Do Now

Is there such a thing as a

victimless crime?

What is Deviance?

Deviance is any behavior that

violates social norms, and is
usually of sufficient severity to
warrant disapproval from the
majority of society.
Deviance can be criminal or noncriminal.

What is Deviance?
Deviance: deviating from the norm

Deviance isrelative to time and

placebecause what is considered
deviant in one social context may be
non-deviant in another (e.g., fighting
during a hockey game vs. fighting in
a nursing home).
Killing another human is considered
wrong except when governments
permit it during warfare or self-

Criminal and Non-Criminal Deviance

The sociological discipline
that deals with crime
(behavior that violates
laws) is criminology (also
known as criminal justice).
Americans consider such
activities as alcoholism,
excessive gambling, being
nude in public places, playing
with fire, stealing, lying,
refusing to bathe, purchasing
the services of prostitutes, and
cross-dressingto name only a
fewas deviant.

Deviance Challenge

If you would like extra credit.are

you willing to take the deviance
challenge?
Try the suggested activity and write
down what you did and what
happened afterward and hand into
the

Box of Deviance

Deviance is relative to place

United
States

Canada

Avoiding
eye contact
is
considered
polite

The O.K.
signal
expresses
approval

Thumbs upused for

Someone
hitch hiking,
may whistle
or approving
when happy.
of
something

Whistling
can express
approval, as
in cheering
at a public
event.

United
States

Japan

United
States

Nigeria

Europe

This is a
rude
gesture in
Nigeria.

Whistling
may be a
sign of
disapproval
at public
events.

Asian

When
saying hello
or talking to
someone it
is impolite
to not look
directly at

The O.K.
signal
means that
you are
asking for
money.

Using your
middle
finger is
very
offensive.
Used in
place of
inappropriat

United
States

United
States

Differential Association
Theory

How people learn deviance.

According to this theory, the environment
plays a major role in deciding which norms
people learn to violate.
People also learn their norms from various
socializing agentsparents, teachers,
ministers, family, friends, co-workers, and
the media.
Example: Gangs glorify violence, retaliation,
and crime as means to achieving social status.

Anomie Theory
Anomie refers to the confusion that arises
when social norms conflict or don't even exist
Example: The differences between socially accepted
goals and the availability of means to achieve those
goals.
Attaining wealth is a major goal of Americans, but not
all Americans possess the means to do this.
Those who find the road to riches closed to them
experience anomie, because an obstacle has
stopped their pursuit of a socially approved
goal.
When this happens, these individuals may employ
deviant behaviors to attain their goals,
retaliate against society, or merely make a
point.

Control Theory
People have various
restraints: internal
controls, such as
conscience, values,
integrity, morality,
and the desire to be
a good person.
They have outer
controls, such as
police, family,
friends, and
religious authorities.
Sanctions consequences

Labeling Theory
Concerns the meanings people derive
from one another's labels
Conforming members of society, who
interpret certain behaviors as deviant
and then attach this label to individuals
Labeled persons may include drug
addicts, alcoholics, criminals,
delinquents, prostitutes, sex offenders,
disabled people, and psychiatric patients, to
mention a few.

What did we learn?

Deviance is
Deviating from the norm, breaking social rules
Differential Association Theory:
-states that people learn deviance from others
Anomie Theory is
-there are no normsor powerless to adhere to them
Control Theory is:
People listen to external rules and internal rules to be
a good person.
Labeling Theory is
Giving groups that we think are deviant; categories.

How Safe is your

Community?
http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/n
y/crime
/

Do Now: Why is there

Crime?
There are many sociological theories about why there is crime.

Yochelson and Samenow put forward the theory of

free will to explain criminal behavior. This has five
points to it:

1. The roots of criminality lie in the way

people think and make their decisions.
2. Criminals think and act differently than
other people, even from a very young age.
3. Criminals are, by nature, irresponsible,
impulsive, self-centered, and driven by fear
and anger.
4. Deterministic explanations of crime
result from believing the criminal who is
seeking sympathy.
5. Crime occurs because the criminal wills it

Robert Mertons Theory of

Crime
Five modes of adaptation
1. Conformity
2. Innovation
3. Retreatism
4. Ritualism
5. Rebellion

There is no single factor that predisposes a person to behave violently or become

involved in criminal behavior. Individual, community and societal level factors,
and interactions among these factors, all influence behavior. Some increase the
risk of becoming involved in criminal offending and some can help buffer the
effects of risk factors and are known as protective factors. Persons take decisions
to stay away from crime despite the predisposing factors or to engage in crime
without any risk factors that create a predisposition.
In the US Surgeon General's Report on Youth Crime, a risk factor is defined as
anything that increases the probability that a person will suffer harm
( US Surgeon General 2001). A protective factor is something that
decreases the potential harmful effect of a risk factor. Protective factors
help mediate the effects of risk factors to reduce their influence. For example,
socio-economic disadvantage is often seen as a risk factor for
delinquency but the effects of low income and other types of
disadvantage can be offset by the presence of nurturing parents and a
cohesive neighborhood (Sampson et al. 1997). Social cohesion helps lower
crime rates even in low income neighborhoods.
The presence of several risk factors has a multiplying effect. In other words,
the presence of a single risk factor raises the risk of offending, and two
or three risk factors raises the risk even more. Individuals interact with
their environment and if both individual-level and community-level risk factors
are present, the chances of offending are higher than if just one were present.
Risk factors are not causes of crime and their presence does not guarantee that a
person will participate in crime. Many children and adolescents living in what

What is Crime?
Any discussion of deviance remains incomplete
without a discussion of crime, which is any
act that violates written criminal law.
Society sees most crimes, such as
robbery, assault, battery, rape, murder,
burglary, as deviant.
But some crimes, such as those
committed in violation of laws against
selling merchandise on Sundays, are not
really deviant.

Types of Crimes
The types of crimes committed
are as varied as the types of
criminals who commit them.
Most crimes fall into one of two
categories crimes against
people or crimes against
property.

Crimes Against Property

Of the almost 1.5 million Americans under some
form of correctional supervision, most are there
for offenses against someone else's property.
In other words, property crimes are much
more common than those against persons
are.
Property crimes take place on average
once every 2 to 3 seconds in the United
States.
Every year about one in 20 Americans falls
victim to a property crime.

Crimes against People

The category of crimes against people
includes such crimes as murder, rape,
assault, child abuse, and sexual
harassment.
Violent crimes take place on average once
every 20 to 30 seconds in the United
States.
Thus, the chances of being the victim of
some form of violent crime in this country
are disturbingly high.

Crime Rates
Top 10 Countries with lowest crime ra
tes
Top 10 Cities in the U.S. with highest
crime rates
Crime Tour

What is White Collar

Crime?

White-collar crime, committed by

high-status individuals during
the course of business,
Typical white-collar crimes include
embezzlement, bribery, insurance
fraud, tax fraud, Medicare theft, etc.
Bernie Madoff: financial advisor
that committed what is considered to

Computer Crime
An emerging type of
crime involves using
computers to hack
(break into) military,
educational, medical,
and business
computers.

Organized Crime
Organized crime refers to
groups and organizations
dedicated solely to criminal
activity. Historically, leaders of
organized crime, or crime
families Organized crime
activities are of three
basic types:
Legal activities and
businesses, such as
restaurants.
Illegal activities, such as
importing and selling

What did we learn?

What is crime
An act that violates a written law
What is a non-deviant crime?
Example: laws about not selling alcohol on
Sundays, etc.
What two categories of crimes are there?
Crimes against people, against property
What are victimless crimes?
Crimes where there is no real person having
their rights violated.