Final Exam Review SYG2010 Key Concepts Week 1 Claims making and examples Claims Making an essential tool for creating defining a social problem it is socially constructed through interactions Sources Media public leaders social movements public discussion Factors that help promote claims Visibility or power Opposition Strongly resonates with people s values What helps get problems on the radar screen Radar Screen If a condition is not on the public s radar it is not considered a problem If a condition is on the public s radar screen it means they are upset about it and it is a problem Getting problems on the radar screen The ability to get a problem on the radar screen of the public is stronger is there are objective facts to back up the claims about the problem Significant number of people affected and number of significant people affected Typification Claims Making Strategy Characterizes a problem as a particular type ex Moral medical economic etc Naming welfare queen teen promiscuity Grabber or Horror Story promotes fear and thus concern Objectivist constructionist orientations Three general theoretical orientations Objectivist Social problems are conditions identified by scientific inquiry as detrimental to human well being Focuses on harmful or threatening conditions in the observable world Social problems assumed to exist independently from public awareness or social concern about the conditions The scope or prevalence is large and growing rapidly Constructionist Aka subjectivist Uniquely sociological Mixed Hybrid People decide what is a social problem and what is not by defining a condition as problematic Social problems viewed as subjective up to interpretation A mixed model that combines objectivist and constructionist assumptions A social problem is defined as a measurably harmful condition in society that people are concerned about and want changed Characteristics of a social problem constructionist perspective Change over time Dynamic Relative Visible Subjective Socially defined A problem for some a solution for others Publicized on the radar screen Public outrage fear Publicity Resources directed toward it Organizations formed Institutionalized laws against it What are indicators of a social problem How do you know an issue is or is not one Missing Numbers Types examples why numbers get suppressed relationship of missing s to social problems Definition Types Part of the claims making process that frame terms of debate They don t get published because they take focus off of data or issues that might undermine claims about social problems Incalculable ex missing children hard to count unclear definitions Uncounted ex religion in U S census Forgotten numbers ex old data Types of numbers that get reported instead of missing numbers Powerful examples arouse emotion Legendary numbers made up fabricated Consequences of not reporting missing numbers Distortion Detraction What was the point of the PB vs MJ comparison Crime Week 9 What is a crime Violation of a formal norm not objectively defined A crime is a type of deviance a violation of a formal social norm Informal norms not sitting on floor of a restaurant being honest Violating Informal norms are sanctioned in general social reactions gossip disapproval not legal sanction Some norms are formal meaning they are codified as a violation within the legal system Violating formal norms crimes are sanctioned legally by jail or prison time tickets etc Why are biological explanations of crime limited in their utility Approaches to studying crime relativistic and normative Relativistic members of lower status social groups are more likely to be labeled as deviant or as violating norms than those of higher status groups Society is made up of groups with competing interests and different perspectives about what is normal generally violations of norms that are important to the most powerful groups will be legally sanctioned Normative there are commonly held norms and those who deviate from these shared norms need to be sanctioned Biological theories are inadequate for explaining crime because crimes are violations of socially defined norms Crime data how is crime measured iceberg Criminologists who studied the rate and distribution of crime in the US rely on arrest reports collected by law enforcement agencies for their own bureaucratic purposes Limitations in official arrest data because the data only measured the tip of the iceberg of all crimes committed crimes Most crimes are never cleared by arrest meaning offenders are never caught in the majority of common The great bulk of offenders and offenses which remain in the hidden part of the iceberg may be quite different from those known to police because offenders caught by police may be very different from those who manage to escape and elude the police Official data on arrests will tend to reflect biases of law enforcement agencies such as racial profiling targeting low income communities etc An arrest is an act of social control rather than an act of deviant behavior arrest data at the tip of the iceberg of crime may tell us more about the nature of social control than about the nature of crime and criminals ex white collar crimes usually underestimated Official Data Sources in order of the iceberg Arrests very tip of iceberg Measure of social control rather than crime or deviance Uniform Crime Report UCR offenses known to police near the top of the iceberg Victimization Surveys asks if one has been a victim of a crime and what type Self Report asks if committed a crime the type and severity of those crimes monitors the future closest thing to missing data Violent crimes Which most common Four offenses that comprise the UCR Index of Violent Crime murder rape robbery and aggravated assault The most common use of the UCR data on offenses known to police is comparison of crime rates across the US Within the Southern US the State of Florida and Tallahassee show extremely high rates for violent crimes other than murder ex Rape aggravated assault much higher Trends in the past 20 years Why Forcible rape and murder manslaughter seem to have stayed the same robbery and aggravated assault have declined significantly Following factors account for decrease in violent crimes The US incarceration rate is among the highest in the world meaning we have taken record numbers of criminals off the street More surveillance electronic means of surveillance have increased in the digital age