crime and deviance
Crime, Deviance and Social Control Crime can be defined as a violation of a legal specification that carries a specific penalty. A crime is that which tends to destroy communities or detract from human dignity. Sociologists define deviance as behavior that violates an essential social norm. ... Professional thieves, and bank robbers also violate norms, but their deviance is not usually based on a belief that society should change. ... The theoretical study of societal reaction to deviance has been carried out under different names, such as, labeling theory, interactionist perspective, and the social constructionist perspective. In the sociology of deviance, the labeling theory of deviant behavior is often used interchangeably with the societal reaction theory of deviancy. Labeling theorists stress the point of seeing deviance from the viewpoint of the deviant individual. ... The second proposition claims that labeling produces or amplifies deviance. ... The closer a person comes to the stereotype held by the police, the more likely they are to be arrested, charged, and convicted of the crime. ... It has been suggested that deviance is necessary to societys stability, rather than being responsible for its breakdown, as the deviant individual serves as a marker of the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, and in doing so, it shows us the difference between the inside of the group and the outside. Women are found in courts and prisons much less frequently than are men; Hoffman-Bustamante lists five reasons for this: 1) differential role expectations, 2) differential socialization and control tactics, 3) structurally different opportunities to commit different kinds of crime, 4) differential recruitment to deviant careers, 5) Sex differences in defining crime categories.