CRIME AND

DEVIANCE
CONCEPTS AND THEORIES
 • 1. Social Order – The patterned actions or regularities that people display in their social lives. Social order helps to determine some measure
of predictability in our lives. Order stems from the social structures, social institutions and practices that reinforce ways of behaving.

• 2. Social Control – The process whereby society seeks to ensure conformity to the dominant values and norms in the society. Social control is
linked to order, the latter being the result of positive and negative sanctions . There are informal and formal means of control utilized by
social agents (family, education, religion etc.) . Sanctions are used to control and encourage conformity . They can be positive (rewards) are
negative (punishments).

• 3. Deviance – The violation or breaking of social norms, that is, going against the rules for behaviour in a society. The characteristics of
deviance are as follows:

• a. Social norms are codes of conduct that are considered normal by a particular culture.

CONCEPTS OF •

•
b. Deviance is any behavior that violates the standards of conduct our expectation of a group or society.

c. Deviance is a label, a process used to maintain the power, control, and position of a dominant group. Deviance , therefore, exists in

CRIME AND
opposition to those who attempt to control it.

• d. Deviance is socially constructed, that is, the idea of what is deviant changes according to the social group to which you belong. Behavior
that is considered deviant by one group of people may be considered perfectly normal by another.

DEVIANCE •

•
e. Deviance is culturally relative, that is, different cultures have different ideas about norms.

f. Deviance is therefore, culturally determined ; It changes overtime and varies from one society to another.

• g. The concept and definition of deviance changes overtime period. Deviance is relative and there is no absolute way of defining a deviant
act. People become deviant only as others define them that way.

• h. One cannot always universally differentiate normal from deviant.

• i. Deviants are not treated as normal; they are stigmatized.

CONCEPTS OF CRIME
DEVIANCE
• 4. Crime – Any deviant act that breaks the law of the land. The characteristics
of crime are as follows:
• a. Not all crimes attract the same level of censure.
• b. Crime is time and place dependent.
• c. Crime is a social construct and what it considers illegal in the eyes of those
holding forward in a society at that time.
• d. Many crimes involve hurting and harming others.
• e. Crimes are immoral acts, and the laws against them are upheld by most
religion.
• f. If no public authority body exists that can create a body of law, or an
agency, such as police to enforce laws, then crimes cannot occur.
• g. We tend to have an individualistic focus when discussing crime, but whole
regimes can be considered criminal, Nazi Germany during World War ll.
• h. Crime statistics are sometimes manipulated in order to serve political ends.
• i. Power structures in society influence decision as to what is considered
criminal .
• 5. Delinquency – This refers to wrongdoing (or deviance) and therefore to all acts in social life where an offense has been committed. If
someone does not comply with an obligation, such as paying his or her mortgage, that is a delinquent or deviant act. Delinquency can also
refer to serious crimes but, to a large extent, the term tends to be used in two instances:

• 1. For misdemeanors, such as the use of obscene language , fighting or traffic violations. These acts warrant, in most instances, only
probation or a light fine.

• 2. For juveniles who commit offenses . These can be serious offences or misdemeanors that are committed by young persons, mainly
teenager teenagers and young adults.

• Delinquency also refers to the Commission of offences by youth which are not considered offenses for adults (status offenses), as they are
called, including under-age sexual intercourse, running away from home, consuming alcohol, wandering, being uncontrollable at home and

CONCEPTS OF
immoral conduct.

• 6. Recidivism – The habitual relapse of an offender who, once released from prison, continues to commit crimes and return to prison. In 2011,
Jamaica recidivism rate stood at 26% while in Trinidad and Tobago it was as high as 55%. Some reasons for such high recidivism rates are:

•
a. Most prisons are overcrowded and violent places where to survive inmates must be aggressive and violent themselves.

b. Prisons are not carrying out their rehabilitation function of helping inmates to be successfully reintroduced into society as law- abiding
citizens.
CRIME AND
•

•
c. Someone who has a prison record finds greater difficulty in securing employment.

d. Government and prison authorities seem to prefer to Institute harsher punishment rather than try alternatives to incarceration.
DEVIANCE
• e. The enormous black backlog in cases before the courts and the other inefficiencies in the criminal justice system means that persons
remain in prison much longer than they should and are continually subject to violence.

• 7. Profiling – This refers to procedures used by crime detection officers to record and analyze how criminals behave, so that they are better
able to predict, with some degree of certainty, that persons with those traits are likely to commit certain crimes. However, when used by law
enforcement officers based only on their experience of who normally commits crime, it usually results in stereotypes, prejudice and
discrimination, leading to wrongful arrest and often the complete of police brutality.
 • Biological Perspectives

• Early studies on crime and deviance show that criminals were biologically different from the rest of the
population and that heredity (genetic make-up) explain their behavior. This view is called the pathological
perspective in criminality. Cesare Lombroso (1835 -1909) thought that some persons were born with a
predisposition to crime based on their biological inheritance. They even had bodily characteristics that mark
them as different, . In his study of criminals within the Italian penal system, he found that they suffered from
ill health and had growth abnormalities. The elite at the time agree with his thesis because it diverted
attention from the social problems afflicting Italy in the 19th century and made crime into an abnormal
event committed by abnormal people . Critics point out however that Lombroso’s logic and methodology

PERSPECTIVES were for flawed. By choosing prisoners he was limiting himself to the poorest of the population who would
tend to have a stunted growth and nutritional deficiencies. The main criticism over was that he ignored the
role of social factors in criminality.

ON CRIME AND • Thomas Kelly bases claim on biological- medical models which regards disease as a major factor explaining
criminality . He cited examples of criminals who had injuries or malfunctions of their brains. Critics point or
that physical and physiological abnormalities could also be due to poverty and malnutrition.

DEVIANCE • Diana Fishbein linked antisocial behaviors to biological effects caused by hormone imbalances, drug abuse,
alcoholism, nutrition an injury. Her thesis is that antisocial and criminal behavior are almost always related
to an underlying medical biological cause.

• Sociologists criticize these theories as reductionist in that they attempt to explain all criminal acts
everywhere in terms of a biological malfunction. Contemporary sociologists readily agree that genetic factors
may be at the root of some criminal acts but in the majority of cases crimes are committed by ordinary
individuals who look normal. Even the argument about a genetic predisposition towards crime has to address
the idea that the societal context in which someone grows up (nurture} may well overcome their biological
makeup (nature).
 • Functionalist argued that we define certain acts as criminal because they violate
the moral beliefs of society. People deviate from these beliefs through evil
influences , inadequate socialization or some pathological condition. The
functionalist explanation of deviance is based mainly on the work of Durkheim. He
argued that deviant behavior may be understood in relation to the moral code it
violates. According to Durkheim, order in society is based on the collective
conscience . Social order is reinforced by law and the collective conscience. S ocial
stability depends on how closely an individual was adapted to the tenets held in
the collective conscience. The weakened collective conscience can develop into a
state of anomie, and society reverts to a state of greed and self interest, which
leads to the collapse of order and harmony. The emergence of deviant and criminal
behavior is due to this state of anomie (normlessness – a state in which values and
norms have little impact and the culture no longer provides adequate guidelines for
behavior). Anomie is a harmful and dangerous state. Durkheim claimed that at
limited amount of crime is necessary and beneficial to society, so much so that
CONSENSUS/FUNCTIONALIST society could not exist without some form of deviance. This means that it
THEORY OF CRIME encourages consensus and social solidarity . However crime that was out of
control, or increasing , was dysfunctional for society . Crimes play a positive
function by promoting social cohesion. Most persons express outrage when
serious crimes are committed. It reinforces values and beliefs which are held by the
majority, since people often feel closer by sharing a collective outrage which
contributes to social cohesion. Too much crime however is bad for society and
may help bring about its collapse.
CONSENSUS/FUNCTIONALIST
THEORY OF CRIME &
DEVIANCE
• Robert Merton, adopted the term anomie and used it to describe
the strain felt by those members who could not conform to the
norms expected of them . For example, the ideal material success
(the American dream) was a generalized social and cultural
expectation (a norm) in American Society. Merton strain theory of
crime and deviance states that those who could not achieve
success through legitimate means experience social strain which
encourage them to innovate and adapt, sometimes leading to
deviant and criminal behaviors. Merton tended to focus on
members of the lower social classes who were experiencing strain
because of unequal opportunities.
• This theory showed that all social norms and cultural practices are
not necessarily functional for the society. Merton's strain theory
relates deviance and crime to the social structure. Strain comes
about because of the lack of fit between the goals of the society
and the availability of means to get there for those in a
particular social location. Crime and deviance are an adaptation
or response to one’s unfavorable social positions. According to
Merton, the responses are conformity , innovation, ritualism,
retreatism and rebellion.
 • Conflict theories generally highlight, how crime is defined, how laws are made and how laws are
enforced. Marxism argues that there are interest groups in capitalist society that seek to ensure that
their desires, values and norms are always given top priority. William Chambliss and Milton Mankoff
focus specifically on the inequalities arising when the police and the justice system selectively enforce
laws. In the United state laws upholding civil rights received much less attention from the police than
those having to do with drugs or homicide. There is a distinct association of street crimes with the lower
classes and these tend to be actively pursued by the law. At the same time there seemed to be a
reluctance to enforce equity legislation because the authorities are mindful that they will run foul of
powerful corporations. The powerless are easier targets to prosecute. These theories also made the
point that laws deal with the protection of private property play a major role in capitalist society. Such
laws are geared to protect the interests of the wealthy because the poor seldom own much property.
Laws, therefore, reflect what is important to the ruling class. The study of crime and deviance in the
Marxist tradition deals with how the elites managed to criminalize the underclass through the selective

CONFLICT/MARXI •
enforcement of laws.

Laureen Snider made the point that the emphasis on profit making in capitalism even lures those in
higher social strata into criminal activity. In white collar and corporate crimes, such as insider trading

ST THEORY OF and fraud, enormous sums are stolen, yet there has been a reluctance to charge and imprison members
of the higher social classes for their crimes, while the police, the legal system and the media continues
to treat murder, break- ins, theft, and so on as the most serious crimes in the society. This criminalizes

CRIME & •
the poor compared to higher status groups.

David Gordon is of the view that capitalism encourages competition in the society because it is based on
maximizing profits. Under such conditions crime and deviance become rational means that persons can
DEVIANCE use to attain social goods. Crime is inevitable in capitalist societies and can be found in both the working
class and more affluent groups. However, most persons who are charged by the police are from the
working class and this indicates systematic attempt to criminalize that class. Law enforcement targets
individuals, who bear the burden of police harassment, arrests and imprisonment. But it is really the
capitalist system of economic relations that keep workers in a position of want.
FEMINIST THEORY OF
CRIME & DEVIANCE
• The reality is that the sociology of crime and deviance tends to focus mainly on male criminality in society.
Harriot (2012) noted that in the Caribbean, as well as elsewhere, women commit fewer crimes than men and
are disproportionately the victims of some types of crime. This reinforces the observation that sociological
theories ignore female criminality because women commit fewer crimes than men. Frances Heidensohm said
that traditional theories of deviance are gender- blind because they ignore the viewpoint of women.

• Freda Adler (1975) afforded the argument that, with the rise of the women's liberation movement in 1960s,
there has been an increase in female criminal activity. She observed that women are committing new and
more serious crime and that a new type of female criminal has emerged. She based her findings on studies
done in the USA, which noted that there were increased female involvement in male- dominated crimes such
as robbery an embezzlement.

• Heidensohm use control theory (1985) to explain that relative nonexistence of female criminality . Her
views can be summarized as such: 1. Housewives’ opportunities to commit crime are restricted because of
their domesticity. 2. Women who challenge the role of housewife could risk being victim of domestic violence.
3. Husband and fathers are always managing their wives and daughters. 4. In public places, women are
closely observed by the society as her actions are subjected to society’s approval . 5. In the workplace, their
control continues as women live in fear of sexual harassment, so they avoid doing things that will subject them
to unpleasant remarks.

• Another feminist point of view has been put forward by Pat Clarin (2008) . In 1985 Carlin conduct a number of
informal interviews with 35 women aged between 15 and 46 who had been convicted of one or more crimes.
She discovered that most of the women who had committed criminal offences were from the working class
and had been convicted of a wider variety of offenses : arson, fraud, prostitution, theft and violence. Based on
her findings, Carlin, summarize that the woman she studied had not gained anything from the women's
liberation movement and as a result it could not account for increase in female crime.
 • Interactionists examine how and why particular individuals and groups
are defined as deviant, and the effects of such a definition on their future
actions. Howard Becker (1963) suggests that there is really no such thing
as an inherently deviant act. An act only becomes deviant when others
perceive it as such. He posits that social goal creates deviance by making
the rules whose infraction constitute deviance and by applying those
rules to particular people. For example, a brawl involving young people -
in a low-income neighborhood this may be defined by the police as
delinquency, while in a wealthy neighborhood it may be defined as
INTERACTIONIST youthful high spirits. The acts are the same, but the meaning given to
them is different. Once an individual or group is labelled as criminal,
mentally ill or homosexual, others see them only in terms of that label. It
THEORY OF becomes what Becker calls a ‘master status’. Labelling also causes the
labelled group or individual to see themselves in terms of label. This may
CRIME & produce a self-fulfilling prophecy in which label make itself come true.
Becker identify a number of stages in this process:

DEVIANCE • 1. The individual is labelled as deviant and may be rejected from many
social groups.
• 2.This may encourage further deviance.
• 3. The deviant career is completed when individuals join an organized
deviant group , thus confirming and accepting their deviant identity.
• 4. Now a deviant subculture may develop which includes norms and
value with support their deviant behavior.
SUB-CULTURAL
THEORY OF CRIME &
DEVIANCE
• Edwin Sutherland in ‘White Collar Crime’ (1949 ) proposed that ‘Differential Association
Theory’ which showed that groups learned their environment, and this was a normal
response in social life. In response to strain, persons who lived among deviants and
criminals would most likely learn skills that allowed them to become fully fledged
members of the deviant subculture. Sutherland, however, was one of the first persons
to reject the notion that criminal subcultures were only to be found among the poor
and pioneered the study of white-collar crime. Although belonging to the functionalist
perspective, his work includes aspects of the interpretivist perspective in his use of
ethnographic methods and the emphasis on the process through which deviance was
learned.
• Albert Cohen , in ‘Delinquent Boys’ (1955 ) studied delinquent subcultures and
addressed two of the issues that Merton left unresolved , firstly, that some groups did
not seem to be motivated by economic goals. Vandalism is a case in point. Basing his
theory on status frustration , he found that lower class boys felt looked down upon by
the rest of society . They had little status which caused strain because they felt that they
were being assessed according to middle class values and standards. A consequence of
this was anomie and the development of an alternative system of values ( a subculture).
This subculture gave them status among their own peers and in their own community
through competition and delinquent acts that prized aggression and violence. In this way
they earned respect. Secondly, Cohen subcultural theory of status frustration also
showed how crime could be committed by a collective.