SOC 101 Monday March 29 Lecture Outline Part 2 III The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective on Deviance and Social Control C Labeling Theory People are assigned labels names and reputations that become part of their self concept which in turn channels them toward conforming or deviant behaviors Most people resist the negative labels other people try to pin on them In a study of delinquent boys Sykes and Matza were able to identify five techniques of neutralization that people use to resist negative labels and rationalize their deviant behavior denial of responsibility denial of injury denial of victim condemnation of the condemners appeal to higher loyalty Although most people resist being labeled deviant some group members revel in it Mass Incarceration as a Form of Racialized Social Control PUNISHMENT as a form of social control and regulation of the poor Michelle Alexander s The New Jim Crow Be sure to read over the chapter excerpt posted on UBLearns Mass incarceration as an extension of systematic social control of minority populations 1 At the time the War on Drugs was launched less than 2 percent of the American public viewed drugs as the most important issue facing the nation Get tough legislation such as mandatory sentencing and the three strike laws were targeted primarily at urban minority poor populations The War on Drugs and mass incarceration were directed at minority communities as a form of social control Alexander writes A new racial caste system mass incarceration was taking hold The results were immediate As law enforcement budgets exploded so did prison and jail populations In 1991 the Sentencing Project reported that the number of people behind bars in the United States was unprecedented in world history and that one fourth of young African American men were now under the control of the criminal justice system School to Prison Pipeline The policies and practices that are directly and indirectly pushing students out of school and on a pathway to prison Most school suspensions are for minor misbehavior like disruptive behavior insubordination or school fights Zero tolerance policies in school discipline modeled after criminal justice policies the War on Drugs 1994 Safe and Gun Free Schools Act tied mandatory suspension expulsion policies to school aid Applied to a range of behaviors not just weapons possession Racial disparities in who gets suspended Black students are far more likely to be suspended for minor or subjective infractions than are white students Long term consequences 2 The Carceral Continuum Neighborhoods Prisons Changing purposes of discipline From rehabilitation to warehousing Prisons no longer function to rehabilitate prisoners but to keep them off the streets This warehousing of the urban poor is considered a form of social control and regulation Collateral Consequences of Criminal Conviction Conviction of a crime carries direct and collateral indirect consequences Direct consequences are penalties such as a fine probation and commitment to jail or prison Collateral consequences are disqualifications or deprivations that are civil in nature The most commonly restricted rights are Limitations of employment related rights in public and private sector employment Right to an occupational license Denial of welfare rights including housing Denial of student aid and loans Loss of parental rights Collateral consequences have Negative effects upon reintegration Lead to increased risks of recidivism 3
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