Feminist Perspective of Crime and Deviance

Feminists, similar to Marxists, view crime and deviance as a structure of power, where, how people are treated is based on what their economic background is or what resources they have. Or, to be more specific to this case, what gender they are.

When analyzing this topic, feminists primarily focus on how female perpetrators are viewed. They'll compare female and male convicts to see if society reacted with a double-standard, or if morality was used to blame a specific gender. They'll also look to see if the motive of a crime was to show power or dominance over another person.

Turns out schools are still segregated in America

It's been 60 years since the Brown v. Board of Education case which led to a unanimous Supreme Court decision that stated “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” However, believe it or not, schools are still segregated in America, as the quality of education varies by socioeconomic status and 'race'.

Conflict Perspective of Crime and Deviance

(Karl Marx)

When it comes to crime, conflict theorists don't examine how and why crimes happen. Rather, they look at how society creates and defines deviants.

Karl Marx, the first conflict theorist, believed that capitalistic societies are split into two classes: the bourgeoisie (rich) and the proletariats (poor). The bourgeoisie are the ones who own the means of production, while the proletariat (the working class) are the ones who manufacture all of the goods. The rich extract capital from the goods that are built and then pay the workers a wage.

Stereotypes and career expectations in minority cultures

So I was cruising around YouTube yesterday and came across this awesome skit from Wong Fu Productions that illustrates racial stereotypes in society. The skit, "Do you love your job? - Job Expectations," follows two high school teens -- one Asian and the other African-American -- as they battle their true selves in an attempt to squeeze into their racial typecast. Obviously, -- SPOILER ALERT -- it didn't work.

Sociology of Crime: Functionalist Perspective

Within the functionalist school of thought, crime is viewed as an activity that serves a positive purpose for society. Emile Durkheim, a functionalist, stated in "On the Normality of Crime" that crime can help to reassess and change laws, increase group solidarity, and set boundaries for what is an acceptable behavior and what is not.

Sociology of Crime: What is crime and deviance?

What is a crime? To many, a crime is a behavior that violates the law. Laws are created to protect people from social harm, but how do we really know what constitutes a social harm?

Take for example same-sex marriage. It is unanimous among many scholars that homosexuality is natural (people are born LGBT). But yet it is considered to be an illegal "behavior" in many countries, and not too long ago it was illegal for same-sex couples to marry in all of North America because many people believed (and some still do) that homosexuality was a mental disorder.