Sociological Perspectives of Deviance Over the Life Course - Research Paper Example

?Introduction In the modern society, crime is one of the major factors that significantly undermine economic and social development in the world. Thepast three decades have witnessed an increase in crime and the advancement in technology that criminals use to execute their missions is developing at unprecedented rate, a trend that makes it challenging for law enforcement agents to cope with crime. Unlike in the past where criminals were indentified by their looks and behavior, the current crime scene is complex, where trusted people in society commit offenses with remarkable skill and precision. Though security agents are applying diverse methods to contain the situation, sociologists have recognized the need of addressing the crime from social perspective after establishing a relationship between development of criminal deviant behavior along a person’s life course and the effect of society’s norms on an individual’s character (Crutchfield, 1989, p84). Laub and Robert(1990, p600) noted that the major shortcoming of criminologists’ approach to crime is that they ignore the early childhood characteristics of crime and as a result, it has become challenging to establish a relationship between child and adult offenses in the society. In the human development stages, empirical research has established that criminal behavior begins from childhood and attains its peak during adolescence, continuing later in life, as a person grows older. Moreover, labor market and social stability are important factors that influence development of deviant behavior later in life (Laub and Robert, 1990, p604). This paper investigates how criminal deviant behavior changes over one’s life course, by looking into strain and self-control theory in the theoretical criminology perspective. Sociological theories of criminal deviant behavior In the contemporary society, the culture of a given community determines what behavior is normal or deviant through established norms and values (Blumstein, et al, 1986, p53). This implies that a behavior considered deviant in one society could be acceptable in another. Blumstein et al(1986, p32) noted that norms and values constitute to the moral code of a culture that determines whether certain behavior is ‘good or bad’, and if it is right or wrong. In order to establish whether an action is normal or deviant, it is important to not only consider the action, but the place, the character of the person and the culture or the society that the action is done. Therefore, from a sociological point of view, deviant behavior is a conduct that does comply with the values and norms of the society in question (Hagan, 1989, p66). There is great disparity between normal and deviant behavior in view of different societies, but some actions are universally regarded as deviant, such mass murder, genocide, defiling children just to name a few. However, there is no scientific framework of establishing whether a given action is normal or amounts to deviance. As a result, sociologists affirm that there is a higher moral order that establishes whether a certain behavior is deviant, regardless of the cultural belief or conviction about the normality of the behavior (Hagan, 1989, p69). For example, certain behavior such as child abuse is presently considered deviant irrespective of cultural beliefs that justified punishment of child as a way of imparting discipline. Deviance behavior is a normal in every society and it presents opportunities for the larger society to unite with intention of countering the deviant group (Caspi, 1987, p 1215). The unity of purpose is essential for continuous survival of any group. It is common for members in society to take each other granted when everything is working normally resulting to weakening of social interdependence. However, emergence of social deviance behavior in society rekindles their unity, and it compels the society to recommit to social controls that hold the society together. Moreover, deviant behavior in some members of the society provides it with practical examples from which members can learn the consequences of that particular behavior. However, deviance affects the society adversely because it threatens the social order, making life challenging and even erratic. Another effect of deviance is that it causes social confusion to its members about the values that society upholds and this can create conflict and mistrust (Caspi, 1987, pp 1220-29). Laub and Robert(1990,p626)define life course as “the pathways through age differentiated life span, whereby age differentiation is shown in the expectations and options that interrupt decision processes and the order of events, which shape life stages, turning points and transitions of an individual.” To expound on life course, sociologists apply two core concepts that determine life course dynamics. These concepts include trajectories and transitions (Laub and Robert, 1990, p628). Trajectory entails the process of development in a person’s life span such as working life, marriage, parenting and criminal behavior. In this respect, trajectories entail the lasting characteristics of behavior, which are distinguished by events and transitions that happen in sequences along a person’s life span. On the other hand, transitions are particular events in life that are contained in the trajectories and they happen over a shorter period for example first job and first marriage attempt (Laub and Robert, 1990, p628 31). Trajectories and transitions are interconnected in the life course of an individual and they cause behavioral changes in a person’s life. This implies that there is strong connection between childhood and adults’ experiences in respect to criminal deviant behavior. Sociologists have developed various sociological theories of deviance, since Emile Durkheim (1951, p57) developed the anomie theory in nineteenth century. These theories include strain theory, self-control theories among others. The strain theory attributes the development of deviance behavior in society to the high importance that society places on attaining financial success without considering the legitimacy of the method used to acquire the wealth (Crutchfield, 1989, p52). This implies that people who are strategically placed in the higher social structure have better opportunities of acquiring wealth than people in lower levels who lack the means to accumulate monetary success. Therefore, uneven distribution of wealth occurs in the society whereby individuals who are in power continue getting richer while those who do not have opportunities languish in poverty, in a society that idolizes financial success. In this case, the blocked goal of attaining financial success leads to deviant behavior in the society. The strain theory contains four types of deviance whereby each of them is a representation of the various ways that deviant people in the society respond to the strain resulting from blocked goals. These types include innovators, retreatists, rebels, and ritualists (Crutchfield, 1989 pp54-55). Each of these deviant behaviors is an adaptive mechanism that individuals assume in the highly capitalistic society. The way in which an individual respond to the financial strain is usually determined by the social status that he or she occupies and the availability of legitimate infrastructure of attaining his objective (Crutchfield, 1989, p57). Innovators for instance are people who are aware that the society expects them to succeed financially, but instead of complying with the established methods of acquiring wealth, they become deviant, devising their own methods of attaining financial success (Blumstein, et al 1986, p87). Innovators use ingenious ways of forging ahead economically and some of these criminals include con artists, bank robbers, crooked politicians, drug peddlers, among others. Ritualists are individuals who decline from pursuing economic success once they realize that they do not have a chance of achieving it (Caspi, 1987, p109). Therefore, such people become contented with their current occupations that provide security, refusing to take risks engaging in other economic ventures. Retreatists are deviants who respond to the financial strain by disengaging from society and pursuits of their goals, resorting to antisocial behaviors, such as drug abuse. Finally, rebels do not conform to society demands and they are usually determined to bring down the established social order and form new systems with goals and pursuits acceptable to them (Caspi, 1987, p110-112). The strain theory plays a crucial part in expounding on the development of deviant behavior because it convincingly explain how failure to attain socially construed goals leads to development of deviance . Deviance in accordance to this theory is a reaction, which arises in an individual after he or she is blocked from attaining the acceptable standards in the society. This theory is of particular importance to society and criminologists because it indentifies external factors that cause deviance to individuals. By addressing these challenges, the society could effectively offer pragmatic solution crimes resulting from blocked goals such as alcoholism, drug dealership, and corruption among other crimes. However, this theory does not convincingly address the issue of juvenile delinquency and it does not explain the changes of criminal behavior over one’s life courses from childhood to adulthood (Caspi, 1987, p117-21). Self-control theory, developed by Hirsch and Gottfredson (1983, pp550-64) explains the relationship between crime and self-restraint in ones life course. People with high sense of self-control are less likely to commit crimes in the course of their life times compared to those with low self-control (Hirsch and Gottfredson, 1983, p559). Self-control theory is based on the argument that parenting plays a crucial role in developing the character of a person, more so the acquisition of self-restraint in the formative development stages. In this case, Laub and Robert (1990, p631)argue that people brought up by inefficient parents are more likely to lack self-control and hence are more prone to committing crimes than those brought up in an environment where parents are in control of their children upbringing. Self-control theory holds that it is the responsibility of the parent to provide their children with favorable environment, which accords them opportunities to socialize with other people in the society. In addition, parents should have interest with children’s activities in order to equip them with good social and self-control skills during their formative years (Caspi, 1987, p36). Hirsch and Gottfredson (1983, p567) noted that children develop the social skill of self-control early in their life, and it determines their social behavior in the course of their life, by affecting how they regard themselves and other members of the society. This is because, once social control is inculcated in children, it persists throughout their lives, controlling their actions and how they relate with others as adults. Methodology Sociologists have applied different methods of establishing how criminal deviant behavior changes in the course of one’s life course, how blocked goals through strain theory enhances development of deviant behavior in addition to the effect of parenting on the progressive behavior of person in the course of their life time. The methods used include use of secondary data from previous research studies on deviant behavior and primary method of data collection by carrying out independent research studies in the society. Sociologists then analyze these findings to establish themes that are relevant to the intended objectives of study. Secondary method of data collection involves the analysis of relevant studies and findings carried out in the past by other researchers. The information is normally obtained from published in books, journals and other retrievable forms of data storage. Primary method entails collecting first hand information, by use of methods such as questionnaires, observation and interviews, targeting particular sample of people with special interest to the study (Hagan, 1989, pp205-211) Findings The findings from these methods have produced congruent as well as differing findings, in respect to the development of deviant criminal behavior over one’s life course, effect of strain theory on blocked goals and effect of self control on ones life course. Researchers have established delinquency and deviant criminal behavior originates from childhood (Laub and Robert, 1990, p 617). Caspi( 1987, p1249) noted that serial criminals start deviance attitude right in the childhood and it persists in their life course where it is modified by labor market or employment, marriage, community and other transitions and trajectories in life. These findings are in agreement with self-control theory that attributes deviant behavior to poor parenting, resulting to children who do not have self-control. Research studies in crime have found that experiences in adulthood play significant role in determining deviance behavior. The major defining factors include the society expectations such as financial success and marriage. These factors that occur during adulthood are influential because they enhance or undermine development of deviant behavior in the course of a person life. For instance, marriage and stable employment decreases deviant behavior and crime during adulthood regardless of whether the person has a history of childhood delinquency or not (Hagan, 1989, p77). These studies have established a strong link between the labor market and crime during adulthood. The more a person is attached to a job and family, the less the likelihood of engaging in crime and deviant behavior. Weak and unstable labor market increases the level of adult crime irrespective of whether a person had a history of juvenile delinquency or not (Laub and Robert, 1990, p628). Conclusion The research on deviant behavior emphasizes on the importance of addressing parenting and child upbringing in addition to the factors that causes crime and antisocial behavior during adulthood. It is now established that negative childhood experiences such as growing up in an environment characterized by violence, drug abuse and without social order influences the behavior of such children, a condition that persist throughout the life (Laub and Robert, 1990, p 623). In addition, experiences and changes that happen during adulthood plays a crucial role in shaping the behavior of a person, irrespective of the environment that the person grew up in during childhood (Laub and Robert, 1990, p 625). These experiences can result to development of deviant behavior to adults who did not encounter poor upbringing. Sociologists have indentified that financial stability and strong social bonds in the society reduces crime and social deviant behavior during adulthood (Caspi, 1987, p59). . Future research studies should investigate other factors besides family and labor market that contributes to criminal deviance in adulthood. This is because crime and social deviant behavior still exists among people who are financially secure and even in stable marriages. In addition, sociologists should investigate other factors that cause juvenile delinquency besides parenting. In this respect, the environment of upbringing, in the school, neighborhood and family should be investigated to determine their role in shaping deviant behavior in the life course of a person. In this regard, approaches to contain and understand crime and deviant behavior should focus on all stages including the early childhood, teenage and adulthood. References Blumstein, A., et al. (Eds). Criminal Careers and Career Criminals. Washington, DC: National Academy press, 1986, pp 13-273. Caspi, A. “Personality in the life course.” Journal of Personality And Social Psychology. 53(1987): pp 1200-43. Crutchfield, R. “Labor Stratification And Violent Crime.” Social Forces. 68(1989): pp 50- 97. Durkheim, E. Suicide. New York: Free Press, 1951, pp 39-78.. Hagan, J. Structural Criminology. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1989, 53- 312. Hirschi, T. & Gottfredson, M. “Age and the Explanation of Crime.” American Journal of Sociology. 89(1983).pp 550-584. Laub, J. & Robert, S. “Crime and Deviance over the Life Course: The Salience of Adult Social Bonds.” American Sociological Review. 55(1990): 609-630. Read More