module 9 Flashcards
(25 cards)
what is deviance?
“a person, behaviour or characteristic perceived as unacceptable” in relation to sociocultural standards (Symbaluk & Bereska, 2016, p. 239). Most of us have a sense of who or what we consider “deviant” but have likely not considered why these actions or behaviours are unacceptable.
what changes peoples view on deviance?
Era.
Context
One’s personal and societal definitions of right and wrong.
deviance is a combination of moral laws, social norms, and legal rules, which are all (at least for the most part) historically and culturally relative. What is considered deviant in one society (e.g., atheism) may actually be encouraged in another. A classification of deviance can also change within a social context as the meaning of the act or behaviour modifies.
define crime
rimeis “any behaviour that violates criminal law” (Symbaluk & Bereska, 2016, p. 242) and is punishable with fines, jail terms, and other sanctions. Some crimes, like murder, are for the most part universally understood as deviant. Other crimes, like illegal downloading, are generally not considered deviant. Like deviance, many crimes are also historically and culturally relative.
describe the idling bylaw
The first stand-alone idling control bylaw was passed by the City of Toronto in 1996. Since then, most cities and provinces have adopted similar bylaws, despite the fact they are very hard to enforce. Individual citizens and local environmental organizations have encouraged provinces and municipalities to implement such bylaws as a way to reduce local air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions (Government of Canada, 2016a).
describe the distracted driving law
n Canada, 10 provinces have a distracted driving law in place (Canadian Automobile Association, 2016). Distracted driving laws have been initiated in response to the massive popularity and use of hand-held computer devices. As of January 1, 2016, in Alberta the fine for breaking the distracted driving law is a $287 and a deduction of three demerit points. The law applies to the use of a hand-held phone while talking, texting and/or emailing, operating electronic devices like video players and laptops, manually programming GPS units or portable audio players, reading or writing, and/or engaging in personal grooming while driving (Edmonton Police Service, 2016
describe anti spam legislation
Canada’s anti-spam law was implemented in 2014. The legislation was set up to protect Canadians from unwanted emails (and other electronic messages) and to protect the rights of businesses wanting to compete internationally. The new law prohibits companies from sending a commercial electronic message to a recipient’s email address, social networking account, or cell phone without the recipient’s permission. The legislation also prohibits the use of false or misleading representations online in the promotion of products or services and the collection of electronic addresses without permission (i.e., address harvesting) (Government of Canada, 2016b).
what do legal classifications of crime differentiate?
Legal classifications of crime in Canada differentiate between summary conviction offences, and indictable offences. In the United States, this distinction is between misdemeanours and felonies. Summary conviction offences are perceived as less harmful than indictable offence
why are indicted offences serious?
Indictable offences are considered more serious because they cause the most harm
what are hybrid offences?
Crimes that fall somewhere between summary conviction and indictable offences are hybrid offences, which include forgery of a credit card, impaired driving, and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
define violent offences
Violent crimes in Canada, as defined by your textbook, are “criminal offences that involve physical harm to another person” (Symbaluk & Bereska, 2016, p. 244). Violent crimes include both force and the threat of force of one person against anther.
define property crime
As the name suggests, property crimes are crimes targeting a person’s property (Symbaluk & Bereska, 2016, p. 244). Arson, theft, and break and enter are examples of property crimes, and where the motive is typically to obtain money or some other valuable.
define street crime
Organized crime includes drug trafficking, human trafficking, liquor and cigarette smuggling, and large-scale theft. As defined by Murray at al. (2016), organized crime is run as a business that provides illegal goods and services for profit and thrives because of the high demand for illegal goods and services. Organized crime
includes the work of gangs and organized groups, like the Hells Angels, who operate worldwide in the illegal trade of drugs and other stolen goods.
describe organized crime
Organized crime includes drug trafficking, human trafficking, liquor and cigarette smuggling, and large-scale theft. As defined by Murray at al. (2016), organized crime is run as a business that provides illegal goods and services for profit and thrives because of the high demand for illegal goods and services. Organized crime
includes the work of gangs and organized groups, like the Hells Angels, who operate worldwide in the illegal trade of drugs and other stolen goods.
describe political crime
Political crimes are perpetrated either by or towards the government. As defined by Murray et al. (2016), political crime involves “the misuse of power by government officials, or illegal acts […] perpetrated against the government by outsiders seeking to make a political statement, undermine the government, or overthrow it” (p. 183). Examples of crimes committed against the government include treason and terrorism, such as the 2014 Parliament Hill shootings. Examples of crimes committed by the government include bribery, kickbacks, or insider deals that benefit the government.
crime rate stats
Crime rate and severity levels dropped an average of 3% in most provinces in Canada (excluding traffic violations). While many police-reported crime rates are going down, child pornography, terrorism, and extortion cases increased
property crimes are the most common type of police-reported crime in Canada, followed by other crimes, and violent crimes.
Other crimes include drugoffences, counterfeiting, weapon violations, child pornography, prostitution, terrorism, disturbing the peace, and other justice violations. And violent crimes include homicide, attempted murder, sexual assault (levels 1, 2, and 3), sexual violations against children, assault (levels 1, 2, and 3)
most common crimes in canada
Most common: • Theft under $5,000 (property) • Justice violations (other) • Level 1 assault (violent) The overall average crime rate in Canada is 5,046 per 100,000 population. Crime rates are typically higher in the prairies, with the highest crime rates being reported in Saskatoon.
why arent the stats completely accurate?
One of the reasons many crimes are not reported is the knowledge of what constitutes a crime. For example, if a person does not know what constitutes assault, they won’t report it (this is also common in cases of childhood sexual abuse). Another challenge of accurate report rates includes the fear or worry of speaking to the authorities
Other difficulties in accessing true crime rates include the lack of trust with police (common in low-income andracializedcommunities), the lack of access to police stations (common in remote and isolated communities), and possible language barriers between the complainant and the police department.
why do sociologists look at crime?
Sociological theories of crime and deviance question the underlying structural reasons why people engage in deviant and/or criminal behaviour, and how deviant and criminal behaviours are kept in check
functionalist perspective
Functionalist theories of deviance position deviance as the effect of social structure. For Émile Durkheim, deviance emerges from anomie (recall, a state of normlessness) that occurs when society changes too quickly. Durkheim also argues that it is only excessive deviance that is dysfunctional to society as low levels of deviance actually contribute to the functioning of society because they warn others not to step out of line. As one example of anomie, consider the looting that commonly occurs after natural disasters.
merton on functionalist theory
As the name of the theory suggests, Merton argued that people commit criminal or deviant acts when they feel strained within a cultural system. When individuals have less access to the culturally approved means of achieving desired goals (for example, owning a car), they will turn to culturally unapproved means of attaining desires outcomes (for example, stealing a car). He refers to institutionalized goals as those we are expected to aspire to in society (like owning a car, or a house, or nice shoes), and legitimate means as the socially accepted ways of achieving institutionalized goals (like purchasing them). However, as Merton and other sociologists have shown, not all people in a social system have equal opportunity to achieve institutionalized goals through legitimate means. If we return to the example of Hurricane Katrina, we can also see the ways in which people were strained because they lacked the legitimate means for acquiring basic necessities after the disaster (it was typically poor people who were stealing), and in this sense, they were stealing to survive.
learning theories
Learning theories of deviance purport that individuals learn deviance through interaction with others as well as through the lifelong processes of socialization. This learning takes place through positive reinforcements
Learning deviance also takes place when people associate with other deviant people or groups, known as differential association
“getting caught up in the wrong crowd,”theory
interpretive theories
Interpretive theories of deviance extend the work of learning theories by analyzing the processes in and through which people learn and internalize deviant behaviours through the influence of significant others, generalized others, and the looking glass self
Lemert’s labelling theory of deviance purports that deviants are those people who have been successfully labelled as such by others. Successful labelling occurs in what Lemert calls secondary acts of deviance. He contends that most people in society engage in some form of primary deviance, which is the initial act of rule breaking
It is not until this initial act of deviance become habitual or chronic (i.e., secondary deviance) that the child will come to see him or herself “as a bad kid.” Labelling theories can also be applied to the often negative representations of racialized men (commonly Black or Indigenous men) on mainstream entertainment and news media as thugs or criminals. Dyer (2000) argues for the destructive roles these images play in the disproportionately high numbers of African American men in U.S. prisons, and the same is argued for Indigenous men in Canadian prisons
conflict theory (critical)
of crime and deviance maintain that the economically underprivileged commit crimes in order to survive, not to become rich (similar to Merton’s strain theory discussed above). They also contend that the defining, enforcing, and punishing of crime is often done by the economic elite, often at the expense of the economically marginalized—referred to by Gustafson (2009) as the criminalization of poverty. If we take examples of crimes such as prostitution or drug dealing, these typically pay substantially higher than minimum wage jobs and thus make it easier for people to earn a livable wage, especially for those in the underclass, working poor, or those without access to postsecondary education. Many laws such as these function to unjustly to criminalize the underclass and homeless populations who can’t typically pay bail. And because women are more likely than men to be vulnerable to poverty, the criminalization of poverty is also to a degree the criminalization of women, and specifically racialized women
feminist theory
of crime and deviance examine the ways economically marginalized women are criminalized within the current justice system. Women living in poverty are commonly criminalized for activities they regard as necessary to their economic survival, including sex work. As detailed by the Ontario Women’s Justice Network (2008), about two thirds of sex workers are mothers, and many of them single mothers struggling to support their families.
While being poor does not guarantee a life of crime, it certainly increases one’s risk. Feminist theories of crime and deviance also examine the gender norms that typically encourage boys and men to engage in deviant acts and discourage girls and women from the same acts. Tough guy attitudes that ask boys and men to “man up” typically encourage violence, recklessness, assault, and even self-harm like the number of alcohol commercials that normalize excessive drinking and reckless driving
