Crime Justice System Sociological theories of crime o Functionalist 1 2 3 4 5 o Criminal behavior is normal and inevitable It function because it separates acceptable and non acceptable behavior Defines anomic as a states of normlessness a structural condition with little regulation of behavior leading to criminal behavior Strain Theory We are socialized to attain traditional material and social goals but because society not fair so people feel strained and turn to crime There is disagreement between cultural goals and structural impediments People adapt to society by conformity innovation ritualism retreats and rebellion Five ways in which people adapt to societies goals and means conformity accept the traditional goals and have the traditional means to achieve them innovation accept societies goals but don t have means to achieve them Innovate by stealing from boss robbing etc ritualism noncriminal rejects cultural goals but continues to conform to institutional means retreatism could be criminal rejects cultural goals and approved means to achieve them rebellion challenges cultural goals and the approved means to achieve them offers alternate goals and means o Conflict criminal laws preserve power of elite Some people argue that if economic conditions were better criminal behavior would decline Criminality is a way to define a person s social status according to how they are perceived and treated by law Criminal laws exist not for our benefit but to preserve interests power groups Criminal justice decisions are discriminatory ad sanction offers based on minority group membership o Interactionist labeling crime and criminals Labeling theory to argue that criminals and acts don t matter but it is how the audience labels them highlights that it isn t the criminals or their acts that are important but rather the audience that labels the persons or their acts as criminal Edwin Lemert everyone is involved in behavior that could be labeled delinquent or criminal and yet only a few are labeled Once a criminal label is attached to a person a criminal career is set in motion Example seeing someone in handcuffs labels them as a criminal before they are proven to be Everyone in someway could be labeled as a criminal Primary devices lead to secondary devices and eventually criminal label Braithwaite shaming and how it can be stigmatizing thus leading to criminal activity If it was reintergative it would lessen the crime o Nations with with low crime rates are those where shaming has great social power Shaming is all processes of expressing disapproval which have the intention or effect of invoking remorse in the person being shamed The Saints and the Roughnecks experiment saints were well dressed white rich boys who were involved with truancy drinking theft and vandalism but were never arrested The roughnecks were not so well dressed not so well mannered and not so rich yet they engaged in the same activities and were arrested much more often and had a negative stigma attached to them argues race and class matter in our perception of crime o White woman told police a black man carjacked her car with her two sons in the car and the police completely believed her FBI s most wanted show came and filmed Then she later confessed that she drove the car in to a lake with her sons in it killing them Just shows that we conceptualize victims and criminals and we have a set of characteristics attached to them 1 Differential association Sutherland individuals commit deviance if associated with other deviants o research on prisons shows that many people who go to prison for committing non violent crimes will leave prison and be sent back for a violent crime Showing that association with people who are negative influences can change people around them process of labeling handcuffs on side of road are labeled stickiness of labels who does it stick to implications Crime o Obscenity laws sexual acts educational devices v dildos o Drug Laws Involvement with law enforcement arrested in public incarcerated jail time Criminals o Who gets caught o o Who does the label stick to Perception of crime consider race gender age etc Incarceration being imprisoned or confines o Differential rates o Implications of Highest for black males Societies perception of crime and criminals thus who gets convicted Criminal stereotypes and the self fulfilling prophecy Criminal stereotypes as self reinforcing self fulfilling prophecy etc Prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true Society perceives criminals to be black males usually from poor comminutes and young poor black males actually turn to crime Was there ever a chance Public trust of law enforcement Effected by individual experience Law enforcement can stereotype too War Terrorism monopoly on legitimate use of violence The state has a monopoly They can determine who can and cannot kill or use self defense as a force If the person is a criminal and not a government official then the force is considered illegitimate Labeling one man s terrorist is another man s freedom fighter Everyone labels terrorism differently On man s terrorist is another man s freedom fighter EX Revolutionaries could have been considered terrorist Depends on the culture that views the incident some may view as an attack while others may view it as a defense of cultural beliefs distinguishing war and terrorism Terrorism the unlawful use of violence or force again persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government or the civilian population in furtherance of political social objectives War is a violent political instrument between armed combatants where one side is hoping to impose it s will on the other Domestic terrorism supported or coordinated by groups based in a country More often found in democratic states International Terrorism supported or coordinated by foreign groups threatening the security of another nation EX 9 11 5 Elements of terrorism 1 Premeditated Act 2 2 Purposeful 3 Targets Noncombatants a Political or to change or challenge the status quo a Unlike war terrorism means the opponent cannot shoot back 4 Carried out by Subordinate groups a Not military 5 Threat of Violence a Potential for a terrorist attack 21st century terrorist usually bomb kill or seize hostages War is a violent political instrument between armed combatants where one side is hoping to impose it s will on the other Terrorism v Civil Disobedience Civil Disobedience the active refusal to