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Sociology of Deviance and Crime

The Study of Cultural Norms and What Happens When They Are Broken

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Sociologists who study deviance and crime examine cultural norms, how they change over time, how they are enforced, and what happens to individuals and societies when norms are broken. Deviance and social norms vary among societies, communities, and times, and often sociologists are interested in why these differences exist and how these differences impact the individuals and groups in those areas.

Sociologists define deviance as behavior that is recognized as violating expected rules and norms . It is simply more than nonconformity, however; it is behavior that departs significantly from social expectations. In the sociological perspective on deviance, there is a subtlety that distinguishes it from our commonsense understanding of the same behavior. Sociologists stress social context, not just individual behavior. That is, deviance is looked at in terms of group processes, definitions, and judgments, and not just as unusual individual acts. Sociologists also recognize that not all behaviors are judged similarly by all groups. What is deviant to one group may not be considered deviant to another. Further, sociologists recognize that established rules and norms are socially created, not just morally decided or individually imposed. That is, deviance lies not just in the behavior itself, but in the social responses of groups to behavior by others.

Sociologists often use their understanding of deviance to help explain otherwise ordinary events, such as tattooing or body piercing, eating disorders, or drug and alcohol use. Many of the kinds of questions asked by sociologists who study deviance deal with the social context in which behaviors are committed. For example, are there  conditions under which suicide is acceptable ? Would one who commits suicide in the face of a terminal illness be judged differently from a despondent person who jumps from a window?

Four Theoretical Approaches

Within the sociology of deviance and crime, there are four key theoretical perspectives from which researchers study why people violate laws or norms, and how society reacts to such acts. We'll review them briefly here.

Structural strain theory was developed by American sociologist Robert K. Merton and suggests that deviant behavior is the result of strain an individual may experience when the community or society in which they live does not provide the necessary means to achieve culturally valued goals. Merton reasoned that when society fails people in this way, they engage in deviant or criminal acts in order to achieve those goals (like economic success, for example).

Some sociologists approach the study of deviance and crime from a structural functionalist standpoint . They would argue that deviance is a necessary part of the process by which social order is achieved and maintained. From this standpoint, deviant behavior serves to remind the majority of the socially agreed upon rules, norms, and taboos , which reinforces their value and thus social order.

Conflict theory is also used as a theoretical foundation for the sociological study of deviance and crime. This approach frames deviant behavior and crime as the result of social, political, economic, and material conflicts in society. It can be used to explain why some people resort to criminal trades simply in order to survive in an economically unequal society.

Finally, labeling theory   serves as an important frame for those who study deviance and crime. Sociologists who follow this school of thought would argue that there is a process of labeling by which deviance comes to be recognized as such. From this standpoint, the societal reaction to deviant behavior suggests that social groups actually create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people and labeling them as outsiders. This theory further suggests that people engage in deviant acts because they have been labeled as deviant by society, because of their race, or class, or the intersection of the two, for example.

Updated by Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.

• An Overview of Labeling Theory
• The Life and Work of Howard S. Becker
• Deviance and Strain Theory in Sociology
• The Sociological Definition of Anomie
• Major Sociological Theories
• How Psychology Defines and Explains Deviant Behavior
• What Is Social Order in Sociology?
• Definition of Ritualism in Sociology
• What is a Norm? Why Does it Matter?
• Criminology Definition and History
• What Is Social Learning Theory?
• A Sociological Understanding of Moral Panic
• Using Ethnomethodology to Understand Social Order
• Units of Analysis as Related to Sociology
• The Sociology of Education
• A Brief Overview of Émile Durkheim and His Historic Role in Sociology

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Crime and deviance during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Jullianne regalado.

1 Department of Criminology and Justice Studies, California State University, Northridge California, USA

Anastasiia Timmer

2 University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston Texas, USA

3 Laboratory of Translational Research in Neuropsychiatric Disorders (TREND) at the BRAINCITY: Center of Excellence for Neural Plasticity and Brain Disorders, Warsaw Poland

Associated Data

• Schleimer, J. P. , McCort, C. D. , Pear, V. A. , Shev, A. , Tomsich, E. , Asif‐Sattar, R. , Buggs, S. , Laqueur, H. S. , & Wintemute, G. J. (2020). Firearm purchasing and firearm violence in the first months of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States [Preprint]. medRxiv . 10.1101/2020.07.02.20145508 [ CrossRef ]

The COVID‐19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the world and inevitably influenced people's behaviors including the likelihood of crime and deviance. Emerging empirical evidence suggests a decline in certain crimes (e.g., theft, robbery, and assault) but also proliferation of different violent behaviors and cybercriminal activity during the pandemic. To explain those trends, we draw on existent theories and elaborate on how crime and violence have been affected by the changes in people's daily routines and accumulated stressful conditions. However, as recent crime trends appear to be largely inconsistent and vary across social groups and contexts, we argue that social scientists need to pay particular attention to the differential experiences related to crime and violence during this global crisis. Specifically, because of the disproportionate experience of violence by vulnerable groups including minorities and women as well as the unique cross‐national variations in deviance, more nuanced approaches to understanding causes of crime are warranted. We also discuss the limitations of present research and provide recommendations for the development of comparative and multi‐disciplinary studies on criminal and deviant behaviors that are influenced by human crisis situations.

1. INTRODUCTION

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID‐19 outbreak a pandemic (World Health Organization,  2020 ). Since then, the COVID‐19 pandemic has had an impact on every sphere of human life with emerging reports suggesting that criminal and violent behaviors have also been affected. News reports about intimate partner abuse during the enforced lockdowns (Taub,  2020 ), gun violence in major cities (Rector,  2021 ), as well as accounts of anti‐Asian rhetoric towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (Chan et al.,  2020 ), have been consistent features since March 2020. Moreover, the pandemic created more opportunities for cybercrime. With an unprecedented increase in the public use of technology, cybercriminals have increasingly infiltrated security networks and achieved unlawful access to personal data (INTERPOL,  2020 ).

In this paper, we explore the unique relationship between the COVID‐19 pandemic and crime. Recent research has shown that during the pandemic, certain property crimes, robbery, and assault rates have decreased, while there have been increases in different violent behaviors and cybercriminal activity (Abrams,  2021 ; Buil‐Gil et al.,  2021 ; Langton et al.,  2021 ; Schleimer et al.,  2020 ). Drawing on existent theory and research, we discuss how those crime patterns are shaped by the unprecedented changes in people's daily routines and accumulated stress during the COVID‐19 pandemic. However, the evidence on current crime trends remains largely inconsistent with crime levels varying across time periods, contexts, and groups. As such, the pandemic has also prompted us to rethink the existent criminological approaches and, in the second part of this paper, we argue that there is a need to more systematically address differential vulnerabilities to crime and violence. Specifically, we discuss selected examples of such vulnerabilities including a rise in hate crimes towards the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, a disproportionate burden of violence in Black communities, the role of the COVID‐19 pandemic in intimate partner violence (IPV), and unique cross‐national differences in crime. Finally, we address the limitations of present research and provide recommendations for future studies with a specific focus on the need for integrated, multi‐disciplinary, and comparative perspectives. Importantly, considering the warnings from health experts about more potential pandemics, understanding the relationships between the pandemic‐related experiences and crime will help plan for the future.

2. EXPLANATIONS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE COVID‐19 PANDEMIC AND CRIME

2.1. changes in people's daily routines.

Since the start of the pandemic, people have experienced drastic changes in their daily routines due to lockdown orders and social distancing measures. Many non‐essential places (e.g., shopping malls) and weekend nighttime establishments and attractions (e.g., bars, restaurants, sporting events) have temporarily shut down for varying lengths of time to contain the spread of the virus. Given that these places typically generate larger gatherings of people, the temporary closure of establishments meant that fewer people were out in public spaces, hence limiting social contact. In turn, this reduction in social contact impacted the likelihood of people engaging in various deviant acts such as physical fights or DUI‐related motor vehicle accidents (Calderon‐Anyosa & Kaufman,  2021 ; Gerell et al.,  2020 ).

Routine Activities Theory (RAT) by Lawrence E. Cohen and Marcus Felson provides an explanation of the recent changes in crime patterns during the pandemic. Cohen and Felson ( 1979 ) argue that criminal events occur when there is a convergence of three critical components in time and space: (1) a motivated offender, (2) a suitable target such as a person or property seen as fitting for an offender, and (3) an absence of guardianship such as having little to no people witnessing and preventing these criminal events (e.g., police, school officials, etc.). The authors emphasize that the occurrence of all three elements at once, or the convergence, increases the likelihood of a criminal event, whereas, in the absence of one of these factors, an opportunity for crime is less likely to arise (Cohen & Felson,  1979 ).

2.1.1. Physical space, crime, and the COVID‐19 pandemic

Applying RAT to the conditions during the COVID‐19 pandemic, there may have been a lower likelihood of all three factors occurring in time and space. Different countries have enforced containment measures and lockdown orders to reduce the spread of the virus (Ashby,  2020 ; Campedelli et al.,  2020a ; Langton et al.,  2021 ; Payne et al.,  2020 ), which, in turn, resulted in decreased opportunities for offenders to commit criminal acts such as theft (Campedelli et al.,  2020b ). Balmori de la Miyar et al. ( 2021a ) add that potential offenders might also be fearful of the virus and thus, avoid close interaction with people overall. In addition, as distancing measures have been in effect, people have generally spent longer periods at home, which suggests lower possibility of the presence of “suitable targets” as discussed by RAT. With numerous places closed and limits on indoor capacity for some establishments, the offenders' contact with possible targets have further diminished and thus, the opportunities for crime have been reduced (Campedelli et al.,  2020a ). Accordingly, the increased guardianship of one's property and home has further affected a reduction in residential burglary and other similar crimes at least for some time since the lockdown orders (Felson et al.,  2020 ).

Consistent with these claims, recent research has found evidence of significant declines in robbery and property crimes including theft and residential burglary in the U.S. (Abrams,  2021 ; Ashby,  2020 ; Campedelli et al.,  2020a ; Mohler et al.,  2020 ) and other social contexts including Australia, Canada, Mexico, England, and Wales (Balmori de la Miyar et al.,  2021a ; Hodgkinson & Andresen,  2020 ; Langton et al.,  2021 ; Payne et al.,  2021 ). The rates of certain violent crimes have also declined between 2 weeks to 1 month after stay‐at‐home orders were implemented in March 2020 (Abrams,  2021 ; Campedelli et al.,  2020a ). For example, focusing on 25 large U.S. cities, a study by Abrams ( 2021 ) has revealed a reduction in simple assault rates by 33.3% and aggravated assault rates by 15.9%. Similar decreases have been found across different countries after containment measures were in place between 1 month and 10 weeks after March 2020 (Balmori de la Miyar et al.,  2021a ; Gerell et al.,  2020 ; Langton et al.,  2021 ; Payne et al.,  2020 ).

Whereas certain crimes have decreased since the pandemic started, other types of crime in physical spaces have increased, largely due to the lack of capable guardianship. Given that many businesses have been forced to shut down or have limited hours and less staff available, there have been fewer individuals to witness and deter likely offenders from committing acts of burglary in commercial and non‐residential areas and vehicle theft in parking structures and garages (Ashby,  2020 ; Hodgkinson & Andresen,  2020 ). Accordingly, different studies have found increases in non‐residential burglary (e.g., Abrams,  2021 ; Ashby,  2020 ), commercial burglary (e.g., Hodgkinson & Andresen,  2020 ), and motor vehicle theft (e.g., Abrams,  2021 ; Ashby,  2020 ; Mohler et al.,  2020 ) in the U.S. and Canada. Notably, the stricter restrictions of the movement in physical space have been associated with more dramatic declines in crime (Nivette et al.,  2021 ), whereas as these restrictions have been eased, increases in crime have been observed (Andresen & Hodgkinson,  2020 ).

2.1.2. Cyberspace, crime and the COVID‐19 pandemic

The Internet became the default mode of communication after strict lockdown measures were implemented during the first wave of the pandemic and it remains a major platform for work, classes, consultations, shopping, and socializing. As such, we have observed a “so‐called” switch from the physical world to the digital world (Miró‐Llinares & Moneva,  2019 ; Monteith et al.,  2021 ; Plachkinova,  2021 ). This greater activity in the digital space has provided new economic opportunities for motivated offenders to exploit vulnerable groups and systems including infiltration of individual computers, health care systems, and video conferencing tools (Chawki,  2021 ; Collier,  2020 ; Collier et al.,  2020 ; Monteith et al.,  2021 ; Pawlicka et al.,  2021 ). In fact, this proliferation of cybercriminal activity is suggested to be at least partially attributed to the boredom of offenders because of more leisurely time at home (Collier,  2020 ).

According to recent evidence, since the pandemic started, there has been an increase in such types of cybercrime as denial‐of‐service attacks, fraud, cyber‐related harassment, hate crimes, media hacking, phishing, and online shopping fraud (Buil‐Gil et al.,  2021 ; Collier et al.,  2020 ; Horgan et al.,  2021 ; Kemp et al.,  2021 ; Plachkinova,  2021 ). For example, drawing on victimization data, Sampson and Ojen ( 2021 ) find that phishing and hacking have been the commonly experienced cybercrimes in Nigeria. Notably, phishing emails on COVID‐related topics such as asking for donations and sending malicious links to tax relief documents or free health advice have been particularly widespread (Fontanilla,  2020 ; see Pawlicka et al.,  2021 for more examples).

Further, since the increased dependency on technology for most individuals during the pandemic, there have been growing concerns about the vulnerable victims of cybercrime. Certain individuals unaccustomed to technology may lack sufficient knowledge in recognizing fraudulent processes (Sampson & Ojen,  2021 ), and, therefore, are less likely to successfully take precautionary measures (e.g., software security, strong passwords, etc.). Many who are older, more impulsive, and unfamiliar with new technology are especially likely to be victimized by cybercrime including phishing scams and fraud (Monteith et al.,  2021 ; Sampson & Ojen,  2021 ). Recent research also underscores the importance of paying closer attention to mental illness as another factor that can increase the vulnerability to cybercrime (Monteith et al.,  2021 ).

Overall, consistent with RAT, the vulnerability to different cybercrimes, along with the lack of guardianship in cyberspace, make many individuals suitable targets for motivated offenders during the pandemic (Plachkinova,  2021 ). However, as the broader scope of cybercrime victimization remains largely unknown, more research is needed on understanding the process of convergence of the three factors outlined by RAT in cyberspace. Additionally, there have been calls to focus more on the “capable guardianship” component and, specifically, the appropriate strategies and guidelines promoting cybersecurity in the everchanging complexity of the cyberworld (Fontanilla,  2020 ).

2.1.3. Implications for RAT and future research

Routine Activities Theory has been one of the most common frameworks used to explain how the differential distribution of motivated offenders, vulnerable victims, and capable guardians have shaped the decrease in some types of crime (e.g., assault, robbery, theft, residential burglary) and increase in other types of crime (e.g., cybercrime, non‐residential, commercial burglary, vehicle theft) during the COVID‐19 pandemic (Balmori de la Miyar et al.,  2021a ; Buil‐Gil et al.,  2021 ; Collier,  2020 ; Payne et al.,  2020 , 2021 ). Notably, however, recent studies have revealed the variation in crime across social contexts and regions, time periods, and types of deviance (Andresen & Hodgkinson,  2020 ; Ashby,  2020 ; Balmori de la Miyar et al.,  2021a , 2021b ; Hodgkinson & Andresen,  2020 ; Langton et al.,  2021 ; Mohler et al.,  2020 ; Payne et al.,  2021 ). For example, the changes in crime rates have been inconsistent in the weeks and months following the lockdown orders (e.g., Hodgkinson & Andresen,  2020 ; Langton et al.,  2021 ), and several studies have failed to discover any changes in certain crimes (Balmori de la Miyar et al.,  2021a ; Gerell et al.,  2020 ).

This suggests that to better understand trends in crime during the COVID‐19 pandemic, more research and theorizing are needed focusing on various interrelationships between the convergence of the three factors outlined by RAT, characteristics of social contexts, and different COVID‐19‐related policies and rules. For example, researchers could explore how characteristics of countries, such as their culture, economy, and policy choices, interact with the likelihood of convergence of motivated offenders, vulnerable victims, and capable guardians to shape a criminal opportunity. In addition, whereas RAT does not focus on causes of criminal motivation, it is important to further integrate RAT and other perspectives to explore how certain conditions could play a role in whether offenders will ultimately get motivated to engage in crime given the opportunity during the pandemic.

2.2. Stress during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Besides the drastic changes in daily routines during the COVID‐19 pandemic, people around the globe have been experiencing increased stress (Brown et al.,  2020 ; Campbell,  2020 ). Since the start of the pandemic, many individuals have faced numerous critical strains in daily lives including loss of employment, death of loved ones, social isolation, concerns about the vaccine, and many other pandemic‐related issues (Everytown Research & Policy,  2021 ; Lyons & Brewer,  2021 ). As a result, many people have experienced negative emotions, which might have been further exacerbated by the inability to use healthy coping mechanisms such as talking to a loved one or using social services (Piquero et al.,  2020 ). Thus, due to the increased stress and negative emotions coupled with the lack of legitimate coping strategies, it is possible that the global pandemic could both, directly and indirectly, cause issues with deviance and violence.

Robert Agnew's General Strain Theory (GST) provides an explanation of how stressful experiences may lead to violence and crime. Specifically, GST in criminology argues that people may experience different types of strain: (1) failure to achieve positively valued goals (e.g., the inability to get a job or education); (2) presentation of negative stimuli (e.g., experiencing undesirable events such as abuse); and (3) removal of positive stimuli (e.g., losing a family member or a close friend; Agnew,  1992 , 2006 ). Most importantly, Agnew ( 1992 ) emphasizes that these strains lead to strong negative emotions (e.g., anger) as well as mental health issues (e.g., depression). Agnew ( 1992 ) further outlines multiple coping strategies with strain including emotional (e.g., substance abuse), cognitive (e.g., minimizing the importance of adversity), and behavioral (e.g., seeking social support, criminal behavior). The behavioral coping mechanisms in particular encompass individuals actively seeking legal or illegal actions to eliminate sources of strain (Agnew,  2006 ). When appropriate and legitimate coping strategies are absent and certain conditions are present, individuals are particularly likely to engage in violent and criminal behaviors. Notably, the accumulation of different strains tends to have the strongest crime‐inducing effect (Agnew,  2006 ).

The conditions during the COVID‐19 pandemic have undoubtedly contributed to producing various types of strains. The financial and economic constraints, such as minimal employment opportunities and limited income, can be described as a failure to achieve goals as well as the removal of positive stimuli due to being laid off (Kim & Phillips,  2021 ). In addition, legislative responses to the COVID‐19 virus, such as stay‐at‐home orders and social distancing restrictions, could be perceived as various forms of negative stimuli. Negative relationships between partners or family members can also be more apparent as people have become limited in their mobility and social interaction (Payne et al.,  2020 ). The removal of positive stimuli is also evident when people lose their loved ones or are unable to interact with others. With limited interaction, coupled with multiple hardships, individuals may seek new forms of coping strategies as other forms may no longer be accessible during the pandemic.

Recent empirical studies have elaborated on the consequences of stressful conditions during the COVID‐19 pandemic. As individuals have become more socially isolated and stressed, this exacerbated different mental health problems including depression and anxiety among both adolescents and adults (Cianfarani & Pampanini,  2021 ; Coiro et al.,  2021 ; Czeisler et al.,  2020 ; Diaz‐Martinez et al.,  2021 ; Magson et al.,  2021 ). Further, consistent with GST, studies have found an increased use of alcohol and cannabis among young people and adults to cope during the pandemic (Diaz‐Martinez et al.,  2021 ; Dumas et al.,  2020 ; Grossman et al.,  2020 ; MacMillan et al.,  2021 ). For example, drawing on the survey among adults in the U.S. and Canada, MacMillan et al. ( 2021 ) have shown that such stressful conditions as being personally affected by COVID‐19 and experiencing childcare challenges increase the risk for substance use during the pandemic.

In addition to increased mental health issues and substance use, recent research has suggested that the pandemic‐related stressors are related to deviant and violent behaviors. For example, COVID‐19‐related stress has been found to increase parental neglect and harsh disciplinary practices towards children (Connell & Strambler,  2021 ) as well as engagement in such deviant behavior as cyberbullying (Barlett et al.,  2021 ) among U.S. adults. Moreover, following the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic, there have been increases in reports of different violent behaviors (Mohler et al.,  2020 ; Piquero et al.,  2020 , 2021 ) including the escalated gun violence in large metropolitan areas (Hatchimonji et al.,  2020 ; Kim & Phillips,  2021 ; Schleimer et al.,  2020 ; Sutherland et al.,  2021 ). For example, a significant surge in gun violence including non‐fatal and gang‐related shootings was observed about 29 weeks after the stay‐at‐home orders were implemented in New York state (Kim & Phillips,  2021 ). In fact, gun purchases in the U.S. increased by $2.1 million between March and May 2020 only (Schleimer et al.,  2020 ). Consistent with GST, growing concerns and fears for oneself and others during the pandemic can be conceptualized as stressors that have influenced the use of firearms and ammunition as means of protection (Kravitz‐Wirtz et al.,  2021 ).

2.2.1. Implications for GST and future research

As various deviant behaviors have increased since the COVID‐19 pandemic (Hatchimonji et al.,  2020 ; Kim & Phillips,  2021 ; Mohler et al.,  2020 ; Schleimer et al.,  2020 ; Sutherland et al.,  2021 ), particular attention should be paid to a broad range of the pandemic‐related strains as potential precursors of violent and deviant acts (Barlett et al.,  2021 ). Although only a few studies have directly examined the role of stress as a factor underlying increased violence during the COVID‐19 pandemic, further research is warranted to comprehensively test GST accounting for a broad range of strains (e.g., financial hardships, limited interactions, concerns about the vaccine, and fears related to new virus variants).

Additionally, to better understand the relationship between the pandemic‐related stressors and deviance, other important factors must be considered including levels of social support and resources (Payne et al.,  2020 ) and decision‐making (Timmer et al.,  2021 ). The consequences of the pandemic‐related stressors can also differ across socio‐demographic groups. For example, literature shows that racial and ethnic minorities can be more vulnerable to certain stressors including discrimination and prejudice (Brown et al.,  2021 ; Kaufman et al.,  2008 ; Leeper Piquero & Sealock,  2010 ; Pérez et al.,  2008 ) and thus, may be at higher risk for violence and substance abuse during the pandemic. Finally, it is important to examine the changes in stress‐crime relationships during and after the pandemic to provide a more nuanced picture of crime changes over time.

3. DIFFERENTIAL VULNERABILITIES DURING THE COVID‐19 PANDEMIC

Whereas recent studies have shown unique crime trends during the pandemic, they have also suggested that crime and its causes may vary across regions, time periods, and contexts, with some research providing mixed evidence on crime levels overall. This, in turn, calls into question the generality of existent theories and suggests the need to refine theoretical frameworks and research to better explain criminal behaviors during the COVID‐19 pandemic. We argue that a closer evaluation of the differential vulnerabilities related to violence and crime across social groups and contexts will help us provide a more comprehensive explanation of causes of crime during and post pandemic.

Since the emergence of the COVID‐19 pandemic, the economic distress, erosions of social support, and feelings of hopelessness fueled by the lockdown orders and containment measures have created a sense of public anxiety around the world (Dastagir,  2020 ; Muhammad,  2020 ). However, the negative outcomes associated with the global health crisis have not been experienced equally and issues like social isolation, fear, uncertainty, an unprecedented use of cyberspace, and incrementing vulnerabilities have affected certain communities more than others. In fact, the COVID‐19 pandemic‐related conditions have exacerbated the existing institutional biases and structural inequities in the access to healthcare, housing, education, and employment (Muhammad,  2020 ), which in turn, created differential impacts on opportunities and resources for certain marginalized groups including outcomes related to crime and violence. In the next sections, we discuss the disproportionate effects of violence‐related issues on Black communities, hate crimes towards the AAPI community, the impact of COVID‐19 on IPV, and cross‐national differences in crime as illustrations of differential vulnerabilities in contemporary society.

3.1. Disproportionate impact of violence on Black communities

Emerging evidence has indicated a continual increase in gun‐related deaths and injuries during the pandemic (Abdallah et al.,  2021 ; Hatchimonji et al.,  2020 ; Kim & Phillips,  2021 ; Police Executive Research Forum,  2021 ; Schleimer et al.,  2020 ; Sutherland et al.,  2021 ). The Black community continues to bear the greatest burden of this crisis suggesting a disproportionate and deepened impact of violence on this community. Notably, pre‐pandemic in 2019, the homicide rate among Black men was more than 20 times higher as compared to their White counterparts including a high rate of gun‐related deaths among Black teens and adults (Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence and Coalition to Stop Gun Violence,  2021 ). The disproportionate risk for violence in the Black community is argued to continue during and post‐pandemic (Muhammad,  2020 ; Schleimer et al.,  2022 ; Weil,  2021 ).

Consistent with RAT, this higher risk for violence can be at least partially explained by the increased likelihood of criminal events in vulnerable communities, especially due to more vulnerable targets. Importantly, to better understand the increased vulnerability of the Black community, it is important to place this community's experiences in the larger economic and political contexts of different societies (Wilson,  1987 , 2009 ). For example, Black individuals in the United States have historically had differential access to societal privileges such as upward mobility and job placement, which further contributed to large class inequalities across racial groups (Wilson,  2009 ). These socioeconomic inequalities have interacted with other major life barriers faced by Black people including discrimination in laws and policies to cause persistent poverty and lack of resources (Wilson,  1987 , 2009 ), which in turn increased their vulnerabilities in society including risk for violence and victimization. In other words, the larger opportunity for violent behavior and risk for victimization in Black communities can largely be attributed to income inequality and limited economic opportunities (Kim,  2019 ).

The COVID‐19 pandemic has further exacerbated these vulnerabilities. As a result of the lockdown measures, thousands of businesses were forced to temporarily close or shift to remote operations, with many of these shutdowns remaining permanent (Fairlie,  2020 ). The occupations that needed to be significantly reduced were various nonremote, frontline positions, which are professions Black Americans are largely represented in (Rapier,  2020 ). Thus, Black Americans have been extremely burdened by the vast number of layoffs, with this groups' employment‐population ratio being at 50.8% in March 2020 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,  2021 ). Drawing on GST, these unemployment consequences, socioeconomic disparities, and racial inequality along with economic hardships can be understood as severe strains (Agnew,  1999 ; Kaufman et al.,  2008 ; Leeper Piquero & Sealock,  2010 ; Pérez et al.,  2008 ), which can disproportionally affect violence and victimization in the Black community. A high risk for firearm‐related incidents in communities of color (Kim,  2019 ) and suicide (Kawohl & Nordt,  2020 ) also demonstrate support for these claims. In addition, a recent study by Brown et al. ( 2021 ) reveals the association between racial discrimination during the pandemic and increased substance use among Black Americans as well as other minority groups.

Further, research has found that arrests for violent crime tend to be concentrated in Black disadvantaged neighborhoods during the pandemic (Moise & Piquero,  2021 ). The disproportionate arrests and mistreatment of racial and ethnic minorities by the criminal justice system is an ongoing problem in the U.S. as well as globally (Toure et al.,  2021 ). Recently, the garnered attention to police violence and mass sharing of the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor have produced trauma and emotional numbness in these communities (McCoy,  2020 ), which is likely to further intensify their vulnerability to violence and victimization (Anderson,  2021 ; Broidy & Santoro,  2018 ). Thus, it is particularly important to study how the disproportionate financial and health burden of the COVID‐19 pandemic, exposure to police violence, and racial inequality combine to exacerbate important life outcomes including crime and violence in the Black community.

In sum, the evidence to date suggests that the history of discrimination and repeated victimization along with differential access to resources have had a negative impact on the well‐being of the Black community including putting this community at a higher risk for violence and crime. Notably, we must consider that trauma experienced by the Black community can be passed through generations such as maternal trauma impacting children's fundamental behavioral mechanisms irrespective of their own trauma exposure (Stenson et al.,  2021 ). As such, future research must continue to explore how the complex interactions of historical and current victimization of Black individuals along with the forced societal changes in response to the pandemic can shape deviant and violent behavior.

3.2. Violence towards Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities

Since the early outbreak of the COVID‐19 virus, anti‐Asian discrimination and hate crimes have dramatically increased (Chen et al.,  2020 ; Li & Nicholson,  2021 ; Woo & Jun,  2021 ). The coalition Stop AAPI Hate reported about 3795 known cases of hate incidents between 19 March 2020, and 28 February 2021 (Jeung et al.,  2021 ), and some of these incidents even went viral across social media platforms. In early 2021, the security footage of the deadly attack of Vicha Ratanapakdee, an 84‐year‐old Thai American man, has generated national attention and outcry for the brutal assault (Fuller,  2021 ). In addition to physical attacks, fear and anxiety continue to persist among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, particularly women, as six Asian women were murdered in the Atlanta, Georgia spa shootings in March 2021 (Lang & Cachero,  2021 ).

This increase in hate violence suggests that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have increasingly become vulnerable targets to prejudice and violence amid the pandemic (Chen et al.,  2020 ; Darling‐Hammond et al.,  2020 ). Zhang et al. ( 2021 ) find that Asian Americans are more likely to be victimized in places where they are not local residents. This suggests the importance of understanding the locality where the convergence between vulnerable targets and motivated offenders occurs. In addition, Asian Americans are less likely than other groups to report their victimization to officials (Lantz & Wenger,  2021 ), which means that there may be less law enforcement intervention or, as stated by RAT, lack of “capable guardians” to prevent re‐occurring criminal and violent events. Further, research has shown that motivated offenders, when presented with the opportunity, are highly likely to use that opportunity to commit crimes against racial minority groups (Green et al.,  2001 ). Notably, hate violence is found to be often perpetrated by strangers (Zhang et al.,  2021 ) and those who are “thrill‐seekers” (Levin & McDevitt,  2013 ).

Scholars have argued that to understand hate violence today it is important to address how it is rooted in the anti‐Asian rhetoric associating all Asians, regardless of ethnicity, as carriers of the COVID‐19 virus (Tessler et al.,  2020 ). In fact, these recent experiences of xenophobia and racial violence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are all but novel and profoundly rooted in how Asians were scapegoated during times of health crises. In the 19th century, the “Yellow Peril,”—the vilifying of Asian immigrants as uncivilized and threatening to the Western world—has led to the widespread perception of Asian immigrants as contagions, which resulted in dehumanizing measures to contain certain infectious diseases such as burning neighborhoods in Chinatown (Chen et al.,  2020 ). In more recent periods, during the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003 Asian Americans were also depicted to be distrustful and frightening, which created severe economic implications for Asian businesses (Chen et al.,  2020 ; Tessler et al.,  2020 ). Not just limited to those of Asian heritage, marginalized racial and ethnic groups overall were outcasted when societies faced public health crises, such as Italian immigrants during the 1916 polio outbreak in New York City (Kraut,  2010 ).

Thus, to understand and address increased violence towards marginalized communities during the COVID‐19 pandemic, it is important to dig deeper into the concepts of racial hatred, the ideas of “otherness” or “foreignness,” and the historical and structural context of the formation of individual beliefs about race and ethnicity (Gover et al.,  2020 ; Li & Nicholson,  2021 ). Future research should examine sources of the continued perception of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders as outsiders during the pandemic along with the idea of the so‐called “reemergence of the Yellow Peril” (Tessler et al.,  2020 ), and, further, test empirically how those perceptions contribute to the proliferation of hate crimes. Another important avenue to explore is how hate crimes are a reaction based on the animosity towards Asians as “model minority,” where Asian individuals' success in multiple fields is perceived as a threat by members of other racial groups (Levin & McDevitt,  2013 ; Zhang et al.,  2021 ). The feelings of threat and competition can be conceptualized as strains, which consistent with GST (Agnew,  2006 ) can serve as significant explanatory factors in hate crimes. Overall, a better understanding of the roots and processes related to hate crimes during the COVID‐19 pandemic will help provide a more comprehensive explanation of the nuances of violent crimes at the time of public health crises.

3.3. COVID‐19 and intimate partner violence

Intimate partner violence has rapidly emerged as a major concern during the COVID‐19 pandemic (Campbell,  2020 ; Iesue et al.,  2021 ; Lyons & Brewer,  2021 ; Piquero et al.,  2021 ). In a systematic review of existent studies during the pandemic, Piquero et al. ( 2021 ) have indicated that, overall, there has been at least some increase in reports of domestic violence compared to pre‐pandemic levels. In China, for instance, the reports of domestic violence tripled, and, in Brazil, they increased by about 40%–50%, while in France, by nearly 30% (Campbell,  2020 ; United Nations,  2020 ). Drawing on data including both reported and unreported cases of domestic violence, a study by Arenas‐Arroyo et al. ( 2021 ) found that the IPV incidents increased by about 23% during the lockdown in Spain.

Due to stay‐at‐home orders and limited physical interactions, the increased time indoors can cause more arguments and conflict and worsen relationship conditions (Kaukinen,  2020 ). Consistent with GST, research has found that both the lockdown conditions and economic stress are factors that have increased IPV during the pandemic (Arenas‐Arroyo et al.,  2021 ). Notably, there have been reports of higher severity of IPV since the pandemic started, with the increased incidents of IPV disproportionally affecting different marginalized groups (Peitzmeier et al.,  2021 ). Researchers have also emphasized that the constant combination of such stressful conditions as longer periods indoors, unemployment, and other concerns coupled with lack of social support and substance use, will further dramatically intensify IPV over time (Campbell,  2020 ; Hoehn‐Velasco et al.,  2021 ).

Furthermore, evidence suggests that the conditions during the COVID‐19 pandemic provide opportunities for abusers to maintain control. Abusive behaviors, including coercive control, may amplify as preparators can deprive victims of COVID‐19‐related needs (e.g., masks, hand soaps, cleaning materials) and use technological devices for surveillance and to control access to online communication (Slakoff et al.,  2020 ). In fact, in a qualitative study with survivors, women described how their abusers controlled their access and use of phones by allowing them to only speak with certain individuals, at particular times of the day, and for a certain duration (Havard & Lefevre,  2020 ). This limited virtual contact with others can leave victims suspectable to further harm from perpetrators.

It is important to note that there has been mixed evidence regarding the degree to which incidents of domestic violence and interpersonal violence have been a response to the restrictions and lockdown orders (Abrams,  2021 ; Balmori de la Miyar et al.,  2021a ; Bullinger et al.,  2021 ; Campedelli et al.,  2020a ; Mohler et al.,  2020 ; Piquero et al.,  2020 ). Research studies also may underestimate the true impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on IPV due to the issues of reporting and fear among victims (Piquero et al.,  2021 ). As such, future studies should take a comprehensive approach to understanding the issue of IPV. This can be accomplished by drawing on different data sources including victimization studies and qualitative interviews with the victims globally. In addition, more attention should be paid to the strategies employed by the perpetrators to maintain control over the victims including novel ways to incorporate technology and different psychological dimensions of coercion.

3.4. Cross‐national differences in crime during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Research has overall suggested that different patterns of violence and crime have been relatively consistent cross‐nationally (Wilkins et al.,  2019 ; Wolf et al.,  2014 ). For example, rates of assault and burglary significantly decreased after the containment measures were implemented across various locations including Mexico, Sweden, England, Wales, and Australia (Balmori de la Miyar et al.,  2021a ; Gerell et al.,  2020 ; Langton et al.,  2021 ; Payne et al.,  2020 , 2021 ). Similar consistent decreases have been observed in different types of theft across Mexico, Canada, Australia, England, and Wales (Balmori de la Miyar et al.,  2021a ; Hodgkinson & Andresen,  2020 ; Langton et al.,  2021 ; Payne et al.,  2021 ).

On the other hand, there have been differential trends in rates of certain types of violence cross‐nationally, and specifically, lethal violence. Research on homicide rates in countries across Latin America has shown that, whereas there were decreases in violent crime in Colombia, Guatemala, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Honduras, levels of violent crime increased in Brazil and Mexico, though changes were only temporary (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime [UNODC],  2020 ). Further, short time decreases in homicide rates have been observed in Italy, Moldova, Spain, Kazakhstan, and South Africa with variations based on different pandemic periods (UNODC,  2020 ). These differences globally indicate that there could be complex country‐level processes at play that interact with the COVID‐19 pandemic‐related conditions to influence changes in the rates of violence. For example, in addition to being affected by the pandemic lockdown measures, lethal violence could be attributed to the police‐gang interactions (BBC News,  2020 ; Hoehn‐Velasco et al.,  2021 ) and organized crime activity (Balmori de La Miyar et al.,  2021a ; Calderon‐Anyosa & Kaufman,  2021 ). Studies have also observed the increase of gun export from the U.S. to several countries including Mexico, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates within the first 5 months of 2020, which is suggested to contribute to growths in homicides and violence in those countries during the COVID‐19 pandemic (Hyder et al.,  2021 ; Lindsay‐Poland,  2020 ). These different characteristics of countries and the relationships among them can further combine to shape the occurrence of different types of violence such as homicides (UNODC,  2019 ). Overall, we call for more cross‐cultural research and cross‐national criminological theory testing to better understand the role of social and cultural processes in violence and crime during the pandemic.

4. LIMITATIONS OF RESEARCH ON VIOLENCE AND CRIME DURING THE COVID‐19 PANDEMIC

Several limitations of existent research on the COVID‐19 pandemic and crime relationship need to be noted. First, much of the existent research focuses on the short‐term changes in crime after lockdown orders were in effect. Although altered routine activities of individuals may explain the immediate changes in crime rates, this may not be consistent as the pandemic progresses through the year (Felson et al.,  2020 ). Moreover, as countries and states in the U.S. have begun to administer vaccinations and adjust their mandates, more longitudinal research is needed to evaluate how this continuously affects criminal occurrences.

In addition, numerous initial studies on crime during the COVID‐19 pandemic have generally relied on police recorded data, with only a few studies using victimization data including in‐depth interviewing of the victims (e.g., Havard & Lefevre,  2020 ; Lantz & Wenger,  2021 ; Sampson & Ojen,  2021 ). Certain offenses such as IPV and cybercrime are often unreported (Boman & Gallupe,  2020 ; Cheng et al.,  2018 ; Payne et al.,  2020 ; Piquero et al.,  2021 ). For example, individuals experiencing domestic violence during the pandemic may underreport due to their inability to contact friends who would have encouraged reporting or arrange a feasible refuge after reporting (Payne et al.,  2020 ), and victims of cybercrime may be unaware for at least some period of time that they have been victimized as well as distrust law enforcement (Buil‐Gil et al.,  2021 ; Monteith et al.,  2021 ). As such, it is critical to compare findings from official and victimization data and further analyze which pandemic conditions reflect changes in reporting and which changes in behavior. Many existent studies have also relied on convenience samples; hence their generalizability remains limited. In addition, most existent research has not tested criminological and sociological theories directly, and thus, we need to include standardized measures representing theoretically based factors to better explain the causes of crime and violence during this global crisis.

5. FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Due to the novelty of the COVID‐19 pandemic and its consequences, there is an urgent need for more research on criminal behaviors accounting for the widespread changes in social contexts and individual lives during global crises. First, it is important to integrate social scientific frameworks to provide a more nuanced explanation of different types of crime. For instance, future studies can integrate GST and approaches from sociology, social psychology, and public health to better explain the conditions under which the pandemic‐related stress can lead to crime including levels of substance use, residential location, association with deviant friends, decision‐making, and other factors. Importantly, it is critical to address more systematically the differential vulnerabilities related to crime and violence across social groups and contexts. Although in this paper, we focus on a few selected examples of experiences of different populations, we call for more theorization and research of crime and violence among other vulnerable groups including children, immigrants, incarcerated individuals, and others differentially impacted by these unprecedented times. Further, it is important to examine the role of different theoretically based factors shaping crime during the pandemic including lack of social attachment, increased association with deviant others, and unstructured socializing among others.

Next, focusing on the social, cultural, and political contexts within each country can also provide supplementary evidence on how crime and justice operate differently across settings and groups. For example, a cross‐national study by Vazsonyi et al. ( 2018 ) has underscored the importance of incorporating several micro and macro‐level factors including family and peer activities, employment, life expectancy, and academic involvement to better understand the occurrence of criminal events across cultural contexts. Given the unique conditions produced by the pandemic, there may be differential experiences on individual, community, and national levels. Thus, it is important to assess how the convergence of suitable targets, motivated offenders and capable guardians vary based on these conditions across countries and social contexts.

There are also several other novel areas to explore. The first one is related to the so‐called “crime shift” from physical spaces to the cyberworld during the pandemic. Although the current research on this topic is preliminary, a few studies provide some evidence of the potential relationship between the COVID‐19 pandemic‐related conditions and shifts in crime types (e.g., Buil‐Gil et al., 2021 ; Collier et al.,  2020 ; Miró‐Llinares & Moneva,  2019 ). Additionally, more research is warranted on how violence can develop as a result of different pandemic‐related conditions such as anti‐masks and anti‐vaccination movements. For example, Taylor and Asmundson ( 2021 ) point to the fact that individuals who are against wearing masks tend to react with anger and frustration when forced to wear them. Given that these emotions are associated with violence (Agnew,  2006 ), more research is needed to explain how refusal to wear masks in different places including airplanes, stores, and schools can lead to violent and criminal behavior.

Finally, there is the need for interdisciplinary approaches that combine standardized psychological scales, measures of deviant behaviors, and different factors that have distinctly or collectively increase the risk of psychosocial atypicality and could serve as mediating or moderating mechanisms in the relationship between the pandemic‐related conditions and crime (e.g., emergence of unhealthy coping mechanisms, employers and the government, fears, paranoia, etc.). Overall, to provide evidence‐based policies on crime prevention, more research should be conducted exploring the complex interrelated causes of crime during the COVID‐19 pandemic as well as addressing the differential vulnerabilities during the public health crisis through multidisciplinary and comparative studies across social groups and nations.

6. CONCLUSION

The COVID‐19 pandemic has had an overwhelming effect on individual lives and communities. As global society continues to live through these unprecedented times, it is particularly important to acknowledge issues related to violence, crime, and justice more broadly. Present research has revealed that crime during the COVID‐19 pandemic is at least partially shaped by the changes in people's daily routines and experiences of stressful conditions. Yet, given that crime trends remain to be largely inconsistent and contingent on various factors, we need to reevaluate existent approaches and include more interdisciplinary studies on criminal and violent behavior. Future research should focus on how and why crime and its sources vary across social contexts with the specific focus on vulnerable groups including racial and ethnic minorities, women, adolescents, children, and immigrants among other populations. As different countries are starting to reopen and shift back to pre‐pandemic routines, we need to further investigate how the new social realities continue to shape crime and violence. Overall, these novel times call for the development of systematic multidisciplinary and cross‐national approaches to help better understand and prevent contemporary crime and violence.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Acknowledgement.

Research reported in this publication has been supported by the CSUN Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity and CSBS Research Competition Grants.

Biographies

Jullianne Regalado's research interests include causes of deviance and crime, criminological theory testing, and cross‐national research. She is a research assistant and student in the Department of Criminology and Justice Studies at California State University, Northridge. Jullianne has also completed a research internship at the NSF‐funded REU research program at Wayne State University examining issues related to social control and crime.

Anastasiia Timmer's research focuses on causes of violence and crime cross‐nationally and the role of mental health and trauma in crime and criminal justice outcomes. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Miami and is an assistant professor in the Department of Criminology and Justice Studies at California State University, Northridge.

Ali Jawaid's research examines the influence of environmental exposures and life experiences on brain disorders and social behavior. Dr. Jawaid has an MD‐PhD degree from University of Zurich, Switzerland and currently heads the Laboratory of Translational Research in Neuropsychiatric Disorders (TREND) at the BRAINCITY: Center of Excellence for Neural Plasticity and Brain Disorders, Warsaw, Poland. He is also an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, USA.

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7.2 Explaining Deviance

Learning objective.

• State the major arguments and assumptions of the various sociological explanations of deviance.

If we want to reduce violent crime and other serious deviance, we must first understand why it occurs. Many sociological theories of deviance exist, and together they offer a more complete understanding of deviance than any one theory offers by itself. Together they help answer the questions posed earlier: why rates of deviance differ within social categories and across locations, why some behaviors are more likely than others to be considered deviant, and why some kinds of people are more likely than others to be considered deviant and to be punished for deviant behavior. As a whole, sociological explanations highlight the importance of the social environment and of social interaction for deviance and the commision of crime. As such, they have important implications for how to reduce these behaviors. Consistent with this book’s public sociology theme, a discussion of several such crime-reduction strategies concludes this chapter.

We now turn to the major sociological explanations of crime and deviance. A summary of these explanations appears in Table 7.1 “Theory Snapshot: Summary of Sociological Explanations of Deviance and Crime” .

Table 7.1 Theory Snapshot: Summary of Sociological Explanations of Deviance and Crime

Functionalist Explanations

Several explanations may be grouped under the functionalist perspective in sociology, as they all share this perspective’s central view on the importance of various aspects of society for social stability and other social needs.

Émile Durkheim: The Functions of Deviance

As noted earlier, Émile Durkheim said deviance is normal, but he did not stop there. In a surprising and still controversial twist, he also argued that deviance serves several important functions for society.

First, Durkheim said, deviance clarifies social norms and increases conformity. This happens because the discovery and punishment of deviance reminds people of the norms and reinforces the consequences of violating them. If your class were taking an exam and a student was caught cheating, the rest of the class would be instantly reminded of the rules about cheating and the punishment for it, and as a result they would be less likely to cheat.

A second function of deviance is that it strengthens social bonds among the people reacting to the deviant. An example comes from the classic story The Ox-Bow Incident (Clark, 1940), in which three innocent men are accused of cattle rustling and are eventually lynched. The mob that does the lynching is very united in its frenzy against the men, and, at least at that moment, the bonds among the individuals in the mob are extremely strong.

A final function of deviance, said Durkheim, is that it can help lead to positive social change. Although some of the greatest figures in history—Socrates, Jesus, Joan of Arc, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. to name just a few—were considered the worst kind of deviants in their time, we now honor them for their commitment and sacrifice.

Émile Durkheim wrote that deviance can lead to positive social change. Many Southerners had strong negative feelings about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement, but history now honors him for his commitment and sacrifice.

U.S. Library of Congress – public domain.

Sociologist Herbert Gans (1996) pointed to an additional function of deviance: deviance creates jobs for the segments of society—police, prison guards, criminology professors, and so forth—whose main focus is to deal with deviants in some manner. If deviance and crime did not exist, hundreds of thousands of law-abiding people in the United States would be out of work!

Although deviance can have all of these functions, many forms of it can certainly be quite harmful, as the story of the mugged voter that began this chapter reminds us. Violent crime and property crime in the United States victimize millions of people and households each year, while crime by corporations has effects that are even more harmful, as we discuss later. Drug use, prostitution, and other “victimless” crimes may involve willing participants, but these participants often cause themselves and others much harm. Although deviance according to Durkheim is inevitable and normal and serves important functions, that certainly does not mean the United States and other nations should be happy to have high rates of serious deviance. The sociological theories we discuss point to certain aspects of the social environment, broadly defined, that contribute to deviance and crime and that should be the focus of efforts to reduce these behaviors.

Social Ecology: Neighborhood and Community Characteristics

An important sociological approach, begun in the late 1800s and early 1900s by sociologists at the University of Chicago, stresses that certain social and physical characteristics of urban neighborhoods raise the odds that people growing up and living in these neighborhoods will commit deviance and crime. This line of thought is now called the social ecology approach (Mears, Wang, Hay, & Bales, 2008). Many criminogenic (crime-causing) neighborhood characteristics have been identified, including high rates of poverty, population density, dilapidated housing, residential mobility, and single-parent households. All of these problems are thought to contribute to social disorganization , or weakened social bonds and social institutions, that make it difficult to socialize children properly and to monitor suspicious behavior (Mears, Wang, Hay, & Bales, 2008; Sampson, 2006).

Sociology Making a Difference

Improving Neighborhood Conditions Helps Reduce Crime Rates

One of the sociological theories of crime discussed in the text is the social ecology approach. To review, this approach attributes high rates of deviance and crime to the neighborhood’s social and physical characteristics, including poverty, high population density, dilapidated housing, and high population turnover. These problems create social disorganization that weakens the neighborhood’s social institutions and impairs effective child socialization.

Much empirical evidence supports social ecology’s view about negative neighborhood conditions and crime rates and suggests that efforts to improve these conditions will lower crime rates. Some of the most persuasive evidence comes from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (directed by sociologist Robert J. Sampson), in which more than 6,000 children, ranging in age from birth to 18, and their parents and other caretakers were studied over a 7-year period. The social and physical characteristics of the dozens of neighborhoods in which the subjects lived were measured to permit assessment of these characteristics’ effects on the probability of delinquency. A number of studies using data from this project confirm the general assumptions of the social ecology approach. In particular, delinquency is higher in neighborhoods with lower levels of “collective efficacy,” that is, in neighborhoods with lower levels of community supervision of adolescent behavior.

The many studies from the Chicago project and data in several other cities show that neighborhood conditions greatly affect the extent of delinquency in urban neighborhoods. This body of research in turn suggests that strategies and programs that improve the social and physical conditions of urban neighborhoods may well help decrease the high rates of crime and delinquency that are so often found there. (Bellair & McNulty, 2009; Sampson, 2006)

Strain Theory

Failure to achieve the American dream lies at the heart of Robert Merton’s (1938) famous strain theory (also called anomie theory). Recall from Chapter 1 “Sociology and the Sociological Perspective” that Durkheim attributed high rates of suicide to anomie, or normlessness, that occurs in times when social norms are unclear or weak. Adapting this concept, Merton wanted to explain why poor people have higher deviance rates than the nonpoor. He reasoned that the United States values economic success above all else and also has norms that specify the approved means, working, for achieving economic success. Because the poor often cannot achieve the American dream of success through the conventional means of working, they experience a gap between the goal of economic success and the means of working. This gap, which Merton likened to Durkheim’s anomie because of the resulting lack of clarity over norms, leads to strain or frustration. To reduce their frustration, some poor people resort to several adaptations, including deviance, depending on whether they accept or reject the goal of economic success and the means of working. Table 7.2 “Merton’s Anomie Theory” presents the logical adaptations of the poor to the strain they experience. Let’s review these briefly.

Table 7.2 Merton’s Anomie Theory

Despite their strain, most poor people continue to accept the goal of economic success and continue to believe they should work to make money. In other words, they continue to be good, law-abiding citizens. They conform to society’s norms and values, and, not surprisingly, Merton calls their adaptation conformity .

Faced with strain, some poor people continue to value economic success but come up with new means of achieving it. They rob people or banks, commit fraud, or use other illegal means of acquiring money or property. Merton calls this adaptation innovation .

Other poor people continue to work at a job without much hope of greatly improving their lot in life. They go to work day after day as a habit. Merton calls this third adaptation ritualism . This adaptation does not involve deviant behavior but is a logical response to the strain poor people experience.

One of Robert Merton’s adaptations in his strain theory is retreatism, in which poor people abandon society’s goal of economic success and reject its means of employment to reach this goal. Many of today’s homeless people might be considered retreatists under Merton’s typology.

Franco Folini – Homeless woman with dogs – CC BY-SA 2.0.

In Merton’s fourth adaptation, retreatism , some poor people withdraw from society by becoming hobos or vagrants or by becoming addicted to alcohol, heroin, or other drugs. Their response to the strain they feel is to reject both the goal of economic success and the means of working.

Merton’s fifth and final adaptation is rebellion . Here poor people not only reject the goal of success and the means of working but work actively to bring about a new society with a new value system. These people are the radicals and revolutionaries of their time. Because Merton developed his strain theory in the aftermath of the Great Depression, in which the labor and socialist movements had been quite active, it is not surprising that he thought of rebellion as a logical adaptation of the poor to their lack of economic success.

Although Merton’s theory has been popular over the years, it has some limitations. Perhaps most important, it overlooks deviance such as fraud by the middle and upper classes and also fails to explain murder, rape, and other crimes that usually are not done for economic reasons. It also does not explain why some poor people choose one adaptation over another.

Merton’s strain theory stimulated other explanations of deviance that built on his concept of strain. Differential opportunity theory , developed by Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin (1960), tried to explain why the poor choose one or the other of Merton’s adaptations. Whereas Merton stressed that the poor have differential access to legitimate means (working), Cloward and Ohlin stressed that they have differential access to illegitimate means . For example, some live in neighborhoods where organized crime is dominant and will get involved in such crime; others live in neighborhoods rampant with drug use and will start using drugs themselves.

In a more recent formulation, two sociologists, Steven F. Messner and Richard Rosenfeld (2007), expanded Merton’s view by arguing that in the United States crime arises from several of our most important values, including an overemphasis on economic success, individualism, and competition. These values produce crime by making many Americans, rich or poor, feel they never have enough money and by prompting them to help themselves even at other people’s expense. Crime in the United States, then, arises ironically from the country’s most basic values.

In yet another extension of Merton’s theory, Robert Agnew (2007) reasoned that adolescents experience various kinds of strain in addition to the economic type addressed by Merton. A romantic relationship may end, a family member may die, or students may be taunted or bullied at school. Repeated strain-inducing incidents such as these produce anger, frustration, and other negative emotions, and these emotions in turn prompt delinquency and drug use.

Deviant Subcultures

Some sociologists stress that poverty and other community conditions give rise to certain subcultures through which adolescents acquire values that promote deviant behavior. One of the first to make this point was Albert K. Cohen (1955), whose status frustration theory says that lower-class boys do poorly in school because schools emphasize middle-class values. School failure reduces their status and self-esteem, which the boys try to counter by joining juvenile gangs. In these groups, a different value system prevails, and boys can regain status and self-esteem by engaging in delinquency. Cohen had nothing to say about girls, as he assumed they cared little about how well they did in school, placing more importance on marriage and family instead, and hence would remain nondelinquent even if they did not do well. Scholars later criticized his disregard for girls and assumptions about them.

Another sociologist, Walter Miller (1958), said poor boys become delinquent because they live amid a lower-class subculture that includes several focal concerns , or values, that help lead to delinquency. These focal concerns include a taste for trouble, toughness, cleverness, and excitement. If boys grow up in a subculture with these values, they are more likely to break the law. Their deviance is a result of their socialization. Critics said Miller exaggerated the differences between the value systems in poor inner-city neighborhoods and wealthier, middle-class communities (Akers & Sellers, 2008).

A very popular subcultural explanation is the so-called subculture of violence thesis, first advanced by Marvin Wolfgang and Franco Ferracuti (1967). In some inner-city areas, they said, a subculture of violence promotes a violent response to insults and other problems, which people in middle-class areas would probably ignore. The subculture of violence, they continued, arises partly from the need of lower-class males to “prove” their masculinity in view of their economic failure. Quantitative research to test their theory has failed to show that the urban poor are more likely than other groups to approve of violence (Cao, Adams, & Jensen, 1997). On the other hand, recent ethnographic (qualitative) research suggests that large segments of the urban poor do adopt a “code” of toughness and violence to promote respect (Anderson, 1999). As this conflicting evidence illustrates, the subculture of violence view remains controversial and merits further scrutiny.

Social Control Theory

Travis Hirschi (1969) argued that human nature is basically selfish and thus wondered why people do not commit deviance. His answer, which is now called social control theory (also known as social bonding theory ), was that their bonds to conventional social institutions such as the family and the school keep them from violating social norms. Hirschi’s basic perspective reflects Durkheim’s view that strong social norms reduce deviance such as suicide.

Hirschi outlined four types of bonds to conventional social institutions: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief.

• Attachment refers to how much we feel loyal to these institutions and care about the opinions of people in them, such as our parents and teachers. The more attached we are to our families and schools, the less likely we are to be deviant.
• Commitment refers to how much we value our participation in conventional activities such as getting a good education. The more committed we are to these activities and the more time and energy we have invested in them, the less deviant we will be.
• Involvement refers to the amount of time we spend in conventional activities. The more time we spend, the less opportunity we have to be deviant.
• Belief refers to our acceptance of society’s norms. The more we believe in these norms, the less we deviate.

Travis Hirschi’s social control theory stresses the importance of bonds to social institutions for preventing deviance. His theory emphasized the importance of attachment to one’s family in this regard.

More Good Foundation – Mormon Family Dinner – CC BY-NC 2.0.

Hirschi’s theory has been very popular. Many studies find that youths with weaker bonds to their parents and schools are more likely to be deviant. But the theory has its critics (Akers & Sellers, 2008). One problem centers on the chicken-and-egg question of causal order. For example, many studies support social control theory by finding that delinquent youths often have worse relationships with their parents than do nondelinquent youths. Is that because the bad relationships prompt the youths to be delinquent, as Hirschi thought? Or is it because the youths’ delinquency worsens their relationship with their parents? Despite these questions, Hirschi’s social control theory continues to influence our understanding of deviance. To the extent it is correct, it suggests several strategies for preventing crime, including programs designed to improve parenting and relations between parents and children (Welsh & Farrington, 2007).

Conflict and Feminist Explanations

Explanations of crime rooted in the conflict perspective reflect its general view that society is a struggle between the “haves” at the top of society with social, economic, and political power and the “have-nots” at the bottom. Accordingly, they assume that those with power pass laws and otherwise use the legal system to secure their position at the top of society and to keep the powerless on the bottom (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). The poor and minorities are more likely because of their poverty and race to be arrested, convicted, and imprisoned. These explanations also blame street crime by the poor on the economic deprivation and inequality in which they live rather than on any moral failings of the poor.

Some conflict explanations also say that capitalism helps create street crime by the poor. An early proponent of this view was Dutch criminologist Willem Bonger (1916), who said that capitalism as an economic system involves competition for profit. This competition leads to an emphasis in a capitalist society’s culture on egoism , or self-seeking behavior, and greed . Because profit becomes so important, people in a capitalist society are more likely than those in noncapitalist ones to break the law for profit and other gains, even if their behavior hurts others.

Not surprisingly, conflict explanations have sparked much controversy (Akers & Sellers, 2008). Many scholars dismiss them for painting an overly critical picture of the United States and ignoring the excesses of noncapitalistic nations, while others say the theories overstate the degree of inequality in the legal system. In assessing the debate over conflict explanations, a fair conclusion is that their view on discrimination by the legal system applies more to victimless crime (discussed in a later section) than to conventional crime, where it is difficult to argue that laws against such things as murder and robbery reflect the needs of the powerful. However, much evidence supports the conflict assertion that the poor and minorities face disadvantages in the legal system (Reiman & Leighton, 2010). Simply put, the poor cannot afford good attorneys, private investigators, and the other advantages that money brings in court. As just one example, if someone much poorer than O. J. Simpson, the former football player and media celebrity, had been arrested, as he was in 1994, for viciously murdering two people, the defendant would almost certainly have been found guilty. Simpson was able to afford a defense costing hundreds of thousands of dollars and won a jury acquittal in his criminal trial (Barkan, 1996). Also in accordance with conflict theory’s views, corporate executives, among the most powerful members of society, often break the law without fear of imprisonment, as we shall see in our discussion of white-collar crime later in this chapter. Finally, many studies support conflict theory’s view that the roots of crimes by poor people lie in social inequality and economic deprivation (Barkan, 2009).

Feminist Perspectives

Feminist perspectives on crime and criminal justice also fall into the broad rubric of conflict explanations and have burgeoned in the last two decades. Much of this work concerns rape and sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and other crimes against women that were largely neglected until feminists began writing about them in the 1970s (Griffin, 1971). Their views have since influenced public and official attitudes about rape and domestic violence, which used to be thought as something that girls and women brought on themselves. The feminist approach instead places the blame for these crimes squarely on society’s inequality against women and antiquated views about relations between the sexes (Renzetti, 2011).

Another focus of feminist work is gender and legal processing. Are women better or worse off than men when it comes to the chances of being arrested and punished? After many studies in the last two decades, the best answer is that we are not sure (Belknap, 2007). Women are treated a little more harshly than men for minor crimes and a little less harshly for serious crimes, but the gender effect in general is weak.

A third focus concerns the gender difference in serious crime, as women and girls are much less likely than men and boys to engage in violence and to commit serious property crimes such as burglary and motor vehicle theft. Most sociologists attribute this difference to gender socialization. Simply put, socialization into the male gender role, or masculinity, leads to values such as competitiveness and behavioral patterns such as spending more time away from home that all promote deviance. Conversely, despite whatever disadvantages it may have, socialization into the female gender role, or femininity, promotes values such as gentleness and behavior patterns such as spending more time at home that help limit deviance (Chesney-Lind & Pasko, 2004). Noting that males commit so much crime, Kathleen Daly and Meda Chesney-Lind (1988, p. 527) wrote,

A large price is paid for structures of male domination and for the very qualities that drive men to be successful, to control others, and to wield uncompromising power.…Gender differences in crime suggest that crime may not be so normal after all. Such differences challenge us to see that in the lives of women, men have a great deal more to learn.

Gender socialization helps explain why females commit less serious crime than males. Boys are raised to be competitive and aggressive, while girls are raised to be more gentle and nurturing.

Philippe Put – Fight – CC BY 2.0.

Two decades later, that challenge still remains.

Symbolic Interactionist Explanations

Because symbolic interactionism focuses on the means people gain from their social interaction, symbolic interactionist explanations attribute deviance to various aspects of the social interaction and social processes that normal individuals experience. These explanations help us understand why some people are more likely than others living in the same kinds of social environments. Several such explanations exist.

Differential Association Theory

One popular set of explanations, often called learning theories , emphasizes that deviance is learned from interacting with other people who believe it is OK to commit deviance and who often commit deviance themselves. Deviance, then, arises from normal socialization processes. The most influential such explanation is Edwin H. Sutherland’s (1947) differential association theory , which says that criminal behavior is learned by interacting with close friends and family members. These individuals teach us not only how to commit various crimes but also the values, motives, and rationalizations that we need to adopt in order to justify breaking the law. The earlier in our life that we associate with deviant individuals and the more often we do so, the more likely we become deviant ourselves. In this way, a normal social process, socialization, can lead normal people to commit deviance.

Sutherland’s theory of differential association was one of the most influential sociological theories ever. Over the years much research has documented the importance of adolescents’ peer relationships for their entrance into the world of drugs and delinquency (Akers & Sellers, 2008). However, some critics say that not all deviance results from the influences of deviant peers. Still, differential association theory and the larger category of learning theories it represents remain a valuable approach to understanding deviance and crime.

Labeling Theory

If we arrest and imprison someone, we hope they will be “scared straight,” or deterred from committing a crime again. Labeling theory assumes precisely the opposite: it says that labeling someone deviant increases the chances that the labeled person will continue to commit deviance. According to labeling theory, this happens because the labeled person ends up with a deviant self-image that leads to even more deviance. Deviance is the result of being labeled (Bohm & Vogel, 2011).

This effect is reinforced by how society treats someone who has been labeled. Research shows that job applicants with a criminal record are much less likely than those without a record to be hired (Pager, 2009). Suppose you had a criminal record and had seen the error of your ways but were rejected by several potential employers. Do you think you might be just a little frustrated? If your unemployment continues, might you think about committing a crime again? Meanwhile, you want to meet some law-abiding friends, so you go to a singles bar. You start talking with someone who interests you, and in response to this person’s question, you say you are between jobs. When your companion asks about your last job, you reply that you were in prison for armed robbery. How do you think your companion will react after hearing this? As this scenario suggests, being labeled deviant can make it difficult to avoid a continued life of deviance.

Labeling theory also asks whether some people and behaviors are indeed more likely than others to acquire a deviant label. In particular, it asserts that nonlegal factors such as appearance, race, and social class affect how often official labeling occurs.

Labeling theory assumes that someone who is labeled deviant will be more likely to commit deviance as a result. One problem that ex-prisoners face after being released back into society is that potential employers do not want to hire them. This fact makes it more likely that they will commit new offenses.

Victor – Handcuffs – CC BY 2.0.

William Chambliss’s (1973) classic analysis of the “Saints” and the “Roughnecks” is an excellent example of this argument. The Saints were eight male high-school students from middle-class backgrounds who were very delinquent, while the Roughnecks were six male students in the same high school who were also very delinquent but who came from poor, working-class families. Although the Saints’ behavior was arguably more harmful than the Roughnecks’, their actions were considered harmless pranks, and they were never arrested. After graduating from high school, they went on to college and graduate and professional school and ended up in respectable careers. In contrast, the Roughnecks were widely viewed as troublemakers and often got into trouble for their behavior. As adults they either ended up in low-paying jobs or went to prison.

Labeling theory’s views on the effects of being labeled and on the importance of nonlegal factors for official labeling remain controversial. Nonetheless, the theory has greatly influenced the study of deviance and crime in the last few decades and promises to do so for many years to come.

Key Takeaways

• Both biological and psychological explanations assume that deviance stems from problems arising inside the individual.
• Sociological explanations attribute deviance to various aspects of the social environment.
• Several functionalist explanations exist. Durkheim highlighted the functions that deviance serves for society. Merton’s strain theory assumed that deviance among the poor results from their inability to achieve the economic success so valued in American society. Other explanations highlight the role played by the social and physical characteristics of urban neighborhoods, of deviant subcultures, and of weak bonds to social institutions.
• Conflict explanations assume that the wealthy and powerful use the legal system to protect their own interests and to keep the poor and racial minorities subservient. Feminist perspectives highlight the importance of gender inequality for crimes against women and of male socialization for the gender difference in criminality.
• Interactionist explanations highlight the importance of social interaction in the commitment of deviance and in reactions to deviance. Labeling theory assumes that the labeling process helps ensure that someone will continue to commit deviance, and it also assumes that some people are more likely than others to be labeled deviant because of their appearance, race, social class, and other characteristics.

For Your Review

• In what important way do biological and psychological explanations differ from sociological explanations?
• What are any two functions of deviance according to Durkheim?
• What are any two criminogenic social or physical characteristics of urban neighborhoods?
• What are any two assumptions of feminist perspectives on deviance and crime?
• According to labeling theory, what happens when someone is labeled as a deviant?

Agnew, R. (2007). Pressured into crime: An overview of general strain theory . Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury.

Akers, R. L., & Sellers, C. S. (2008). Criminological theories: Introduction, evaluation, and application . New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Anderson, E. (1999). Code of the street: Decency, violence, and the moral life of the inner city . New York, NY: W. W. Norton.

Barkan, S. E. (1996). The social science significance of the O. J. Simpson case. In G. Barak (Ed.), Representing O. J.: Murder, criminal justice and mass culture (pp. 36–42). Albany, NY: Harrow and Heston.

Barkan, S. E. (2009). The value of quantitative analysis for a critical understanding of crime and society. Critical Criminology, 17 , 247–259.

Belknap, J. (2007). The invisible woman: Gender, crime, and justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Bellair, P. E., & McNulty, T. L. (2009). Gang membership, drug selling, and violence in neighborhood context. Justice Quarterly, 26 , 644–669.

Bohm, R. M., & Vogel, B. (2011). A Primer on crime and delinquency theory (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Bonger, W. (1916). Criminality and economic conditions (H. P. Horton, Trans.). Boston, MA: Little, Brown.

Cao, L., Adams, A., & Jensen, V. J. (1997). A test of the black subculture of violence thesis: A research note. Criminology, 35, 367–379.

Chambliss, W. J. (1973). The saints and the roughnecks. Society, 11, 24–31.

Chesney-Lind, M., & Pasko, L. (2004). The female offender: Girls, women, and crime . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

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Cloward, R. A., & Ohlin, L. E. (1960). Delinquency and opportunity: A theory of delinquent gangs . New York, NY: Free Press.

Cohen, A. K. (1955). Delinquent boys: The culture of the gang . New York, NY: Free Press.

Daly, K., & Chesney-Lind, M. (1988). Feminism and criminology. Justice Quarterly, 5, 497–538.

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Griffin, S. (1971, September). Rape: The all-American crime. Ramparts, 10 , 26–35.

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Messner, S. F., & Rosenfeld, R. (2007). Crime and the American dream . Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

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Pager, D. (2009). Marked: Race, crime, and finding work in an era of mass incarceration . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

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Renzetti, C. (2011). Feminist criminology . Manuscript submitted for publication.

Sampson, R. J. (2006). How does community context matter? Social mechanisms and the explanation of crime rates. In P.-O. H. Wikström & R. J. Sampson (Eds.), The explanation of crime: Context, mechanisms, and development (pp. 31–60). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

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Sociology Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Handbook on Crime and Deviance

• © 2019
• Marvin D. Krohn 0 ,
• Nicole Hendrix 1 ,
• Gina Penly Hall 2 ,
• Alan J. Lizotte 3

Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA

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Department of Criminal Justice, Radford University, Radford, USA

School of criminal justice, university at albany, albany, usa.

• Discusses current research in the sociology of crime and deviance and incorporates the author's suggestions for future directions
• Includes chapters explaining causes of crime, from an innovative theoretical and methodological approach
• Offers contemporary perspectives of issues related to crime and deviance by leading scholars and researchers

Part of the book series: Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research (HSSR)

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Table of contents (31 chapters)

Front matter, methodological issues in crime research by alan lizotte, place-based data, methods, and analysis: past, present, and future.

• Martin A. Andresen, Tarah Hodgkinson

NIBRS as the New Normal: What Fully Incident-Based Crime Data Mean for Researchers

• Lynn A. Addington

Ethical Controversies in Engaged Research

• Nicole Janich, David E. Duffee

Victimization at Schools and on College and University Campuses: Historical Developments and Applications of the Opportunity Framework

• Leah C. Butler, Teresa C. Kulig, Bonnie S. Fisher, Pamela Wilcox

Explanations of Crime by Marvin D. Krohn

The biosocial perspective: a brief overview and potential contributions to criminological theory.

• Joseph A. Schwartz, Anthony Walsh, Kevin M. Beaver

The Social Learning Theory of Crime and Deviance

• Ronald L. Akers, Wesley G. Jennings

Self-Control Theory: Theoretical and Research Issues

• Michael Rocque, Alex R. Piquero

General Strain Theory

• Robert Agnew, Timothy Brezina

Institutional Anomie Theory: An Evolving Research Program

• Steven F. Messner, Richard Rosenfeld, Andreas Hövermann

Labeling Theory

• Jón Gunnar Bernburg

Social Disorganization Theory: Past, Present and Future

• Charis E. Kubrin, Michelle D. Mioduszewski

Social Support and Crime

• Cecilia Chouhy

Control Balance Theory of Deviance

• Charles R. Tittle, Cindy Brooks Dollar

Situational Action Theory: A General, Dynamic and Mechanism-Based Theory of Crime and Its Causes

• Per-Olof H. Wikström

Developmental and Life-Course Theories of Crime and Deviance

• Jeffrey T. Ward

The “Great American Crime Decline”: Possible Explanations

• Maria Tcherni-Buzzeo

Criminal Justice-Related Issues by Gina Penly Hall

• Sociology of Crime and Deviance
• Methodological Issues in Crime Research
• Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Biosocial Criminology
• Self Control Theory
• Developmental and Life Course Theory
• Desistance of Crime
• Crime in Schools
• Family Violence
• Preventing Crime
• Cybercrime and Prevention
• Green Criminology
• Crime and Unemployment
• Terrorism and Crime
• Mental Health Issues and Crime
• Legal and Illegal Gun Ownership in America

About this book

Editors and affiliations, department of sociology and criminology & law, university of florida, gainesville, usa.

Marvin D. Krohn

Nicole Hendrix

Gina Penly Hall, Alan J. Lizotte

About the editors

Bibliographic information.

Book Title : Handbook on Crime and Deviance

Editors : Marvin D. Krohn, Nicole Hendrix, Gina Penly Hall, Alan J. Lizotte

Series Title : Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20779-3

Publisher : Springer Cham

eBook Packages : Social Sciences , Social Sciences (R0)

Copyright Information : Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

Hardcover ISBN : 978-3-030-20778-6 Published: 09 September 2019

Softcover ISBN : 978-3-030-20781-6 Published: 09 September 2020

eBook ISBN : 978-3-030-20779-3 Published: 28 August 2019

Series ISSN : 1389-6903

Series E-ISSN : 2542-839X

Edition Number : 2

Number of Pages : XII, 639

Number of Illustrations : 20 b/w illustrations, 9 illustrations in colour

Topics : Sociology, general , Criminology and Criminal Justice, general

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Understanding Deviance: A Guide to the Sociology of Crime and Rule-Breaking (7th edn)  

Understanding Deviance provides a comprehensive guide to the current state of criminological theory. It outlines the principal theories of crime, deviance, and rule-breaking, discussing them chronologically, and placing them in their European and North American contexts considering major criticisms that have been voiced against them, and constructing defences where appropriate. The volume has been revised and brought up-to-date to include new issues of crime, deviance, disorder, criminal justice, and social control in the early twenty-first century. It considers new trends in criminological theory such as cultural criminology and public criminology, further discussion of how post-modernism and the ‘risk society’ is reformulating crime and deviance, and an assessment of how different approaches address the fall in crime rates across most democratic and developed societies. There is also a new chapter on victimology.

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• New to this Edition  
• 1. Theoretical Contexts: The Changing Nature and Scope of the Sociology of Crime and Deviance  
• 2. Sources of Knowledge about Crime and Deviance  
• 3. The Chicago School  
• 4. Functionalism: The Durkheimian Legacy  
• 5. Anomie and Strain Theory  
• 6. Culture and Subculture  
• 7. Symbolic Interactionism  
• 8. Phenomenology  
• 9. Control Theories  
• 10. Radical Criminology  
• 11. Feminist Criminology  
• 12. Victimology  
• 13. Public Criminology: Theory and Policy  
• 14. The Metamorphosis of the Sociology of Crime and Deviance  
• Bibliography  

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9.6: Conflict Theory and Deviance

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• Page ID 60168
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Learning Outcomes

• Explain how conflict theorists understand deviance

Conflict Theory

Conflict theory looks to social and economic factors as the causes of crime and deviance. Unlike functionalists, conflict theorists don’t see these factors as positive functions of society. They see them as evidence of inequality in the system. They also challenge social disorganization theory and control theory and argue that both ignore racial and socioeconomic issues and oversimplify social trends (Akers 1991). Conflict theorists also look for answers to the correlation of gender and race with wealth and crime.

Karl Marx: An Unequal System

Conflict theory was greatly influenced by the work of 19th-century German philosopher, economist, and social scientist Karl Marx. Marx believed that the general population was divided into two groups. He labeled the wealthy, who controlled the means of production and business, the bourgeoisie . He labeled the workers who depended on the bourgeoisie for employment and survival the proletariat . Marx believed that the bourgeoisie centralized their power and influence through government, laws, and other authority agencies in order to maintain and expand their positions of power in society. Thus, Marx viewed the laws as instruments of oppression for the proletariat that are written and enforced to maintain the economic status quo and to protect the interests of the ruling class. Though Marx spoke little of deviance, he wrote a great deal about laws and developed a legal theory that created the foundation for conflict theorists.

C. Wright Mills: The Power Elite

In his book The Power Elite (1956), sociologist C. Wright Mills described the existence of what he dubbed the power elite , a small group of wealthy and influential people at the top of society who disproportionately control power and resources. Wealthy executives, politicians, celebrities, and military leaders often have access to national and international power, and in some cases, their decisions affect everyone in society. Because of this, the rules of society are stacked in favor of a privileged few who then manipulate them to maintain their positions. It is these people who decide what is criminal and what is not, and the effects are often felt most by those who have little power. Mills’ theories explain why celebrities such as Chris Brown and Paris Hilton, or once-powerful politicians such as Eliot Spitzer and Tom DeLay, can commit crimes and suffer little or no legal retribution.

https://assessments.lumenlearning.co...essments/13359

Crime, Social Class, and Race

While crime is often associated with the underprivileged, crimes committed by the wealthy and powerful remain an under-punished and costly problem within society. The American Sociological Association’s 1939 President Edwin Sutherland coined the term “white-collar crime” in his address “White Collar Criminality,” which was one of the few such addresses to make front-page news. [1] He defined the term as “crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation.” Typically, these are “nonviolent crimes committed in commercial situations for financial gain” and according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), white-collar crime is estimated to cost the United States more than $300 billion annually. [2] When former advisor and financier Bernie Madoff was arrested in 2008, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reported that the estimated losses of his financial Ponzi scheme fraud were close to $50 billion (SEC 2009). In contrast, property crimes, which include burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson, in 2015 resulted in losses estimated at $14.3 billion (FBI 2015).

Conflict theorists also quickly point out that “crime in the suites” is often committed by white men, whereas “crime in the streets” disproportionately affects communities of color as both perpetrators and victims of property crimes. Property crimes have fallen dramatically over the past twenty years (see chart below); it is also important to keep in mind that only 36 percent of property crimes are reported to police [3]

Crack, Cocaine, and Opioids

In the 1980s, there was a “crack epidemic” that swept the country’s poorest urban communities. Its pricier counterpart, cocaine, was often the drug of choice for wealthy whites. Most studies show rates of drug use among whites and blacks were similar. From a pharmaceutical standpoint, crack and cocaine are nearly the same in terms of effect.

In 1986, federal law mandated that being caught in possession of 50 grams of crack was punishable by a ten-year prison sentence. An equivalent prison sentence for cocaine possession, however, required possession of 5,000 grams. In other words, the sentencing disparity was 1 to 100 (New York Times Editorial Staff 2011). This inequality in the severity of punishment for crack versus cocaine paralleled the class and race of the respective users.

A conflict theorist would note that those in society who hold the power make the laws concerning crime that benefit their own interests, while the powerless classes who lack the resources to make such decisions suffer the consequences. Thus, since powder cocaine use was associated with wealthy whites, the laws were enacted to be lenient on powder cocaine but extremely punitive toward crack-cocaine. The crack-cocaine punishment disparity remained until 2010, when President Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act, which decreased the disparity to 1 to 18 (The Sentencing Project 2010).

Today, we are in the midst of an “opioid epidemic.” Unlike the 1980s crack epidemic, the opioid epidemic is considered a public health crisis and has widespread support for prevention and treatment programs. Since disproportionate numbers of drug overdose deaths have been among white Americans, conflict theorists would suggest that those in power are more likely to advocate policy changes to help these drug addicts rather than punish them. Why are whites more likely to overdose? The answer, ironically, might be racism; studies show that doctors are more reluctant to prescribe painkillers to minorities because they mistakenly believe minority patients feel less pain and/or are more likely to misuse or sell the prescribed drugs [4]

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: http://pb.libretexts.org/its/?p=232

https://assessments.lumenlearning.co...essments/13360

Feminist Theory and Deviance

Women who are regarded as criminally deviant are often seen as being doubly deviant . They have broken the laws but they have also violated gender norms governing appropriate female behavior, whereas men’s criminal behavior is seen as consistent with their ostensibly aggressive, self-assertive character. This double standard also explains the tendency to medicalize women’s deviance, to see it as the product of physiological or psychiatric pathology. For example, in the late 19th century, kleptomania was a diagnosis used in legal defenses that linked an extreme desire for department store commodities with various forms of female physiological or psychiatric illness. The fact that “good” middle- and upper-class women, who were at that time coincidentally beginning to experience the benefits of independence from men, would turn to stealing in department stores to obtain the new feminine consumer items on display there, could not be explained without resorting to diagnosing the activity as an illness of the “weaker” sex (Kramar 2011).

Feminist analysis focuses on the way gender inequality influences the opportunities to commit crime and the definition, detection, and prosecution of crime. In part the gender difference revolves around patriarchal attitudes toward women and the disregard for matters considered to be of a private or domestic nature.

For example, until 1969, abortion was illegal in Canada, meaning that hundreds of women died or were injured each year when they received illegal abortions (McLaren and McLaren 1997). It was not until the Canadian Supreme Court ruling in 1988 that struck down the law that it was acknowledged that women are capable of making their own choice, in consultation with a doctor, about the procedure. The U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade (1973) decided in a 7-2 decision that states cannot unduly restrict abortions. Since then, a plethora of restrictions including waiting periods, restrictions on public funding for abortions, mandated counseling, parental involvement for minors, and others have made it exceedingly difficult. The State of Mississippi, for example, has one abortion clinic in the state, whereas California has 152 clinics as of 2014. Read about other differences between the most restrictive state, Mississippi, and the least restrictive state, California.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an African-American woman is almost five times as likely to have an abortion than a white woman, and a Latina more than twice as likely. [5]

Abortion has been declining with approximately 1.1 million abortions performed in 2011, at a rate of 16.9 abortions for every 1,000 women of childbearing age, down from a peak of 29.3 per 1,000 in 1981 (Dutton 2014). Low-income women in all racial groups are more likely to experience unintended pregnancies, largely due to a lack of health insurance and access to contraception. The most effective and long-term contraception, an intrauterine device or IUD, costs between $500-1000 and office visit fees are in addition to the cost of the IUD itself; community health centers and Medicaid typically do not cover 100% of the costs, but often IUDs are covered by private insurance.

Regulating women’s bodies is nothing new, particularly when it comes to minority women in the U.S. White slaveowners raped black female slaves with impunity and then increased their “property” with the offspring. Nearly one-third of women of child-bearing age in Puerto Rico were sterilized between 1930 and 1970, as funded by the U.S. Department of Health, Welfare, and Funding to mitigate high levels of unemployment and poverty. Although this was “voluntary,” women were often pressured to undergo sterilization after giving birth [6]

In addition to examining the ways in which the state regulates women’s bodies, feminist theorists also look at violent crimes against women that are sexual in nature. In the #metoo era, women from many different groups (i.e. actors, gymnasts, students) have come forward to say that they were sexually harassed and/or sexually assaulted by a boss or supervisor, a team doctor, a university gynecologist, or other co-workers. The broadcast media and social media have been rife with stories of #metoo, which feminists are examining from a macrosociological approach (power and structures of power) and a microsociological approach (hashtag movement, personal identification with others who have similar experiences).

Sexual Assault in Canada: A Case Study

Until the 1970s, two major types of criminal deviance were largely ignored or were difficult to prosecute as crimes: sexual assault and spousal assault. Through the 1970s, women worked to change the criminal justice system and establish rape crisis centers and battered women’s shelters, bringing attention to domestic violence. In 1983 the Criminal Code was amended to replace the crimes of rape and indecent assault with a three-tier structure of sexual assault (ranging from unwanted sexual touching that violates the integrity of the victim to sexual assault with a weapon or threats or causing bodily harm to aggravated sexual assault that results in wounding, maiming, disfiguring, or endangering the life of the victim) (Kong et al. 2003). Johnson (1996) reported that in the mid-1990s, when violence against women began to be surveyed systematically in Canada, 51 percent of Canadian women had been subject to at least one sexual or physical assault since the age of 16.

The goal of the amendments was to emphasize that sexual assault is an act of violence, not a sexual act. Previously, rape had been defined as an act that involved penetration and was perpetrated against a woman who was not the wife of the accused. This had excluded spousal sexual assault as a crime and had also exposed women to secondary victimization by the criminal justice system when they tried to bring charges. Secondary victimization occurs when the women’s own sexual history and her willingness to consent are questioned in the process of laying charges and reaching a conviction, which as feminists pointed out, increased victims’ reluctance to press charges.

In particular feminists challenged the twin myths of rape that were often the subtext of criminal justice proceedings presided over largely by men (Kramar 2011). The first myth is that women are untrustworthy and tend to lie about assault out of malice toward men, as a way of getting back at them for personal grievances. The second myth, is that women will say “no” to sexual relations when they really mean “yes.” Typical of these types of issues was the judge’s comment in a Manitoba Court of Appeals case in which a man pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting his twelve- or thirteen-year-old babysitter:

The girl, of course, could not consent in the legal sense, but nonetheless was a willing participant. She was apparently more sophisticated than many her age and was performing many household tasks including babysitting the accused’s children. The accused and his wife were somewhat estranged (cited in Kramar 2011).

Because the girl was willing to perform household chores in place of the man’s estranged wife, the judge assumed she was also willing to engage in sexual relations. In order to address this type of issue, feminists successfully pressed the Supreme Court to deliver rulings that restricted a defense attorney’s access to a victim’s medical and counselling records, and rules of evidence were changed to prevent a woman’s past sexual history from being used against her. Consent to sexual intercourse was redefined as what a woman actually says or does, not what the man believes to be signalling consent. Feminists also argued that spousal assault was a key component of patriarchal power. Typically it was hidden in the household and largely regarded as a private, domestic matter in which police were reluctant to get involved.

Interestingly, women and men report similar rates of spousal violence—in 2009, 6 percent had experienced spousal violence in the previous five years—but women are more likely to experience more severe forms of violence including multiple victimizations and violence leading to physical injury (Sinha 2013). In order to empower women, feminists pressed lawmakers to develop zero-tolerance policies that would support aggressive policing and prosecution of offenders. These policies oblige police to pursue charges in cases of domestic violence when a complaint is made, whether or not the victim wishes to press charges (Kramar 2011).

In 2009, 84 percent of violent spousal incidents reported by women to police resulted in charges being pursued. However, according to victimization surveys only 30 percent of actual incidents were reported to police. The majority of women who did not report incidents to the police stated that they either dealt with them in another way, felt they were a private matter, or did not think the incidents were important enough to report. A significant proportion, however, did not want anyone to find out (44 percent), did not want their spouse to be arrested (40 percent), or were too afraid of their spouse (19 percent) (Sinha 2013).

Watch the selected clip from this video to examine how conflict theorists think about deviance.

Think It Over

• Pick a famous politician, business leader, or celebrity who has been arrested recently. What crime did he or she allegedly commit? Who was the victim? Explain his or her actions from the point of view of one of the major sociological paradigms. What factors best explain how this person might be punished if convicted of the crime?
• In what ways do race and class intersect when theorizing deviance from a conflict perspective?
• Edwin H. Sutherland, ASA Presidents, ASA. http://www.asanet.org/edwin-h-sutherland ↵
• "White-collar crime." Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/white-collar_crime . ↵
• Gramlich, J. "Five facts about crime," Pew Research Center.(2018) https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/10/17/facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/ ↵
• Lopez, G. (2016). Why are black Americans less affected," Vox. https://www.vox.com/2016/1/25/10826560/opioid-epidemic-race-black ↵
• Dutton, Z. (2014). Abortion's racial gap. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/09/abortions-racial-gap/380251/ ↵
• Andrews, K. (2017) The dark history of latina sterilization. https://www.panoramas.pitt.edu/health-and-society/dark-history-forced-sterilization-latina-women . ↵
• Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance. Authored by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : https://cnx.org/contents/[email protected]:OY7OWJCz@6/Theoretical-Perspectives-on-Deviance . License : CC BY: Attribution . License Terms : Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/[email protected]
• William Little. Provided by : BC Open Textbooks. Located at : https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology/chapter/chapter7-deviance-crime-and-social-control/ . Project : Introduction to Sociology. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Pew Research Data, 5 facts about crime in the U.S.. Authored by : John Gramlich. Provided by : Pew Research Center. Located at : http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/30/5-facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/ . License : All Rights Reserved
• Theory & Deviance: Crash Course Sociology #19. Provided by : CrashCourse. Located at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06IS_X7hWWI&index=20&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMJ-AfB_7J1538YKWkZAnGA . License : Other . License Terms : Standard YouTube License

ReviseSociology

A level sociology revision – education, families, research methods, crime and deviance and more!

Crime and Deviance

Table of Contents

Last Updated on November 14, 2023 by Karl Thompson

This page provides links to blog posts on the main topics of the AQA’s Crime and Deviance module. It includes links to posts on sociological perspectives on crime (Functionalism, strain theory etc); crime control and punishment, including surveillance; the relationship between class, gender, ethnicity and crime; and globalisation, state and green crime (everyone’s favourite!). 

Introductory Material

Sociological Perspectives on the London Riots – The London Riots remain the biggest act of mass criminality of the 2000s, I like to use them to introduce sociological perspectives on crime and deviance. You can also use this as an example of how media narratives on the causes of the riots differ so much from the London School of Economics research findings on the actual ’causes’ of the riots.

Perspectives on Crime and Deviance – A Very Brief Overview –  A summary grid of 21 theorists, their ‘key points’, their ‘perspective’ and an evaluation. If you like you can cut and paste, cut it up and use it as a sentence sort!

Key Concepts for A Level Sociology Crime and Deviance – definitions of most of the key concepts relevant to crime and deviance within A-level sociology. 

Hints on how to answer the AQA’s Sociology Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods exam paper – in case you need to know how you’re assessed (only covers the crime and deviance material).

The social construction of crime – a timeline of some relatively recent events that have been criminalised due to changes in the law – once they weren’t criminal, now they are! (U.K. focus).

Consensus Theories of Crime and Deviance

The Functionalist Perspective on Crime and Deviance  – class notes covering Durkhiem’s ‘society of saints’ (the inevitability of crime), and his views on the positive functions of crime – social integration, social regulation and allowing for social change.

Hirschi’s Social Control Theory of Crime  – class notes covering Hirschi’s four bonds of attachment – attachment, commitment, involvement and belief. 

Robert Merton’s Strain Theory  – class notes: the easy summary of Merton’s strain theory is that people who try to succeed by normal means (getting a job for example) and fail turn to crime in oder to achieve what they couldn’t through normal means. 

Functionalism and Strain Theories of Crime – summary revision notes – a briefer version of the three posts above. 

Subcultural Theories of Deviance – class notes on mainly Albert Cohen’s consensus theory of status frustration, but also with details of other subcultural theories (e.g. Willis). 

Subcultural Theories of Crime – summary revision version of the above. 

The Underclass Theory of Crime – brief class notes covering Charle’s Murray’s theory of the underclass. Murray argues the long term unemployed get cut off over the generations and socialise their kids into a culture of worklesseness and criminality. 

Marxist Theories of Crime and Deviance

The Marxist Perspective on Crime – very detailed class notes covering concepts such as crimogenic capitalism, the costs of corporate crime and the ideological functions of selective law enforcement. 

The Marxist Perspective on Crime – summary revision notes of the above. 

Evaluating the Marxist Perspective on Crime – evaluative posts, mostly links to research which supports the Marxist perspective on crime. 

Assess the Contribution of Marxism to our Understanding of Crime and Deviance – an  outline 30 mark essay plan. 

Interactionist Theories of Crime and Deviance

The Labelling Theory of Crime – very detailed class notes covering concepts such as labelling as applied to education and crime, the self fulfilling prophecy, Howard Becker’s Master Status, and Cicourel’s Negotiation of Justice. 

The Labelling Theory of Crime – brief summary notes of the above. 

Realist Theories of Crime and Deviance

Right Realist Criminology  – Includes an introduction to Realism and detailed class notes on Right Realism covering rational choice theory, broken windows theory, Charles Murray’s views on the underclass, situational crime prevention and environmental crime prevention (mainly zero tolerance policing)

Evaluating Broken Windows Theory – evaluative post. Wilson and Kelling’s Broken Windows Theory has been referred to as ‘the most influential theory of crime control’ of recent decades, this post offers some evaluations of this theory. (Spoiler Alert – it doesn’t hold up to scrutiny very well!) 

Environmental Crime Prevention – Definition and Examples  –  supplementary notes to Right Realism covering zero tolerance policing and ASBOs

Public Space Protection Orders and Criminal Behaviour Orders – supplementary notes to Right Realist policies of crime control 

Left Realist Criminology  –  class notes covering relative deprivation, marginalisation, subcultures, early intervention, community based solutions to crime and community policing

Post and Late Modern Theories of Crime and Deviance 

Post/ Late Modern Criminology – brief summary notes covering how crime has changed with shift to post modernity , which as resulted in society being more consumerist, more fragment and more globalized , as well as summaries of Jock Young and Cultural Criminology (covered in more detail below)

Jock Young – Late Modernity, Exclusion and Crime   – Jock Young argues that more people suffer from the ‘Vertigo of Late Modernity’ in late modern society. This is essentially a state of extreme anomie, and this is kind of an updated version of Strain Theory.

Cultural Criminology – Crime as Edgework  – argues that a lot of crime is done for thrill for of it today.

Foucault – Surveillance and Crime Control  – A very simplified explanation of Foucault, who argued that surveillance by agents of the state becomes more important for social control in modernity than the threat of physical punishment .

Synoptic Surveillance and Crime Control  – synoptic surveillance is surveillance from below rather than surveillance from above. In simple terms it means all of us watching each other rather than just the state watching citizens.

Actuarial Justice and Risk Management – this is statistical surveillance, a form of surveillance long used by insurance companies, but increasingly used by state agencies. It is where people who have a statistically higher risk of truanting/ offending/ failing will be under a higher level of surveillance than the norm.

Controlling and Reducing Crime – the Role of the Community, the Police and Different Forms of Punishment

Crime Prevention and Control Strategies – very brief summary revision notes on situational crime prevention, environmental crime prevention and community crime control strategies

The Role of the Community in Controlling and Reducing Crime – a summary of consensus, right realist, left realist and postmodern perspectives on the community in controlling crime

The Role of the Police in Controlling and Reducing Crime – right and left realists both tend to be on the side of the police, but right realists believe the police should be more ‘militaristic’, while left realists emphasise that they should work with communities and avoid being antagonistic. Marxists and interactionists tend to see the police as being ‘the problem’ and are more likely to side with the criminals.

Sociological Perspectives on Punishment – summary notes covering the Consensus, Marxist, interactionist, Realist and Postmodern views on punishment.

Does Prison Work?  – an evaluative post looking at some of the evidence on whether prison works to prevent crime. Spoiler alert: it generally doesn’t!

Social Class and Crime 

Social Class and Crime – detailed class notes covering the consensus view which tends to see most crime being committed by the working classes and the underclass, hence these classes are seen as part of the problem of crime; this is contrasted with mainly the Marxist view which sees all classes as committing crime, with agents of social control largely ignoring elite crime.

Outline and Analyse Two Ways in Which Patterns of Crime Vary by Social Class – 10 mark exam style question

See also the perspective links above, especially Marxism!

Ethnicity and Crime

Official Statistics on Ethnicity and Crime – Official statistics suggest that black people are around 6 times more likely to go to jail than white people, while Asians are 2-3 times more likely to go to jail . Of course there are limitations to these statistics!

Ethnicity and Crime – The Role of Cultural Factors – structural theorists focus on some of the background differences between ethnic groups. Pointing out, for example, that the high rates of absent fathers among British-Caribbean households may explain the higher rates of recorded offending by ‘black’ boys especially.

Left Realist Explanations for Ethnic Differences in Crime – left realists explain the higher rates of offending among certain ethnic groups as being due to higher rates of relative deprivation and marginalisation.

Neo-Marxist Approaches to Ethnicity and Crime – Applying the fully social theory of deviance to explaining the higher rates of black offending.

Paul Gilroy’s Anti-Racist Theory – summary notes on this classic text, taken from Haralambos.

Criminal Justice, Ethnicity and Racism – Selected Key Statistics –  evaluative post

Racism in the Criminal Justice System – Selected Evidence – there is A LOT of evidence that suggests the police are racist – the stop and search stats alone point to this, with black people being almost 30 times as likely to be stopped compared to white people in some circumstances. There is also more qualitative evidence based on Participant Observation which suggests this.

Ethnicity and Crime – Two examples of possible short answer 4 and 6 mark ‘outline’ questions.

Outline and Analyse Question on Police Racism – 10 mark exam question and answer – ‘Analyse two criticisms of the theory that police racism is the main factor which explains the higher imprisonment rates of ethnic minorities’

Gender and Crime 

Sex-Role Theory – suggests that women commit less crime than men because of their different roles in society, such as the motherhood role, which results in them being more constrained and more caring and responsible.

The Liberationist Perspective on the (Long Term) Increase in the Female Crime Rate –  This classic Liberal Feminist perspective argues that the female crime rate has increased in line with female liberation.

Globalisation, state and green crime

Globalisation, global criminal networks and crime – covering Misha Glenny’s work on the McMafia. He argues that the growth of the Mafia in ex-communist countries such as Bulgaria have been central to the growth of global crime – because they are perfectly located to ship illegal products such as drugs and sex-slaves from the global south to meet demand in the wealth global north.

Capitalism, Globalisation and Crime – A Marxist perspective on global crime covering global finance and tax havens and TNCs and law evasion. 

What is State Crime? – A simple explanation is that state crimes are crimes committed by governments, which are in breach of human rights. Historically the Nazi Genocide is the most obvious example.

Sociological perspectives on state crime – covering the different types of state crime and a slightly unusual take applying material from global development to analyse state crime.

Green crime and green criminology – revision notes covering primary and secondary green crime, Ulrich Beck’s Risk Society theory and Marxist views of Green Crime.

Victimology

Victimology – covering trends in victimisation, and positivist and critical victimology .

The Economic and Social Costs of Crime – a summary of a recent (2021) government report looking at the social and economic harms crime does in England and Wales .

What are the impacts of crime on victims ? – a post examining how crime affects individuals and their families, including a look at secondary victimisation.

The Media and Crime

How the Media Simplifies Crime – a brief post summarising how the media tends to take the side of the police and victims, focus on crimes with easy to understand individual ‘harm’ stories and provide a narrow analysis of crime control options .

Sensationalisation of Crime in the Media – There are a lot of fictional programmes about crime in the UK, many of them tend to present criminal characters as likeable and make the hideous crimes they commit (in fiction) seem ‘cool’ .

Moral Panics and The Media – brief class notes covering the definition of a moral panic, Stan Cohen’s work on the Mods and Rockers and some criticisms.

The Exaggeration of Violent and Sexual Crimes in the Media – The mainstream media exaggerates the extent of violent crime 10 times, tending to focus a lot more on very serious horrific crimes rather than less serious crimes which are much more common according to official statistics .

What is CyberCrime ? – A long form post examining crimes such as identify theft, online fraud, ransomware attacks and phishing scams.

Posts on Specific Types of Crime

How do we explain the recent surge in Knife Crime? – exploring this is a useful way to evaluate Right Realist theories of deviance especially.

Sociological Perspectives on Hate Crime – a very ‘postmodern’ type of crime, but some of the other sociological perspectives can also help us understand this crime.

How is Coronavirus affecting crime and deviance? – all of a sudden certain acts that used to be ‘normal’ are now criminal, this is perfect analytical feeding ground for any A-level sociology student!

Fraud and Computer Misuse – this seems to be one of the more common types of crime. Roughly one in five adults was a victim to the twelve months ending December 2020.

Crime and Deviance Revision Bundle for Sale

If you like this sort of thing then you might like my Crime and Deviance Revision Bundle.

It contains

• 12 exam practice questions including short answer, 10 mark and essay question exemplars.
• 32 pages of revision notes covering the entire A-level sociology crime and deviance specification
• Seven colour mind maps covering sociological perspective on crime and deviance

Written specifically for the AQA sociology A-level specification.

A-level sociology revision mega bundle…

For better value I’ve bundled all of the above topics into six revision bundles , containing revision notes, mind maps, and exam question and answers, available for between £4.99 and £5.99 on Sellfy .

Best value is my A level sociology revision mega bundle – which contains the following:

• over 200 pages of revision notes
• 60 mind maps in pdf and png formats
• 50 short answer exam practice questions and exemplar answers
• Covers the entire A-level sociology syllabus, AQA focus.

Crime and Deviance in Contemporary Society

Below are some selected, recent posts outlining how you might use contemporary examples to illustrate key concepts within crime and deviance. Examiners like this sort of contemporary focus!

How Coronavirus is changing crime – all of a sudden sitting on a park bench was illegal!

The deportation of foreign nationals – an example of a state crime? Outlines when the UK government tried to deport 42 criminals (in some cases ‘criminals’) back to Jamaica on their release from prison, despite the fact that some of them had been in the UK since they were children!

Contemporary examples of crime and deviance in the news – further examples from 2019 and 2018 which are relevant to A-level sociology.

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Chapter 8. Deviance, Crime, and Social Control

8.2. Theoretical Perspectives on Crime and Deviance

Why do crime and deviance occur? How does one become “a criminal” or “a deviant”? How does crime affect society and how does society affect crime? How do sociologists explain crime? Since the early days of sociology, crime and deviance have been seen as social problems that call for sociological research and explanation in order to find solutions.

Sociologists have developed theories attempting to explain what causes deviance and crime and what they mean to society. These theories can be grouped according to the three major sociological types of knowledge: positivism, critical sociology and interpretive sociology (see Chapter 1. An Introduction to Sociology ).

Positivist types of theory focus on identifying the background variables in an offender’s social environment that determine or predict criminal and deviant behaviour. Crime or deviance are taken as relatively straightforward to define. They are simply rule-breaking or law-breaking acts, which can be linked to objective variables in the offenders social backgrounds.

With critical sociology the picture gets more complicated. Critical types of theory focus on the historical context of class, gender, racial, colonial and other power relations in society to explain crime and deviance. Why are certain acts punished as criminal or deviant and certain acts not? Why are certain types of crime or deviance prevalent in one community, gender or social strata and not in others? Institutional regulation, the criminal justice system, and crime itself are seen as arms of different types of power, sometimes as extensions of power and sometimes as resistance.

Finally, interpretive types of theory focus on how the meanings of criminality or deviance get established. Key to understanding crime and deviance is not simply the objective fact of law-breaking or rule-breaking, but the intentions of the individuals involved, the variable meanings the acts or behaviours hold for people, and the social processes through which acts and individuals get defined as criminal or deviant. As Jack Katz (1988) puts it, “What are people trying to do when they commit a crime?” should be the first thing a sociologist asks.

The different paradigms within these types of knowledge lead to different ways of researching and addressing the problems of crime and deviance.

Sociologists who follow the positivist approach view the social world as a place governed by predictable and regular social patterns that can be uncovered through systematic observation. They are concerned with describing law-like relationships between variables that can predict outcomes: if this , then that. What are the background variables — age, family circumstances, economic position, racial or ethnic background, gender, etc. — that cause criminal or deviant behaviours or predict their likelihood in the future? The emphasis in positivism is on identifying factors that are directly observable or measurable, which implies that infractions themselves are straightforward to define. Tappan (1947) defines crime, for instance, as an intentional act that violates criminal law and is subject to penalization by the state. This is a relatively easy thing to identify through crime statistics and victimization surveys.

Early positivism relied on a biological or psychological defect model of crime and deviance to explain law-breaking and rule-breaking behaviours. As Box (1981) describes it, “people who break the rules of society were [seen as] defective, and … the root of this defect lay within them.” It was noted at the beginning of the chapter, for example, that Cesare Lombroso (1835–1909) founded the 19th century school of positivism by attempting to isolate specific physiological characteristics of “degeneracy” that could distinguish “born criminals” from normal individuals (Rimke, 2011). Similarly, from the point of view of psychology, deviants could be distinguished by personality defects or traumas that cognitively or libidinally prevented them from adjusting to normal rule-following behaviour. The idea of the sociopath is a case in point.

In sociological positivism, the background variables identified in explanations of crime and deviance are not usually individual defects but “social defects.”  “Deviant behaviour [is] not to be perceived as the manifestation of a defective human being, but as the indicator of a defective social environment” (Box, 1981). Background variables like social disorganization, absence of social controls, and social strain (discussed below) are expected to predict a higher likelihood of criminal or deviant behaviour.

There are numerous frameworks in positivist sociology for identifying which variables of social environment are key. For example, Pratt and Cullen’s (2005) meta-analysis of 214 empirical studies discussed the relative strengths of seven different macro-level predictors of crime derived from seven different positivist theories including social disorganization theory, strain theory, economic deprivation theory, routine activity theory, deterrence theory, social support theory and subcultural theory. Their findings showed the strongest empirical support for explanations based on indicators of concentrated disadvantage, whereas explanations that emphasized lack of deterrence (increased policing, “tough on crime” policies) had the weakest support.

Four influential positivist theories of deviance are Durkheim’s functionalist theory, social disorganization theory, control theory and strain theory.

Émile Durkheim and Functionalism

Within positivism, the functionalist paradigm has been a productive source of explanatory frameworks for crime and deviance. Sociologists who follow the functionalist approach analyse the functions of different social structures, norms or patterns of behaviour in the maintenance of society, understood as a systematic whole.  This, oddly enough, includes crime and deviance, which are persistent social facts in all societies. Deviance, by definition, would appear to be the opposite of normal, yet Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) believed that deviance is a necessary, normal and functional part of normal society. Crime and deviance are disruptive, sometimes brutally so, but they also perform important functions.

Durkheim was aware of the diversity of acts or behaviours that different societies defined as criminal or deviant. He therefore defined crime by the one common external property it shared across different cultures and periods of history: crime is an act that offends the collective conscience and evokes collective punishment.  “[W]e note the existence of certain acts, all presenting the external characteristic that they evoke from society the particular reaction called punishment. We constitute them as a separate group, to which we give a common label; we call every punished act a crime…” (1938 (1895)). Crime and deviance are not defined by their individual motivations or by specific rules and infractions but by the collective response they evoke.

As such, crime and deviance have four important functions in supporting the social solidarity or cohesiveness of societies. They have: (1) a boundary-setting function , marking the moral boundaries that members of society should not cross; (2) a group solidarity function, uniting the group against a common enemy; (3) an adaptive function, allowing society to change its boundaries in response to new circumstances and innovative crimes (for example, the “sit in” protests of the Civil Rights Movement); and (4) a tension-reduction function , reducing the internal tensions of a society by projecting them onto criminal or deviant groups or scapegoats (Kramar, 2011).

Therefore, for Durkheim, the persistent patterns of crime and deviance observed in society could be explained by the functions they performed in maintaining society as a whole. These functions did not cause crime and deviance per se , but they explained why they existed and what their role in society was. It suggests that if crime and deviance did not exist they would have to be invented, otherwise substitutes for these functions would have to be found.

Social Disorganization Theory and Control Theory

Developed by researchers at the University of Chicago in the 1920s and 1930s, social disorganization theory asserts that crime is most likely to occur in communities with weak social ties and the absence of social control. What they observed from the Chicago court records of juvenile offenders was that rates of crime were not evenly distributed across Chicago. High crime rates were concentrated in particular zones of the city and these rates remained stable over time, regardless of which particular individuals or groups resided there. In other words, crime rates seemed to be products of the areas, not the people per se . As the different ethnic, immigrant and racialized groups transitioned out of these zones and moved to other parts of the city, their crime rates decreased accordingly but the rates in the high crime zones remained stable. This lead the Chicago School sociologists to propose a social ecology theory of the city in which, like the biotic communities of  a natural ecosystem, different groups of people occupied specific niches in an over all system. Human communities were complex systems of mutual dependence that, like ecosystems, go through stages of succession from disruption to climax (or stable) communities.

They termed the disrupted areas zones of transition.  These had emerged near the center of Chicago along the transportation conduits into the city and between the established working class neighbourhoods and the manufacturing district. 1920s and 1930s Chicago was a city in flux. The city’s poorest and newest residents tended to live in these transitional, economically deprived zones, where there was a fractious mixture of racialized groups, immigrant ethnic groups, and non-English speakers. The Chicago School sociologists proposed that the zones themselves were socially disorganized.  They were sites of poor social control and regulation because their populations were fluid and transient and conventional institutions of control like family, schools, work, churches, and voluntary community organizations had not become established there (Shaw and McKay, 1942). In a certain way, this is the opposite of Durkheim’s thesis. Rather than deviance being a force that reinforces moral and social solidarity, it is the absence of moral and social solidarity that provides the conditions for social deviance to emerge.

Social disorganization theory points to the built environment and overall social organization of cities as the cause of deviance. A person is not born a criminal but becomes one over time, based on factors in their social environment. This theme was taken up by Travis Hirschi’s (1935-2017) control theory , which examines social disorganization from the point of view of the individual.

According to Hirschi, social control is directly affected by the strength of social bonds that tie an individual to the institutional life of society (1969). Many people would be willing to break laws or deviate from the rules to reap the rewards of pleasure, excitement, and profit, etc. if they had the opportunity to do so. Those who do have the opportunity are those who are only weakly controlled by the type of social bonds that tie others to mainstream society and give them a stake in it. Similar to Durkheim’s theory of anomie ( Chapter 4. Society and Modern Life ), deviance is seen to result where disconnection from society predominates over social integration. Individuals who believe they are a part of society or believe they have a future in society are less likely to commit crimes against it.

Hirschi identified four types of social bond that connect people to society (1969):

•   Attachment measures the degree of connection to others. When one is closely attached to other people, one worries about their opinions. People conform to society’s norms in order to gain approval (and prevent disapproval) from family, friends, colleagues and romantic partners.
• Commitment refers to the investments people make in conforming to conventional behaviour. A well-respected local businesswoman who volunteers at her synagogue and is a member of the neighbourhood block organization has more to lose from committing a crime than a woman who does not have a career or ties to the community. There is a cost/benefit calculation in the decision to commit a crime in which the costs of being caught are much higher for some than others.
• Similarly, levels of involvement , or participation in socially legitimate activities, lessen a person’s likelihood of deviance simply due to lack of opportunity. Children who are members of Little League baseball teams have less time and opportunity to engage in deviant behaviour. “The person involved in conventional activities is tied to appointments, deadlines, working hours, plans, and the like, so the opportunity to commit deviant acts rarely arises” (Hirschi, 1969).
• The final bond, belief , is an agreement on common values in society. If a person views social values as beliefs, they will conform to them. An environmentalist is more likely to pick up trash in a park because a clean environment is a social value to that person.

Thus each of the types of bond Hirschi identifies describes a background variable which predicts who is more or less likely to engage in criminal acts. An individual who grows up under conditions where ties to legitimate institutions and authorities are weak, difficult to establish, or distant from the individual’s lived reality and future prospects is more likely to become a criminal than an individual from a privileged background who has a lot more at stake and a lot more to lose by breaking the law. The latter has “skin in the game”, whereas, for the former, the mutual dependencies and complex relationships that form the basis of a healthy “ecosystem” of social control do not get established.

Research into social disorganization theory can greatly influence public policy. How can socially disorganized communities be reorganized?  Evidence from Pratt and Cullen’s (2005) meta-analysis suggests that social disorganization at the neighbourhood level is a stronger predictor of crime than variables concerning the implementation of “harder” law and order criminal justice policies (with the exception of the use of incarceration, which increases crime rates). The public policy implications of the sociological research therefore suggest that rather than using the police to crack down on crime in designated neighbourhoods, public spending and private investment should be used on programs physically located in the most economically deprived neighbourhoods and run by people from those neighbourhoods. This serves to create not only local employment but local institutions of community control, whose absence is in fact the source of the problem of social disorganization. Investments in community based agencies work to strengthen ties within the community and between people in the community and external social services. Research shows that social control is least effective when imposed by outside forces (Figueira-McDonough, 1991). In a similar vein, funding family preservation programs, which focus on keeping families intact and empowered rather than punishing individual offenders, strengthen families’ abilities to resist social disorganization (Nelson, Landsman and Duetelman, 1990). However, in proposing that social disorganization is essentially a moral problem of anomie — that it is shared moral values and social integration that hold communities together  — questions about historical relations of economic inequality, racism, and power do not get asked.

Robert Merton: Strain Theory

Sociologist Robert Merton (1910-2003) agreed that deviance is, ironically, a normal behaviour in modern society, but expanded on Durkheim’s ideas by developing strain theory (1938). He noted that social strains or contradictory forces are built into the structure of society when access to the legitimate means of achieving socially acceptable goals like material or financial success was not evenly distributed. A kind of anomie or normlessless emerged in segments of North American society because of a dysfunctional relationship or disequilibrium between values and norms.

The North American value system glorifies the value and prestige of wealth, while its normative system defines and regulates acceptable means of attaining wealth: a good job, a good education, a good network of contacts, a good familial background, a good neighbourhood, etc. For the majority of people this works without too much conflict. However, not everyone in North American society stands on equal footing. In a class based society not everyone has access to the legitimate means of obtaining success. A person may have the socially acceptable goal of financial success but lack a socially acceptable way to reach that goal. This is a cause of mental and moral conflict for many.

According to Merton’s theory, a person growing up in a neighbourhood where conventional occupational opportunities are limited to unskilled, manual labour will see few opportunities to “get ahead” through legal means. Similarly, an entrepreneur who can not afford to launch his own company may be tempted to embezzle from his employer for start-up funds. When motivated by success but confronted with barriers to attaining it, individuals are caught in a quandary or strain that is built in to the structure of North American society. They are tempted to abandon the norms and rules and adopt alternative, illegitimate solutions (what Merton refered to as “innovations”) to attain the universally revered standards of success. The discrepancy between the reality of structural inequality and the high cultural value placed on economic success creates a strain that has to be resolved by some means.

Merton (1938) in fact defined five ways that people adapt to this strain between socially accepted goals and socially accepted ways to pursue them. These are indicated in Table 8.1 in which “+” indicates acceptance, “−” indicates rejection, and “+/−” indicates “rejection and substitution of new goals and standards.”

• Conformity : The majority of people in society choose to conform to institutionalized means of attaining success. They pursue their society’s valued goals to the extent that they can through socially accepted means.
• Innovation : Those who innovate pursue goals they cannot reach through legitimate means by substituting criminal or deviant means.
• Ritualism : People who ritualize lower their goals until they can reach them through socially acceptable ways. These “social ritualists” like middle management bureaucrats, hard workers who accept they will never get ahead or people who “go through the motions” focus on conformity to the accepted means of goal attainment while abandoning the distant, unobtainable dream of success.
• Retreatism : Others retreat from the structural strain and reject both society’s goals and accepted means. Some street people, hermits, religious cloisters, voluntary simplicity advocates or “back-to-the-landers” have withdrawn from society’s goal of financial success. They drop out.
• Rebellion : Some people rebel, seeking to replace a society’s goals and means with an alternate or revolutionary model.

With respect to crime and deviance, the second category “innovation” is the most relevant. In a class divided society, many youth from poor backgrounds are exposed to the high value placed on material success in capitalist society but face insurmountable odds to achieving it, so turning to illegal means to achieve success is a rational, more effective, in fact normal, solution to the problem. As Merton sums up, “On the one hand, they are asked to orient their conduct toward the prospect of accumulating wealth and on the other, they are largely denied effective opportunities to do so institutionally” (Merton, 1938). Al Capone’s ruthless choice of purely instrumental means over moral means to achieve success is a rational, if anomic, choice within a dysfunctional society.

Critical Sociology

Critical sociology examines macro-level social and economic factors as the causes of crime and deviance. Unlike positivists, critical sociologists do not see these factors as objective social facts, but as evidence of operations of power and entrenched social inequalities. The normative order and the criminal justice system are not simply neutral or “functional” with regard to the collective interests of society. Institutions of normalization, law, and the criminal justice system have to be seen in context as mechanisms that actively maintain the power structure of the political-economic order.

The rich, the powerful, and the privileged have unequal influence on who and what gets labelled deviant or criminal, particularly in instances where their privilege or interests are being challenged. As capitalist society is based on the institution of private property, for example, it is not surprising that theft is a major category of crime. By the same token, when street people, addicts, or hippies drop out of society, they are labelled deviant and are subject to police harassment because they have refused to participate in the productive labour that is the basis of capital accumulation and profit.

Richard Quinney (1977) examined the role of law, policing and punishment in modern society. He argued that, as a result of inequality, many crimes can be understood as crimes of accommodation , or ways in which individuals cope with conditions of inequality and oppression. Predatory crimes like break and enter, robbery, and drug dealing are often simply economic survival strategies. Personal crimes like murder, assault, and sexual assault are products of the strains of living under stressful conditions of scarcit, deprivation and humiliation. Defensive crimes like economic sabotage, illegal strikes, civil disobedience, and eco-terrorism are direct political challenges to social injustice.

On the other hand, crimes committed by people in power are often crimes of domination . Crimes of control are committed by police and law enforcement, such as violations of rights, over-policing minority communities, illegal surveillance and use of excessive force. Crimes of government are committed by elected and appointed officials of the state through misuse of state powers, including corruption, misallocation of funds, political assassinations and illegal wars. Crimes of economic domination comprise white collar and corporate crime, including embezzlement, fraud, price-fixing, insider trading, tax evasion, unsafe work conditions, pollution, and marketing of hazardous products. Crimes of social injury include practices of institutional racism and economic exploitation, violations of basic human rights, or denials of gender, sexual and racial equality, that are often not considered unlawful.

Those in power define what crime is and who is excluded from full participation in society as a matter of course. Quinney pointed out that crimes of domination are not criminalized and policed to the degree that crimes of accommodation are, even though the harms they pose to society are greater and affect more people.

Inequality in normative regulation, law, policing and punishment is compounded in Canada through the legacy of colonialism. Although racial inequality has been formally eliminated by law and policy, racialized minorities are overrepresented in the criminal justice system in large part due to historical colonial narratives linking criminality and race (Mawani and Sealy, 2011). While crime rates have been declining overall, incarceration rates for Indigenous people and Blacks have increased, as has the use of racial profiling and the unequal application of discretionary powers by police and criminal justice authorities. A pattern of prejudice, racial bias and stereotyping is pervasive within the administration of justice.

Critical sociologists argue that this is not so much a product of a few “bad seeds” within the criminal justice system, but of the institutional repercussions of colonialism,  the process whereby Europeans established control over other people’s territories and lives. As the formal structures of colonial segregation were dismantled — i.e.,slavery, the Reserve system, residential schools,legal disenfranchisement, etc. — informal post-colonial segregation was reestablished to control the “freed” populations, who continue to be defined by the same colonial narratives as dangerous, violent, irrational, child-like, unassimmilable, un-civil, or degenerate Others.

Garland (1985) describes one outcome of this colonial legacy as the penal welfare complex . This refers to a system of control that effectively uses the prison and criminal justice system to manage the surplus, largely racialized, underclass of people who have been excluded from normal circuits of civility. Generations of people find themselves caught in a vicious circle of broken households, incarcerated parents or family members, engagement in minor crimes (petty theft, drinking alcohol in public, loitering, drugs, etc.), prison, parole, and back to prison because of parole violations. In the era of neoliberal capitalism, welfare budgets are cut and imprisonment expands, leading to the construction of a semi-permanent quasi-criminal population managed by police, judges, parole officers and social workers.

Crime and Social Class

While positivist theories often emphasize crime and deviance associated with the underprivileged, there is in fact no clear evidence that crimes are committed disproportionately by the poor or lower classes. There is an established association between the underprivileged and serious street crimes like armed robbery or assault, but these do not constitute the majority of crimes in society, nor the most serious crimes in terms of their overall social, personal, and environmental harms.

On the other hand, “suite crimes” or crimes committed by the wealthy and powerful remain an underpunished and costly problem within society. White-collar crime  refers to “crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his [or her] occupation” (Sutherland, 1949). Corporate crime refers to crimes committed by corporate employees or owners in the pursuit of profit or other organization goals. White collar crime benefits the individual involved whereas corporate crime benefits the company or corporation. Both types of crime are more difficult to detect than street crime because the transactions take place in private and are more difficult to prosecute because the criminals can secure expert legal advice on how to bend the rules.

In the United States it has been estimated that the yearly value of all street crime is roughly 5 per cent of the value of corporate crime or “suite crime” (Snider, 1994). Comparable data is not compiled in Canada; however, the Canadian Department of Justice reported that the total value of property stolen or damaged due to property crime in 2008 was an estimated $5.8 billion (Zhang, 2008), which would put the cost of corporate crime at $116 billion (if the same ratio holds true in Canada). For example, Revenue Canada estimates that wealthy Canadians had a combined total of between $75.9 billion and $240.5 billion  in 2013 concealed in untaxed offshore tax havens (Canada Revenue Agency, 2018). In 2020, the Canada Revenue Agency was reported as pursuing an estimated $4.4 billion in taxes from individuals and corporations suspected of concealing wealth in offshore tax havens (Nardi, 2020).

PricewaterhouseCoopers reports that 36 per cent of Canadian companies were subject to white-collar crime in 2013 (theft, fraud, embezzlement, cybercrime). One in ten lost $5 million or more (McKenna, 2014). Recent high-profile Ponzi scheme and investment frauds run into tens of millions of dollars each, destroying investors’ retirement savings. Vincent Lacroix was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2009 for defrauding investors of $115 million; Earl Jones was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2010 for defrauding investors of $50 million; Weizhen Tang was sentenced to 6 years in prison in 2013 for defrauding investors of $52 million. These were highly publicized cases in which jail time was demanded by the public (although as nonviolent offenders the perpetrators are eligible for parole after serving one-sixth of their sentence). However, in 2011–2012 prison sentences were nearly twice as likely for the typically lower-class perpetrators of break and enters (59 per cent) as they were for typically middle- and upper-class perpetrators of fraud (35 per cent) (Boyce, 2013).

This imbalance based on class power can also be put into perspective with respect to homicide rates (Samuelson, 2000). In 2005, there were 658 homicides in Canada recorded by police, an average of 1.8 a day. This is an extremely serious crime, which merits the attention given to it by the criminal justice system. However, in 2005 there were also 1,097 workplace deaths that were, in principle, preventable. Canadians work on average 230 days a year, meaning that there were on average five workplace deaths a day for every working day in 2005 (Sharpe & Hardt, 2006). Estimates from the United States suggest that only one-third of on-the-job deaths and injuries can be attributed to worker carelessness (Samuelson, 2000).

In 2005, 51 per cent of the workplace deaths in Canada were due to occupational diseases like cancers from exposure to asbestos (Sharpe & Hardt, 2006). The Ocean Ranger oil rig collapse that killed 84 workers off Newfoundland in 1982 and the Westray Mine explosion that killed 26 workers in Nova Scotia in 1992 were due to design flaws and unsafe working conditions that were known to the owners. However, whereas corporations are prosecuted for regulatory violations governing health and safety, it is rare for corporations or corporate officials to be prosecuted for the consequences of those violations. “For example, a company would be fined for not installing safety bolts in a construction crane, but not prosecuted for the death of several workers who were below the crane when it collapsed (as in a recent case in Western Canada)” (Samuelson, 2000).

Corporate crime is arguably a more harmful type of crime than street crime, yet white-collar criminals are treated relatively leniently. Fines, when they are imposed, are typically absorbed as a cost of doing business and passed on to consumers, and many crimes, from investment fraud to insider trading and price fixing, are simply not prosecuted. For example, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated that law enforcement fail to apprehend money launderers 99.8% of the time (UNODC, 2011). From a critical sociology point of view, this is because white-collar crime is committed by elites who are able to use their power and financial resources to evade punishment. Here are some examples:

• An expert panel estimated that annual money laundering activity in Canada in 2018 was $46.7 billion and $7.4 billion in British Columbia (Maloney, Somerville and Unger, 2019). The use of real estate as a means to launder money is estimated to be a major contributer to the inflation of real estate prices in Vancouver, increasing property values by approximately 5% and contributing to the affordability crisis. However because of laws protecting the privacy of financial transactions and property ownership information, law enforcement agencies have difficulty tracing who has committed money-laundering crime, where the crime has been committed, or even that a crime has been committed at all.
• The KPMG offshore tax avoidance scheme involved creating shell companies for Canadian multimillionaires and billionaires in the Isle of Man, where clients could “give away” their wealth and get back regular tax-free “gifts,”  thus avoiding paying federal taxes. Because of difficultities in prosecuting the cases, the Canada Revenue Agency offered secret amnesty to some clients who had been using the scheme and “settled out of court” with others (Cashore and Zalac, 2021;  Cashore, Ivany & Findlay , 2017).
• In the United States, not a single criminal charge was filed against a corporate executive after the financial mismanagement of the 2008 financial crisis. The American Security and Exchange Commission levied a total of $2.73 billion in fines and out-of-court settlements, but the total cost of the financial crisis was estimated to be between $6 and $14 trillion (Pyke, 2013).
• In Canada, three Nortel executives were charged by the RCMP’s Integrated Market Enforcement Team (IMET) with fraudulently altering accounting procedures in 2002–2003 to make it appear that Nortel was running a profit (thereby triggering salary bonuses for themselves totalling $12 million), but were acquitted in 2013. The accounting procedures were found to inflate the value of the company, but the intent to defraud could not be proven. The RCMP’s IMET, implemented in 2003 to fight white-collar crime, managed only 11 convictions over the first nine years of its existence (McFarland & Blackwell, 2013).
• Canadian pipeline company Enbridge’s 20,000-barrel spill of bitumen (tar sands) oil into the Kalamazoo River, Michigan in 2010 was allowed to continue for 17 hours and involved the company twice re-pumping bitumen into the pipeline. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board report noted that the spill was the result of  “pervasive organizational failures,” and documents revealed that the pipeline operators were more concerned about getting home for the weekend than solving the problem (Rusnell, 2012). No criminal charges were laid.

Feminist Contributions

Women who are regarded as criminally deviant are often seen as being  doubly deviant . They have broken the law but they have also broken gender norms about appropriate female behaviour, whereas men’s criminal behaviour is seen as consistent with their aggressive, self-assertive character.

This double standard explains the tendency to medicalize women’s deviance, to see it as the product of physiological or psychiatric pathology. For example, in the late 19th century, kleptomania was a diagnosis used in legal defences that linked an extreme desire for department store commodities with various forms of female physiological or psychiatric illness. The fact that “good” middle- and upper-class women, who were at that time coincidentally beginning to experience the benefits of independence from men, would turn to stealing in department stores to obtain the new feminine consumer items on display there, could not be explained without resorting to diagnosing the activity as an illness of the “weaker sex” (Kramar, 2011).

Feminist analysis focuses on the way gender inequality influences the opportunities to commit crime and the definition, detection, and prosecution of crime. In part the gender difference revolves around patriarchal attitudes toward women and the disregard for matters considered to be of a private or domestic nature. For example, until 1969 abortion was illegal in Canada, meaning that hundreds of women died or were injured each year when they received illegal abortions (McLaren & McLaren, 1997). It was not until the Supreme Court ruling in 1988 that struck down the law that it was acknowledged that women are capable of making their own choice, in consultation with a doctor, about the procedure.

Similarly, until the 1970s two major types of criminal deviance were largely ignored or were difficult to prosecute as crimes: sexual assault and spousal assault. Through the 1970s, women worked to change the criminal justice system and establish rape crisis centres and battered women’s shelters, bringing attention to domestic violence. In 1983 the Criminal Code was amended to replace the crimes of rape and indecent assault with a three-tier structure of sexual assault (ranging from unwanted sexual touching that violates the integrity of the victim to sexual assault with a weapon or threats or causing bodily harm to aggravated sexual assault that results in wounding, maiming, disfiguring, or endangering the life of the victim) (Kong et al., 2003). Holly Johnson (1996) reported that in the mid-1990s, when violence against women began to be surveyed systematically in Canada, 51 per cent of Canadian women had been the subject to at least one sexual or physical assault since the age of 16.

The goal of the amendments was to emphasize that sexual assault is an act of violence, not a sexual act. Previously, rape had been defined as an act that involved penetration and was perpetrated against a woman who was not the wife of the accused. This had excluded spousal sexual assault as a crime and had also exposed women to secondary victimization by the criminal justice system when they tried to bring charges. Secondary victimization occurs when the women’s own sexual history and her willingness to consent are questioned in the process of laying charges and reaching a conviction, which as feminists pointed out, increased victims’ reluctance to lay charges.

In particular, feminists challenged the twin myths of rape that were often the subtext of criminal justice proceedings presided over largely by men (Kramar, 2011). The first myth is that women are untrustworthy and tend to lie about assault out of malice toward men, as a way of getting back at them for personal grievances. The second myth, is that women will say no to sexual relations when they really mean yes. Typical of these types of issues was the judge’s comment in a Manitoba Court of Appeal case in which a man pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting his twelve- or thirteen-year-old babysitter:

The girl, of course, could not consent in the legal sense, but nonetheless was a willing participant. She was apparently more sophisticated than many her age and was performing many household tasks including babysitting the accused’s children. The accused and his wife were somewhat estranged (as cited in Kramar, 2011).

Because the girl was willing to perform household chores in place of the man’s estranged wife, the judge assumed she was also willing to engage in sexual relations. In order to address these types of issue, feminists successfully pressed the Supreme Court to deliver rulings that restricted a defence attorney’s access to a victim’s medical and counselling records and rules of evidence were changed to prevent a woman’s past sexual history being used against her. Consent to sexual discourse was redefined as what a woman actually says or does, not what the man believes to be consent. Feminists also argued that spousal assault was a key component of patriarchal power. Typically it was hidden in the household and largely regarded as a private, domestic matter in which police were reluctant to get involved.

Interestingly women and men report similar rates of spousal violence — in 2009, 6 per cent had experienced spousal violence in the previous five years — but women are more likely to experience more severe forms of violence including multiple victimizations and violence leading to physical injury (Sinha, 2013). In order to empower women, feminists pressed lawmakers to develop zero-tolerance policies that would support aggressive policing and prosecution of offenders. These policies oblige police to lay charges in cases of domestic violence when a complaint is made, whether or not the victim wished to proceed with charges (Kramar, 2011).

In 2009, 84 per cent of violent spousal incidents reported by women to police resulted in charges being laid. However, according to victimization surveys only 30 per cent of actual incidents were reported to police. The majority of women who did not report incidents to the police stated that they dealt with them in another way, felt they were a private matter, or did not think the incidents were important enough to report. A significant proportion, however, did not want anyone to find out (44 per cent), did not want their spouse to be arrested (40 per cent), or were too afraid of their spouse (19 per cent) (Sinha, 2013).

Interpretive Sociology

Interpretive sociology is a theoretical approach that can be used to explain how societies and/or social groups come to view behaviours as deviant or conventional. The key emphasis is on the way that the meanings which guide behaviour are constructed in the course of social interactions and become attached to things and people. Research focuses on the social processes through which specific activities and identities are socially defined as “deviant” and then come to be “lived” as deviant. Deviance is something that, in essence, is learned. In interpretive research, crime, deviance and deviants are not approached as quantifiable things or objects, but as the products of processes of criminalization, Othering and identity formation .

• Criminalization is “the process by which behaviors and individuals are transformed into crime and criminals” (Michalowski, 1985). For example, Becker (1963) notes the processes whereby moral entrepreneurs and authorities come to decide that specific activities are criminal, as well as the sequence of interactions with the criminal justice system that a person goes through in being assigned a criminal identity.
• Othering is the process in which an individual becomes recognized and stigmatized as socially deviant. In Othering, a deviant,  abnormal or Other group is defined in opposition to a “normal” group.  Negative or deviant characteristics are attributed to behaviours, individuals or groups that set them apart as abnormal, different or “other.” This is a process that involves power relations because not all groups have the power to determine what heir social identity is. For example, Michel Foucault describes the institutional “dividing practices” used in psychology, medicine and criminology to objectify the subjects under their control in relation to norms of sanity, health, and innocence that the institutions themselves define: the “mad and the sane, the sick and the healthy, the criminals and the ‘good boys'” (Foucault, 1994).
• Identity formation is the process in which an individual creates and sustains a self-image and position in the world. In the study of crime and deviance, identity formation describes the process in which an individual goes from committing an act of deviance or rule breaking to assuming a deviant identity in which rule breaking is a matter of course. It involves a process of aligning subjective self-understanding with external definitions of self.

To sum up, social groups and authorities create deviance by first making the rules and then applying them to people who are thereby labelled as outsiders (Becker, 1963). Deviance is not an intrinsic quality of individuals but is created through the social interactions of various authorities, institutions and individuals.

Deviance as Learned Behaviour

In the early 1900s, sociologist Edwin Sutherland (1883-1950) sought to understand how deviant behaviour developed among people. Since criminology was a young field, he drew on other aspects of sociology including social interactions and group learning (Laub, 2006). His conclusions established differential association theory , stating that individuals learn deviant behaviour from those close to them who provide models of and opportunities for deviance. According to Sutherland, deviance is less a personal choice and more a result of differential socialization processes. Differential association refers to the balance of a persons criminal and non-criminal associations. “A person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favourable to violation of the law over definitions unfaviourable to violation of law” (Sutherland and Cressey, 1977). In other words, having a social milieu in which most of ones contacts encourage or normalize criminality predicts the likelihood of becoming criminal, whereas a social milieu where ones contacts discourage criminality predict the opposite. A teenager whose friends shoplift is more likely to view shoplifting as acceptable.

The concept of deviance as learned behaviour can be illustrated by Howard Becker’s (b. 1928) study of marijuana users in the jazz club scene of Chicago in the 1950s (1953). Becker paid his way through graduate studies by performing as a jazz pianist and took the opportunity to study his fellow musicians. He conducted 50 interviews and noted that becoming a marijuana user involved a social process of initiation into a deviant role that could not be accounted for by either the physiological properties of cannabis or the psychological needs (for intoxication, escape, fantasy, etc.) of the individual. Rather the “career” of the marijuana user involved a sequence of changes in attitude and experience learned through social interactions with experienced users before cannabis could be regularly smoked for pleasure.

Regular cannabis use was a social achievement that required the individual to pass through three distinct stages. Failure to do so meant that the individual would not assume a deviant role as a regular user of cannabis.

• Firstly, individuals had to learn to smoke cannabis in a way that would produce real effects. Many first-time users do not feel the effects. If they are not shown how to inhale the smoke or how much to smoke, they might not feel the drug had any effect on them. Their “career” might end there if they are not encouraged by others to persist.
• Secondly, they had to learn to recognize the effects of “being high” and connect them with drug use. Although people might display different symptoms of intoxication — feeling hungry, elated, rubbery, etc. — they might not recognize them as qualities associated with the cannabis or even recognize them as different at all. Through listening to experienced users talk about their experiences, novices are able to locate the same type of sensations in their own experience and notice something qualitatively different going on.
• Thirdly, they had to learn how to enjoy the sensations. They had to learn how to define the situation of getting high as pleasurable. Smoking cannabis is not necessarily pleasurable and often involves uncomfortable experiences like loss of control, impaired judgement, insecurity, distorted perception, and paranoia. Unless the experiences can be redefined as pleasurable, the individual will not become a regular user. Often experienced users are able to coach novices through difficulties and encourage them by telling them they will learn to like it. It is through differential association with a specific set of individuals that a person learns and assumes a deviant role. The role needs to be learned and its value recognized before it can become routine or normal for the individual.

Procurement into prostitution involves a similar process, one which is manipulated by the procurers or pimps. Hodgson (1997) describes two methods of procurement that pimps use to draw girls into a life of prostitution. After judging a girl’s level of vulnerability, they deploy either a seduction method , providing affection, attention and emotional support for the most isolated girls, or a stratagem method, promising wealth, glamour and excitement for those who are less vulnerable. After a girl has “chosen” to stay with the “family,” they are socialized step by step to comply to the roles, rules and expectations of the world of prostitution. Their former identity is neutralized and attachment to previously learned values and norms is weakened through a process that begins with (a) training in the rules of the sex trade by the pimp’s “wife-in-law” or “main lady,” (b) turning the first trick, which deepens the girl’s identification with street culture and the other prostitutes, and (c) the use of violence to enforce compliance when the girl has second thoughts and the relationship with the pimp deteriorates. At each stage the girl finds herself more deeply entrenched in a world of norms, values and behaviours that are strongly stigmatized in the dominant culture. While various levels of coercion are present, the process of learning, internalizing and acknowledging the deviant self-image and social role of the prostitute is necessary for continued participation in prostitution.

Labeling Theory

Although many people violate norms from time to time, few people would consider themselves deviant. Often, those who do, however, have gradually come to believe they are deviant because they been labelled “deviant” by society. Labeling theory examines the ascribing of a deviant behaviour to another person by members of society. Thus, what is considered deviant is determined not so much by the behaviours themselves or the people who commit them, but by the reactions of others to these behaviours. As a result, what is considered deviant changes over time and can vary significantly across cultures. As Becker put it, “deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to the offender. The deviant is one to whom the label has successfully been applied; deviant behaviour is behaviour people so label” (1963).

It is important to note that labeling theory does not address the initial motives or reasons for the rule-breaking behaviour, which might be unknowable, but the outcome of criminal justice procedures that process offenders as deviants. It does not attempt to answer the questions of why people break the rules so much as why particular acts or particular individuals are labelled deviant while others are not. How do certain acts get labelled deviant and what are the consequences?

Sociologist Edwin Lemert expanded on the concepts of labeling theory, identifying two types of deviance that affect identity formation. Primary deviance is the initial violation of norms that does not result in any long-term effects on the individual’s self-image or interactions with others. Speeding is a deviant act, but receiving a speeding ticket generally does not make others view the offender as a bad person, nor does it alter offender’s own self-concept. Individuals who engage in primary deviance still maintain a feeling of belonging in society and are likely to continue to conform to norms in the future.

However, primary deviance can morph into secondary deviance. Secondary deviance occurs when a person’s self-concept and behaviour begin to change after their actions are labelled as deviant by members of society. The person may begin to take on and fulfill the role of a “deviant” as an act of rebellion against the society that has labelled that individual as such. For example, consider a high school student who often cuts class and gets into fights. The student is reprimanded frequently by teachers and school staff, and soon enough, develops a reputation as a “troublemaker.” As a result, the student might take these reprimands as a mark of status and start acting out even more, breaking more rules, adopting the troublemaker label and embracing this deviant identity.

Secondary deviance can be so strong that it bestows a master status on an individual. A master status is a label that describes the chief characteristic of an individual. Some people see themselves primarily as doctors, artists, or grandfathers. Others see themselves as beggars, convicts, or addicts. The criminal justice system is ironically one of the primary agencies of socialization into the criminal “career path.” The labels “juvenile delinquent” or “criminal” are not automatically applied to individuals who break the law. A teenager who is picked up by the police for a minor misdemeanour might be labelled as a “good kid” who made a mistake and who then is released after a stern talking to, or they might be labelled a juvenile delinquent and processed as a young offender. In the first case, the incident may not make any impression on the teenager’s personality or on the way others react to them. In the second case, being labelled a juvenile delinquent sets up a set of responses to the teenager by police and authorities that lead to criminal charges, more severe penalties, and a process of socialization into the criminal identity.

In detention in particular, individuals learn how to assume the identity of serious offenders as they interact with hardened, long-term inmates within the prison culture (Wheeler, 1961). The act of imprisonment itself modifies behaviour, to make individuals more criminal. Aaron Cicourel’s (b. 1928) research in the 1960s showed how police used their discretionary powers to label rule-breaking teenagers who came from homes where the parents were divorced as juvenile delinquents and to arrest them more frequently than teenagers from “intact homes” (1968). Judges were also found to be more likely to impose harsher penalties on teenagers from divorced families. Unsurprisingly, Cicourel noted that subsequent research conducted on the social characteristics of teenagers who were charged and processed as juvenile delinquents found that children from divorced families were more likely to be charged and processed. Divorced families were seen as a cause of youth crime. This set up a vicious circle in which the research confirmed the prejudices of police and judges who continued to label, arrest, and convict the children of divorced families disproportionately. The labeling process acted as a self-fulfilling prophecy in which police found what they expected to see.

Once a label is applied it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy . Self-fulfilling prophecies refer to the mechanisms put in play by the act of labeling, which “conspire to shape the person in the image people have of him” (Becker, 1963). A person may or may not fit the label given, but through a series of processes eventually does. Becker notes several elements in the process in which a label becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Firstly, someone who has been labelled a criminal or deviant based on committing a specific act of deviance or crime is often considered as criminal and deviant in other respects as well. Their entire personality is tainted. They are considered, at their core, “to be a person ‘without respect for the law'” (Becker, 1963). Secondly, once characterized as such, a person tends to get cut off and isolated from participation in conventional social life even if, prior to the labeling, their deviant activity did not affect their participation. The use of intravenous drugs might not affect a user’s work performance but the public knowledge and subsequent reaction to their drug use will most likely lead to them losing their job. The person who is labelled as an addict is seen as “weak-willed” and unemployable, whether actual job performance is affected or not. Thirdly, as a consequence of the resulting social isolation, the labelled person finds it difficult not to break other norms and laws, which they had otherwise no intention of breaking. They are also more likely to turn to social support from criminal or deviant subcultures where the support from conventional society has been withdrawn. To continue to enjoy the pleasures of using prohibited drugs, the user is obliged to turn to the black market where drugs are expensive and dangerous and forge relationships there. “Hence the treatment of the addict’s deviance places him in a position where it will probably be necessary to resort to deceit and crime in order to support his habit. The behavior is a consequence of the public reaction to the deviance rather than a consequence of the inherent qualities of the deviant act” (Becker, 1963).

Micro sociology: The Foreground of Crime and Deviance

Much of the sociological explanation of crime and deviance focuses on the background variables that lead or make it likely that individuals will break rules. Positivist sociology often examines background factors like broken homes, employment status, neighbourhood or social strain, etc. as causes of criminality or deviance. Critical sociology examines structural inequalities based on class, gender or race, etc. as the historical context of crime and deviance. Micro-sociologists do not necessarily disagree, but emphasize that crime or rule-breaking, whatever its likelihood predicted by background variables, always takes place in a particular situation and a particular moment in time. They draw attention to the foreground variables of rule breaking: the immediate circumstances of the violation, the opportunities and impediments to rule breaking that are present, the different motives, experiences and interpretations of the people involved, and the moods and emotional process of perpetrators (or victims). Without these foreground factors the crime or violation would not take place.

As Katz (1988) puts it, something “in the moment” must exist to propel an individual to commit a crime. Each crime has unique situational or micro-sociological variables that provide the foreground of the crime.

By way of explanation, I will propose for each type of crime a different set of individually’ necessary and jointly sufficient conditions, each set containing (1) a path of action — distinctive practical requirements for successfully committing the crime, (2) a line of interpretation — unique ways of understanding how one is and will be seen by others, and (3) an emotional process — seductions and compulsions that have special dynamics (Katz, 1988).

Katz notes in particular that there is an emotional quality that accompanies different types of crime: the hot-blooded murder, the furtive sneakiness of shoplifting, the hardening of the stickup “hardman,” etc. Each type of crime has its own “seductions and compulsions”— a distinctive and compelling feeling or attraction to the perpetrator in the moment that leads them to overcome resistance. Types of moral emotion such as “humiliation, righteousness, arrogance, ridicule, cynicism, defilement, and vengeance” (Katz, 1988) are especially central to experiences of criminal rule breaking. One of the most compelling attractions of rule breaking is to overcome a challenge and “prove oneself” in some fashion. The highschool shooter seeks to overcome the humiliation of having his masculinity challenged by committing an act of exaggerated violent masculinity. The teenage shoplifter engages in a “thrilling melodrama about the self” in being able to demonstrate personal competence and get away with shoplifting under the noses of adults. These claims to “moral existence,” as Katz describes them, (i.e.,claims to self-validity, self-righteousness or self-vindication, etc.), are compelling motivators in the moment of the act.

Similarly, Collins (2008) argues that micro-sociological or situational variables have to be taken into account in explaining violence. Although background conditions of poverty, racial discrimination, toxic masculinity, family disorganization, abuse, stress, frustration or exposure to media violence, etc. might predispose someone to violence, they are not sufficient to explain specific acts of violence. Micro-sociological evidence shows that in order for violence to take place in actual face-to-face situations, a person has to overcome powerful barriers that are built in to the processes of social interaction itself. He refers to this as a confrontational tension/fear barrier. Violence is difficult to accomplish because the natural tendency in any social interaction is agreement. Dischord and confrontation cause tension, which is uncomfortable and usually avoided, but if the confrontation escalates towards violence, a potent physiological “cocktail” in the form of fear, anxiety and adrenalin kicks in as a barrier to the confrontation going further. “No matter how motivated someone may be, if the situation does not unfold so that confrontational tension/fear is overcome, violence will not proceed” (Collins, 2008). This applies to ordinary street violence, domestic violence and other criminal violence, as well as professional violence such as police violence or military combat, where direct confrontations take place face to face. Violence is correspondingly easier the more distant the combatants are from each other.

For example, Collins describes the escalation of tensions and “bluster” that lead to street fights. Tensions escalate in a confrontation when the individuals start breaking the codes of conversational turn taking and start talking over each other. The argument gets louder and more heated as each person tries to control the “conversational space,” interrupting the other and disrupting the other’s ability to speak. The cognitive content of the dispute tends to dissipate and is replaced by staccato utterances,  insults, and swearing, which have more dramatic impact. However, usually the confrontation will end before coming to violence. One person will leave “in a huff” even if it means loss of face, or the exchange will become boring and lose energy, for both the participants and the audience. Only if specific situational conditions are met will the confrontation become violent.

[C]onfrontations bring tension and fear, which inhibits effective violence; emotional tension gets released into violent attack only where there is a weak victim, or where the conflict is hedged round with social supports to make it a staged fight fought within socially enforced limits. Thus bluster is likely to lead onward to a fight in one of these two circumstances: First, if one side feels much stronger than the other, at least at that moment, the stronger launches an attack. The bluster itself may provide the test of who is weaker; wavering or cringing in the face of bluster, or retreating from it, is one thing that can trigger an attack. Second, if there is a highly interested audience, witnessing the buildup of boast and bluster, the scene is set for a fight, and the principals may not be able to back out of it if they wished (Collins, 2008).

As a result, Collins defines violence micro-sociologically as a process:  “a set of pathways around confrontational tension and fear” (Collins, 2008).

From the micro-sociological perspective, it is important for sociology to determine the situational circumstances of rule-breaking or crime in forming an explanation therefore: “I suggest that a seemingly simple question be asked persistently in detailed application to the facts of criminal experience: what are people trying to do when they commit a crime?” (Katz, 1988).

Media Attributions

• Figure 8.9 Joker Mask Crime Clown Thug Goon 7241 by Brecht Bug, via Flickr, is used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 licence.
• Figure 8.10 Face measurements based on Lombroso’s criminal anthropology by Nicolasbuenaventura, via Wikimedia Commons, is used under a CC BY-SA 3.0 licence.
• Figure 8.11 File:Camden NJ poverty.jpg by Phillies1fan777 at English Wikipedia, is in the public domain . (Uploaded by Apollo1758.) 
• Figure 8.12 Mug shot of Capone in Miami, Florida, 1930 by Miami Police Department, via Wikipedia, is in the public domain .
• Figure 8.13   Spy vs Sci 573 by Anonymous9000, via OpenVerse, is used under a CC BY 2.0 licence.
• Figure 8.14 Cocaine Fact Sheet via US Drug Enforcement Agency/ Department of Justice, is in the public domain .
• Figure 8.15   63rd St. by Howard Becker (Used by permission of Howard Becker).
• Figure 8.16   Chopper by Daniel Grosvenor, via Flickr, is used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 licence.

Introduction to Sociology – 3rd Canadian Edition Copyright © 2023 by William Little is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Labelling and Deviance: A Case Study in the “Sociology of the Interesting”

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John Hagan, Labelling and Deviance: A Case Study in the “Sociology of the Interesting”, Social Problems , Volume 20, Issue 4, Spring 1973, Pages 447–458, https://doi.org/10.2307/799707

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Discussion begins with a review of three major concerns of the labelling perspective in deviance: (1) locating the social origins of stigmatic labels; (2) documenting the application of these labels to selected populations; and (3) assessing the consequences of the labelling process for the recipients' future conduct. It is suggested that the latter concern is the most dramatic aspect of the labelling perspective. Two assumptions accompanying this version of the labelling argument are reviewed: (1) other's reaction to subject intensifies subject's behavior; and (2) psychological differences do not exist in a manner relevant to the production and explanation of deviant behavior. After accumulating evidence suggestive of weaknesses in the preceding assumptions, it is argued that the popularity of the labelling perspective in deviance may be best understood as an instance in the “Sociology of the Interesting.” Implications are suggested.

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The Sociology Guy

Helping students understand society

The content checklist for what you need to know for the crime and deviance module can be downloaded from the link below. some of the key debates that you need to be aware of are shown in the title image, but can be downloaded in pdf format as well from the link below.

Crime Checklist

Crime and deviance is one of the core modules on the AQA A level Sociology specification. Examining theories of crime, deviance, social control and social order is one of the first stages of gaining an understanding into why people commit crime, what crime does to society and how people’s behaviours are controlled by social institutions. The first gallery focuses on Functionalist and subcultural theories of crime and deviance.

These can also be downloaded as pdfs to stick into your notes. Just click on the links below:

The next gallery focuses on the different Marxist and Neo-Marxist theories of crime and deviance – focusing on capitalism as a cause of crime, the ideological functions of crime and the role of the ruling class in making the laws and enforcing the laws.

These theories can also be downloaded as pdf files to put in your notes:

The content below is from previous years and will be uploaded to REVISION as this page continues to be updated throughout the academic year

8 Great – Crime and Media

5 reasons – white collar crime

5 reasons for working class crime

5 reasons for Green Crime

5 reasons for cyber crime

Functions of Crime

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