Deck 9: E: Deviance

Question 1

Thinking about Canada Map 9-1 about homicide rates in Canada,first describe the patterns shown on this map and then,using the information in the chapter on deviance,explain why we see the patterns we do.

Answer 1

no answer

Question 2

How do the media contribute to the public perception that any city is a dangerous place? Drawing on your knowledge of the Controversy and Debate Box titled "Homicide in Toronto by Method and Region: Myth and Reality",discuss the city in which are you currently attending school in terms of how safe the city is and the role of the media in your perception.

Answer 2

no answer

Question 3

Many researchers agree that,in Canada,most arrests for street crime involve people of lower class position.Why,according to Robert Merton,Albert Cohen,Walter Miller,and Elijah Anderson,would this be the case? How would a broader definition of crime (to include more white-collar and corporate offenses)change the profile of the typical criminal?

Answer 3

no answer

Question 4

Explain the value and also the limitations of biological and psychological explanations of crime.Expand the essay by explaining the strengths of a sociological approach to understanding crime.

Question 5

Describe the labeling theory of deviance.What basic insight about deviance is offered by this approach? How does labeling figure into the difference between primary deviance and secondary deviance? What is the importance of stigma in labeling analysis?

Question 6

Every society punishes offenders.Write an essay in which you explain four justifications for punishment.Point out how each has come to the fore at different times in history,and explain this pattern as best you can.What evidence is there that punishment actually accomplishes what we say it does?

Question 7

Compare and contrast the structural-functionalist,social-conflict theorist,and symbolic interactionist analyses of deviance.Which is best,in your opinion? Why?

Question 8

What can we say about the "typical street criminal" in terms of age,gender,social class,and race and ethnicity? In each case,what can you say to explain the pattern? Finally,point to several reasons that we must treat criminal statistics with caution.

Question 9

Emile Durkheim made the surprising statement that crime is actually useful and perhaps even necessary for all social organization.Write an essay in which you explain Durkheim's approach and point to a number of specific ways in which crime (or,more broadly,deviance)is functional for society as a whole.

Question 10

What is meant by "community-based corrections?" What are the advantages of this approach compared to sending convicted offenders to prison? What are some of the limitations of this approach? On balance,do you favor or oppose expanding community-based corrections? Why?