ISS 215: Social Differentiation and InequalityChapter 10: Judicial System and InequalityIn-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 againstWhat 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 justiceWhy 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 stealWhite 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