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Factors influencing deviant behaviour
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When someone mentions religion, words such as God, church, and purity most commonly come to mind. One must ask just how far religion affects the purity of its adherents. To put it in sociological terms, how far does religion go in reducing and eradicating deviance in those who practice? Sociologist William Sims Bainbridge, who is well-known for his work in the sociology of religion, has researched this theory in his essay “The Religious Ecology of Deviance” published by the American Sociological Association.
In the first paragraph of the article, he lists various forms of people and philosophy, and their views of the relationship between religion and deviance. Functionalists and Marxists support the theory that religion deters deviance. Functionalism is a philosophy which states that what makes something a characteristic of a mental state is dependent on its function to the cognitive mind. Marxism is the view and critique which is applied to capitalism and class struggle as the systemic economy changed during the 19th century. (Merton 1968, p.98).
Mr. Bainbridge explains how Tittle and Welch, who both play a role in criminology and provide important information on deviance itself, believe that other theories better explain why people act deviant. These theories include the following: control theory, differential association theory, and cognitive dissonance theory (Bainbridge 1989, p.288). Control theory states that people act normal because that is what is rational in society, but if given the chance to act without consequence, people would commit deviance and crime. Differential association theory states that people learn values, experience, techniques, and drive for criminal and deviant acts from reciprocal action with others....
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...n and led to the crime of rape. Larceny was also shown to be deterred by religion as it is the most common and the one with least violence towards other (Bainbridge 1989, p.292).
Therefore, religion cannot stop deviance but at the same time some relation with other deviance and religion cannot be said to just be social bond (Bainbridge 1989, p.294). One theory alone is not enough to explain said findings. It is true to state or theorize that the lack of religion may have increased suicide, based on how diabolical and unwelcoming the deviance was in older time. They tended to reject the burial of bodies that have committed suicide, now however, this is not the case, and churches tend to any human body. (Bainbridge 1989, p.294) It is to say that from the conclusion that religion’s power in society changes in time as society itself changes (Bainbridge 1989, p.294).
Differential association theory was founded by Edwin H. Sutherland (Lilly, 2012, p. 43). This theory states that “any person will inevitably come into contact with definitions favorable to violation of the law and with definitions unfavorable to violation of the law” (Lilly, 2012, p. 44). Whichever definition is more prominent in a person’s mind, will lead to their decision of “whether the person embraces crime as an acceptable way of life” (Lilly, 2012, p. 44). Sutherland composed nine propositions that explained the theory. He explained that “crime is learned through the process of differential association” (Lilly, 2012, p. 45). The nine propositions explained that “criminal behavior is learned” (Lilly, 2012, p. 45). He explained that by communicating with others, especially those that are close to them they are more likely to pick up behaviors from those people. Differential association theory also explains that learning criminal behaviors “involves all the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning” (Lilly, 2012, p. 45). While learning a criminal behavior one not only learns “the techniques of committing the crime” but also the “specific direction of motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes” involved with crime (Lilly, 2012, p. 45). This is theory is shown throughout the book when the young Mr. Moore was influenced by the life of crime that was present in his
...en civilization and the individual. Living in a nation still recovering from a brutally violent war (Germany), Freud began to criticize organized religion as a collective neurosis, or mental disorder. Freud, a strong proponent of atheism, argued that religion tamed asocial instincts and created a sense of community because of the shared set of beliefs. This undoubtedly helped a civilization. However, at the same time organized religion also exacts an enormous psychological cost to the individual by making him or her perpetually subordinate to the primal figure embodied by God.
Gollin, Gillian L. “Theories of the Good Society: Four Views on Religion and Social Change”. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 9.1(1970): 1-16
The positivist view of deviance places emphasis on individual's behavior being manipulated by outside forces (Goode, 2007, p. 23). Individual's are unable to contend with these outside forces which are beyond their control. Criminals and other deviants are created through biological defects which were responsible for their behavior, as it was something inherently organic and passed on through birth. The self-control theory of crime was developed by Travis Hirshi and Michael Gottfredson, two famous criminologists. Self-control theory, also known as the General Theory of crime, portrays deviance as stemming from the criminal's lack of ...
Sociological pathology uses medical terms to offer explanations for deviant behavior. Terms, such as, biological, psychiatric models, psychoanalytical, and psychological presents deviant behavior as a “social sickness” which needs to treated and through medicine and psychiatric counseling. Biological explanations, usually, views deviant behavior as being an inherited trait. Cesare Lombroso was highly criticized for his studies of atavism, his theory of identifying criminal behavior as a biological degenerate. William Sheldon established an idea of a certain body build would be more prone to deviant or criminal acts. The psychiatric model view deviance as a product of some character flaw within the individual such as personal disorganization or a maladjusted personality. Under the psychiatric model, deviance is a symptom of some psychological sickness that effect individuals unless it is, effectively, detected and treated. Childhood experiences produce effects that transcend s those of all other social and cultural experiences. When these experiences are troubling to the individual it will also manifest itself as deviant behavior. The psychoanalytic explanation of deviance is best explained by Sigmund Freud’s basic conflict between the conscious and unconscious self. Psychoanalytic theory supporters say that deviance occur when the superego cannot effectively balance the id, unconscious and instinctual drives, and the ego, the conscious self. Psychological explanations attribute certain personality traits and behavioral patterns cause deviant acts. Psychologist attempt to explain deviance as products of abnormalities in psychological structures of individual deviants. They believe that inadequacies in personality traits interfere with an individual’s adjustment to society.
Part 2 1.) control theory- A control theory proposes that exploiting the process of social activities and social learning builds self-control, and reduces the inclination to indulge in behavior recognized as antisocial. 2.) differential association theory- This theory asserts that criminal behavior is learned primarily in interpersonal groups and that youths will become delinquent if the reward outweighs the risk. 3.)
The Three Main Theories of Deviance and Their Strengths and Weaknesses A functionalist analysis of deviance looks for the source of deviance in the nature of society rather than in the biological or psychological nature of the individual. Although functionalists agree that social control mechanisms such as the police and the courts are necessary to keep deviance in check, many argue that a certain amount of deviance can contribute to the well-being of society. Durkhiem (1895) believed that: * Crime is an 'integral part of all healthy societies'. This is because individuals are exposed to different influences and will not be committed to the shared values and beliefs of society.
Parsons claims that religion is our primary source of meaning; it answers the eternal questions and help to understand things like suffering and pain. It also produces, sacralises and legitimises the core values of society e.g. Protestantism in the USA encouraged individualism, democracy and equality of opportunity. Bellah claims that there is a civil religion and gives the example of America and its faith in Americanism, he says that civil religion unites society. However the functionalist view can be criticised: It focuses on the positive aspects of religion and ignores that it is the cause of conflict in much of the world e.g. Northern Ireland and conflict between protestants and Catholics, It does not explain the origins of religion, explaining what functions religion performs does not help us to know where it came from. Durkheim did his studies I small scale non-literate societies, it is difficult to see how religion performs its functions in out large complex religiously plural society.
Sociologists and scholar theories are grouped according to three major sociological paradigms for understanding deviance. They are: the functionalism, conflict, and symbolic interactionism paradigms. The functionalism paradigm is concerned with the different elements of a society and how they contribute to the whole. This paradigm describes society as stable and describes all of the mechanisms that maintain social stability. Functionalists view deviance as a key component to a functioning society and argue that the social structure of a society is always attempting to maintain social equilibrium and balance. The conflict paradigm, on the other hand, looks to the inequalities that are in all societies. This paradigm looks to the social and economic factors as the causes of crime and deviance. They see crime and deviance as evidence of inequality in the system and challenge several theories within the functionalist theories. The conflict paradigm argues that the functionalism paradigm ignores racial and socioeconomic issues and oversimplifies social trends. Conflict theorists look for answers to the correlation of race and gender with wealth and crime. Finally, the symbolic interactionism paradigm describes society as small groups of individuals interacting based on the ways that people interpret their various culture symbols. Symbolic interactionists theoretical approach can be used to explain how societies and/or social groups come to view behaviors as deviant or conventional. All of the paradigms are set out to describe the world of human behavior and society, but have different approaches on how to interpret them. All scholars, no matter which paradigm or theoretical approach they believe to be true, can ultimately agree that society has an influence on deviance and crime, and
Further to the idea of how the obedience of religious standards prevails over the materialistic impulses
Religiosity and morality stood out because it is a controversial topic that is compelling to learn about. Everyday life can be affected by these two factors in a positive or negative light. People do not usually think about the morals they obtain and where their morals came from. Researching this topic and understanding the relationship between these two issues will provide a better, clearer view of how people respond in different situations.
Edwin Sutherland, a sociologist and professor, developed the theory of differential association theory in 1939 (Dobrow, 2015). His theory has four parts, which try to explain why youth commit crimes. First, criminal behavior is learned through association and no one is born to commit crime. The individual has to learn how to commit the criminal act. Second, Sutherland stated youth are influenced by the groups they associate with and these associates affect their decision-making. Third, he says criminal behavior is learned through association with people through communication. Criminals learn about deviant
Kutcher, E., Bragger, J., Rodriguez-Srednicki, O, & Masco, J., (2010). The role of religiosity in
Sociologist Edwin Sutherland first advanced the idea that an individual undergoes the same basic socialization process in learning conforming and deviant acts (Schaefer 2015). Through cultural transmission, criminal or deviant behavior is learned by interacting with others. This learned behavior also includes motives and rationale for explaining the deviant acts. Sutherland used the term differential association to describe the process through which an individual develops an attitude of favorability to deviant acts that leads to violations of rules, through interactions with social groups. These acts can also include noncriminal deviant acts, such as
First deviance is learned through communicative interactions with social groups we belong to. Next one learns the techniques, motives, attitudes, and rationalizations to commit a deviant act. In this step one gets a positive mindset on deviant behavior and learns why they should be deviant. The third step a person learns methods favorable to violating the norms rather than learning how to conform to norms. Next the kind of people we associate with determine the intensity and duration of our deviant attitude and behavior. If one commits deviant behavior with best friends it is more likely that they will continue the deviant behavior. Sutherland states, at the very end of his theory, that deviance and conformity are learned in the same way. They both stem from the same needs and