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we're going to spend a few minutes today
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talking about crime and deviant from a
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sociological perspective now
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criminologists are specialized
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sociologists so criminology as a study
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falls under the broader discipline of
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Sociology but we want to talk
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specifically today about some of the
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criminological theories that are
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contained in the field of
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Sociology so we're going to talk today
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specifically about some of the theories
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that are contained in this broad area of
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criminology and the study of crime and
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deviant in society and there are some
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questions that you should probably be
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thinking about as you're understanding
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these theories when does Conformity
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Verge on
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Deviant how does a society manage to
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control its members and then convince
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them to conform to its rules its laws
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its standards its
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norms and then finally what are the
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consequences of deviant Behavior so
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first let's start off with a couple of
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little definitions here the first of
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those is social control these are
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techniques and strategies which prevent
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deviant behaviors in a society and so
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these are the things that Force you so
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to speak to obey others and to do what
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others want you to do and we have a lot
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of Agents of socialization that help to
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work in tandem to keep those social
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controls in place
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we obey our parents we obey our teachers
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we listen to our peers sometimes to our
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own demise we do what our bosses tell us
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in the workplace we conform to
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governmental rules and regulations all
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of these things are techniques that
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Society the structure of society uses to
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help prevent deviant from occurring and
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crime right deviant and crime are
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intimately linked to each other
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and we also then should briefly Define
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conformity obedience and social control
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Conformity is going along with those who
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have really no special right to direct
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our behavior and this usually does
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happen with our peer groups these are
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people that tell us what to do and how
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to do it and we follow along with them
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because we want to be part of that group
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so we conform to the Norms or the
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standards of the group obedience goes a
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step further than that this is where we
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comply with authority
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we comply with rules and regulations
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obedience can happen in the workplace it
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can happen when you're the child in a
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family or it can happen when you're
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sometimes the wife or husband in a
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family because one of those members in
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that intimate relationship has more
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power and control over the other uh this
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can happen also with our government our
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government forces us to be obedient
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members of society by complying with
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rules regulations by writing us traffic
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tickets when we get get pulled over by
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telling us what we can and cannot do in
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Social
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settings now social controls can be
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informal or formal right informal social
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controls are used very casually to
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enforce Norms an example of this might
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be a parent uh that's out to dinner with
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their children and the children start to
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be misbehave a little bit and the parent
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gives the child that parent look the
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raised eyebrow the stern look at the
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child as if to tell the child you better
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stop that right now that's an informal
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social control formal social controls
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are carried out by authorized agents as
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I mentioned before this is the cop that
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writes you the traffic ticket because
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you were speeding this is the boss that
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calls you into the office and tells you
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that certain behaviors are inappropriate
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for the workplace and it really is
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important for us to note that the
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interplay between informal and for
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formal social control is very important
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to understand sometimes informal and
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formal social control uh lines up
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together so that you have the informal
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for example what's happening in your
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family or with your peers enforcing the
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formal so let's say we have a law
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against marijuana smoking in society and
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your peer group also says this is bad
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you should not be doing it this is an
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example of the interplay line lining up
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to enforce each other but let's assume
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that we have that law that says you may
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not smoke marijuana but you have a group
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of peers who say it's all right to do
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this this is an example of when the
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interplay may not line up and it may
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Force you as an individual to make a
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decision that goes against either the
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informal or formal social controls and
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of course there is a theory that we can
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use to
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describe social control of course
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control theory our connection to others
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in society leads us to conform to the
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Norms of our society and so this Theory
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when we're talking about specifically
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law and Society focuses on why some
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people conform and others choose not to
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and it also says that if left to our own
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devices all of us would deviate and
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that's why we have to have laws and I
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think if you take a minute to consider
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whether or not you would deviate from
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some of the laws that we have in our
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society you probably will find that you
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will do you ever go above the speed
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limit while you're driving well if
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that's the case then you're deviating
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from a formal law that we have in our
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society now your peers may say hey it's
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okay but we still have that formal law
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in place so this Theory control theory
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wants to know
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why are you willing to bend or break the
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rules and other people may not be and so
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this Theory says that what causes that
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behavior is the absence of control so
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then you say to yourself well look we do
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have a control there is a speed limit it
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is posting but I'm still breaking it
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well I think hand inand with that you
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have to consider do you get caught and
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so there's a state there your behavior
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is attached to whether or not you have
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something to lose so you're driving down
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the road you're doing five or 10 miles
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an hour above the speed limit and you
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have to make a decision am I going to
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get caught or am I not going to get
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caught and if you feel like you're going
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to get caught you're likely to keep your
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speed close to the speed limit however
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if you feel like you're not going to get
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caught maybe you've done this many times
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times have not gotten caught you're more
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likely to engage in that deviant
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Behavior so the focus here is our
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attachment to or our involvement with
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the belief of a normal society and
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that's control theory and control theory
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is kind of one of those overarching
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theories that is used in the field of
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criminology we also need to Define
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deviance and crime the differences in
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similarities in these two terms deviance
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is generally behavior that violates
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standards or
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expectations it often involves violating
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group norms and it's important to note
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that it is subject to context and time
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and one of the easiest examples I can
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give you is body
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piercing 20 or 30 years ago it was
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considered deviant to have any kind of
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piercing other than that which might be
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in your ears today it's normal it's no
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longer considered deviant Behavior
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tattoos are also something that you can
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think of in terms of deviant or not um a
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hundred years ago a tattoo might have
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been considered a horrible thing to do
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to your body however today it's an
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accepted form of self-expression and
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rarely do people consider it to be
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deviant when a person gets a tattoo
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crime however is a violation of Law and
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formal penalties will apply if you break
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the law so deviant may be criminal but
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crime is always deviant so now that
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we've got the definitions out of the way
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let's move on to some criminological
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theories that we use in the field of
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sociology the first we're going to start
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with is the group of theories that fall
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under the broader functional perspective
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so now remember functional theory was
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the very first sociological theory that
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we had and so theories that fall under
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the functional umbrella that relate to
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crime and deviant have a very very long
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history and they go back all the way to
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durkheim Emil durkheim and his concept
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of animy and so we can relate the
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concept of animy to crime and deviant
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because durkheim would have said that
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social controls become ineffective when
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people have or feel or experience high
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levels of animy now remember animy
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occurs when there's a loss of Direction
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in society and so the structure or the
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hierarchy or the rules or regulations
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start to break down and they become
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ineffective and people start to consider
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that they can do or need to do things
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that go against the social norms things
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that break the rules in order to better
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benefit their own self so durkheim said
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that punishments established within a
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culture help Define what acceptable
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behavior is and that they also help to
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contribute to social stability and so
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when you live in a in a culture or in a
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society or in a time where there are
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serious problems to the structure of
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society such as a war or a revolution or
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a military cud something like that you
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have these really high levels of feeling
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like the structure is no longer there to
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support you or to punish you to sanction
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you and so what durkheim would have said
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is that when these controls become
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ineffective the chances of deviant or
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criminal Behavior occurring are much
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higher in a society
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contemporarily Rob Bert Merton also a
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functional theorist took durkheim's work
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and developed it a little bit farther
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and he developed it into his deviant
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typology also known as strain theory
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also known as the enemy theory of
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deviant and essentially what Merton was
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interested in here was how people adapt
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in certain ways by conforming to or
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deviating from cultural expectations and
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so he sets up this
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chart and he talks about the need in a
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society to accept the cultural goals and
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to accept the institutionalized means to
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get to the goal so let me give you an
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example here in American society one of
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the goals that we have is to accumulate
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wealth and the ways that we get there
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the legitimate institutionalized ways
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that we get there are
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perhaps working hard playing the stock
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market reaping the benefit of having a
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wealthy relative who dies and leaves us
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money all of these are legitimate
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ways to reach the goal of being wealthy
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and so most of us will fall into that
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conformist
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category however he said there are other
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categories or groups of people who don't
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want to either accept the means the the
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legitimate way to get there or accept
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the goal the end game and he calls them
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innovators ritualists retreatists and
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Rebels so we'll talk about these quickly
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one at a time the innovator the
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innovator rejects the way to get to the
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goal but they internalize the goal they
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still want the wealth that American
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society holds to be important but they
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don't want to do the hard work and they
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don't have any other legitimate way to
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get there and so they innovate a new way
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to get to the wealth this might be your
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friendly neighborhood drug dealer this
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is a person who whose legitimate means
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have been blocked by the structure of
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society they have tried the legitimate
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way but it's just simply not working for
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them and so they innovate a new way to
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get
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there the ritualist the ritualist is
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interesting in that they reject the goal
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they don't care about the wealth but
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they have internalized the means so
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they're willing to work hard they're
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willing to put forth effort they're
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willing to do everything that Society
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tells them to do to be a good
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functioning member of society and money
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is not that important to them oftentimes
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you find people in this category who
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have very altruistic types of jobs
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firefighters nurses Law Enforcement
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Officers teachers
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people who aren't going to make buckets
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of money in their lifetime however they
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do the work because they've
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internalized that that work is important
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the retrea is to somebody who rejects
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the means and rejects the goals and I
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oftentimes think about this group of
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people as kind of The 40-Year-Old pot
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smok and hippie that still lives at home
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in Mom and Dad's basement and they're
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perfectly happy there they don't really
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have a job they might do some day labor
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occasionally just to make some money so
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that they can buy their bag of weed uh
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they're happy sitting at home most days
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playing video games and eating
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Cheetos you know the person that I'm
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describing here Mom and Dad are doing
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the laundry and paying the bills so
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there's no point in doing anything any
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different and so they've rejected the
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means they've rejected the goals they're
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perfectly happy to live in the structure
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of our society they're not making waves
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in that respect but they really have
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retreated from that internalization of
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accepting the legitimized means and the
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legitimized goals that our society has
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put in place for them now the final
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category is the rebel the rebel is like
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the retreatist but they go many many
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steps further in that not only do they
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reject the means and reject the goals
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but they actually work hard to try and
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change the structure of society and this
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category contains people like terrorists
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or anarchists people who are willing to
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actually put into place things that they
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are willing to do to change the
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structure of society and make it what
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they want it to be so these are a couple
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of our functional theories with regard
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to criminal and deviant behavior and
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I'll take a minute here to say I think
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the reason why we have so many well
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developed as you will see theories that
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fall under each one of our major
00:16:04
sociological theories in the field of
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criminology is because there really
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isn't one theory that will
00:16:14
satisfactorily address why crime or
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deviance occurs and so often times as a
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student of criminology or a student of
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Sociology you know you really have to
00:16:26
use multiple theories at multiple levels
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of analysis to describe the complete
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picture of why crime and deviance is
00:16:35
occurring so these functional theories
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happen at the macro level and that has
00:16:40
been one of the problems with Merton's
00:16:42
typology in that it doesn't really
00:16:44
capture every single type of person or
00:16:48
individual who lives in a society
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however it does give us a good broad
00:16:55
overview and a possibility for trying to
00:16:59
categorize why crime occurs likewise
00:17:02
with durkheim durkheim says enemy causes
00:17:05
crime Merton says uh goals and means and
00:17:09
your acceptance or rejection of them
00:17:11
causes
00:17:13
crime all right so now we'll talk a
00:17:15
little bit about conflict theory
00:17:17
conflict theory talks about people with
00:17:19
power wanting to protect their own
00:17:20
interests and so it's interested in how
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deviant or criminal Behavior occurs with
00:17:28
regard to to issues related to at its
00:17:31
broadest perspective race class and
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gender and so conflict theorists have
00:17:37
come up with this idea of differential
00:17:39
Justice differential Justice talks about
00:17:42
the different ways in which social
00:17:44
control is exercised over different
00:17:46
groups in society this Theory says that
00:17:49
the poor are more likely to deviate or
00:17:51
commit crime to meet their basic needs
00:17:54
and there's a connection here to Robert
00:17:56
Merton's uh deviant typology in that
00:17:59
Merton said that the poor will deviate
00:18:02
when their access is blocked their
00:18:04
legitimate access to the goals and means
00:18:08
is blocked and so they deviate to meet
00:18:10
those basic needs differential Justice
00:18:13
says that the wealthy deviate to
00:18:15
maintain their power and so the wealthy
00:18:17
are willing to use deviants to maintain
00:18:21
their position over others in society
00:18:24
right and so for an example wealthy
00:18:26
people are often in a position where
00:18:28
they create laws or where they can Lobby
00:18:31
our government to influence them to
00:18:35
decide things in a particular way the
00:18:37
poor don't have that kind of power in
00:18:40
society and so wealthy people oftentimes
00:18:43
can get away with framing their deviance
00:18:47
in a way that makes it seem like it is
00:18:50
not deviant and this is the concept of
00:18:53
differential Justice there's a
00:18:55
difference in the way that deviant and
00:18:57
crime are framed regarding to issues of
00:19:02
stratification in a society now as you
00:19:05
already know from studying sociology
00:19:07
feminist theory is a sub theory of
00:19:11
conflict
00:19:13
perspective and feminist theorists when
00:19:16
we're talking about crime and deviant
00:19:17
are really concerned with how Society
00:19:21
treats men and women stereotypically and
00:19:26
how that is interpreted in the criminal
00:19:29
justice system so what are our cultural
00:19:33
attitudes toward women and men and how
00:19:36
does that influence how each group is
00:19:39
perceived and labeled with regard to
00:19:41
deviance and crime and we know that for
00:19:44
example from research women tend to be
00:19:47
seen as victims rather than perpetrators
00:19:50
of crime uh we also have examined
00:19:54
chivalry Theory which reinforces the
00:19:56
subordination of women in societ
00:19:59
shivalry Theory deals with how women use
00:20:02
their quote unquote feminine Wilds to
00:20:06
get out of being charged with criminal
00:20:08
Behavior or deviant Behavior chivalry
00:20:11
Theory would say that using your
00:20:14
femininity to advance your place in
00:20:17
society is probably not the best way to
00:20:22
find solutions to stereotypical
00:20:25
attitudes within the criminal justice
00:20:27
system again here we're just scraping
00:20:30
the service with regard to some of these
00:20:32
criminology theories that fall under the
00:20:35
broader perspective of conflict we also
00:20:38
need to talk about interaction Theory
00:20:40
and this is where it gets a little bit
00:20:42
more uh complex because there are a lot
00:20:45
of theories that fall to that
00:20:47
interactionist realm now remember
00:20:50
interactionist theory is at the micro
00:20:51
level meaning that it gets down to that
00:20:54
more intimate perspective and talks
00:20:56
about how individuals
00:20:59
react and act what their feelings and
00:21:01
beliefs are and how that helps to
00:21:04
eventually uh change the structure of
00:21:07
society and so I've put up here a couple
00:21:09
of the most important ones we'll take
00:21:11
them one at a time quickly cultural
00:21:13
transmission Theory also known as
00:21:15
differential
00:21:16
association talks about how exposure to
00:21:20
Crime can help to shape our attitudes
00:21:23
about it and may encourage us to deviate
00:21:26
and so if you are exposed repeatedly to
00:21:28
crime over and over and over again and
00:21:31
you are told that that behavior is not
00:21:34
inappropriate then chances are you may
00:21:37
also um engage in that behavior you grow
00:21:41
up in a family of criminals you see them
00:21:45
uh committing crime every single day and
00:21:48
you don't see anything wrong with that
00:21:50
all Behavior according to cultural
00:21:52
transmission
00:21:53
theorists is learned and this includes
00:21:56
deviant and criminal Behavior here
00:21:59
social disorganization Theory talks
00:22:02
about how when social norms and rules
00:22:04
deteriorate crime increases but it's not
00:22:08
at the macro level right this does sound
00:22:10
very similar to the work of durkheim
00:22:12
with the concept of aname but it looks
00:22:15
at the individual and it looks at when
00:22:19
that individual is willing to deviate
00:22:22
from the Norms as the structure starts
00:22:25
to deteriorate and we have to be really
00:22:27
careful here are not to blame the victim
00:22:30
this Theory really talks about how when
00:22:33
communal relationships and social
00:22:34
institutions aren't doing their job the
00:22:38
individual is more likely to contribute
00:22:42
to criminal or deviant Behavior so
00:22:45
increases in crime occur when there's a
00:22:47
lack of uniformity at the community
00:22:49
level and this one goes all the way back
00:22:52
has its roots essentially in the
00:22:54
industrial revolution and how that
00:22:57
disintegrated people from their
00:22:59
communities and then crime started to
00:23:01
increase so the focus of this theory is
00:23:04
the absence of constraint and how that
00:23:08
absence of constraint influences
00:23:10
individual
00:23:12
Behavior labeling Theory also known as
00:23:15
social reaction approach now this one
00:23:18
can get used at the micro or the macro
00:23:21
level however we're going to talk about
00:23:24
it here just at the interaction level
00:23:26
why does some people get the dev label
00:23:29
and others don't and what are the
00:23:31
implications of that for the
00:23:33
individual this Theory says that
00:23:35
deviance is a social process by which
00:23:38
some are able to label others primarily
00:23:41
those that have power and they are able
00:23:43
to give others uh labels and enforce
00:23:47
them labeling theorists don't like
00:23:49
labels but they say that labeling is a
00:23:52
social fact especially when we're
00:23:54
talking about crime and deviant and so
00:23:57
for example if an individual does get
00:24:00
caught committing a criminal act they
00:24:02
get the label of criminal and what does
00:24:06
that do to that person over time we need
00:24:09
to consider that the label May influence
00:24:13
future
00:24:15
behaviors the final interactionist
00:24:17
theory that I want to talk about is
00:24:19
social construction Theory and this is a
00:24:21
postmodern interaction Theory it talks
00:24:24
about deviant being a product of the
00:24:26
culture in which we live and so the the
00:24:28
focus in this theory is about the
00:24:31
decisionmaking process how does decision
00:24:35
making create a deviant identity and you
00:24:39
can see how this is a very micr level
00:24:42
theory in that it's really concerned
00:24:44
with how the individual identity is
00:24:48
constructed in a deviant Manner and
00:24:51
further who is the person or who is
00:24:53
responsible for
00:24:55
constructing that deviant identity
00:24:59
okay so quick recap here we talked about
00:25:01
functional Theory we talked about
00:25:02
durkheim and we talked about Merton and
00:25:05
we talked about some of the issues that
00:25:07
anemy causes for society and we talked
00:25:10
about some of those different types of
00:25:12
groups who may choose to engage in
00:25:14
criminal or deviant Behavior or not when
00:25:18
we talked about conflict theory we
00:25:19
talked about differential Justice about
00:25:22
how different groups in our heavily
00:25:26
stratified Society de devate to maintain
00:25:30
power or to meet needs we also talked
00:25:32
under conflict theory briefly about
00:25:35
feminist Theory the notion of shivalry
00:25:38
theory that falls under that and how
00:25:40
women and men have different experiences
00:25:42
in our criminal justice system and then
00:25:45
finally we talked about four of the
00:25:46
primary interactionist approaches
00:25:49
cultural transmission social
00:25:51
disorganization labeling and social
00:25:54
constructionist theories I hope this
00:25:56
helps you to understand a little bit
00:25:58
better some of the sociological
00:26:00
perspectives of deviant remember these
00:26:03
are just a tip of the iceberg there are
00:26:05
many many theories out there and you're
00:26:08
encouraged to do some homework and to
00:26:10
find out more about sociological theory
00:26:14
on crime and deviant take care bye-bye
