Crime, Deviance, and the Law

• Deviance


  Actions or behaviours that violate norms, values or expectations of a given society
• Crime


  Actions or behaviours that are illegal and punishable by law
• Differences between deviance and crime

  • Less serious
  • More serious
  • Can result in stigma or marginalization
  • Enforcement and sanctions occur through the legal system
  • May or may not cause harm
  • Causes a greater degree of harm
  • May or may not be intentional
  • Is often intentional
  • Pushes the boundaries of social order, but does not necessarily undermine them
  • Is seen as a threat to the social order
  • Deviate from what is socially acceptable or typical
  • Acts that are specifically defined as criminal offences within a given society
• Components of Criminal Justice

  • Laws
  • Police and law enforcement
  • Courts
  • Incarceration and corrections
• Principles of Criminal Justice

  • Crimes are committed against society and not just the victim
  • Everyone is entitled to have their case determined by an open court with a fair trial
  • The presumption of innocence
  • The adversarial system
• Structural Functionalism: Crime and Deviance

  • Deviance is a normal part of a health society and performs a specific function
  • Functions of Crime: Social Regulation, Social Change, Social Integration
• Symbolic Interactionism: Crime and Deviance

  • Deviant behaviour is socially and culturally specific. It is determined not by those committing the behaviours, but by the reactions of others to those behaviours (Labelling theory)
  • Primary deviance: a violation of norms that does not affect an individual's long term self-image
  • Secondary deviance: when an individual's self-image and behaviour change after their actions are labelled as deviant
• Conflict Theory: Crime and Deviance

  • Law as an instrument of oppression that maintains the economic status quo and the interests of the ruling class
  • Inequality under capitalism is responsible for much of the crime committed in society
  • Crimes of the working class – or blue collar crimes – carry disproportionately high penalties
• Institutional racism


  Racism that is inherent in the practices of social and political institutions
• Indicators of institutional racism

  • Is supported by cultural values
  • Is expressed through widely accepted norms
  • Is tacitly approved by the state or government
  • Is intrusive in many interpersonal relations
  • Is codified into laws that openly discriminate against minorities
  • Excludes minorities from equal participation as part of the normal functioning of society
• Racial prejudice


  Prejudice or discrimination based on an individual's race or ethnic identity
• Power


  The ability to exert your will despite resistance
• Evidence of institutional racism in the criminal justice system

  • Laws: Indigenous concepts of crime were suppressed in favour of Western notions of crime
  • Law Enforcement: Stereotypes in law enforcement mean Indigenous people are less likely to report being victims of crimes
  • Courts: Indigenous people are underrepresented as employees in the criminal justice system
  • Incarcerations: Indigenous people are overrepresented as offenders in the criminal justice system, according to incarceration rates, and length of sentences
• Colonial tools


  Strategies, techniques, and/or discourses used by the colonizers to marginalize Indigenous communities
• Terra Nullius


  Land belonging to nobody
• Doctrine of Discovery


  Allowed European entities to seize 'uninhabited' lands
• The Doctrine of Discovery encouraged assumptions that Indigenous peoples were "savages", "barbarians", "inferior and uncivilized," among other constructs the colonizers used to subjugate, dominate and exploit the lands, territories and resources of native peoples
• Signs of such doctrines [are] still evident in indigenous communities, including in the areas of health; psychological and social well-being; conceptual and behavioural forms of violence against indigenous women; youth suicide; and the hopelessness that many indigenous peoples experience, in particular indigenous youth
• Post-Colonial Ban of Indigenous Ceremonies and Traditions

  1. The Indian Act banned potlatch ceremonies on the West Coast and the rain dance and sun dance ceremonies on the Prairies

  2. Colonists saw sharing of wealth and food at potlatches as wasteful; but also knew how integral it was to sustaining First Nations cultures

  3. Making these ceremonies criminal aided in assimilation efforts
• The Reserves and Pass and Permit Systems

  1. After the 1885 Battle of Batoche, the pass and permit systems confined Indigenous people to reserves

  2. The pass system required First Nations people to obtain a pass from the Indian Agent in order to leave reserves

  3. The permit system required Indigenous people to obtain a permit to sell goods

  4. Underdevelopment of Indigenous economies

  5. Contributed to widespread mistrust between police and Indigenous people
• Indigenous people are more likely to be incarcerated for the same crimes, and less likely to be granted parole
• Indigenous people are overincarcerated in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut
• Overincarceration can be traced to residential schools' effects, poverty, addictions, racialized policing, and systemic discrimination
• Gladue Principles


  • Do/did you live on reserve?
  • Have you or family members ever been in foster care?
  • Did you or family members attend a residential school?
  • Have you struggled with substance abuse or been affected by someone who has?
  • Did you grow up in a home where there was domestic violence?
  • Is there a program in your community that would help to address the issues that got you into trouble with the law?
  • Have you participated in community activities?