Social Action Theory Of Crime Essay

As a result of this concept, the lines of segregation between rich and poor grew more and more until the poor became thieves, robbers, and murderers due to the vast majority of them refusing to sacrifice labor for sustenance. Upon reaching a level of increased crime it became clear that the most economically sound idea would be to generate revenue from the labor of the-majority-lower class inmates as a form of privatized

Short Summary: Chapter 2 of The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison was about how the way society sees crime can be distorted by the media, the justice system, and the information we are presented with about what crime really is. It points out that medical neglect, known environmental hazards, dangerous workplace conditions, and poverty cause more injuries yearly than murders, assaults, and robberies. Most people see the latter as “crime,” but not the former. Long Summary: Chapter 2 of The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison discusses people’s skewed perspective when it comes to what they think crime really is. The reader is asked to do an exercise regarding their own reason.

A person’s behaviour becomes deviant through the process of social construction, some behaviours considered deviant or criminal in one society may be honourable in another society. The social response towards these behaviours determine the legal status of the behaviour, changes to the legal status are carried out and changed by social policies. (oxfordbibliographies.com, 2016) Sociologists believe that crime is culturally constructed as policies and laws such as smoking in cars around infants has only recently been considered as a deviant behaviour.

Understanding the perception of mainstream Canadian society is central in the pursuit of understanding the Western criminal narrative. The central feature of Western society is the emphasis on capitalist social values: efficiency, and aesthetic utilitarianism. These inform the trajectory of the social narrative in terms of our communal goals as a "society", how we will achieve that goal, and who will be involved. This model leaves little space for the inclusion of non-conformist behaviour, in other words, deviance. The deviance from Western society on a personal or communal level can lead to the social marginalization (the movement of person or persons to the periphery of society whether institutionalized or individualized) of the individual or community leading to their exclusion through social stratification.

Unlike the other theories and groups of theories that have been discussed so far, critical criminology focuses on social conditions and constructs on a much larger, systematic scale. In Bonger’s theory of Criminality and Economic Conditions, he emphasizes the connection between poor economic standing and crime and also the connection between good economic standing and crime. In a capitalist society, the set-up is much like a barter system, in which work is exchanged for wages for individuals to live off of. Bonger used the term egoism to define what capitalism causes people to; their focus is only on themselves and what they want to gain. “In his view, capitalism breeds egoism because it is, by its very nature, an economic system in which individual

The working class does not have these advantages. The working class is likely to commit street crime, such as robbery and assault. A homeless individual is more probable to be categorized deviant than an executive who misuses finances from the corporation. The elite are less likely to commit acts of violence but more expected

The criminal activities theory talks about crime events (Criminal Justice, n.d.) It looks at why some people commit crimes and what are the motivations to commit the crimes. This theory suggests that the daily routine of society could cause or create the opportunity for a crime. All you need is a likely offender, a target, and the absence of a guardian to create an opportunity for a crime. Suggestions made to reduce crime from this theory try to alter the routines and limit opportunities to prevent crimes.

Social learning and subcultural accounts of criminality reflect those crimes that are more likely to be committed by the working class-poor and middle. These two theories require a level of social interactions with in member of a society. This interaction is a rather negative one since it leads to no other than deviancy. Divency according to these theories occurs either from an earlier point in life or later on. Important to note, deviance is not a daily norm.

Founded by Karl Marx, conflict theory conjectures that social order is sustained through wealth and power and constant class conflict (subduing the poor by keeping them away from the limited resources). The resulting conflict and inequalities between the classes result in crime, according to Marx. Social conflict theorists use the criminal justice system to support their argument. The elite class passes laws to benefit themselves (and they are also judged differently, more leniently). OJ Simpson was able to get off for the murder of Nicole Brown (the court said “he didn’t do it,” but he was able to get off because of his wealth and famous lawyers).

One category of deviance is crime. Criminal deviance violates formal laws; however, it spans a large spectrum of behaviors. From speeding five miles over the limit to stealing or murder, all are forms of deviance. Despite that, laws only encompass a piece of the wide spectrum of numerous rules and regulations in which society expects one to conform to and any form of nonconformity is considered deviant. Nonconformity is not solely negative and associated with rule breaking.

Deviance has many functions in society. Although deviance violates social norms, without it, we would not have rules, so it helps form, guide, and shape society’s norms and goals. Social norms are different from culture to culture. Norms that may be acceptable in one culture may be frowned upon in another. Emile Durkheim quotes that “deviance and deviant behavior is an integral part of all healthy societies (Adler, 2014, p74).”

Deviance and crime is a common characteristic of Canadian society. Deviance is defined as: “recognized violation of cultural norms” (2013, pg.465). While crime is defined as: “recognized violation of society’s formally enacted criminal law” (2013, pg.464). There are some universal similarities about what we as humans consider morally deviant, still, what is regarded as deviant or criminal behavior in Canada may not resonate with other societies. Some behavior “can fall right in between deviant and criminal” (Healy, 2012).

For instance, murder is considered as deviant because it would bring disorder to social order because it cause a threat to the innocent people and an unrestrained action would let individual feels unsafe in their workplace, on to the street and even stay in the home (Larsen, 2013). Murder is violated to that particular legal norm and seems as deviant (Hunt & Colandar, 2011). The murderer breaks the law of constitution assault an unacceptable and intolerant action to the society so it considers as against a basic right, especially civil right. We do not have a right to harm other whether it is in intended or unintended behave. Since, everyone is equal in the society and has a right of protection from threats and societies has passed a law to violate murder (Larsen, 2013).

responsibility of the individual committing or partaking in the crime. Though this is a common thought it is simply untrue because it eliminates many of the social and environmental factors that encourage deviant behavior. The truth is, society plays a significant role in whether or not deviant behavior stops or continues for a specific individual who has already committed a crime. Ideas and concepts under the Labeling theories emphasis society’s roles and states that, “efforts [of] social control (…) ultimately trigger processes that trap individuals in criminal careers” (Cullen, Agnew & Wilcox 2014). Essentially, society forces invasive labels and social reactions that then cause many Individuals with criminal past to create self-fulfilling

Deviance and crime happen in our daily life and society. Why we always pay attention to deviance and crime? According to Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs”, the feeling of being safe is the seconds most important to us after the physiological needs. To know why deviance and crime happen in our daily life, firstly we need to know what is deviance and crime. Deviance is violation of norm while crime is violation of laws.