The Social Construction of Crime

What is a crime? This simple question turns out to have a variety of answers.

A simple answer would be that a crime is doing anything that is against the law. The problem with this, however, is that there are tens of thousands of laws, and who could possibly remember all of them? Did you know that here in Connecticut it is illegal to throw away used razor blades? In Massachusetts, it’s illegal to use bullets as currency? In Arkansas, it is illegal to drive barefoot?

Some laws may be well-known but rarely or never enforced. For example, when was the last time you got a ticket for driving five miles over the speed limit? If a law is either not known or not enforced, does breaking it constitute a crime?

This raises the issue of which laws actually get enforced, and one answer uses the social psychological principle of social construction. Rooted in the sociological perspective of symbolic interactionism, social construction is the idea that social realities happens as people interact and come to an agreement about what a situation means.

Here’s an example that happens fairly regularly here at UConn: A student walks around at night with a beer in their hand, and they see a police officer. Not only are they underage, but they are also not supposed to have an open container in public, so they drop the beer. The student defines the situation as one of avoiding an alcohol-related crime. The police officer sees the dropped bottle or cup, goes over to the student, and tells them to pick it up and dispose of it properly. The police officer defines the situation as one of littering. This situation is pretty straightforward—the student readily accepts the police officer’s definition and throws away the cup or bottle.

In other situations, however, there is protracted negotiation about what is happening and what is right and wrong.

Here’s a remarkable video shot in St. George Missouri. Police Sergeant Sgt. James Kuehnlein confronts 20-year-old Brett Darrow for being stopped in a parking lot. It turns out that Brett had a video camera on in the back of his car, and so we are able to hear the whole interaction. Here’s a snippet of the conversation:

Kuehnlein asks for identification. When Darrow asks whether he did anything wrong, the officer orders him out of the car and begins shouting.

"You want to try me? You want to try me tonight? You think you have a bad night? I will ruin your night. … Do you want to try me tonight, young boy?"

Darrow says no.

"Do you want to go to jail for some (expletive) reason I come up with?" the police officer says. Later, Darrow says, "I don't want any problems, officer."

"You're about to get it," Kuehnlein is heard saying. "You already started your (expletive) problems with your attitude."

(Here’s the eventual outcome).

There are various implications of crime being socially negotiated. Most obviously, justice isn’t a predetermined outcome based on what you actually do, instead it’s sometimes what you can negotiate. This puts a premium on your ability to negotiate a successful outcome with police officers and other members of the criminal justice system. That’s why it’s such a good idea to be polite and deferential to the police when you interact with them. “Yes officer” and “no officer” are very good things to say, for a pleasant interaction paves the way for a more successful negotiation of what’s going on.

The criminal justice system may not always enforce all written laws, but they do sometimes enforce unwritten laws. There are various norms of how to deal with the police and other officials, such as being polite, and even though these norms are not official laws, they are enforced as if they were.

For example, having a sarcastic tone with a police officer isn’t illegal, but it can change the amount of punishment you get for a crime. Likewise, there is no law saying that defendants in court have to present themselves well and be apologetic, but it’s quite possible that poor self-presentation in the courtroom will lead to a harsher sentence.

This social construction of crime can also be affected by individuals’ place in society. The police and courtroom actors, like anyone, have their preconceptions about different types of people. That means that going into their interaction with somebody they might already have an idea as to whether that person is guilty or how that person will act.

These preconceptions, which we can also call stereotypes, can affect the interaction between the official and the person in question. In the video clip, the police officer clearly has some ideas about young people in fast cars, and he projected them onto the person he stopped. Not only age, but also race, gender, clothing, and general appearance can affect expectations of law enforcement officials which in turn, via social construction, can alter the way someone is treated by the police or the courts.

The next time that you get pulled over, maybe the real question is not what you did but rather what you can construct through social interaction.

Source: Everydaysociologyblog.com

What professors really tell grad students

A comic that Peter Thurley posted and commented on...

Mormon missionaries in the class

Last week I invited some Mormon missionaries to my sociology of religion class. We were studying rational choice theory of crime, and I had the missionaries talk for 15 minutes on why the class should become Mormons. Afterwards, the students asked questions and wrote an essay applying rational choice theory to Mormonism.

Overall, it went really well. The poor missionaries, two young women, were exceedingly nervous, but I greatly appreciated their courage in talking with the 200 students.

My students were appropriately gracious in interacting with the missionaries, but there were two times when a lot of jaws dropped.

At one point, a student asked why women have shorter missions than men (18 months vs. 24 months), and a missionary sort of shrugged and said that "they want us to get married young." Pretty sure that's not an idea heard a lot here.

Later, the missionaries were asked about LDS practices, and they mentioned no alcohol, drugs, premarital sex, and then--gasp--no coffee. From the looks on the students faces, the speakers might as well have pulled their faces off to reveal alien heads underneath... What a shock!

Birthday

I turn 45 years old today. When I check my life expectancy at various websites, I usually estimates from 84 to 90 years old.

So, I'm officially half dead. Sigh...

I'm going to spend most of the day writing midterm questions and attending a longish meeting tonight.

Yeah, I'm a party animal. Amazing that I've made it this far...

Should Rudy get communion?

Here's a story about a Roman Catholic Archbishop saying he would not serve communion to Rudy Giuliani.

His belief: "Burke says that anyone administering Communion — ordained priest or lay minister — is morally obligated to deny it to Catholic politicians who support an abortion-rights position contrary to church teaching."

What do you think? Is this appropriate?

(Thanks to David for the link)

Saturday stuff

Here's a video about a stupid dinner-time trick that had Floyd and me laughing for about 20 minutes. (Warning: may be too sophisticated for some people)

Steve Barry has an interesting discussion about men in church. Key phrase: "Singing prom songs to Jesus"

Joshua is off this weekend at a cross-country meet up in Vermont. His running is certainly improving. He was running around the yard with a friend from the team last weekend, and they looked like deer bounding along. The last time I ran a friend commented that I run "like a sociologist"

Everything you wanted to know about building a hang glider--good news about how careful they are! (From John)

Albert Einstein is viewed as a bit of a pop philosopher. After reading this post (by Ray Fowler) about his wedding contract, I am not so sure.

A critique of atheist Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins, of Oxford University, is a well-known critic of Christianity. Alister McGrath, also of Oxford, is becoming a well-known apologist for Christianity and critic of Dawkins. Here is the start of his critique of Dawkins:

1) Richard Dawkins approaches the question of whether God exists in much the same way as if he’d approach the question of whether there is water on Mars. In other words, it’s something that’s open to objective scientific experimentation. And of course there’s no way you can bring those criteria to bear on God. I think Dawkins seems reluctant to allow that God may not be in the same category as scientific objects.

2) Dawkins clearly believes that those who believe in God must prove their case and atheists have nothing to prove because that’s their default position. But I think that’s simply incorrect and it’s obviously incorrect. Really, the only obvious position is to say: We don’t know, we need to be persuaded one way or the other. The default position in other words is: not being sure. Therefore I think Dawkins must realize that he’s under as great an obligation to show that there is no God as, for example, a Christian is to show that there’s a God.

What do you think. Is this reasonable?

A gift idea

For the Christian who has everything... talking Bible character dolls. From the description:

"The foot-tall Jesus doll will be able to recite five Biblical verses at the push of button on its back, while the Moses doll will recite the Ten Commandments. The Mary doll will recite a long Bible verse."

My favorite part: Jesus and Moses have totally been lifting. They are ripped! In fact, I think those are workout towels over their shoulder.

"Hey Mo, can you spot me over here on the benchpress. I'm going for a PR."

(Thanks to Wayne for the link)

Playing to my strengths

As part of my sociology of religion class, I'm inviting in local religious-types to talk about different aspects of what they do. Two weeks ago, Ben Dubow, of St. Paul's Collegiate Church, was kind enough to come in and talk about the organizational aspects of church-life. No surprise it went very well--Ben's a talented guy.

He arrived a little early, so he got (had?) to watch me teach. I asked him afterwards what he thought, and he said that I used the room well by walking around while I lecture and made good use of humor.

Then it hit me, two fundamental characteristics of me have finally, finally paid off: I can't sit still and I constantly jokes. For how much trouble they got me into as a student, it's nice, and maybe ironic, that they benefit me as a teacher.

How many Christians believe in demons?

A reader of this blog wrote and asked if I knew of any data regarding belief rates among Christians in demons. I asked survey-guru David Weakliem, and he pointed me to the 2006 survey "Spirit and Power" by the Pew Foundation.

A survey of Christians in 10 countries, one of its questions asked was if respondents thought that angels and demons were active. The responses varied somewhat by nation and denomination as follows:

Question: Do you *completely* agree that demons and angels are active in the world. (Note: this leaves out respondents who mostly agree.)

United States:
- 72% Pentecostals
- 58% Charismatics
- 41% Other Christians

Brazil:
- 81% Pentecostals
- 57% Charismatics
- 53% Other Christians

Kenya:
- 75% Pentecostals
- 70% Charismatics
- 43% Other Christians

India:
- 66% Pentecostals
- 56% Charismatics
- 48% Other Christians

Do Christians live longer II?

Last Friday's post prompted some good questions about the mortality rates of Christians.

One question regarded gender differences, and as shown in the above chart, taken from Hummer et al. 1999 (Demography), the difference in mortality by church attendance exists for both men and women.

The authors also run of hazard analysis, and the effect of religious attendance says significant even when controlling for demographic characteristics, health, SES measures, and social ties. (It does attenuate from 1.87 to 1.50).

A last question: Does this have any ministry implications for Christian pastors and other workers? I don't know... any ideas.

Saturday Stuff

Here's a fun hang gliding video... of a bird zooming in on a pilot. (Thanks John)

This afternoon I go pick up my new toy: A recumbent bicycle (pictured is the model). I'm buying it used from a friend, and I am impressed by how it is more comfortable for the back and shoulders + you spend a lot more time looking at the scenery than the road (since your head is up). The big problem: It's really hard to balance, so I ride like a kid just learning.

Another change, it looks like we've adopted a pair of parakeets from Floyd's classroom. The schoolboard decided there should be no more animals in classrooms, and so here they are now. They are rather chatty but kind of fun.

The big news for the week: Floyd turned the big "07", and let's say the cake and ice cream flowed.

Do Christians live longer?

Here are some interesting data from a study by Hummer et al. (Demography, May 1999). They examined data from 21,000 individuals over an eight year period and observed death rates as a function of various personal characteristics, one of which was religious attendance.

From that they estimated life expectancies for sample members, and they found a suprisingly big difference.

So, a twenty year old who goes to church more than once a week can be expected to live 8 years longer than a twenty year old who doesn't go to church. (I.e., live to be 72.9 years old)

What does this mean? Well, the data don't have measures of types of religion, so we can't disentangle Christian vs. Jew vs. Muslim, but we can assume that he great majority of church goers in the sample are Christians.

Why does this occur? There's a big literature on "why" religion is associated with longer lives, which I may blog about some time, but for now it suffices to say that church going Christians live longer than people who don't go to church.

Next: Gender differences in religion and mortality

Suggestions for simplicity

I came across this article that was useful. It's 10 tips for living a more simple life. (Ironically, he originally gave a list of 72 tips but was asked to simplify it).

Among his tips:

- Clear out your email inbox

- Single-task

- Set limits

The last one refers to something he calls Haiku Productivity, which is derived (perhaps unknowingly) from Parkinson's Law to daily planning. I'm a big believer in Parkinson's law (it is a law, after all), and this is a useful application

A suggested improvement for Halo 3

My son Joshua, like millions of other people spent as much of yesterday as possible playing the just-released Halo 3. That means that the television room is full of war sounds, grunts, shouts, cries, etc...

I'm fine with this, because I know that Joshua is enjoying the game. But, is it too much to ask for the fine folks at Bungie (makers of Halo) to add one change. Could one of the main characters talk like Grandpa Simpson?

Now, I don't mean the actual words Grandpa says, though some of them would work, like:

"I've coughed up scarier stuff than that"

"Oh no, We're all doomed!"

"Kill it! Kill it!"

I just mean how he talks. This would provide a nice diversion for those of us who have to listen to Halo. Grandpa Simpson saying things like:

"Kill me or release me, parasite. But do not waste my time with talk!"

"Of all the objects that our Lords left behind, there are none so worthless as these Oracles! They know nothing of the Great Journey!"

"You are the Arbiter, the will of the Prophets. But these are my Elites, their lives matter to me - yours does not. "

"They're going to try and take our MAC guns offline. Give the Covenant a straight shot at Earth. Master Chief, defend this station! "

Just a thought.

Job market and tenure anxiety

I spent much of the day in committee meetings for a job search and also the department PTR (promotion, tenure and reappointment) committee--committees that decides who gets a job and who gets to keep it.

The result: I'm a nervous wreck by the end of the day. Even though I got a job and got tenure, going through the stack of files brought back a lot of pre-job, pre-tenure anxiety. I wanted to send an e-mail to each applicant encouraging them to hang in there...

I can't imagine being in that situation again...

Socialization of children into extreme views

I watched some of the documentary "Jesus Camp" last night, and I had mixed reactions to it.

I was particularly disturbed by the extreme (by society's norms) socialization of children. Extreme not so much in how they did it, but rather what they were socializing the children to. Put differently, if the same things had taken place with adults, I would have laughed a little and not really cared, but with children it seemed very inappropriate.

And yet, by the film's protagonist's own logic, children are constantly socialized into various worldviews--why not this one of culture-war, conservative Christianity?

Why is this so bothersome?

A post accomplishment slump

This morning I got off a revise-and-resubmit back to the journal, and so now I am suffering a post-accomplishment-slump. This is something Chris Uggen noticed back in the grad school days... that after getting something done that you've been working on for awhile, it's tough to then move right on to other things.

Viable options for a PAS:

- just work anyway (this rarely happens)

- find mindless work to do (may be where I am today)

- take the rest of the day off (it is beautiful outside)

- take a week/month/semester off to celebrate

Any advice?

Photo

Saturday Stuff

A quotation from the Simpsons, Homer asking Ned Flanders:

"Could Jesus microwave a burrito so hot that he himself could not eat it?"

Now... that's the kind of theological question that will get me thinking for awhile.

I went to Joshua's high school's open house, along with all the other parents of freshmen, and I came away thinking what a not-so-good high school I went to. Joshua will be reading Cicero in the original Latin by next year. He'll be reading lots of serious novels. He'll be doing experiments looking at DNA using some fancy gene separator. I'm pretty sure it took my high school biology class about a semester to cut up a couple of frogs.

The logical progression of current standards of beauty... creepy.

Some interesting advice on blogging.

State religions in the world

Here's kind of an interesting map... it's of the countries that have a state religion. Other than the muslim countries, it seems rather idiosycratic which countries adopt one.