Deviance and Deviant Crimes

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Differential Association Perspective on Deviance
Observable Indicators of Self-destructive and Elite Deviance practices
Works Cited

Introduction

Deviance is any behavioral conduct which is contrally to societal expectations, and as such deserves condemnation by the members of a society; the family, corporate, industrial, academic, religious, ethical, political, environmental, international society etcetera. Behavioral misconducts that warrant condemnation are looked into by the sociological field of criminal justice. Deviant crimes are multi-faceted and appear in varied forms in every sector of our social welfare, some of the commonly acknowledged elemental misconducts at personal level are; prostitution, robbery, lying, alcoholism etcetera (Friedrichs, 2002, p. 1).

The complexity of this discipline of societal deliquesces can be ascribed to the wide range of varied societal practices evident in each race, culture, institution or region. That is, what one society considers as socially unethical may be ethical to another section of the society (Bridges, 2011, p. 1). For instance, while female genital mutilation is unheard-of in the United States of America, it is an ethically acclaimed practice in the better part of the African scenario.

Differential Association Perspective on Deviance

Differential association theory endeavors to demystify the socio-environmental impact on the acquisition, retention and transfer of deviant practices in a society in a bid to understanding social challenges such as corruption, crime, mental problems etcetera. This theory postulates that the social interactive environment is the main determinant factor of sustainable societal norms- both the positive and the negative (Cliffnotes, 2009, p. 1).

That is, through interaction with the members of a certain social subset, one gets to conform or violate certain societal norms.

For instance, peer pressure on young ones may drive them towards forming juvenile gang cocoons, which proves to be conducive breeding grounds for violent criminals, robbers and countercultural practices (Simon, 1993, p. 1). Thus, the innocent young ones learn to acquire conformity to the norms and practices of the gang cocoon.

According to control theory, both intra-personal and inter-personal checks and balances are opposed to deviant practices. Therefore, more often than not, out of curiosity; individuals tend to be inclined towards defiant tendencies (Cliffnotes, 2009, p. 1).This is a natural and spontaneous occurrence as people try to discover and develop a proper self image in the community as one strikes a balance between realizing the integrity of his/her conscience and the societal expectations.

The conflict perspective on the other hand, establishes and analyzes the social correlation between social deliquesces, social institutions and social agents. Although this theory does not explain the causes of deviance, it however, embraces a holistic approach to deviant practices in the sense that, it does not focus on violent crimes only, but it also probes the political and bureaucratic practices of the wealthy and the elite of the society- even to the extent of exposing exploitive international treaties which are far from perfect as the west relates with third world countries (Bridges, 2011, p. 1). The conflict perspective of deviance considers the occurrence of such crimes as armed robbery, violence, prostitution and drug trafficking as creative survival mechanisms triggered by the frustrations of the underprivileged to the existing economic inequality which bars them from financial liberty.

Observable Indicators of Self-destructive and Elite Deviance practices

For sure, observable indicators of potential self-destructive deviance are evident, and as such the socio-environmental influence cannot be overlooked when identifying self-destructive dispositions, for instance, when young ones form juvenile gang cocoons, the associated self destructive practices such as substance abuse, robbery, ingestion of toxic substances are inevitable (Simon, 1993, p. 1).

Even at the family level, homegrown self-destructive inclinations can be characterized by victimization of females by their male counterparts – gender based violence, eating disorders, self neglect, and sexual abuse, persistent emotional strain such as mental stress, crying, hopelessness, despair and depression (Favazza, 1996, p. 1). In most cases, individuals with self destructive inclinations tend to isolate themselves from the rest of societal entities and are normally afraid and suspicious of other people. Their conduct is marked with excessive regression, withdrawal, self acclaim and self justification. They hardly acknowledge their mistakes, but rather rationalize their conducts through varied projection devices. These mental patients hold unrealistic expectations and are emotionally disoriented.

The corruption of the mental strength is also evident in lowered self-esteem or the idealistic self-perfectionism. At the very worst, self-destructive deviance takes the form of self-injury as evident in extensive body piercing tattoos, self-poisoning and for extreme cases – suicidal attempts (Simon, 1993, p. 1).

Economic inequality is the key feature of one and all corrupt institutions and governments, as such, its populace is characterized with discontentment, violence, armed robbery, prostitution and drug trafficking. Inherent in this political deviance is the crippling effect it bears in every sphere of the public’s welfare (Bridges, 2011, p. 1).

On the other side of the coin, considering elite deviance as a typical exemplification of moral and social deliquesces in the broad front, one notices that individuals of high social, economic and political standing repress and exploit the under privileged in the society. This is plainly evident in the political arena where political patronage and the associated injustices is the order of the day, in a bid to retain power (Friedrichs, 2002, p. 1). Federal institutions are mostly characterized by complex bureaucratic constraints and little transparency on the part of the elite managerial offices, rendering public institutions as easy baits for fraud and embezzlement of federal funds by corrupt personnel.

It goes without saying that white-collar delinquencies harms and paralyzes the society’s economic stability much more than any other form of deviance, yet it has escaped the attention a vast number of individuals. This is best depicted in the manner in which the legal system purports to execute justice to white-collar offenders by failing to prosecuting them in criminal courts but rather in civil courts (Bridges, 2011, p. 1). Such prosecutions are generally characterized by leniency which in its very nature undermines fairness by compromising the ideals of justice in legal institutions.

Remedy measures for containing the occurrence of some deviance practices

Early diagnosis of self-destructive deviance tendencies is one of the aversive measures in combating self-harm before it becomes an addiction, thus, the need to strengthen the family and schooling units with educative forums on the necessary detective devices which would aid in intervention and referral measures (Favazza,1996, p. 1).

Now that many of the self-destructive dispositions result from mental-injury, it is necessary that people should uphold each other’s mental health by ensuring a favorable mental environment thrives; where one’s autonomy is honored and respected rather than one being considered to be an object of shame (Simon, 1993, p. 1).

Political institutions need to address economic inequalities as a top priority in curbing overall deviance in a nation, this would stimulate a positive economic attitude of its populace and upon such liberation, and the populace would attain to fulfilling financial liberty (Bridges, 2011, p. 1). Such would be essential in averting unnecessary robberies, sexual perversions, drug dealing. Consequently this would ultimately heal the public’s economic strive, ensuring a healthy serene populace, which would in turn exploit the availed opportunities to spur economic growth for the welfare of the nation as a whole.

The police having been delegated with the pivotal role of maintaining public order through the enforcement of established rules need to be upheld not only through pay incentives, and in-service training programs but also through sustaining an adequate police – citizen ratio which would ensure that the better part of the public would receive law enforcement services at their beck and call (Simon, 1993, p. 1).

Criminal and civil courts need financial and personnel empowerment in strengthening their investigative stamina to prosecute offenders, moreover, the court’s autonomous standing should be maintained rather than upset, to ensure fair execution of justice to all the public (Bridges, 2011, p. 1). In this front, the court should tentatively employ all the devices at its disposal in not only punishing offenders but also in rehabilitating them thus healing the populace.

From the international outlook, macro-level deviance evident in the exploitation of under-developed nations by developed countries and multi-national corporations is being monitored by international organizations- such as the United Nations, International Criminal Court, Transparency organizations etcetera, with an aim of upholding justice and fairness in all international relations, treaties and enterprises (Simon, 1993, p. 1). In this front, the employment of sanctions is the order of the day to those member nations which violate certain policies.

At the regional arena, political patronage, corruption, violation of human rights and exploitation of the poor can be minimized by a continuous, steady and persistent implementation of constitutional policies and laws, strengthening public legal institutions with anti-graft units for social fairness and by educating the electorate to refine the political system (Bridges, 2011, p. 1). As such, the pivotal role played by the media in educating the public of its electoral power in instituting reforms at the political arena should not be overlooked, but rather upheld through tentative legislation of media freedom policies.

The establishment of capital markets authority has proved to be an essential instrument for maintaining proper checks and balances for monopolistic companies and in regulating price tags thus ensuring that consumers are cushioned against unaccounted commodity price inflations (Simon, 1993, p. 1). Both public and private quality assurance organizations ensure that only those commodities which meet the threshold consumer satisfaction/safe standard are authorized to enter the market- this checks industrial and manufacturing companies against corporate deviance (Simon, 1993, p. 1).

Of an emerging concern in the current hi-tech society, which has reduced the once vast world into a global village, is the subtle establishment of media/internet freedom policies yet ensuring that such freedoms are not abused by web service providers (Bridges, 2011, p. 1). Though tricky, this has been done through the establishment of web surveillance control units.

The establishment of criminology as a field of sociology has also proved to be an indispensable tool for unearthing the various forms of societal deviant dispositions whereby sociological specialists employ it in aiding draw the necessary criminal justice policies, recommendations, and laws which upon implementation ensure a harmonious, just and productive society.

Works Cited

Bridges, George etal. “Theories of Sociology.” Web.

CliffsNotes.com. “Theories of Deviance”. 2009. Web.

Favazza, Miller. “What do we know about self-injury?” 1996. Web.

Friedrichs, David. “Occupational Crime, Occupational Deviance and Workplace Crime”. 2002.

Simon, David. “The Organization of Corporate Crime: Dynamics of Antitrust Violation”. 1993.

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