Deviance and Crime Theory Research and Policy Discussion

Select a theory of deviance from the lecture notes that best explains any five of the seven behaviors listed below. You must justify your choice in each case. If you choose Merton’s theory, include the appropriate adaptation in your justification. You may use any or all of the theories discussed in class. You do not have to use the same theory to explain all five behaviors.

Group Project 4 Deviance Theories Select a theory of deviance from the lecture notes that best explains any five of the seven behaviors listed below. You must justify your choice in each case. If you choose Merton’s theory, include the appropriate adaptation in your justification. You may use any or all of the theories discussed in class. You do not have to use the same theory to explain all five behaviors. 1. A convict commits suicide in prison. 2. An alcoholic is living and sleeping in a homeless camp. 3. A gang member is involved in a drive-by shooting. 4. A financial manager steals money from the company where he works. 5. Students in a remedial math class lack motivation to learn. 6. A college student becomes a marijuana user. 7. A judge sentences a 16 year old male to return to a youth detention facility. Chapter 6 – Deviance and crime Social order – system of people, relationships, customs operating to accomplish society’s work Social control is achieved through sanctions, law, socialization that encourage conformity to norms and rules and discourage deviance.

Internal social control takes place when people internalize norms and values and follow them in their lives External social control involves negative sanctions that proscribe certain behaviors and punish rule breakers Deviance is behavior, belief or condition that violates social norms and expectations in the society/group in which it occurs (thereby judged negatively by most of society’s members) Functions of deviance: 1) sets boundaries for permitted behavior/ clarifies rules 2) promotes group solidarity and unifies the group 3) can stimulate social change Deviance is relative – it varies by time, place and social group Groups with more power are likely to have their definition of deviance accepted Crime is any act that violates the law. Laws are specific rules enacted by a political authority with specific punitive sanctions such as fines and/or jail terms. Crimes are divided into felonies and misdemeanors: felonies are serious crimes such as homicide or rape for which punishment ranges from more than a year in prison to death. misdemeanors are minor crimes typically punished by less than one year in jail • Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) produced by FBI and based on statistics from local jurisdictions. • Victimization studies are reports by alleged victims of crimes compiled by U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. • Anonymous self reports of crime reveal higher rates than those found in official statistics. •

They give different views on the prevalence of crime with the UCR showing a lower rate. Crime Rates in the U.S. per 100,000 population Based on FBI Data and Victim Reports FBI Rate (1987) Forcible rape Victim Report FBI Rate (1987) (2019) Victim Report (2019) 37 70 30 170 Robbery 213 510 82 190 Aggravated assault 351 790 250 370 Burglary 1,330 6,150 341 1,170 Larceny-theft 3,081 13,490 1,550 8,020 Motor vehicle theft 529 1,500 220 390 Social characteristics of persons arrested for crimes against persons or property: young -those under than 25 commit 46% of violent crime and 56% of property crime male -commit 76% of crime; women keep up with men on forgery and fraud black -39% of arrests for violent crime and 30% of arrests for property crime but only 13% of population poor- lower social classes are more often arrested for violent & property crimes urban Victimization 50% of violent crimes & 61% of property crimes are not reported to police Men are more likely to be victims although women more fearful African Americans more likely to be victims than any other ethnic group Types of crime • • • • • • • Public order crimes – victimless crimes such as gambling, prostitution, drug use in a willing exchange Occupational or White collar crime – committed by respectable persons in the performance of job duties Organized crime – large groups organized to maximize profit and minimize apprehension Index (UCR) or street crimes – against persons and property; often involve violence (force or threat of force); examples are murder, rape, robbery; burglary, motor vehicle theft, larceny, theft, arson Political crimes – illegal or unethical actions involving usurpation of power by government officials.

Can be illegal or unethical acts against the government by outsides to overthrow the government or make a political statement Corporate crime – illegal act committed by corporate employees on behalf of the corporation and with its support Internet crimes consist of FBI-related scams, identity theft, advance fee fraud, nonauction/nondelivery of merchandise, and overpayment fraud. Discretionary Powers in Law Enforcement Criminal justice system refers to the local, state and federal agencies that enforce laws, adjudicate crimes and treat and rehabilitate criminals. Functions of punishment (action designed to deprive person of things of value (including liberty) because of offence person is thought to have committed): • Retribution imposes a penalty on the offender and is based on the premise that punishment should fit the crime • Incapacitation or social protection is served by restricting offenders so it is impossible for them to commit further crimes. • Rehabilitation seeks to return offenders to the community as law abiding citizens • Deterrence seeks to reduce criminal activity by instilling fear of the certainty and extent (severity) of punishment Death Row Census May 2019 Comparative costs Life in prison (as of Dec 2009) Average daily cost to house a prisoner in Texas = $47.50 or $17,338 per year or $693,500 for 40 years Death row incarceration Trial cost from indictment through state and federal appeals ranges from $1.2 -$1.8 million with the federal appeals being most expensive* Separate death row incarceration for one inmate costs $140,000 *exact statistics on the costs of executions are elusive, because each case is different in timing and court actions, American Bar Association Report on Texas Death Penalty System • • • • • • Jury Instructions – Texas should abandon use of the “future dangerousness” issue in instruction to capital juries. Mental Retardation –

Texas should pass a law barring application fo the death penalty to persons with mental retardation providing a definition that that conforms to American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and requiring pretrial determination by a judge. Proportionality Review – Court of Criminal Appeals should conduct a proportionality review of every death sentence to protect against the random and arbitrary imposition of the death penalty. Twenty of 254 counties account for 76% of those sentenced to death. State Habeas Corpus Proceedings – Most Texas death row inmates have not benefited from improvements to fairness and dues process developed over the past several years. They should receive new sentencing hearings so their punishment can be reassessed. Clemency – Texas should create a meaningful clemency process requiring the Board of Pardons and Paroles to conduct public hearings and adopt guidelines to evaluate clemency petitions. Quality of Counsel – The report makes extensive recommendations regarding qualifications, selection, compensation and evaluation of capital counsel at every step of the process. Positivist explanations of criminal behavior Biological – result of physical makeup – Disease model or medicalization of deviance – Lombroso and body types associated with deviance Classical – Rational choice or deterrence: pleasure pain calculations Psychological – Antisocial personality disorder – Low IQ –

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource