Conformity, Deviance, and Crime

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Is Conformity Good or Bad?

Due to our upbringing in our culture, individuality has a certain allure

But

Another word for individualist is deviant

Another word for conformist is team player

Obviously, there are times where conformity, and obedience, are crucial

Despite Hollywoods depiction, research (Schacter; Kruglanski) shows that the conformist is liked more

Why Conform?

Our sanity depends to some degree on the belief that everyone sees the same world that we see

If this belief is challenged, wed rather change what we see (or what we say we see) than admit to ourselves (or others) that we see a different world

Similar Terms

Compliance: a change in behavior, but not attitude, due to the results of social pressure.

Acceptance: a change in both behavior and attitude.

Conformity: a change in attitude or behavior due to the real or imagined

presence of others.

Solomon Asch: Compliance in an

Unambiguous

Situation

Milgram Obedience

Muzafer Sherif

Norm formation

The development of group norms SHERIF (1936)

Experimental paradigm based on perception of motion

autokinetic effect paradigm

A stationary but flickering single light in dark room

optical illusion: appears to move but doesnt actually move

Sherifs experimental design

Private viewing task Private estimate of distance light moved over 100 trials

(written down)-

Ss formed personal consensus

Group viewing task Public judgement (state out loud how far moved) Ss

formed a group consensus

This effect influenced Ss later judgement when subsequently asked to perform task again on their own

Why people conform

Major mechanisms of how groups influence their members:

Informational influence Value of others opinions

Generally useful source of information

Adaptive advantage

Normative influence Need to be accepted by others

Need to be approved of by others

Fear of being disliked

Norms and deviance

The cultures that societies create are built out of norms.

These norms represent the values of the group.

When individuals and groups deviate from norms, society responds.

Deviance can range from chewing gum in the wrong place to capital murder and beyond.

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CONCEPTIONS OF CRIME AND DEVIANCE

All known human societies have norms (i.e., generally accepted ways of doings things) about appropriate behaviour

Deviance involves breaking a norm

Crime involves breaking a law*

NORMS AND ENFORCEMENT

Norms are enforced in many ways, both formally and informally

At the formal level, norms are enforced with laws regulated by a criminal justice system that includes police, courts, prisons, etc.

At the informal level, norms may be enforced with shaming, communal pressure, etc.*

Chewing Gum in Singapore

Illegal to Buy Playstation in parts of China

Illegal to buy or sell tobacco in Buthan

No Guns in Japan

Valentine's Day ban in Saudi Arabia

Big questions on deviance

There are many questions to ask about deviance, crime, and punishment, including:

Why are incarceration rates so high?

Why are racial disparities so significant?

Who are deviants? (What counts as deviant?)

Which rules are observed and which are broken?

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Deviance

Deviance involves breaking a norm.

Many deviant acts go unnoticed or are considered too trivial to warrant punishment.

People who are observed committing more serious acts of deviance are typically punished, either informally or formally.

Deviance and crime

Not all deviance is crime, and not all crime is deviant.

Deviance is in the eye of the beholder.

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John Hagan

Classifying Deviance: John Hagan

Three dimensions:

1. Severity of the social response.

2. Perceived harmfulness of the act.

3. Degree of public agreement about whether an act should be considered deviant.

NORM VIOLATIONS: TYPES OF DEVIANCE AND CRIME

Hagan employs his conception of seriousness to identify four different kinds of deviance as follows:

1. Consensus crime: Acts deemed very harmful and wrong, and for which the harshest criminal sanctions are reserved

Examples: Homicide, attempted homicide, violent assault with a weapon, violent sexual assault, armed robbery, kidnapping, & theft

NORM VIOLATIONS: TYPES OF DEVIANCE AND CRIME

2. Conflict crime: Where members of the community disagree over whether behaviours in question are harmful, wrong, or deserving of severe criminal sanction

Examples: Euthanasia, gambling, drug use, public drunkenness.

NORM VIOLATIONS: TYPES OF DEVIANCE AND CRIME

3. Social deviation: Norm-violating behaviour that is not illegal but nevertheless may be subject to social stigma through condemnation, ostracization, and medicalization

Examples: People who are mentally ill, or who are alcohol- or drug-dependent.

NORM VIOLATIONS: TYPES OF DEVIANCE AND CRIME

4. Social diversion: are minor, harmless acts as well as forms of symbolic or expressive deviance involving adolescents

Examples: Particular clothing, hairstyles, musical choices, etc.

Generally speaking, the more serious the form of deviance, the less likely it is to occur

Conversely, other deviant acts can occur so routinely some question whether they characterize deviance*

Recap: Deviance

Range of Tolerance A scope of behaviors considered acceptable and defined as conformity Examples

Honesty and politeness Bad haircut

What is speeding in 70mph? Deserve a ticket? 71? Probably not 75? Maybe 80? Good chance 100? FOR SURE!

Other types of Deviance

Overconformity positive deviance

Involves behavior that overconforms to social expectations

Leads to imbalance and perfectionism

Can be AS harmful as negative deviance

Examples Anorexia Body Builder Perfect Students

Knows answer to EVERY question

100% A+ on all tests and papers

Perfect attendance

Underconformity negative deviance

Involves behavior that under-conforms to social expectations people either reject, misinterpret, or are unaware of the norms

Examples:

Obesity

Unmotivated Students

Lack of participation

Sleep in class

Unexcused absences

Fail tests and papers

Key Ideas: Deviance depends on Time

Fashion and grooming change with time, like the Founding Fathers Fashion

Place

Where behavior occurs determines whether it is appropriate or deviant

Cheering/booing at Football game vs. in class Situation

Takes precedence over place in determining appropriateness of actions

Laughing in class vs. laughing in class during a moment of silence

Culture

Most influential in defining deviance

Men greeting each other

US: Hand shake

Pakistan: Hug

Japan: Bow

Group deviance

Deviance occurs, not only at the individual level, but also among groups.

Corporations, governments, organizations, and social groups can all take part in deviance.

There are deviant subcultures, ranging from the homeless to religious cults to punks.

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Sanctions and social control

When someone breaks an important norm, there is a response, a sanction.

Sanctions can be positive or negative, depending on the breach.

Sanctions can be enacted formally or informally.

The degree of sanctions varies according to the importance and type of norm broken.

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Punishment

Informal punishment may involve raised eyebrows, gossip, ostracism, shaming, or stigmatization.

Formal punishment results from people breaking laws, which are norms enforced by government bodies.

The Social Definition of Deviance and Crime

Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King, Jr., were considered deviant and criminal.

Susan B. Anthony was arrested and fined for voting.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was repeatedly arrested for marching for African-Americans civil rights.

Three views of deviance

Biological

Psychological

Sociological

The biological and psychological perspectives locate deviance in the person, while sociological perspectives locate deviance in the act.

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Sociological perspectives

Sociological perspectives on deviance are wide-ranging:

Functionalist

Reinforcement

Conflict

Symbolic interactionist

Chicago School

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Functionalist theories of deviance

Durkheims influence

Anomie: In modern societies norms have been lost but not replaced, leaving people without a center.

Deviance and crime as normal and necessary

Mertons typology

Deviance as a by-product of inequality

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Robert Merton

Mertons Deviance Typology

Overview

Reinforcement theories

Deviance is seen as learned, even normalized, behavior.

We act based on perceived rewards and costs, which may be economic, social, and so on.

Differential association is one of the better known reinforcement theories.

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Skinners Theory

All we need to know in order to describe and explain behavior is this: actions

followed by good outcomes are likely to recur , and actions followed by bad outcomes are less likely to recur.

(Skinner, 1953)

Prentice Hall, 2000 52

Reinforcement Theory

Consequences

Rewards

No Rewards

Punishment

Behavior

Conflict theory

Conflict theorists want to know why people commit crimes.

Crime is seen as political action intended to challenge the power structure.

Laws are tools of the powerful that reproduce inequality.

Individuals are responding to inequities built into capitalism.

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Symbolic interactionist approaches

Labeling theory is one well-known approach.

Deviance is found, not in the act, but in the response, in the label applied.

There is a connection with conflict theory in that the labels are applied by those with power onto those without.

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Labeling Theory

Labeling theorists asserted that crime is defined into existence rather than discovered.

There is no crime independent of cultural values and norms.

No act is by its nature criminal, because acts do not have natures until they are witnessed, judged good or bad, and reacted to as such by others.

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Primary & Secondary Deviance

Edwin Lemert: Primary deviance is the initial nonconforming act that comes to the attention of the authorities.

Secondary deviance: Deviance that results from societys reaction to offenders primary deviance

Labeled persons may alter their self-concepts in conformity with the label.

The label may exclude the person from conventional employment opportunities & lead to the loss of conventional friends.

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Labeling Theory

Primary deviance Flowing from a variety of causes that are of no concern to labeling theorists

Apprehension and labeling as criminal or delinquent. Person is stigmatized with a master status.

Offenders may come to accept labels and change their self-concepts to fit those labels

Secondary deviance Delinquency and crime consequent to changes in self-concept

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Extending Labeling Theory

John Braithwaite (1989): Nations with low crime rates are those where shaming has great social power.

Disintegrative shaming: Condemnation received by offenders in the criminal justice system; this shaming is counterproductive.

Reintegrative shaming: A method of condemning the offenders acts without condemning him or her personhood.

The Chicago school

Chicago school sociology is, most broadly, a kind of urban sociology.

In dealing with deviance, broken windows (BW) theory is the best-known example.

BW theory is focused on the realization that any kind of social disorder leads to more social disorder.

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James Q. Wilson and Broken Window Thesis

James Q Wilson argues that unless

incivilities (litter, graffiti, noise levels, vandalism, etc.) are kept minimal,

then wider anti-social behaviour and

more serious crimes will follow.

This reflects Emile Durkheims idea that local informal controls are crucial for law and order and A.H. Bottoms concept of the tipping of problem housing estates.

He advocates that the police adopt a policy of zero-tolerance for even minor crimes (as tried by the Mayor of New York).

Gender and crime

Men are more likely to be both perpetrators and victims of crime and to be incarcerated.

The gender contract may lead to differential treatment with authorities.

Ties to children and others may prevent women from engaging in deviant acts.

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Power and Social Construction of Crime and Deviance

Social Construction emphasizes that various social problems, including crime, are NOT inherent in certain actions themselves.

Instead, some people are in a position to create norms and pass laws that stigmatize other people.

Therefore, one must study how norms and laws are created (constructed) to understand why particular actions get defined as deviant or criminal in the first place.

Power and Social Construction of Crime and Deviance

Power is a crucial element in the social construction of deviance and crime.

Power is the probability that one actor within a social relationship position to carry out his/her own will despite resistance

Powerful groups are able to create norms and laws that suit their interests

White-collar crime

White-collar crime is that which is carried out by those in non-manual labor, higher-status jobs.

These crimes are typically non-violent but can be extremely damaging to society (e.g., Enron).

White-collar crimes include embezzlement, various kinds of fraud, illegal sales, and more.

Those who perpetrate these crimes are rarely prosecuted.

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White-Collar Crime Reasons for few convictions: 1. Often takes place in private and is

difficult to detect.

2. Corporations can afford legal experts, public relations firms, and advertising agencies that advise their clients on how to bend laws, build up their corporate image, and influence lawmakers to pass laws without teeth.

Power and Social Construction of Crime and Deviance

The powerless, however, often struggle against stigmatization.

If their power increases, they may succeed in their struggle.

Crimes against Women

Discrimination in the justice system

Power and Social Construction of Crime and Deviance:

Crimes Against Women

Until recently, many crimes against women were largely ignored.

Rape is still associated with a low rate of prosecution, but is prosecuted more often than it used to be.

Sexual harassment is now considered a social deviation and in some circumstances, a crime.

Power and Social Construction of

Crime and Deviance: Criminal Profiles: Race

African Americans arrests:

Three factors:

Bias in collection of crime statistics.

Low class position of blacks in American society.

Racial discrimination in the criminal justice system.

Number of People

in Prison per

100,000 population

0

SOURCE: Walmsley 2009 Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition Copyright 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

100

300

500

700

1,000

INDIA 33 NIGERIA 27 CHINA 119

SWITZERLAND 76

FRANCE 96

JAPAN 63 MYANMAR

132 MEXICO

132 BRAZIL

242

ISRAEL 325 CUBA

513

SOUTH AFRICA 330

RWANDA 593

UNITED STATES

760

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

660

Incarceration Rates Around the World

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Whos in Prison in the United States?

SOURCE: Walmsley 2009 Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition Copyright 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Black 40%

Hispanic 20%

White 35%

Other 5%

Female 9%

Non U.S. Citizens

5.9%

Under 18 0.4% Public-Order

Offenders 7.6%

Violent Offenders

53%

Drug Offenders

19.5%

Property Offenders

19.2%

Incarceration Rates Around the World

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The U.S. prison system

Crime and punishment remain top priorities for Americans.

Currently:

It costs more than $25,000 per year per inmate.

More than 25 percent of African American men are under the authority of the penal system.

Imprisonment is not a powerful deterrent.

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The death penalty

The United States has continued high levels of support for the death penalty.

There have been problems in recent years with uneven access to DNA testing.

Two-thirds of executions since 1977 have taken place in five states: Texas, Virginia, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Florida.

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Functions of punishment

Punishment functions at both the individual and group levels.

For individuals, punishments are not only to sanction the guilty, but to warn potential offenders.

For the group, punishment functions to reinforce the moral unity of the collectivity.

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Conformity, Deviance, and Crime

Clicker Questions

1. What is deviance?

a. a transgression of social norms that are accepted by most people in a community

b. breaking the law

c. the kind of behavior engaged in by members of groups that have been marginalized by society

d. criminal behavior that abides by social norms

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Clicker Questions

2. What was Robert K. Mertons theory of crime?

a. People are more likely to commit crime when they do not have the opportunity to pursue the goalssuch as the accumulation of material wealththat their society sets.

b. People are more likely to commit crime if they associate with carriers of criminal norms.

c. People are more likely to commit crime when they have the opportunity to steal from someone who trusts them.

d. People are more likely to commit crime if they have committed a crime already.

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Clicker Questions

3. Compared with ordinary crimes against property (robberies, burglaries, larceny, etc.), the amount of money stolen in white-collar crime (tax fraud, insurance fraud, etc.) is

a. about the same. Crimes against property cost the nation about as much as white-collar crime.

b. less. White-collar crimes involve only one quarter of the money involved in crimes against property.

c. more. White-collar crime involves perhaps forty times as much money as crimes against property.

d. not really comparable. White-collar crimes such as embezzlement affect very few people.

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Clicker Questions

4. Why did mile Durkheim think a certain amount of crime was functional for society?

a. It provides a healthy release for male aggression.

b. It highlights the boundaries of social norms.

c. It keeps the police and court system active.

d. The existence of crime makes law-abiding citizens more careful about protecting their property.

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Clicker Questions

5. What is the essence of labeling theory?

a. Deviance is defined through the process of interaction between deviants and nondeviants.

b. Deviance is in the eye of the officeholder.

c. One persons deviance is another's indulgence.

d. Deviants resist the labels they are given by law enforcement authorities.

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Clicker Questions

6. What are norms?

a. formally crafted, written guidelines citizens of a nation must follow or face time in prison

b. ordinances applicable to a given metropolitan area

c. legal restrictions applying only to elected officials

d. unwritten rules of social life

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