The Legal Intervention And Deviance Essay

Among any community there is a set of boundaries that must be respected under penalty of being labeled as deviant. Consequently, a community will create agencies of control in order to punish and fight against all the forms of behavior considered as deviant. In his Study in the Sociology of Deviance, Kai T. Erikson defends the point that deviant forms of behavior are a natural and beneficial part of social life. One of his main arguments is that, in our modern society, “the agencies of control often seem to define their job as that of keeping deviance within bounds rather than obliterating it altogether” (Wayward Puritans 24:2). Now, what if society gave to its agencies of control the role of annihilating deviance? What if the set of

In order to complete this assignment we must first recognize what Unauthorized Practice of Law is when it comes to paralegals. There is no set definition on what UPL is but as a paralegal there are guidelines to go by. Some ways they can violate the practice of law would be an individual holding themselves as an attorney when they are paralegals, giving legal advice as an attorney would, or representing clients in a court of law. All of the previous are violations and can be subject to several disciplinary actions [ (Unauthorized Practice of Law, 2010) ]. It has been named illegal due to the damages on may suffer due to bad legal advice. In some states it is considered a criminal offense and could be given a jail sentence.

In the case of Robinson v. California, 370 U.S. 660 (1962), the Supreme Court ruled that a law may not punish a status; i.e., one may not be punished to being an alcoholic or for being addicted to drugs. However, of course, one may be punished for actions such as abusing drugs. The question becomes; What if the status “forces” the action? What if a person, because of his/her addiction to drugs, is “forced” by the addiction to purchase and abuse the illegal drugs? Would punishing that person be unfairly punishing a status?

‘social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them as outsiders. From this point of vie, deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of the rules and sanctions to an ‘offender’. The deviant is one to whom the label has successfully been applied, deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label. (Becker 1963, pg 9)

Annette Jeffs, one of Jeffs’ many wives, stated, “You all have the honor of becoming the wife of our new prophet.”(Outlaw Prophet: Warren Jeffs). The belief that Warren Jeffs is a prophet sent by God is the basis of the cult belief system. This belief allows the Warren Jeffs to dominate the people in his compound. Dorothy Emma Jessop, one of the wives of Joe Jessop, stated, “It’s not easy to share the man you love. But I came to realize this is another test that God places before you.” (The Polygamists). Jessop’s statement shows how Warren Jeffs has molded the minds of his followers to believe that every unfortunate event that occurred behind the doors of the compound was in God’s plan for the church and its members. In order to reduce the number of people from the outside world that the member communicate with, the members grow their food and own businesses such as hotels and machine manufacturers. (The Polygamists). This limitation of outside contact allowed Warren Jeffs to control the messages that his followers received, which, again, allowed him to dominate the minds of his followers. Warren Jeffs contains the possible rebellion of his members by excommunicating men who he believes will overthrow him. (Outlaw Prophet: Warren Jeffs) The excommunications wiped out all possible threats to Jeffs making him the only leader

Although not all societies function smoothly. There’s also members that are expected to deviate from the social norms. Which is called deviance. According to Crime, Deviance and Social Control deviance is “Any act that doesn’t fit in with the normal way of behaviors” (Harris, 2014). To keep people complied to the social norms they must find ways to do so.

Deviance can be defined as an absence of conformity to the social norm. Not all deviant behavior is necessarily illegal or harmful to individuals, these behaviors can range from standing in another’s personal space to murdering another individual. In some cases, it can be looked upon as a positive change or a unique and favorable act. Although, considered deviant because it is not the social norm, it still can have a very positive social aspect or lead to social change. Culture and the societies within these cultures have a significant impact on what is considered deviant and what is acceptable or even lawful behavior. The degree of deviance is measured by society’s reaction towards the action and the lawful sanctions that may take

Within any culture lies an array of definitive demeanors and actions that are deemed socially adequate and inadequate. Depending on the distinguishing behavior of a given individual and the society that they live in, there are invisible “laws” that prevent people from acting a certain way. If the individual’s behavior is adverse to the superior, predominant norms of their society, the actions of that individual are considered to be deviant. Social deviance in shown in a variety of dissimilar faces: within physical appearance, actions done to oneself and others, and religious groups.

Influential institutions dictate and distort the perceptions of citizens through various systems of authority. When a society’s government and religion attempts to preserve an ethical culture that promotes conformity and obedience, citizens respond by engaging in acts of social rebellion. Lewis argues that distinctive, sexual subcultures result from the adulteration of natural, human desires. He addresses the consequences of demoralizing human sexuality by explicitly revealing the Catholic Church’s cruel punishments for sexual immorality and lust. Characters who engage in these seemingly sinful behaviors experience severe punishments from the church, although religious constraints are the primary influences of their actions.

Deviance is socially constructed because it is defined and outlined firmly by society’s norms. As a result, a deviant act in one society may not be considered deviant within a different society. Societies define themselves through the shared common values of the individuals and in order for a society to maintain these values and cultural identity they create and maintain boundaries (Erikson, 2005, p17). These boundaries allow individuals to relate to each other in an articulate manner and so that they may develop a position within society (Erikson, 2005, p17). The boundaries are created by individuals’ behavior and interactions in their regular social relations. Deviance then becomes the actions which society perceived to be outside of its boundaries. In other words, an act is viewed as deviant when it falls outside of those commonly shared values and norms which created the boundaries. This is because the society is making a declaration about the disposition and arrangement of their boundaries. Boundaries are not fixed to any society rather they shift as the individual’s redefine their margins and position on a larger cultural map (Erikson, 2005, p20).

The deviant behavior is be defined by the standards set by corporate America, or as the reading states, those in power (p. 112). So to avoid this label of deviant behavior, Americans buy what is readily available in storefronts all across the nation, purely to conform to the “idea” of a “normal” American life.

Defining deviance as behaviour, which violates consensual social norms, also raises the questions of whose norms? Why are some norms more important than others? And why do some norms appear to serve the interests of capitalist governments and the powerful? .

Looking into criminal justice procedure, many administrations are at work. Starting with the police, to the courts and concluding in corrections. Though all these sectors have different tasks, their combined focus is processing the law. Regardless what the process is called criminal justice will continue to serve with discretion, conviction, and correction. When first presented with the question whether criminal justice is a system, non-system, and network I leaned toward a network. Throughout our discussions, lectures, and readings I felt the process presented itself as a network. Intertwined divisions working for a common goal. Further into my research and help from Webster, I decided that the criminal justice

The rule of law is a difficult concept to grasp and proves elusive to substantive definition. However, the following work considers the attempts of various social and legal theorists to define the concept and pertinent authorities are considered. Attitudes and emphasis as to the exact shape, form and content of the rule of law differ quite widely depending on the socio-political perspective and views of respective commentators (Slapper and Kelly, 2009, p16), although there are common themes that are almost universally adopted. The conclusions to this work endeavour to consolidate thinking on the rule of law in order to address the question posed in the title, which is at first sight a deceptively simple one.

Delinquency and deviance will never be eliminated just as a perfect person in a perfect world will never exist. There will never be perfection in this world nor the eliminations of all crime, no matter how much we wish for it. We have to ask ourselves are they truly deviant and delinquents or are they just misbehaving and mischievous? We have to have counseling for the deviant and delinquents and we always will need to stay a step ahead of them. I do believe as Durkheim and Erikson stated we can help to control, limit, and reduce the incidents of delinquents as well as the severity of it. This will always be an uphill battle but not one we can stop fighting for. The youth of today is the world of tomorrow.