ISS 215 Social Differentiation and Inequality Chapter 10 Judicial System and Inequality In Class Notes Up to 50 of crimes are never reported Mainly rape murder etc 10 15 of people that end up in prison are mainly poor uneducated and stereotyped against What is crime No universal definition Varies from place to place time to time No act is a criminal act unless it s a crime Army guy kills someone he s a hero Judge sentences the death penalty it s justice Why crime Classical theories Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham Free will Believe people choose to perform crime by their own free will Pain and pleasure If pain is more than pleasure crime will decrease Ex Dublin whip children in front of public every morning to teach a lesson make an example Punishments deter crime Places with definite punishments death sentence will stop crimes Doesn t work Biological theories Lombroso and followers Founding fathers of biological theories Made observations and generalized things Believed criminals are different from innocent people by birth Long jaw Flat nose Uneven cranium Low sensitivity to pain Problems with theory Must also have a controlled group to compare Didn t have one Sampling problem Not enough representation Don t know if something happened to cause them to look that way during transportation Recent theories Biological things can t be controlled Others were effected for certain reasons Twin studies Research to see if crime is biological Same biologically so if one s bad so is the other one Adoption studies If criminal has kids than children will also be a criminal Social biology Wilson Individuals in a society are products of biology and socialization Biology will influence you as a person Socialization will influence your personality Psychological theories Male and female are born with attraction to opposite sex girls have sexual attraction to fathers boys have sexual attraction to mothers Freud Id animalistic Superego socialized Ego compromise between Id and Superego Id bad Superego good Constant battle back and forth Angel and devil sitting on your shoulder Nobody is solely Id or Superego Sociological theories Anomie theories When social norms break down Social norms can break down in any chaotic situation Too much integration into a group can be bad Willing to die for the group Would do anything Ex suicide bombers for Al Qaeda Jim Jones I say jump you say how high Differential association That people are influenced by society Our fault if they do something wrong Labeling theory Nothing is a crime unless labeled as a crime Ex veteran is a hero for killing not a murderer Labeling of act It s not a crime until labeled as a crime Labeling of individual Innocent until proven guilty Ex 2 people rob a bank 1 gets caught and 1 escapes 1 is considered a criminal 1 isn t Karl Marx Economic classes Rich people make control and implement laws Laws that are always favorable to them Socialism eliminates most crimes Needs are met no reason to steal White collar crimes Bribery People won t give you your check without being tipped Business crimes Monopoly Ex Forced to buy Comcast bundles just to get internet Misrepresentation in advertising Ex Spongebob selling chocolate episodes Ex Man from 70 s who sold rocks as pets Copy rights Producing exact same thing without paying money to original producer Illegal labor practices Mainly in poorer countries Work people to the bone for less than 1 Fraud in legal profession Ex Defense attorneys Even if guilty will lie and say client is innocent Fraud in stock market Ex Man would bribe companies to let him know beforehand if company would flop to save his money