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Introduction to Sociology SOC101

Lesson 19

EXPLANATIONS OF CRIME -- CONTINUED

Sociological Explanations (continued)

Control theory by W. Reckless

Inside most of us, it seems, are strong desires to do a lot of things that would get us in trouble. Yet most of

the time we don't do these things. We mostly keep them to ourselves, and the temptation, urge, hostility, or

desire to do something passes. To explain this restraint, Walter Reckless (1973) developed control theory.

According to this theory two systems work against our motivations to deviate.

1. Inner control system: It includes our internalized morality --- call it conscience, ideas of right and wrong,

reluctance to violate religious principles. It also includes fears of punishment, feelings of integrity,

and the desire to be a `good' person.

2. Outer control system: It involves groups --- such as friends, family, sub-cultures, police that influence

us not to deviate.

How strong are the controls, inner as well as outer, determine deviancy of a person.

Control theory by T. Hirschi

Travis Hirschi (1969) developed a control theory, which states that social control depends on imagining the

consequences of one's behavior. He assumes that everyone finds at least some deviance tempting. But the

prospects of a ruined career could be sufficient to deter most people; for some simply imagining the

reactions of family and friends is enough. On the other hand individuals who feel they have little to lose by

deviance are likely to become rule-breakers.

Hirschi linked conformity to four different types of social control:

1. Attachment. Strong social attachments encourage conformity; weak relationships, especially in the

family and in school, leave people freer to engage in deviance. An individual can well understand

that the deviance is likely to bring bad name to his/her family; therefore due to the strong

attachment with the family he/she would not violate the norms of society.

2. Opportunity. The greater the person's access to legitimate opportunity, the greater the advantages of

conformity. By contrast, some one with little confidence in future success is more likely to drift

toward deviance.

3. Involvement. Extensive involvement in legitimate activities such as holding a job, going to school,

and playing sports inhibits deviance. People without these activities have time and energy for

deviant activity.

4. Belief. Strong belief in conventional morality and respect for authority figures restrain tendencies

toward deviance. People who have a weak conscience have more temptation to violate the norms.

Strain theory: How social values produce crime

Functionalists argue that crime is a natural part of society. Some crime represents values that lie at the very

core of society. To be employed is a social value and thereby it can be a culturally approved goal of every

youth. To achieve the goal a society also specifies the culturally approved means. The acceptance of goals

and the non-availability of culturally approved means to achieve the goals can create strain, and can lead to

the deviation from the norms. The ineffectiveness of the norms to control behavior is a situation of anomie

or norm-less-ness. As anomie increases, the amount of deviance rises to dysfunctional levels.

R. K. Merton (1968) pointed out that the people who experience strain are likely to feel anomie, a sense of

norm-less-ness. Because the dominant norms (for example work, education) don't seem to be getting them

anywhere, they have difficult time identifying with them. They may even feel wronged by the system, and

Introduction to Sociology SOC101

its rules may seem illegitimate. Matching culturally approved goals to culturally approved means creates

strain and people deviate from the norms. So

When ever people perceive that they cannot attain their life goals through the use of legitimate (normative, culturally permissible)

means available they use illegitimate

(culturally not approved) means.

Look at the following scenario in Pakistani society:

Material success: It is culturally defined (approved) goal.

Education Jobs: Culturally approved means to pursue the goal.

Central belief:

Egalitarian ideology.

Access to the approved means to achieve the material success varies by the social class structure. It creates

stress especially for the lower class youth.

As part of the survival youth will look for success in getting work through legitimate or illegitimate means

because "success (goal) is more important than how (means) success is achieved." For this purpose they

could adopt different ways, and Merton called these as modes of adaptation.

Modes of Adaptation: How people match their goals to their means

Feel stress

That leads to anomie

mode of adaptation

Cultural Goals Cultural means

Conformist

Innovators

Reject

Ritualists

reject

Yes

Retreatists

Reject

Rebels

Reject/accept

Innovation: Robbery, burglary, drugs.

Ritualism: Lack of interest in success but supports the means.

Retreatism: Escapism, narcotic addiction

Rebellion: Vandalism, senseless violent crimes (counter culture).

Access to higher education and eventually to good job or career is available to class members is known.

There are obstacles for certain class or an ethnic group. How to over come these obstacles? So they

disregard some norms because the lower class chap knows that it is simply impossible to follow the

normative means to reach the goal.

Labeling theory by Howard S. Becker

According to labeling theory it is assumed that deviance and conformity result not so much from what people do as

from how others respond to these actions. People may define the same behavior in number of ways, hence

deviance is a relative concept and is determined by the society.

Hence deviance is not a set of

characteristics of individuals or groups but it is a process of interaction between deviants and non-deviants.

These are the reactions of social audiences to alleged acts of deviance.

Why some people come to be tagged with a `deviant' label? Why some acts, ideas, feelings, attribute is considered as

deviant? Once a child is labeled as delinquent, he is stigmatized as a criminal. According to Becker, `deviant

behavior' is behavior that people so label. Deviant behavior itself is not the determining factor in becoming

deviant. It all depends on whether or not a person is labeled as deviant.

Introduction to Sociology SOC101

The link between the behavior and the label is conditional, not automatic. A crucial condition is having the power

to resist being labeled for alleged/or actual deviant behavior. Deviant behavior is behavior that people so label. Labeling itself is

means to amplification.

Labeling not only affects how others see an individual, but also influences his sense of self-identity. Individual

accepts the label and acts as deviant and also learns to be a deviant.

Deviancy Amplification: Deviant identity may start the process of deviancy amplification i.e. Unintended

consequences that can result when, by labeling a behavior as deviant, an agency of control actually provokes

more of that same deviant behavior. The labeled person incorporates the label into his/her identity through

secondary deviance and resists change to conformity

Illegitimate Opportunity: Explaining Social Class and Crime

One of the interesting sociological findings in the field of deviance is that social classes have distinct styles

of crime. Most delinquent youth emerge from the lower working class. The boys most at risk are those

who have internalized middle class values and have been encouraged, on the basis of their ability, to aspire

toward middle class future. When such boys are unable to realize their goals, they are particularly prone to

delinquent activity. The delinquent gangs arise in sub-cultural communities where the chances of achieving

success legitimately are small. Lack of opportunity for success in the terms of wider society is the main

differentiating factor between those who engage in criminal behavior and those who do not.

Failure of the lower class boys makes them open alternative doors to meeting their needs, and these new

avenues have been referred to as illegitimate opportunity structures (Cloward and Ohlin, 1960). They go for

robbery, burglary, drug dealing, prostitution, and other remunerative crimes. They develop their own

subcultures.

White-Collar Crime

The other social classes are not crime-free, but they find a different type of opportunity structure. For them

other forms of crime are functional. The more privileged classes avail opportunities for income tax

cheating, bribery of public officials, embezzlement, and false advertising. Sutherland coined the term

white-collar crime to refer to crimes that people of respectable and high social status commit in the

course of their occupations.

Although the general public seems to think that the lower classes are more prone to crime, studies show

that white-collar workers also commit many crimes. This difference in perception is largely based on

visibility. While the crimes committed by the poor are given much publicity, the crimes of the more

privileged classes seldom make the news and go largely unnoticed.

Conflict Theory

According to Marxist thinkers, deviance is deliberately chosen and is political in nature. They rejected the

idea that deviance is `determined' by factors such as biology, personality, anomie, or labels. They argued,

individuals actively choose to engage in deviant behavior in response to the inequalities of the capitalist

system. Thus, members of the `counter-cultural' groups regarded as `deviants' engage in distinctly political

acts, which challenge the social order. Such acts may take the form of kidnapping, mugging, and terrorism.

Conflict theorists considered crimes as a disguised form of protest against inequality, injustice, power, and

political system.

Conclusions

Despite the fact that crime is only one subcategory of deviant behavior as a whole, it covers such a variety

of forms of activity from shoplifting a bar of chocolate to mass murder which it is unlikely that we

could produce a single theory that would account for all forms of criminal conduct.

Introduction to Sociology SOC101

The contributions of the sociological theorists of crime are two fold. First, these theories correctly

emphasize the continuities between criminal and `respectable' behavior. The contexts in which particular

types of activity are seen as criminal and punishable by law vary widely. This is almost certainly linked to

question of power and inequality within society. Second all agree that context is important in criminal

activities. Whether someone engages in criminal act or comes to be regarded as criminal is basically

influenced by social learning and by social surroundings.

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