Importance of Social Bonds By definition exhibiting a behavior that breaks a norm, or rule, placed upon you by society, your situation, or those around you, is deviant. The same behavior could be considered deviant for one person and not another. It depends upon the person in the situation, when and where it’s taking place, and those around who know what’s happening. There are two major viewpoints of deviance, each having many theories to explain it. The humanist approach doesn’t describe deviance as a behavior, rather defining it by the reaction and it being a subjective experience.
The labelling theory consists of the fact that external people for example higher middle class or forms of authority, labels other members in society as being criminals or being deviant. The labelling theory works like this: a form of authority or even common people instinctively have a stereotype or put certain members of society into certain categories therefore labelling people as being criminals or having deviant behaviour and therefore this makes the members of society being labelled, commit to a self fulfilling prophecy whereby they end up acting out what they have been pre-judged as. Interpretivists accept this concept is highly useful and valid as it is qualitative. However, positivists believe it is low in reliability and usefulness as data is not numerical and cannot be compared, or even that there is no data at all. Being a criminal or deviant could be seen to be a social construct and therefore this may mean that you could question what criminal activity is and whether this social construct is even right since it has been constructed by members of the society.
It does however explain why some people or actions are described as deviant, and can help in understanding crime and deviance. According to item A labelling has changed the theoretical base for the study of criminals. Becker emphasises the significance of crime being a social construct; an action only becomes criminal or deviant once society has labelled it so, and that crime can be argued to be a social construction. He introduced the concept of a master label, referring to the label which a person is given which overrides all other labels. When a person is labelled as negatively, society tends to tend them as such, and this master label often becomes internalised, and then a self-fulfilling prophecy occurs.
Stereotypes lead people to expect certain actions from members of social groups. These stereotype-based expectations may lead to self-fulfilling prophecies, in which one's inaccurate expectations about a person's behavior, through social interaction, prompts that person to act in stereotype-consistent ways, thus confirming one's erroneous expectations and validating the stereotype. (Page 94–97) Often time’s people are fairly ignorant of the customs and
“Social groups create deviancy by making rules whose infraction (infringements) constitutes deviancy and by applying the label to particular people...” - Durkheim the leading functionalist blames it all on inadequate socialization by different social institution. - Feminists are of the opinion that deviancy is
Assess the usefulness of subcultural theories in understanding crime and deviance Point | Explain | Research/Evidence | Challenge/Link | Intro: Subcultural strain theories see deviance as the product of a delinquent subculture w/different values from those of mainstream society | Delinquency subcultures are seen as a way for groups (l/w) to gain status they cannot achieve legitimately | They seek to build on and criticise Merton’s theory | However, they have been criticised for over focusing on lower class members and assuming everyone has the same goals | Albert Cohen criticises Merton who sees deviance as an individual response to strain – ignoring the fact much deviance is committed in or by groups – especially among the young | Hence why Cohen focuses on deviance among working-class boys. He argues they face anomie in M/C dominated school system | Status frustration: Suffer - Cultural deprivation + lack of skills to achieve in M/C world = bottom of status hierarchy Lack of status = ‘frustration’ Resolution = rejecting M/C values & joining/forming a subculture of others in same position = alternative status hierarchy – gain status through deviant behaviour (joy riding, vandalising, fighting and substance abuse) | Strength: Cohen offers an explanation of non-utilitarian deviance amongst W/C – unlike Merton (innovation – crime w/profit motive)Cohen ‘s ideas of status frustration and alternative status hierarchy help to explain non-economic delinquency such as vandalism, fighting and truancy Weakness: like Merton, Cohen assumes that W/C boys start off sharing M/C success goals – only to reject these when they fail. He ignores the possibility – they didn’t share these goals in the first place & so never saw themselves as failures | Like Cohen, Cloward & Ohlin take Merton’s ideas as their start point. They agree that W/C youths are
The results, of the crime control model are wrongful convictions, being over-turned and this is a major downfall in the criminal justice system. On the other hand the due process model is more concerned with the structure and the efficiency of the law. The due process focuses on evidences and facts in a case and ensures that a person in innocent until proven guilty in the court of law. In addition the due process model goal is the prevention and the elimination of crimes within the criminal justice
Society has a problem with judgment and stigmatizing people which can really hurt a person’s reputation. I think if we can change that, then maybe we can find a successful way of punishing juvenile delinquents while helping them rehabilitate. A huge issue is the criminalization of youth. Platt states “we make criminals out of children by treating them as if they were criminals”. This needs to stop and people need to start changing their attitudes towards the youth.
Yolonda Easiley Mr. Philips English 1113 Essay # 4 July 24, 2012 Evil Can peer pressure make a person become evil without them knowing? In this essay I will speak on how easy it is to change a person’s moral conscience. Also are humans just pure evil from birth and if the right person comes along can that bring that evil nature that is in us to the surface? Humans are born to serve, so having an authority figures commanding us to do an evil act, in my opinion, it is peer pressure that most likely will be followed. In the short story, written by ZZ Packer, litter black girls are prime examples of how one can become engaged in acts of evil through peer pressure.
Learning Theory 3 The social learning theory is the behavior theory most significant to criminology. Albert Bandura alleged aggression is erudite through a curse of action called behavior modeling. He believed that individuals do not actually inherit violent tendencies, but they modeled them (Bandura & Ribes, 1976). Albert Bandura and other theorist argued that individuals, especially children, learn aggressive responses from observing others, either personally or through the media and environments (Bandura, 1976). He stated that many individuals believed that aggression will fabricate reinforcements.