Course Code: HUM203

Course Title: Sociology

Lecture / Week No: Crime and Deviance (06)

Instructor Name: Muhammad Faizan Khan

Reference Book: Introduction to Sociology by
openstax college

Department of Business Administration

Content
• What is Deviance?
• What is Crime?
• White-Collar and Corporate Crime
• Types of Social Bonds
• Punishment
What is Crime and Deviance

Deviance is when you break a social norm and behave in a

way that is wrong in the eyes of your friends.
Crime is when you break a written law.
Not all crime is deviant, not all deviance is crime.
The difference is to do with the types of rules you break.
What is Deviance?
• Deviance - behavior, beliefs, or conditions viewed as serious
violations of important norms by relatively powerful segments of
society.
• Someone or something is usually defined as “deviant” depending on the
seriousness of the violation in relation to social norms.
• Does not inherently imply value judgment in this use of the word –
merely implies deviation from what society considers to be “normal”.
Deviance Terminology

 Deviance
Violation of Rules or Norms

 Crime
Violation of Norms as Laws

 Stigma
Blemishes on “Normal” Identity
There is a difference between Crime & Deviance
• Deviance - a violation of social norms that define appropriate behavior
under a particular set of circumstances
• Crime – conduct in violation of a criminal law of a state, the federal
government, or of a local jurisdiction for which there is no legally acceptable
justification or excuse

¨What is the difference between a criminal act and a deviant act?

6
Functionalist Perspective
• Strain Theory
• Robert Merton (1910-2003)
• Deviance is the product of a disjuncture between the
culturally prescribed goals of a society and the
legitimate(legal) means for their achievement
• Deviant behavior is an ordinary response to prevailing
structural conditions
• When there is a cultural emphasis on achievement there is
pressure to succeed at any cost
 Table 7.1 here

Copyright (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.  All rights reserved.

Functionalist Perspective
Illegitimate Opportunity Structures
 Unequal Access to Institutional Means to Success

Street Crime

White-collar/Occupational Crime

Corporate

Organized

Political
White-Collar and Corporate Crime
White-collar crimes: Crimes that take place within the business and
corporate sector, such as false advertising, unfair labor practices, and
embezzlement(misuse).
Although street crime is often assumed to be a more serious social
problem, white-collar crimes actually cost more and affect a wider public.
• Violent Crime • Property Crime
• Murder • Burglary
• Robbery • Larceny/Theft
• Aggravated(forced) • Vehicle Theft
• Assault(beating) • Arson(fire starting)
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
Control Theory By Walter Reckless

 Inner Controls  Outer Controls

Morality Family
Conscience Friend
Desire to be good
Subculture
Integrity
Police
Religious Principles
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
Social Control Theory
• Travis Hirschi
• Deviance is the product of weak or broken bonds to society
• The big question is NOT “why do we deviate” but “why don’t we deviate more
often than we do?“
• Identifies four primary bonds that work to control and direct our behavior
Four Types of Social Bonds
Attachment Commitment/ Involvement Belief
Opportunity
Attachment to others Time, energy, and effort Individual heavy Respect for
shape acceptance of placed put into involvement in society's
social norms conventional lines of conventional activities does value system
action not leave time to engage in
Don’t want to disappoint deviant acts
others Don’t want to jeopardize
your efforts
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
Differential Association Theory
Edwin Sutherland (1883-1950)
• Deviants and conformists hang around people
like themselves
• Deviance is learned directly through intimate
interaction or indirectly through media sources
• A person becomes deviant due to exposure to
an excess of definitions favorable to violation of
norms
Crime or deviance?
• The media play a major role in determining what is acceptable and
not acceptable in our society.
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
Becker: labeling theory
• Social structure gives some people the power to define others as deviant
• The label is a stigma; a mark of social disgrace that changes social
interaction and self image
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
Lemert: labeling theory
• Primary deviation: an initial act that violates social norms
• Secondary deviation: the individual comes to accept the label, and acts
accordingly
Sociological Explanations
Conflict Theories
• focus on inequality and power that lead to creation of laws & enforcement.
Factors Associated With Criminal Activity
• Age
• Gender
• Class
Why do we Punish?
• Retribution (vengeance)
• Eye for an Eye
• Not meant as a means to reduce crime
• Deterrence (fear of punishment)
• Specific deterrence—Punishment is meant to keep an individual from repeating
their violation.
• General deterrence—Punishment is meant to keep other people from committing
violations.
• Rehabilitation (reforms)
• Sanctioning should protect society but at the same time reform the criminal.
• Social Protection (Incapacitation)
• Removal from society is seen as the only way to protect society from law violators.
References / Resources

1. Introduction to Sociology by openstax college