what is the process of developing a deviant identity in labeling theory?
Deviance → reaction → role engulfment → secondary deviance
A reciprocal and/or circular relationship
what is primary deviance?
(Labeling Theory)
- common instances where individuals violate norms without viewing themselves as being involved in a deviant social role
- incidental deviant acts: not part of IDENTITY
- sometimes not labeled but still deviant
- example: those classmates that were labeled as deviant
what is the negotiation of accounts?
(Labeling Theory)
- the process whereby the status of deviant is negotiated and resolved
- account explanation of one’s own behavior
- deviance is a negotiated status
- example: being pulled over by police
what is secondary deviance?
(Labeling Theory)
- occurs when a person begins to engage in deviant behavior as a means of defense, attack, or adjustment to the problems created by reactions to him or her
- example: acting out because of the label
- example: being homeless and having to steal food
- example: boyfriend being labeled deviant, parents not approving of him
what is a master status?
(Labeling Theory)
- a status that proves to be more important than most others (dominates)
- a deviant master status elicits strong reactions and shapes the perception and behavior of those around you
- example: being labeled a sex offender
- exampe: being a Black man or a woman
what does the labeling perspective reccommend for policy implications?
- nonintervention: the policy of avoiding intervention and action for as long as possible
- diversion: encourages keeping offenders or the mentally ill in the community, to the extent that doing so is a reasonable option
- deinstitutionalization
- avoid the label or radical nonintervention
- rehabilitation and social reintegration
what would the labeling perspective say about policies that want to enact tougher sentences in order to deter offenders from comitting subsequent crimes?
- labeling leads to stigma: a mark of deviance or disgrace; a negative label or perceived deviance often leads to stigma that may then reduce an individual’s life chances
- key is to avoid the label
- tougher/longer sentencing will lead to continuation of the cycle of deviance
- policy making should have an emphasis on rehabilitation and social reintegration
what is the conflict perspective?
- concerned with definitions of deviance
- power is key
- assumes society is defined by conflict - there are important cleaveges that divide society (race, gender, social class, age, etc.)
- Karl Marx at the heart of conflict theory, saw society as divided into two great classes: bourgeoise (business owners) and proletariat (workers/laborers)
- such divisions are critical as they determine whose norms regulate the norms of society
- concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few ‘elite’
who are the the three extensions of conflict theory and what do they say?
- george vold: emphasis on turning attention of those who study deviance to group conflict over law, believed the status of deviance is imposed and it is imposed by people in power
- austin turk: there is not a consensus of norms in society, rather there is a conflict: a struggle for power to control the laws, status of deviant is a tool of power, 5 types of power: coercive or police power, economic power, political power, ideological power, diversionary power
- steven spitzer: “monopoly capitalism”, society is now run by extremely large corporations, displacing human workers leads to problem populations: groups that represent threats to the existing social order, social junk and social dynamite, problem populations are processed and controlled by the state which links the process to deviance and social conrtrol
define Austin Turk’s 5 types of power
* coercive or police power: power to use police, to enforce or not enforce the norms and laws
* economic power: money buys all kinds of things
* political power: power to make decisions that influence others
* ideological power: the power of ideas - to have your ideas adopted by others
* diversionary power: the power to divert or to capture the attention of people and divert it away from issues that are important to the entire society
define Steven Spitzer’s problem populations
- social junk: the unproductive segments of the lower class; the chronically unemployed and extremely disadvantaged
- represent enormous burden on business, welfare, unemployed, seem like “expendable people” to elite - social dynamite: a problem population that threatens through political action or direct threats of violence and challenges the social order
- calls into question the political order; encourages political activism (potentially explosive!)
the status of deviant is imposed for the purpose of controlling problem populations
what are examples of the conflict perspective in the movie 13th?
Turk’s types of power
* Coercive or police power
o The fact that police system was first created to be ‘slave patrol’, as in, catching, bringing back, and punishing runaway slaves
o Implementing policies like stop-and-frisk which disproportionately target Black individuals
o Militarization of police and their aggressive tactics which contribute to this coercive power dynamic
o Mass incarceration, also disproportionately Black individuals
* Economic power
o Private prisons
o Mass expansion of prisons (Clinton’s Federal Crime Bill), more police officers
o Immigration prisons (detention facilities)
o Bail being set ridiculously high (disproportionately affecting Black individuals) or attempting to privatize bail/parole
o GPS monitoring (also giving a private company money) and prison OUTSIDE of prison
* Political power
o 13th Amendment
o Segregation, Jim Crowe laws
o Civil War, Black individuals moving to big and populated urban areas like L.A, Oakland, Chicago etc. as REFUGEES OF TERROR, these cities now have highest crime rates (disproportionate)
o Civil Rights Act and Voting Act, rising crime rates in 70s being blamed on civil rights movements
o Creation of ALEC: political lobbying group where a “private club” writes laws and gives it to Republicans (i.e., stand your ground law)
o CCA & ALEC: private prison and political lobbying group make law that police can stop ANYONE who looks like an immigrant, now affecting more than just Black people but many minorities
o Nixon & War on Crime: dog whistle politics for war on Black people, convinces public that law and order was needed because of the civil rights movement
o Raegan: War on Drugs, drugs like heroin and cocaine being associated and MARKETED to Black people in order to continue mass incarceration, prison time for this was LIFE; huge chunks of Black males put into prison, taken from families, addicted to cheap and accessible drugs like crack = nearly GENOCIDAL rates
o The Southern Strategy: coded language, political symbolism, and court interventions as signals to southern white voters
o Bill Clinton – Raegan but a democrat, more police, even tougher on crime, MANDATORY SENTENCING now imposed, discretion away from judges and given to prosecutors, truth in sentencing; done away with parole, Federal Crime Bill, militarization of police, whole generation stripped out because of this
* Ideological power
o Black men constantly portrayed as animals, monsters, rapists, etc., more times than is actually true
o “Superpredators” to define Black individuals, children, “fatherless, jobless, Godless”
o Black communities began to BELIEVE and SUPPORT the policies and ideals made against them
o Black people seen as CRIME and CRIMINAL before actual HUMANS
o FBI considered MLK the most dangerous criminal, Malcolm X had tons of police following/watching him, Black Panthers movement criminalized completely; Fred Hampton shot and killed by police (someone who could UNITE people)
o Bush created fear against Black people to portray Dukakis as a bad choice (Dukakis wanted to let prisoners out on weekends and did not support the death penalty) , winning his election with this image of fear and power
o Treyvon Martin case, George Zimmerman not arrested because of stand your ground laws created BECAUSE of this case
* Diversionary power
o Politics, media, racial inequality, mass incarceration, disproportionate targeting of Black individuals, Donald Trump, making those protesting for rights and freedoms look like criminals/violent, drug criminalization
Spitzer’s problem populations
* Social Junk: what most Black individuals (specifically men) are viewed and treated as, Black communities disproportionately targeted and stigmatized by criminal justice system, over-representation of Black people in prisons, labeling of urban and mostly minority communities as “criminal” and over-policing those areas
* Social Dynamite: what most Black activists or anyone who advocated for criminal justice reform and/or civil rights, organizations like Black Panthers pushing for change, riots, Black Lives Matter movement, portrayed as dynamic forces seeking to dismantle discriminatory systems and address social injustices
explain how Steven Spitzer’s problem populations idea and how McCall’s story in Makes Me Wanna Holler fits into the conflict or critical perspective
MACRO-LEVEL (not focusing on INDIVIDUAL)
Social Junk
- McCall describes how he and his peers were labeled as deviant and criminal beginning at a young age, societal perception of “criminal”
- McCall’s family being constantly affected by whites, down to the creation of the neighborhood he grew up on
- Racial profiling, discrimination, limited access to good education (going to white school and being treated worse than in the “bad” school full of black students)
- Lack of equal opportunities, resources
- Cycle of poverty and crime, belief that you are destined for crime and poverty
- Children taught to impress white people/ act a certain way around them
Social Dynamite
- Peers and those McCall knew that were also deviant/criminal that challenged status quo through violence and power; gangs, violence, crime
- Black people disproportionately placed in low-income areas with high levels of policing and thus crime
- McCall’s dad who attempted to challenge status quo after doing time in prison by staying free from violence and crime and worked and appreciated the very people/system that was against him
- McCall realizing that his father is being taken away by a system that is unjust and unfair
- McCall when in prison realizing that him and the other prisoners were nothing but a number
- Everyone in McCall’s community believing that respect was a big issue and if you did not get the respect you wanted, you can use violence to get it back
How it fits into conflict/critical perspective
- Primarily concerned with definitions of deviance. Power is key.
- Assumes society is defined by conflict – there are important cleavages that divide society (race, gender, social class, age)
- Inequality and power are key to defining deviance
what do Adler and Adler say about the challenges of exiting deviance?
- Exiting a deviant career can be difficult. P. A. Adler and P. Adler’s (1983) upper-level drug dealers and smugglers had a hard time “phasing out” of their careers because they had become accustomed to the “hedonistic and materialistic satisfactions the drug world provided” (p. 202) and, in fact, had a hard time finding legitimate jobs because they had been out of the lawful labor market for so long that they had few legal opportunities. The drug-using lifestyles of alcoholics and drug addicts are also difficult to leave.
Barriers women face when exiting prostitution
Individual factors:
* Self-destructive behavior and substance abuse
* Mental health problems
* Effects of trauma from adverse childhood
* Psychological trauma/injury from violence
* Chronic psychological stress
* Self-esteem/shame and guilt
* Physical health problems
* Lack of knowledge regarding services
Relational factors:
* Limited conventional formal and informal support
* Strained family relations
* Pimps
* Drug dealers
* Social isolation
- Structural factors:
- Employment, job skills, limited employment options
- Basic needs (e.g., housing, poverty, economic self-sufficiency
- Education
- Criminal record
- Inadequate services
Societal factors:
* Discrimination and stigma
Other
* Felon disenfranchisement: not being able to vote
* Housing, jobs (“Ban the Box” campaigns), education (not eligible for aid, current felons JUST got eligibility for Pell grants)
how is the social control of crime and deviance different in other countries than it is in the United States? Using prisons and the care/control of mental illness as examples, how do you think the U.S. fares in global comparison? What do you think this tells us about U.S. culture and values?
o Today, U.S. is 5 to 10 times more likely to lock up our citizens than other nations
o Approximately 1 in 100 Americans are behind bars
o America stands alone in its use of incarceration
o 1 in 5 incarcerated people in the world are incarcerated in the U.S.
o 2.3 million incarcerated individuals in the U.S. out of 11 million in the entire world
o 5.5 million people controlled by U.S. justice system, more than half of whom are on parole
o U.S. focuses on and prioritizes longer sentences, mass incarceration, and punishment instead of rehabilitation (mandatory minimum sentences, three-strikes laws, etc.)
o RETRIBUTION over REHABILITATION (an eye for an eye instead of building skills like education, training, etc.)
o In the U.S., “the criminalization of mental illness”
o Many mentally ill individuals end up in jail and prisons
o Deinstitutionalization of mental hospitals without safety nets/alternative treatments and placements
Explain Sykes and Matza’s techniques of neutralization. For each technique, give a specific, real-world example of how that technique has been used (can use examples from readings, videos, media, or your own experience)
Denial of Responsibility
* Claim their unlawful acts are not their fault – they were an accident or due to forces beyond their control
* “They made me do it”, “I didn’t have a choice”
* Ex: “Cheaters” film; after cheating and being caught the students claimed that they had to do it to pass or to not get in trouble with parents, etc.
Denial of Injury
* By denying the wrongfulness of an act, delinquents are able to rationalize their illegal behavior
* “They have insurance”, “What’s one item to a big store?”
* Ex: “Cheaters” film; saying that it is okay to cheat since the richer/better school probably does too
Denial of Victim
* Delinquents sometimes rationalize their behavior by maintaining that the victim “had it coming”
* “He deserved it”, “He disrespected me”, “She wanted it”
* Ex: Nathan McCall; when he gets disrespected, feels it rational to respond in violence, also found it rational to rape women because they seemed to want it
Condemnation of the Condemners
* Delinquents view the world as corrupt, unfair place; they think it is ironic and unfair for imperfect authorities to turn around and condemn youthful misconduct
* “Everyone steals, why pick on me?”, “This unequal system doesn’t give us a chance. We do what we have to in order to survive”
* Ex: Nathan McCall blaming the unfair and disproportionate system is the reason for his ‘fate’ of a criminal life
Appeal to Higher Loyalties
* Delinquents argue that they are torn between being loyal to their own peer group while at the same time, attempting to abide by the rules of the larger society. Needs of the group are more immediate and take precedence.
* “I have to protect my buddies”, “My gang comes first”
* Ex: cheating, even with an honor code at universities students will cheat and are unlikely to report other students for cheating
Which theory that we have covered in class this quarter do you think best fits McCall’s story? Explain your reasoning, using specific examples/evidence to support your claims.
Labeling Theory best fits McCall’s story
* deviance is in the eye of the beholder
* REACTION to behavior/person is key
* deviance is a status IMPOSED on an individual or group, it may or may not be related to actual rule-breaking
* the focus is NOT on norm violations, the focus is on REACTIONS
* some act or characteristics elicit very harsh reactions
- stigma: characteristics that elicit negative reactions from others
- Examples in McCall: 4 out of 10 families at Cavalier Manor, including his own, have served time/had issues with the law, many youth in that area that McCall knows of also have a criminal record and are viewed negatively by others, suggesting stigmatization of past behaviors
- self-fulfilling prophecy; if you are treated, labeled and stigmatized as deviant/criminal, you are more likely to begin to become deviant/criminal
- primary deviance: common instances where individuals violate norms without viewing themselves as being involved in a deviant social role, INCIDENTAL deviant acts, instances where we break or violate norms but do not do so chronically, NO engulfment in deviant social role
- examples in McCall: being involved in some deviant activity in his youth - after looking up to Scobie-D, a role model in Nathan’s life who participated in gang activities and violence - like going on their mean old neighbor’s lawn, skipping school, beating up white boys, and stole from 7/11; did not label himself criminal/deviant yet as he believed this was the ‘norm’ for people in his position
- negotiation of accounts: the process whereby the status of deviant is negotiated and resolved between two parties, account: explanation of one’s own behavior, explain why they engaged in deviant acts so others decide whether to label them deviant, deviance is a NEGOTIATED STATUS
- examples in McCall: being scolded by his family (especially step-dad and grandma) for participating in deviance despite their attempts to get him to become a respectful law-abiding citizen, understanding that acting deviant and being labeled deviant will bring more respect/is the only way to survive therefore he engages in deviant acts
- examples in McCall: while in/after prison, reflecting upon actions and effects he had on everyone and understanding that he committed deviant acts that were wrong but felt right at the time since it was all that he knew and there was a system of oppression upon him, especially after the death of Scobie-D, whom he worshipped at that time
- secondary deviance: occurs when a person begins to engage in deviant behavior as a means of defense, attack, or adjustment to the problems created by reactions to him or her, deviance → reaction → role engulfment → secondary deviance
- examples in McCall: after being labeled deviant and realizing that the reactions he receives are quite negative regardless of his actions due to racism and disproportionate impacts faced by Black people in America, and also develops a deviant subculture (criminally involved peers and older/more skilled criminals ‘higher power’ to worship), continues to engage in deviant acts and even increases te level of deviance (stole more often, robbed people, shot people, raped women, assaulted people, dealt and did drugs, etc.)
