Socially constructed deviance - Essay Example

? Topic: Lecturer: Presentation: Introduction Social stratification is central in studying any issues related to sociology. Systems of inequality or social controls determine and shape how the society operates. Race, class, gender, age, economics, politics and other social forces-those cornerstones of stratification- determine access to social opportunity and consequently bring about inequalities in society. They also act as foundations of identity thus shaping opinions and perceptions of individuals. Social inequalities continue reproducing themselves thus making a group of people subordinate to others. These inferior groups get stigmatized and eventually come to accept their situation. Every society has its norms that hold the society together and failure to obey these norms is considered abnormal or deviant. Deviance is thus defined by Goode and Ben-Yehuda (2009) as “violation of a society’s or a group’s norms and the individuals who commit such acts are “deviants.” Absolutists would argue that deviance is intrinsic since we all know what is right and wrong. It is ones will to do evil or what is wrong. However, moral relativists argue that deviance is a social construction thus morality is relative. It comprises of those attributes, behaviors and conditions labeled deviant and these vary over time and place. If you say one is ‘deviant’, the question that then comes into the mind is: “by whose standards?” “Who is labeled deviant and who has the power to create and apply the labels?” This paper will argue that ‘deviants’ are considered deviants depending on their position in the society. As such, class, race, gender, age, politics, economics and other social forces combine or interact to label individuals as deviants. They are used as instruments of power and social control by the dominant groups so as to serve their interests. The focus of this paper will be on how definition of crime and its consequences is influenced by interactions between race, class, gender, and age among other social forces. Many people are labeled deviants in the society and liable to condemnation through criminal justice system or other ways. Who then are the deviants and how do they come to be labeled as deviants? According to Goode and Ben-Yehuda (2009 p. 115) deviance is meaningless without reference to a specific relevant audience. As such, whenever it is said that one is deviant, the next question to ask ourselves is; deviant to whom? This view is supported by Curra (2011) who argues that there are no inherent qualities to separate deviance from non-deviance. No word like deviant exists unless there is an audience to evaluate ones behavior and label it as deviant. This audience in most cases is the society in which a person resides in. Deviant behavior according to the labeling theory therefore, refers to any behavior that is contrary to dominant norms of society (Curra, 2011). In other words, deviance is socially constructed and varies from society to society, group to group, different time periods and social contexts. The audience in this case must observe behavior in society and evaluate whether it conforms to the norms of the society and if not, it is labeled deviant. For example, although murder is considered deviant in all societies, some form of murder is considered heroic and not a crime depending on the circumstances. If the audience views an individual committing murder to protect the society from intruders that may be regarded as a heroic act that does not deserve condemnation. Sociologists do not believe that there is an act considered as absolute evil or which is universal. The absolute view holds that “if an act is wrong, it is wrong all the time regardless of place, time and social context” (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2009 p. 110). For example, if they say abortion is murder the proposition holds at all times. This view is contrary to sociologist’s view. For them, deviance is relative and depends on who has the power and control to design the behavior as deviant. Agents of social control hold the power to label behaviors as either deviant or non-deviant depending on what interests they want served. This is where the issue of race, class, gender, age and other social forces come in. These forces give the dominant group power to control others and determine policies and consequences for behavior they consider as out of the norm. They use these forces to maintain their dominance and control. As Bonilla-Silva (2001 p. 25) puts it “All domination is, in the last instance, maintained through social control strategies”. These dominant groups or agents of social control include politicians, judges, police, and doctors. These individuals or groups are from superior races such as whites, men, and old people from high socio-economic status (McCaghy, Capron, Jamieson & Carey, 2007). As stated earlier, there must be the audience to hear, see and evaluate behavior hence label it as deviant. However, it is not only an audience but an audience comprising people of the dominant groups otherwise their perspectives may not be put into consideration. These groups have a lot of power and influence to affect policies that would have the subordinate group labeled as deviants. However, the main purpose for doing this is to further their own interests (McCaghy et al. 2007). Let us take crime for example. Who are labeled as criminals, by whom and for what reason? Research indicates that those labeled criminals most of the time are black and minorities, young males from low socio-economic status (Banks, 2004; Gabbidon, 2010; Rennison, 2003). This shows the strong connection that exists between deviance and systems of class, race and gender, age, economics and other social forces. Socio-economic status is used a lot to explain crime and criminal behavior in particular. It is believed that those who engage in crime especially petty crime such as theft and burglary are from poor economic background. Poor people are assumed to have a lot of stress leading to drug abuse and other crimes and according to strain theory these people engage in crime to reduce stress (Agnew, 2006; Bank, 2004). As such, those from high socio-economic class are not labeled as criminals. The criminal justice system is thus more likely to arrest poor people and incarcerate them as opposed to the rich. Corporate crime such as fraud and embezzlement which is a preserve for middle class and those from high-economic status is not considered as serious crime and attracts mild punishment as opposed to street crime which attracts harsh penalties (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2009). This helps to label poor people as criminals creating a moral panic which then translates into policies aimed at punishing the poor. The politicians also use this chance to show how poverty is dangerous and consider it a disaster which needs to be dealt with. They thus gain votes by promising to solve the problems of these poor people but in reality they just want to serve their own interest; that is, to cling to power and continue dominating the poor. Since the poor do not have the power to influence policies, they await for the high class to control them. Poverty in itself is sometimes regarded as a deviant behavior if it is viewed as resulting from laziness. That is why the government puts measures on welfare policies to curb this vice called laziness and force the poor people to work hard. In essence, the poor are considered criminals not because of what they do but because of whom they are (Curra, 2011). Class intersects with race to continue the pattern of dominance through deviance labeling. The whites are considered as a superior race to blacks hence use their dominance to control who gets to be labeled deviant. The likelihood of a white person being arrested and incarcerated is minimal compared to blacks and minorities. According to Rennison (2003) report indicates that in the year 2002, 45% of all inmates were black, 34% white and 18% Hispanic. The likelihood of incarceration for African-Americans was 16.2% compared to 2.5% for the whites. Does it mean only the blacks commit crime? The fact is that the whites commit as much crime as the blacks but the whites being the dominant group is able to exert influence and label the blacks as criminals through the criminal justice systems. The blacks are more likely to be arrested since they are labeled as criminals as opposed to whites hence the high rate of blacks in prison. Furthermore, they are considered as poor people hence likely to commit crime (Bank, 2004). The whites only commit corporate crime and cyber crimes which are not taken seriously in the criminal justice system. They have the means and resources to do so as opposed to blacks. The blacks form violent gangs to protect their rights and as such they are labeled as deviants. In this way, the whites can continue dominating the minorities in all spheres of life. Age is also another social force that helps to produce and sustain inequalities and is connected to deviance in many ways. In this case, the old people have a tendency of controlling the young and making them adhere to their values (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2009). Those who cannot live according to such ways are considered deviant. Old people have conservative views but the world is changing and what was considered immoral in early days may not be immoral anymore for the new generation. For example, young people now are free to express their emotions thus the emergence of many groups such as gays and lesbians. This is something old people cannot fathom and consider it immoral and worth condemnation. Since these groups of people are few compared to the rest, they have no power to defend themselves. The powerful groups influence the governments to take measures against these individuals hence they are labeled deviants. In that manner the elderly are able to preserve their culture and maintain status quo. The young people are also accused of drug addiction and street crimes hence are likely to be arrested than old people. Banks (2004) noted that in 2000, 10% of all the black males aged 25-29 were in prison as opposed to 1.1% of whites. This is because young men are viewed as irresponsible thus vulnerable to crimes. The reason why young people are labeled as criminals is due to the fact that most are unemployed thus continuously demand for their rights (Agnew, 2006). This poses a threat to the ruling class and they need a way to stop them. As such, they use their influence to label them as deviants or criminals who need to be incarcerated. Since the government protects the rights of the ruling class, it has an ear for them leading to the high number of young people in prisons. They are considered threats to society hence need to be stopped. The interests of the high class individuals are thus maintained through politicizing the issue of the youth. Combined with race, class and gender their situation worsens. Those likely to be in prison as criminals are young blacks from low socio-economic status. Although men are the dominant class, most of those labeled criminals are male. Crime according to Goode and Ben-Yehuda (2009) is political. This is because it legitimates a category definition of right and wrong, it also symbolizes respectability of one category over another as well as punishing one category members for engaging in behavior proscribed by another. The more power the group has, the more influence it has on legislation thus laws are made by the dominant groups. The views of small groups are unlikely to be translated into law unless they use force or protests. Criminal law thus reflects the ideologies of dominant groups and is a result of political compromise (p 123). Conclusion The term ‘deviant’ reflects the interests of specific groups in a particular society, at a particular point in time. It is a socially constructed term which is connected to systems of class, race, gender, age, economics and politics among other social forces. It serves to sustain the social inequalities that exist in society in that dominant groups use it to oppress its subordinates. Sociologists believe that deviant behavior is relative and as such varies over different times, places and situations. What is considered wrong in one society may be considered right in another society provided it furthers the interests of the powerful groups. In the end, the criminal justice system sanctions people for what they are and not for what they do due to undue influence from powerful stakeholders such as politicians, wealthy people, whites and the old. These agents of social control create and apply deviant labels to subordinate groups leading to stigmatization and continued domination. References Agnew, R. (2006). Pressured into Crime: An Overview of General Strain Theory. Los Angeles: Roxbury. Banks, C (2004). Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Bonilla-Silva, E. (2001) White Supremacy And Racism In The Post-Civil Rights Era. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Curra, J (2011). The Relativity of Deviance. 2ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. Gabbidon, S (2010). Race, Ethnicity, Crime, and Justice: An International Dilemma. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Goode, E and Ben-Yehuda, N (2009). Moral Panics: The Social Construction of Deviance. 2ed. UK: John Wiley & Sons McCaghy, CH., Capron, TA., Jamieson, JD and Carey, SH (2007). Deviant Behavior: Crime, Conflict and Interest Groups. 8ed. Boston: Pearson. Rennison, C (2003). “Criminal Victimization 2002”. US Department of Justice. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/ascii/cvoo.txt Read More