Howard Becker Social Control Theory

We never thought of pot as a drug. It was grass, herb, a non-addictive high that set your mind free and your spirit soaring. Smoking a joint was a way of connecting with young people. If you got high you were cool, if you didn’t you were straight, and ‘never the twain shall meet.’ (Ponzio, 1999)

Even thought is part of life to experiment with our surroundings, humans are complex beings who are mainly driven by desire and as soon as they satisfy their survival needs, they continue to follow their innate urge to reach their ultimate contentment. Therefore, even though we need to meet our desires I think this book should have also included the fact that there is no limit to what human unconscious craves and that it needs to be restrained or we become just as wild and primitive as animals. The most common feelings associated with marijuana are "hungry" and "horny" and "forgetfulness"; if we are not able to control our mind and desires,

George Sodini was a 48-year-old man who killed 3 women in a Pittsburg Suburban gym and then killed himself on August 4, 2009. Using the social control theories, we can explain why Sodini decided to commit the heinous crime against women. The first theory to look at to explain Sodini’s crime is Walter C. Reckless's Containment Theory. This theory states that there are many internal and external controls (called containments) that stop an individual from committing crimes.

Outlining the different ways that marijuana can be ingested can also pay a part in the effect and desire to use more than once or continuously use. Also, the user will only desire to use again if consumed in a pleasurable manner. In reference to Howard S. Becker’s Abstract, “An individual will be able to use marihauna for pleasure only when he 1, learns to smoke it in a way that will produce real effects; 2, learns to recognize the effects and connect with drugs use; and 3, learns to enjoy the sensations he perceives.” Howard S Becker also states that this proposition is based on an analysis of fifty interviews with marihauna users.

Social control theory and social learning theory are two theories that suggest why deviant behavior is chosen to be acted upon by some individuals and not others. Both take a different stance on the issue. Social control theory suggests people’s behavior is based on their bonds to society, if they have strong bonds to society they conform and if not they have a tendency to act out or become involved in criminal or deviant behavior. Social learning theory suggest that through vicarious learning people learn from observing others and based on what the observe make the choice of whether to copy those actions to obtain desired results or chose not to if

This research paper will study the correlation of past exposure to marijuana and the belief of its addictiveness is a direct association with an individual’s opinion on if marijuana should be decriminalized in the state of Oklahoma. Decriminalization is legislation ceasing to treat it as illegal. Criminal penalties will be reduced in certain acts of marijuana use. Examples of this are an individual can be fined but not imprisoned for possession but distributing and selling marijuana would still be considered a criminal act. From a sociological standpoint, this research would be beneficial in decriminalization policies for marijuana toward lowering the social constructs of the criminal act of possession and use. However it will regulate the cultivation and retailing of marijuana. Marijuana decriminalization is prevalent to sociological studies because of statistically as of 2014, the center of disease control (CDC) state that 40% of people have used marijuana in the past and 23.4% currently partake. If we were to decriminalize the act of marijuana use and possession social cost would decline by about 3 billion dollars (CDC) a year because we would no longer have to house inmates with marijuana charges. The money saved could be used for treatment in substance abuse, prevention programs, medical research toward marijuana and other sociological problematic areas that Oklahoma faces. The purpose of this study is to obtain and examine the attitudes of college students at the

Becker implies that in order to get high, one must learn the “technique.” What kinds of behaviors are involved in learning the technique? Types of behaviors involved in learning the technique in order to get to high while using marijuana listed by Becker focuses on the fact that the user must not smoke the marijuana like that would a cigarette, and if the person is smoking marijuana like they would an ordinary cigarette, the drug will not work as it is being used improperly. Instead, the proper technique involved in achieving a “high”, includes breathing in a large amount of the smoke, and then holding it in deeply for as long as the individual can possibly manage and is comfortable with. Likewise, another behavior involved in learning the technique may simply be observing others using the drug, and their own technique, body language, and actions in order to learn, mimic, and adopt these mannerisms for themselves.

Most research performed in the past on the use of illegal drugs focuses on a very broad group of people. Research also tends to be very anti-cannabis, and focuses on younger people. With this in mind, the researching of long-term cannabis effects on regular cannabis users has been neglected. This article was made to compensate for the under-researched aspects of cannabis, and to delve into a lesser known field. Chatwin and Porteous (2013) sought to show that cannabis can be beneficial to the long-term, regular cannabis user, despite what historical

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) is probably one of the most credible sources of information on the issue of substance abuse. For this article the survey conducted by the CASA had 1,987 teenagers participate to gain insight on marijuana use amongst the youth. CASA’s results where calculated in 2003 and the report was produce and copyright in 2004 making the information pertinent. Lynn Zimmer is a professor of sociology at Queens College in New York and coauthor of a book titled Marijuana Myths. Lynn’s resume speaks for itself making her knowledgably on the topic of marijuana use. This article could be look at as not

Social control theory has become one of the more widely accepted explanations in the field of criminology in its attempt to account for rates in crime and deviant behavior. Unlike theories that seek to explain why people engage in deviant behavior, social control theories approach deviancy from a different direction, questioning why people refrain from violating established norms, rules, and moralities. The theory seeks to explain how the normative systems of rules and obligations in a given society serve to maintain a strong sense of social cohesion, order and conformity to widely accepted and established norms. Central to this theory is a perspective which predicts that deviant behavior is much more likely to emerge when

Within today’s society, Cannabis is seen as a harmful substance of such negative controversy. Marijuana is a very prominent and controversial issue in society today. Despite many malicious allegations have been made regarding marijuana today, the truth of what marijuana’s real dangers are are beginning to come about again. Sadly, these facts have been held under considerable judgement because of what people stereotype a pot smoker as. This has been brought under heavy criticism due to the stereotypical view of what people view as the typical “pot smoker.” This image society has of a lazy and unambitious America has all been the result of almost one hundred years of false propaganda and stereotypes gossiped by certain private individuals trying to keep weed illegal for their own personal benefit.

“She’s not missing, she’s at the farm right now.” This haunting quote comes from the mouth of one of the most grotesque and brutal serial killers to ever live, Edward Gein. Edward was born on August 27th 1906 to an abusive alcoholic father, George Gein and an overly religious mother, Augusta Carter. Along with Edward, George and Augusta gave birth to Edwards older brother Henry in 1902. The family settled down in the little town of Lacrosse, Wisconsin where Augusta raised the young boys. For the most part, her husband George was left out of the picture mainly because Augusta believed he was a worthless alcoholic. This paper will discuss the connection between Edward’s crimes and social control theory in order to arrive at a conclusion as to why Gein committed the brutal murders he did.

There is a salient and continuous negative stigma concerning the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. The pathology that arises from this issue is a subjective matter, highly provocative because those who oppose and those who endorse present rhetoric in a very polarized manner. Like many in the medical marijuana community “…People start out a skeptic intent on researching marijuana’s harms.” (Flatow, 2014) It seems that there is a preponderance of people who have a proclivity to naturally oppose the legalization of marijuana, because there is what is called an apparent distortion in understanding. Psychiatry professor Lester Grinspoon penned a necessary explication on medical marijuana, detailing his own encounter from natural

Education is an important structure in society that shapes the most important years of your life, and therefore many theorists have ideas about what is wrong with education, what is right, and what needs to change or develop. Education is confined a lot by social control and social reproduction. Social control is a concept that refers to how social systems control the way we feel, think, behave, and even how we should present ourselves. These can appear openly, shown as rules and laws, or they could be not openly acknowledged and just appear as the “common” thing to do. Social reproduction is the reproduction of inequalities throughout generation-to-generation, one way education does this is how it supplies “wealthy” schools more and “poor” schools less. Michael Apple and Maxine Greene both define Social reproductions and Social Control. Throughout this text, I will explain the theories of Greene and Apple, as well as comparing and contrasting them against one another while applying some of my own experiences of education.

Marijuana is a green or brown mix of preserved, crushed leaves from the marijuana plant. A psychoactive drug, marijuana contains fifty-percent more tar than tobacco. Smoking the harmful plant can damage the brain, lungs, and the male reproductive system and may escalate the effects of epilepsy and psychosis (Kahler, 1988). Within campus colleges and universities, there are a lot of students who are using marijuana recreationally. Long-term marijuana use can induce negative effects on short-term memory, concentration, attention span, motivation, and problem solving, which clearly interfere with learning. Tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana, can reinforce dependence on the drug and on other addictive drugs (Joffe &