Deviance and CrimeVisit this chapter in your text for

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What is Deviance ? • It is when we move against established social

norms.

Deviance!

Society

Social ‘’ moral ‘’ deviants. Mohamed Ali , Donald Marshall Junior and Nelson Mandela.

• Deviance can be politically or criminally threatening.

• Many different groups are involved in Canadian organized crime…….. Organized crime meaning any group of individuals who seek out criminal activities.Organized crime, from teen drug dealers to the Hells Angels.

• We all take part in some socially deviant behavior……speeding, littering, fighting…..

• The line between non-deviant and deviant behavior can often be blurred.

• When social traditions “folkways/norms” are infringed upon we may see this as mild deviance “ protesting Santa at the mall “

• In other cases you may have to pay a fine or receive some level of reprimand for your deviance…….cheating on a test, vandalism….

• A Crime is any behavior that violates criminal law……fines, jail terms, probation …….

• We see Crime as residing on the deviant side of society. We use the Canadian Criminal Code to indentify criminal actions.

We construct Laws as social rules

The Criminal Justice System

• The criminal justice system: includes police, courts and prisons

JOSEPH P. KENNEDY Chief Justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

• However it is not one large, complete and unified system: it is collection of three independent but cooperative systems.

• It relies upon the use of professional judgment by police and correction officers, lawyers, judges, and other criminal justice officials regarding how to proceed in a given situation.

• Each of the three parts of the system has significant powers and mandates apart from one another.

police court prison

The role of Police• Function: They are the concrete extension of the

State to provide for social order

• They are provided to maintain peace in the community

• Broad range of functions: finding lost children, counseling crime victims, notifying next of kin in fatal accidents, traffic control, emergency responders, crisis negotiators, societies referees …

Our Police are like hockey's referees…….often asked to deal with unpopular situations with unsatisfied clients

Why So Many Functions?

• 1. The police are one of the few public agencies open 24 / 7

• 2. They service clients that other agencies may not be interested in….mental health / addictions / violence / sexual deviance

• 3. The police may not know about or may not have access to other agencies

Halifax Regional Police Const. Dianne Woodworth stands next to her police horse Cruise at Dartmouth Crossing

Our Police

• What ties these diverse functions together?

– 1. They have authority– 2. Authority is backed by non-negotiable force– 3. Have high degrees of discretion

• Two kinds of Discretion:– A. Administrative …. tickets / fines / charges … – B. Individual …. use of force

Our Courts• Function: they decide the guilt or innocence

of those accused of committing a crime

A lawyer has been found guilty of three counts of drug trafficking.

Anne Calder was charged in July 2010 after guards at the Central Nova Correctional Facility in Burnside spotted her passing an envelope of drugs / painkillers to her client. She was sentenced to 30 months in prison in June 2011

The Court Process:

Prosecutor: A lawyer who represents the State …. Known as the crown

Defense lawyer: asserts that the accused (the defendant) is innocent

Judge (or jury): Final decision as to the guilt or innocence of the defendant

The Canadian court system

The Canadian supreme court

Prisons and Jails

• Federal Time or Provincial Time ?

– Federal Prison time = 2 years plus a day– Provincial Jail time = 2 years less a day

• ( Federal time offers more programming and opportunities for early release ….. Often releases are quicker then a two year provincial sentence )

Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick constructed in 1880. Medium Security 419 offenders.

Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Burnside … “ Burnside Jail “ Male and Female

Springhill Institution Medium-security Built in 1967 . 448 offenders.

Atlantic Institution ,maximum-security, in Renous, N. B. Opened 1987 , 235 inmates.

Mission Statement of Correctional Services Canada (CSC)

The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), as part of the criminal justice system and respecting the rule of law, contributes to public safety by actively encouraging and assisting offenders to become law-abiding citizens, while exercising reasonable, safe, secure and humane control.

Correctional Service Canadawww.csc-scc.gc.ca

Show 30 Days “ 30 days in jail “ humanizing the inmate population.

Criminal Deviance

crossing the line

Criminal DevianceMild Deviance

Forms of Crime• There three forms of crime.– 1) Street Crime.– 2) Occupational/ White-collar and Corporate.– 3) Organized Crime.

•1 ) Street Crime• The most commonly thought of category.– Robbery– Assaults…. physical / sexual – Break and Enters– Vandalism– Arson

• 2) Occupational/white-collar/Corporate

• Include crimes that are committed during an individuals employment or financial dealings.

• Often a breach of trust ….. Skimming money / accounts.

• Accepting bribes or kickbacks.

• Corporate Crimes are committed by a corporation with support of it’s management.– False advertising , Copy right violations– Price fixing….” unfair increases in pricing “ and financial fraud

• 3) Organized Crime

• A business that supplies illegal goods and services for profit.– Drug trafficking– Prostitution– Alcohol / tobacco smuggling– Loan sharking– Money laundering– High level theft….” truck jacking / car theft rings /

bootleg clothing “

Crime , what do we know ?

• It is impossible to accurately measure crime.

• We only have numbers collated by police and victims…… “ reported crime “ we can only guess about unreported crime rates.

• We use the Canadian Uniform Crime Report, C U C R for crime Measurement….calculates all crime dealt with by Canadian police departments.

• We know that the reporting of crime has increased dramatically over the past few decades.

if it bleeds it leads!

The Court Of Public OpinionWhen society becomes the judge /

jury and prosecution

The court of public opinion has been described as the most important informal court.

Trying cases in the court of public opinion refers to using the news media to influence public support for one side or the other in a court case.

CBS News video: 1994: O.J. Simpson Bronco Chase - On June 17, 1994 O.J. Simpson led the police on a dramatic highway chase in Los Angeles.

The Simpson trial swam in a sea of mass media

• 1995, the O.J Simpson Trial.• The trial of O. J. Simpson for the murders of Nicole

Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman has been called a "a great trash novel come to life ‘’ .

The trial was viewed my millions of viewers on live television ...... Simpson you be found innocent causing a major public backlash ....... He was continuously harassed by society !!!!

Here in Canada (the air bus scaled)

• Former P M Brian Malory is accused of accepting a pay off of over $ 300,000 from a French air craft company.

Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, still spinning the story !

Gang wars and organized crime……are

we at risk ?