Crime and Deviance in Society
Crime and Deviance
Introduction
Deviance consists of those acts that go against the norms and expectations of the society. Deviance can be positively sanctioned, negatively sanctioned or accepted without reward or punishment. Example: soldiers on the battlefield. May be viewed as deviant but soldiers may be rewarded with a medal since they conform to the values of society- value of courage. Compared to murderers – deviate from the accepted norms of society and its values- value for human life.
Another form of deviance are acts that depart from the norms and expectations of the social group but are generally accepted and tolerated – a person living with a house full of cats or a gothic person – their eccentricities are neither rewarded nor punished but are defined as “odd” and harmless thus tolerated. Marshall B. Clinard (1974) defined crime as those activities that break the law and are subject to official punishment; and delinquency as those acts that are criminal or are considered anti-social, which are committed by young people. Social scientists who study crime are called criminologists.
Deviance is relative – there is no absolute way of defining deviance – what is viewed as deviant depends on the time and place - suicide is not illegal in Britain and illegal in Mauritius. In a society where an act is seen deviant today may be considered as normal in the future. Or what is deviant in a society may be seen as perfectly normal in another. So, deviance is culturally determined and cultures change over time and vary from society to society.
Homosexuality used to be a criminal act and in 1969 homosexual acts done in private between consenting male adults over 21 were made legal and in 1994 the age of consent was reduced to 18 and 16 in 1998. Western society values accumulation of wealth, private ownership of property bringing power and prestige whereas in Sioux culture these Western norms are considered as deviant as their norms prevented accumulation of
Introduction
Deviance consists of those acts that go against the norms and expectations of the society. Deviance can be positively sanctioned, negatively sanctioned or accepted without reward or punishment. Example: soldiers on the battlefield. May be viewed as deviant but soldiers may be rewarded with a medal since they conform to the values of society- value of courage. Compared to murderers – deviate from the accepted norms of society and its values- value for human life.
Another form of deviance are acts that depart from the norms and expectations of the social group but are generally accepted and tolerated – a person living with a house full of cats or a gothic person – their eccentricities are neither rewarded nor punished but are defined as “odd” and harmless thus tolerated. Marshall B. Clinard (1974) defined crime as those activities that break the law and are subject to official punishment; and delinquency as those acts that are criminal or are considered anti-social, which are committed by young people. Social scientists who study crime are called criminologists.
Deviance is relative – there is no absolute way of defining deviance – what is viewed as deviant depends on the time and place - suicide is not illegal in Britain and illegal in Mauritius. In a society where an act is seen deviant today may be considered as normal in the future. Or what is deviant in a society may be seen as perfectly normal in another. So, deviance is culturally determined and cultures change over time and vary from society to society.
Homosexuality used to be a criminal act and in 1969 homosexual acts done in private between consenting male adults over 21 were made legal and in 1994 the age of consent was reduced to 18 and 16 in 1998. Western society values accumulation of wealth, private ownership of property bringing power and prestige whereas in Sioux culture these Western norms are considered as deviant as their norms prevented accumulation of