Chapter 1 Early Efforts at Policing Intro o How is social order possible Maintaining Social Order o Conflict Perspective Small group in power dictates law Through force A small minority of powerful persons manipulate the legal system in order to preserve their advantage Social advantage leads to control small group in charge of everything o Consensus Perspective Common value system people agree on what is right and what is wrong People agree on standards of behavior Socialization is important Standards of Behavior o Norms Standards for how people should behave make social interaction routine and predictable Types of norms 1 Mores Major norms o Evoke strong reactions if violated o o considered vital or essential to society s welfare violators receive harsh punishment 10 commandments Prohibitions against cannibalism Murder 2 Folkways Minor norms o Behavioral expectations o Very small sanctions ex scoff gossip Etiquette polite to hold door Niceties Deviant Behavior Any action that exceeds social tolerance levels or oversteps the boundaries established by folkways and mores Controlling Social Behavior Social Control responses to norm violations and any punishments or sanctions o o How do we control social behavior Informally in a social setting Positive Social Control Praise recognition gossip Negative Informal Social Control Ostracism socially isolated gossip vigilantism Formally Law and the Criminal Justice System Law describes behavior that is proscribed or forbidden and specifies the penalty attached o Consensus viewpoint suggests that law reflects the common value system o Conflict perspective argues that persons who occupy powerful positions use the law to coerce and regulate behavior that threatens the status quo Types of Society o Gemeinshchaft vs Gesellschaft Created by the German Ferdinand Toennies Gemeinschaft A small network of persons who interact with each other in primary relationships Primary relationships are relationships we have with people we are close to primary group they know us very well o Less formal o o Say true feelings and emotional attachment Substantial face to face interaction Community where everyone knows everyone Gesellschaft Opposite of a gemeinschaft society social interaction takes place within secondary o People stop and talk relationships Secondary Relationship Social discourse between strangers or people who do not share a very close bond Societal Development o Durkheim s Model o more socially distant than primary o Lets roles and expectations guide interactions o More formal than primary Refers to modern society with all its hustle and bustle People act and react on a basis of social roles and not to the person o o Everyone is a stranger Informal social control devices may work well in a gemeinschaft but not in a gesellschaft Emphasis on growth and expansion Increase in diversity expansion in division of labor People are less likely to know each other proliferation of secondary relationships invites impersonality and a sense of loneliness Production of anomie or normlessness Loss of attachment Result in crime and deviance Pop size Physical density Moral Density amount of interactions we have with people Division of Labor Anomie unattached social drift crime goes up o As the first three increase so does the division of labor specialization of jobs o As society gets bigger crime goes up and the old social control techniques do not work Early English Law Enforcement o Mutual Pledge System Villages or tuns Each tun subdivided further into Tithings units consisting of 10 families Every male over the age of 12 was in a tithing Face to face primary relationships Count on each other Control each others behavior Responsible for each others behavior o Ex One man steals 9 000 so unless the other 9 men bring him back they each have to give up 1 000 Chief Tithing The head of the group director bossman If a member became errant it was job of chief to raise the hue and cry o o Hue and Cry posse rounded up all the members of tithing and search for missing Hundred 10 tithings led by a reeve member Reeve Person in charge of the hundreds Reeve would conduct meetings to air various disputes and act as mediator Also appointed a constable Constable Job was to take care of all the weapons equipment and belongings of the hundred As population expanded hundreds became grouped into a shire Shire County Shire reeve or sheriff person in charge of shires Sheriff today is the highest ranking official Rise of urban areas created need for a different type of control fortresses moats huge walls massive gates that close at night Cramped and congested city life A constant fear was the threat of fire o A tiny blaze could turn into a catastrophe with a gust of wind o Homes were lit by candle cooking with hearth and fireplaces warmed interiors Night Watch System Voluntary surveillance mechanism where townspeople took turns watching over the city and guarding the gates against unwanted intruders Statute of Winchester 1285 Formalized the night watch system Established the office of the parish Constable o Constable Volunteer would assume position for a year and was responsible for coordinating the night watch system and making sure that all able bodied men took their turn standing watch Assize of Arms o All male adults are responsible for maintaining law and order o Every male has to keep a weapon in his house no guns at that time o Required all citizens to seek out and capture criminals whenever constable needed help all he had to do was raise hue and cry Failure to respond to the hue and cry would result in social disapproval and a hefty fine o Arms the populous and reinforces the hue and cry formalized it The Challenge of Urban Growth o Not everyone liked the practice of hue and cry because too much time and energy diverted from their own business o Urban areas had a sudden unprecedented growth shift from gemeinschaft to gesellschaft society what was everybody s business became nobody s duty o A more practical alternative to serving on the watch was to pay someone else to take one s place The old poor and lame were prime sources of cheap labor but not fit to deal with scoundrels Quality of protective services rapidly decreased Paid Policing o One way to attract more people into the law enforcement function was to increase financial incentives Entrepreneurial Avocational Policing Private civilians perform law enforcement tasks on a part time basis and get paid for their
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