Transcript Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials

Chapter 3
Individual Views of
Delinquency: Choice and
Trait
What’s new?
Grades and Grading
Comments
Questions and Concerns
Chapter Goals
General context of individual views of delinquency
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Be familiar with and distinguish between the two
branches of individual-level theories of delinquency
Know the principles of choice theory
Discuss the routine activities theory of delinquency
Know the principles of general deterrence theory
Discuss the concept of general deterrence theory
Trace the history and development of trait theory
Be familiar with the branches and substance of
biological trait theory
Scientific Method
 Scientific Method
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Hypothesis - guess
Experimentation – trials
Data – collecting results
Theory
 Educated guess
 Effort to explain or make sense of data
 Foundation of criminology and the basis of
action – everything done in criminology is
based on this
 Doesn’t apply to Everyone!
Choice Theory
 Philosophers formed the Core of
Rational Choice Theory
 Choice Theory holds that the decision
to violate the law comes after a careful
weighing of the benefits
Delinquents choose to commit crime because
they find violating the law attractive…
The Rational Delinquent
 The view that delinquents choose to violate
the law remains a popular approach to the
study of delinquents
 In reality, many youths from affluent families
choose to break the law
 Delinquent motives include:
 Economic need/opportunity
 Problem solving
 False expectations
 Opportunity
Routine Activities Theory
 Developed by Lawrence Cohen and
Marcus Felson
 The view that crime is a normal function of
the routine activities of modern living
 To have a crime, a motivated offender
must come to the same place as an
attractive target.
Choice Theory and
Delinquency Prevention
General Deterrence
 Crime control policies that depend on the fear of
criminal penalties, i.e long prison sentences for
violent crime
Specific Deterrence
 Sending convicted offenders to secure incarceration
facilities so that punishment is severe enough to
convince them not to repeat their criminal activity
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Choice theory helps us understand criminal events
and victim patterns
Poll
 Poll – Juvi 2, Poll 1, 2, 3
 Do you think that people who commit
crime are physically or mentally
abnormal?
 Is there a link between sugar and
antisocial behavior?
 Is there a link between hormones and
antisocial behavior?
Trait Theories: Biosocial and
Psychological Views
 Both biological and psychological traits have
been linked to criminal behavior, but not as
causal linkages.
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It is the “multiple factor” approach or the
interaction of mental and physical traits with
environmental and social factors that either
suppress or trigger criminal behavior.
 The focus is generally on persistent or
chronic offenders.
Biosocial Theories of Delinquency
 Focuses on the association between biological
makeup, environmental conditions, and antisocial
behaviors
 There’s evidence that a child’s diet may influence
his/her behavior (consider sugar)
 Hormonal levels are an explanation of why there are
gender differences in delinquency
 It’s possible that increased levels of testosterone
are responsible for excessive violence among
teenage boys
Neurological Dysfunction
Teenage Brains
Teenage brains make them crime prone
ADHD
Condition in which a child shows a developmentally
inappropriate lack of attention and response to impulse
Learning Disabilities
Studies show that arrested children tend to have a higher
LD than children in the general population
Psychological Theories of Delinquency
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Many delinquent youths have unhealthy home lives
Psychodynamic Theory
 Branch of psychology that holds that the human
personality is controlled by the unconscious mental
processes – have you ever had a smell or a song
that reminds you of something?
Behavioral Theory
 Argument that personality is learned throughout life
during interaction with others
Cognitive Theory
 Studies the perception of reality and the mental
processes required to understand the world we live
in
Critiquing Trait Theory Views
 The research methodologies that are
employed are invalid and/or poorly designed
 Personality and IQ are spread evenly across
the social structure
If individual traits were the true cause of
delinquency, then it too should be spread evenly
across society, but it isn’t.
Trait Theory and Delinquency Prevention
 Prevention efforts should be directed at
strengthening a youth’s home life and
relationships
 We should focus on testing and correcting
deficiencies with meds or counseling
 Individual approaches have been used to
prevent adjudicated youths from engaging in
further criminal activities
 Critics argue that the more we try to help
youths, the more likely they will be to see
themselves as different or as troublemakers
Larry J. Siegel
Brandon C. Welsh
www.cengage.com/cj/siegel
David R. Montague, Lisa Hutchinson & Sharniece R. Hughes
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Chapter 4
Sociological Views
of Delinquency
Chapter Goals
General Context of Sociological Views of Delinquency
 Be familiar with the association between social
conditions and crime
 Discuss the effect of racial disparity on delinquency
 Describe the principles of social disorganization theory
 Be familiar with recent developments in strain theory
 Discuss the concepts of social process and
socialization
 Discuss the elements of social control theories
 Explain how the labeling process is related to
delinquent careers
Broader Picture of Youth…
 Many troubled youths aren’t able to turn
around their lives – they don’t know
where to begin and lack the physical and
mental resources necessary
 Most delinquents are indigent and
desperate
 Delinquents often live in tough urban
environments in families torn apart and
in stress
What impact might these facts have on youth?
Social Factors and Delinquency
 What are the social factors believed to cause or
affect delinquent behaviors?
 Interpersonal interactions (relationships)
 Community ecological conditions (environment)
 Social change
 Socioeconomic status (poverty)
 Minority poverty
 The consequences of racial disparity and
poverty take a harsh toll on minority youths
 About 6% of white, 11% of black and 22% of
Hispanics drop out of high school each year
 There are more blacks in prison than in college
in the US
Social Structure Theories
 Oscar Louis coined the phrase “culture of
poverty”
 The view that lower class people form a
separate culture with their own values and
norms (smoking dope, living on welfare, and
stealing cable are OK)
 The impoverished are deprived of a standard
of living enjoyed by the other citizens
 The theories tie delinquency rates to both
socioeconomic conditions (e.g. poverty,
neighborhood deterioration) and cultural
values
Social Structure Theories, cont.
Social Disorganization
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Relative Deprivation- condition that exists when people
of wealth and poverty live in close proximity to one
another (“They have everything and we have nothing –
it’s not fair”)
Community Change – poorer neighborhoods are
transient
Community Fear – don’t get involved
Poverty Concentration
Collective Efficacy- process in which mutual trust and a
willingness to intervene in the supervision of children and
help maintain public order create a sense of well-being –
it takes a village to raise a child
Gangs - some of the most common reasons for joining a
gang -- status and belonging
Social Process Theories:
Socialization and Delinquency
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Sociologists argue that the root cause of delinquency
may be traced to learning delinquent attitudes from
peers, experiencing conflict in the home, etc.
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Socialization is the process of guiding people into
acceptable behavior patterns
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Early socialization experiences have a lifelong influence
on self-image, values, and behaviors
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The 2nd main branch of the social process approach,
suggests that the cause of delinquency resides in the
strength of the relationships a child forms with
conventional individuals and groups
Critical Theory
 Society is in a constant state of internal
conflict
 Those in power use the justice system to
maintain their status while keeping others
subservient (sentencing disparity between
crack and powder cocaine)
 The poor may or may not commit more
crimes than the rich, but they are certainly
arrested more often (would OJ have been
convicted the first time if he wasn’t rich?)
Theory and Delinquency Prevention
 Social programs have been designed to
reduce/eliminate delinquency
 Delinquency can be prevented by
strengthening the socialization process
(Head Start type programs)
 Restorative justice
 An approach that relies on non-punitive
strategies for delinquency control