Conformity, Deviance, and Crime

Is Conformity Good or Bad?

Due to our upbringing in our culture, individuality
has a certain allure
But
Another word for individualist is deviant
Another word for conformist is team player

Obviously, there are times where conformity, and

obedience, are crucial
Despite Hollywoods depiction, research
(Schacter; Kruglanski) shows that the conformist
is liked more

Why Conform?
Our sanity depends to
some degree on the belief
that everyone sees the
same world that we see
If this belief is challenged,
wed rather change what
we see (or what we say we
see) than admit to
ourselves (or others) that
we see a different world

Similar Terms
Conformity: a change in attitude or
behavior due to the real or imagined
presence of others.
Compliance: a change in behavior, but not
attitude, due to the results of social pressure.
Acceptance: a change in both behavior and
attitude.

Solomon Asch:
Compliance in an
Unambiguous
Situation

Milgram Obedience

Muzafer Sherif

Norm formation

The development of group norms SHERIF

(1936)

Experimental paradigm based on perception of

motion
autokinetic effect paradigm
A stationary but flickering single light in dark room
optical illusion: appears to move but doesnt
actually move

Sherifs experimental design

Private viewing task
Private estimate of distance light moved over 100 trials
(written down) Ss formed personal consensus

Group viewing task

Public judgement (state out loud how far moved) Ss
formed a group consensus
This effect influenced Ss later judgement when subsequently
asked to perform task again on their own

Why people conform

Major mechanisms of how groups influence their
members:
Informational influence
Value of others opinions
Generally useful source of information
Adaptive advantage

Normative influence
Need to be accepted by others
Need to be approved of by others
Fear of being disliked

Norms and deviance

The cultures that societies create are built out
of norms.
These norms represent the values of the
group.
When individuals and groups deviate from
norms, society responds.
Deviance can range from chewing gum in the
wrong place to capital murder and beyond.
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CONCEPTIONS OF
CRIME AND DEVIANCE
All known human societies have norms
(i.e., generally accepted ways of doings
things) about appropriate behaviour
Deviance involves breaking a norm
Crime involves breaking a law*

NORMS AND ENFORCEMENT

Norms are enforced in many ways, both
formally and informally

At the formal level, norms are enforced with

laws regulated by a criminal justice system
that includes police, courts, prisons, etc.
At the informal level, norms may be enforced
with shaming, communal pressure, etc.*

Chewing Gum in Singapore

Illegal to Buy Playstation in parts of

China

Illegal to buy or sell tobacco in

Buthan

No Guns in Japan

Valentine's Day ban in Saudi Arabia

Big questions on deviance

There are many questions to ask about

deviance, crime, and punishment, including:

Why are incarceration rates so high?

Why are racial disparities so significant?
Who are deviants? (What counts as deviant?)
Which rules are observed and which are broken?

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Deviance
Deviance involves breaking a norm.
Many deviant acts go unnoticed or are
considered too trivial to warrant
punishment.
People who are observed committing
more serious acts of deviance are
typically punished, either informally or
formally.

Deviance and crime

Not all deviance is crime, and not all crime is
deviant.
Deviance is in the eye of the beholder.

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John Hagan

Classifying Deviance:
John Hagan
Three dimensions:
1. Severity of the social response.
2. Perceived harmfulness of the act.
3. Degree of public agreement about
whether an act should be considered
deviant.

NORM VIOLATIONS:
TYPES OF DEVIANCE AND CRIME

Hagan employs his conception of seriousness to

identify four different kinds of deviance as follows:

1. Consensus crime: Acts deemed very harmful and

wrong, and for which the harshest criminal
sanctions are reserved
Examples: Homicide, attempted homicide, violent
assault with a weapon, violent sexual assault,
armed robbery, kidnapping, & theft

NORM VIOLATIONS:
TYPES OF DEVIANCE AND CRIME
2. Conflict crime: Where members of the
community disagree over whether
behaviours in question are harmful, wrong,
or deserving of severe criminal sanction
Examples: Euthanasia, gambling, drug use,
public drunkenness.

NORM VIOLATIONS:
TYPES OF DEVIANCE AND CRIME
3. Social deviation: Norm-violating behaviour
that is not illegal but nevertheless may be
subject to social stigma through
condemnation, ostracization, and
medicalization
Examples: People who are mentally ill, or
who are alcohol- or drug-dependent.

NORM VIOLATIONS: TYPES OF DEVIANCE

AND CRIME
4. Social diversion: are minor, harmless acts as well as
forms of symbolic or expressive deviance involving
adolescents

Examples: Particular clothing, hairstyles, musical

choices, etc.

Generally speaking, the more serious the form of

deviance, the less likely it is to occur

Conversely, other deviant acts can occur so routinely

some question whether they characterize
deviance*

Recap: Deviance
Range of Tolerance
A scope of behaviors considered acceptable and defined as conformity
Examples

Honesty and politeness

Bad haircut

What is speeding in 70mph? Deserve a ticket?

71? Probably not

75? Maybe
80? Good chance
100? FOR SURE!

Other types of Deviance

Overconformity positive
deviance
Involves behavior that
overconforms to social
expectations
Leads to imbalance and
perfectionism
Can be AS harmful as
negative deviance
Examples
Anorexia
Body Builder
Perfect Students
Knows answer to
EVERY question
100% A+ on all tests
and papers
Perfect attendance

Underconformity negative deviance

Involves behavior that under-conforms
to social expectations people either
reject, misinterpret, or are unaware of
the norms
Examples:
Obesity
Unmotivated Students
Lack of participation
Sleep in class
Unexcused absences
Fail tests and papers

Key Ideas: Deviance depends on

Time
Fashion and grooming change with time, like the Founding

Fathers

Fashion
Place
Where behavior occurs determines whether it is appropriate or deviant

Cheering/booing at Football game vs. in class

Situation
Takes precedence over place in determining appropriateness of actions

Laughing in class vs. laughing in class during a moment of

silence
Culture
Most influential in defining deviance

Men greeting each other

US: Hand shake
Pakistan: Hug
Japan: Bow

Group deviance
Deviance occurs, not only at the individual level,
but also among groups.
Corporations, governments, organizations, and
social groups can all take part in deviance.
There are deviant subcultures, ranging from the
homeless to religious cults to punks.

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Sanctions and social control

When someone breaks an important norm, there
is a response, a sanction.
Sanctions can be positive or negative, depending
on the breach.
Sanctions can be enacted formally or informally.
The degree of sanctions varies according to the
importance and type of norm broken.

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Punishment
Informal punishment may
involve raised eyebrows,
gossip, ostracism,
shaming, or
stigmatization.
Formal punishment results
from people breaking laws,
which are norms enforced
by government bodies.

The Social Definition of Deviance

and Crime

Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King, Jr.,

were considered deviant and criminal.
Susan B. Anthony was arrested
and fined for voting.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was
repeatedly arrested for
marching for AfricanAmericans civil rights.

Three views of deviance

Biological
Psychological
Sociological
The biological and psychological perspectives
locate deviance in the person, while
sociological perspectives locate deviance in
the act.
38

Sociological perspectives
Sociological perspectives on deviance are
wide-ranging:
Functionalist
Reinforcement
Conflict
Symbolic interactionist
Chicago School

39

Functionalist theories of deviance

Durkheims influence
Anomie: In modern societies norms have been
lost but not replaced, leaving people without a
center.
Deviance and crime as normal and necessary

Mertons typology
Deviance as a by-product of inequality

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Robert Merton

Mertons Deviance Typology

Overview

Reinforcement theories
Deviance is seen as learned, even normalized,
behavior.
We act based on perceived rewards and costs,
which may be economic, social, and so on.
Differential association is one of the better
known reinforcement theories.

49

Skinners Theory
All we need to know in order to describe
and explain behavior is this: actions
followed by good outcomes are likely to
recur , and actions followed by bad
outcomes are less likely to recur.
(Skinner, 1953)

Reinforcement Theory
Rewards

Consequences

No Rewards

Behavior

Punishment

Prentice Hall, 2000

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Conflict theory
Conflict theorists want to know why people
commit crimes.
Crime is seen as political action intended to
challenge the power structure.
Laws are tools of the powerful that reproduce
inequality.
Individuals are responding to inequities built
into capitalism.
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Symbolic interactionist approaches

Labeling theory is one well-known approach.
Deviance is found, not in the act, but in the
response, in the label applied.
There is a connection with conflict theory in
that the labels are applied by those with
power onto those without.

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Labeling Theory

Labeling theorists asserted that crime is

defined into existence rather than
discovered.
There is no crime independent of cultural
values and norms.
No act is by its nature criminal, because
acts do not have natures until they are
witnessed, judged good or bad, and
reacted to as such by others.
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Primary & Secondary Deviance

Edwin Lemert: Primary deviance is the initial
nonconforming act that comes to the attention
of the authorities.
Secondary deviance: Deviance that results from
societys reaction to offenders primary
deviance
Labeled persons may alter their self-concepts in
conformity with the label.
The label may exclude the person from
conventional employment opportunities & lead
to the loss of conventional friends.

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Labeling Theory

Primary deviance
Flowing from a
variety of causes
that are of no
concern to labeling
theorists

Apprehension and
labeling as criminal or
delinquent. Person is
stigmatized with
a master status.

Offenders may
come to accept
labels and
change their
self-concepts to
fit those labels

Secondary
deviance
Delinquency and
crime consequent
to changes in
self-concept

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Extending Labeling Theory

John Braithwaite (1989): Nations
with low crime rates are those
where shaming has great social
power.
Disintegrative shaming:
Condemnation received by
offenders in the criminal justice
system; this shaming is
counterproductive.
Reintegrative shaming: A method
of condemning the offenders acts
without condemning him or her
personhood.
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The Chicago school

Chicago school sociology is, most broadly, a
kind of urban sociology.
In dealing with deviance, broken windows
(BW) theory is the best-known example.
BW theory is focused on the realization that
any kind of social disorder leads to more social
disorder.

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James Q. Wilson and Broken Window

Thesis
James Q Wilson argues that unless
incivilities (litter, graffiti, noise levels,
vandalism, etc.) are kept minimal,
then wider anti-social behaviour and
more serious crimes will follow.
He advocates that the police adopt a policy of zero-tolerance for even
minor crimes (as tried by the Mayor of New York).
This reflects Emile Durkheims idea that local informal controls are crucial
for law and order and A.H. Bottoms concept of the tipping of problem
housing estates.

Gender and crime

Men are more likely to be both perpetrators
and victims of crime and to be incarcerated.
The gender contract may lead to differential
treatment with authorities.
Ties to children and others may prevent
women from engaging in deviant acts.

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Power and Social Construction of Crime

and Deviance
Social Construction emphasizes that various social
problems, including crime, are NOT inherent in
certain actions themselves.
Instead, some people are in a position to create
norms and pass laws that stigmatize other people.
Therefore, one must study how norms and laws are
created (constructed) to understand why particular
actions get defined as deviant or criminal in the first
place.

Power and Social Construction of Crime

and Deviance
Power is a crucial element in the social
construction of deviance and crime.
Power is the probability that one actor within a
social relationship position to carry out his/her
own will despite resistance
Powerful groups are able to create norms and
laws that suit their interests

White-collar crime
White-collar crime is that which is carried out
by those in non-manual labor, higher-status
jobs.
These crimes are typically non-violent but can
be extremely damaging to society (e.g.,
Enron).
White-collar crimes include embezzlement,
various kinds of fraud, illegal sales, and more.
Those who perpetrate these crimes are rarely
prosecuted.
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White-Collar Crime
Reasons for few convictions:
1. Often takes place in private and is
difficult to detect.
2. Corporations can afford legal
experts, public relations firms, and
advertising agencies that advise
their clients on how to bend laws,
build up their corporate image, and
influence lawmakers to pass laws
without teeth.

Power and Social Construction of Crime

and Deviance

The powerless, however, often struggle

against stigmatization.
If their power increases, they may succeed in
their struggle.
Crimes against Women
Discrimination in the justice system

Power and Social Construction of Crime

and Deviance:
Crimes Against Women
Until recently, many crimes against women
were largely ignored.
Rape is still associated with a low rate of
prosecution, but is prosecuted more often
than it used to be.
Sexual harassment is now considered a
social deviation and in some circumstances,
a crime.

Power and Social Construction of

Crime and Deviance: Criminal

Profiles: Race
African Americans arrests:
Three factors:
Bias in collection of crime statistics.
Low class position of blacks in American society.
Racial discrimination in the criminal justice system.

Incarceration Rates Around the World

Number of People
in Prison per
100,000 population

INDIA 33

CHINA 119

BRAZIL
242

NIGERIA 27
FRANCE
96

SWITZERLAND
76

MEXICO
132

JAPAN
63

MYANMAR
132

0
100
SOUTH AFRICA
330

300

CUBA
513

ISRAEL
325

500
700
RWANDA
593
1,000

Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition Copyright 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

UNITED
STATES
760

RUSSIAN
FEDERATION
660

SOURCE: Walmsley 2009

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Incarceration Rates Around the World

Whos in Prison in the United States?

Black
40%

Female
9%

Hispanic
20%

Under 18
0.4%

Other
5%

White
35%

Non U.S.
Citizens
5.9%

Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition Copyright 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Violent
Offenders
53%
Public-Order
Offenders
7.6%

Property
Offenders
19.2%

Drug
Offenders
19.5%

SOURCE: Walmsley 2009

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The U.S. prison system

Crime and punishment remain top priorities
for Americans.
Currently:
It costs more than $25,000 per year per inmate.
More than 25 percent of African American men
are under the authority of the penal system.

Imprisonment is not a powerful deterrent.

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The death penalty

The United States has continued high levels of
support for the death penalty.
There have been problems in recent years
with uneven access to DNA testing.
Two-thirds of executions since 1977 have
taken place in five states: Texas, Virginia,
Oklahoma, Missouri, and Florida.

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Functions of punishment
Punishment functions at both the individual
and group levels.
For individuals, punishments are not only to
sanction the guilty, but to warn potential
offenders.
For the group, punishment functions to
reinforce the moral unity of the collectivity.

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Conformity, Deviance, and Crime

Clicker Questions
1. What is deviance?
a. a transgression of social norms that are accepted by most
people in a community
b. breaking the law
c. the kind of behavior engaged in by members of groups that
have been marginalized by society
d. criminal behavior that abides by social norms

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Clicker Questions
2. What was Robert K. Mertons theory of crime?
a. People are more likely to commit crime when they do not
have the opportunity to pursue the goalssuch as the
accumulation of material wealththat their society sets.
b. People are more likely to commit crime if they associate with
carriers of criminal norms.
c. People are more likely to commit crime when they have the
opportunity to steal from someone who trusts them.
d. People are more likely to commit crime if they have
committed a crime already.
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Clicker Questions
3. Compared with ordinary crimes against property (robberies,
burglaries, larceny, etc.), the amount of money stolen in
white-collar crime (tax fraud, insurance fraud, etc.) is
a. about the same. Crimes against property cost the nation about
as much as white-collar crime.
b. less. White-collar crimes involve only one quarter of the
money involved in crimes against property.
c. more. White-collar crime involves perhaps forty times as much
money as crimes against property.
d. not really comparable. White-collar crimes such as
embezzlement affect very few people.
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Clicker Questions
4. Why did mile Durkheim think a certain amount of crime was
functional for society?
a. It provides a healthy release for male aggression.
b. It highlights the boundaries of social norms.
c. It keeps the police and court system active.
d. The existence of crime makes law-abiding citizens more
careful about protecting their property.

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Clicker Questions
5. What is the essence of labeling theory?
a. Deviance is defined through the process of interaction
between deviants and nondeviants.
b. Deviance is in the eye of the officeholder.
c. One persons deviance is another's indulgence.
d. Deviants resist the labels they are given by law enforcement
authorities.

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Clicker Questions
6. What are norms?
a. formally crafted, written guidelines citizens of a nation must
follow or face time in prison
b. ordinances applicable to a given metropolitan area
c. legal restrictions applying only to elected officials
d. unwritten rules of social life

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