Spotlight on Students: Sociological Views of Deviance

 This post highlights the work required of my SA 201: Introduction to Sociology students.  Students were tasked with learning deviance from a sociological perspective and tasked with applying a sociological theory to explain a criminal act. Eligible students were given the opportunity to have their exemplary work featured on the blog, and the students who provided permission have their work featured here in this and the following blog posts.   Please show your appreciation for their work through the comments.

 

By: Maddison Welker

People may commit crimes for several reasons, but there is usually one major reason. The term social deviance can usually explain why a crime is committed. Social deviance is any type of crime, law, rule, or norm that is created by society and can be broken (Bry et. al 137). In other words, social deviance can help people understand the social norms in the society and why people would break them. Social deviance also has many theories that help explain why people do what they do. The case of a Honduras man and his family trying to seek asylum in the United States demonstrates the cultural deviance theory.

In this particular case, a Honduras man name Jose and his wife Cindy were trying to seek asylum in the United States after a drug cartel told them that their family would be killed in Honduras (Jordan 1). In an effort to save his family and leave the dangers of Honduras, Jose traveled to the Texas border and tried to be allowed to access Mexico. His wife Cindy was already in the United States because she had a work visa (Jordan 2). When Jose and his four-year-old son approached the Unites States Texas border, black hoods were thrown over their heads and they were taken to a secret destination in the back of a van (Jordan 2). When the black hoods were taken off of their heads, Jose quickly began to realize that him and his son were kidnapped by a drug cartel (Jordan 2). The cartel made Jose call his wife Cindy, who was in the sates and told her that she would have, “to come up with $3,000 within an hour if she wanted to spare the lives of her son and husband” (Jordan 2). While Cindy was panicking and searching for money, the drug cartel began to beat Jose in the stomach and arm, all while making their four-year-old son watch (Jordan 3). Cindy then went over to neighbor’s house in the and begged for them to help her (Jordan 3). After her neighbor agreed, the two of them drove to a bank and could only managed to get out two thousand dollars (Jordan 3). Cindy then went to a money-transfer kiosk and deposited the cash in the machine to the drug cartel kidnappers (Jordan). The cartel then notified Cindy that the money had not gone through and that she had twenty minutes to fix the problem or else her husband and son would die (Jordan 3). While waiting on Cindy to fix the problem, the cartel continued to beat Jose and they even started to cut his face (Jordan 3). Thankfully, the money went through and the drug cartel dropped of Jose and his son back near the border and told them that, “if he notified the police, you’re both dead. we have pictures of you” (Jordan 3). Then, seeking for help from the United States Jose asked them that, due to their recent events if him and his son could stay in the United States holding center (Jordan 3).  The United States said no and told them that the events that had just taken place, “did not establish a clear probability of persecution or torture in Mexico,” even though Jose had numerous bruises and cuts from the beatings (Jordan 3). This type of crime happens all of the time in Mexico and is an example of the cultural deviance theory.

The cultural deviance theory helps explain why people commit a crime. The social deviance theory is a theory that states that crime happens in lower class families due to the people of that class believing in the same social norms (Bry et. al 139). In the crime that was committed against Jose and his family, the drug cartel comes from a lower-class country and asks for ransom money from the family. The drug cartel new that they were not going to get caught because Mexico has, “neither the municipal nor state governments have the resources to fight this situation” (Jordan 1). Crime is acceptable in this lower-class country because the drug cartels have created the societal norms (Jordan 1). The drug cartel knew that Cindy would give the money in order to save her husband and son. This has become a norm in Mexico’s society because they do not have the resources to fix it. In a lower-class country according to the cultural deviance theory, crime is more acceptable. The cultural deviance theory and social deviance help people understand why crime is committed.

Sociology explains how deviance can be understood in a society. Sociology explains why people to what they do and why certain behaviors are acted upon. Sociology helps figure out the cultural norms that are present within a society and how those norms could be broken to commit a crime and act out with deviance. Sociology helps us look at people to understand why that person did what they did. Without sociology, we would not have an understanding of human behavior or how their behavior is affected by the society that they are living in or interact with.

Social deviance is an action that has been broken due to societal standards. In the case of Jose and his family social deviance was acted upon by the drug cartel that kidnapped them. The drug cartel that kidnapped Jose and his son only acted with this type of deviance due to them living in a lower-class society. Their society has become accustomed to laws being broken. Deviance was acted upon by the drug cartel and used to receive money as a reward. The cultural deviance theory helps sociologist understand why the drug cartel did what they did. Sociology has helped understand this because sociology helps people understand why they do what they due. Sociology takes a look at behaviors and explains them. For example, without sociology we would not have understood why the drug cartel did what they did to Jose’s family. Sociology helps us understand social deviance and the reasons why people partake in it.

 Works Cited

Bry, Jeff, et al. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX. OpenStax, 2017. pp 137-143

Jordan, M. (2019, December 21). 'I'm Kidnapped': A Father's Nightmare on the Border. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/21/us/border-migrants-kidnapping-mexico.html

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By: Arash Yaqubi

 

In life crimes happen all around us and many times people search for the reasoning behind the acts of deviance which in sociology the reasoning can be found using a number of theories created by educated sociologists. The crime I chose would be the horrendous criminal act that happened on the 14th of November in 2019. This crime was a shooting that took place at a high school called Saugus High School in California 20 minutes before the start of school. The criminal was a 16 year old male student named Nathaniel Berhow who caused this shooting with a .45 caliber pistol. This crime that took place took “Two victims a 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, died at a hospital. Three students were wounded and taken by ambulance” (Hanna). Also the shooter shot himself after his criminal act on the students of Sangus High School, and left three other students hospitalized who later made a full recovery.

Some background on Nathaniel Berhow was known as by a longtime friend who “described him to the AP as "naturally smart" and introverted, though open to his close friends. She also said he was bullied, was never seen with a girlfriend, and was also active in his Boy Scout team” (Ma). Also his father was known to abuse his mother and one got one case filled on him as an attempted battery on the spouse. This can be related to the theory created by Travis Hirschi, the American sociologist, who made the control theory.

According to Hirschi control theory noted in Introduction to Sociology, is defined by the amount of social control an individual feels is directly affected by the strength of the person 's bond with society and others which is where the criminal acts or deviance comes from because that certain person is feeling detached from the society. This makes sense because the more a person feels disconnected to the group or society then they care less of what happens to them if they perform a criminal act (Griffiths 143). Control theory can help explain on why Nathaniel Berhow’s crime took place because he was known as a quiet kid who was sometimes picked on and did not have many friends. Berhow never felt a connection with his classmates or to the school culture at Saugus High School so it was easy for him to commit that criminal act of shooting up the school. Also, it was his 16th birthday when he did the crime, so the disconnection to society in general was building up to the point where he felt no emotional attachment to society which is one of the reasons he ended his life after he shot the school up.

This detachment from society that Nathaniel Berhow, felt which was the Control Theory had many consequences. One of which was the trauma of the students at Saugus High school who had to witness or hear the crime taking place. Also the two casualties that Nathaniel Berhow caused then ending his life affected the families of both victims and Berhow’s family as well. These consequences of this crime left many families and students sad and devastated.

This is a very important reason why sociology is so helpful in finding the reasons behind deviance and crimes that take place in our society. Sociology helps us, as a society, to understand the deeper cause of the crime rather than just looking at one certain outlier. Sociology helps dissect the whole process of why the crime happened and society's input on that crime and deviance that took place. It is shown through sociology that the effect of where you grow up at and the culture you are surrounded in has a bigger effect than one person might think of if they have not taken sociology.

Works Cited

 

Griffiths, Heather, et al. Introduction to Sociology 2e. OpenStax College, Rice University, 2017.

Hanna, Jason, et al. “A 16-Year-Old Gunman Shot 5 Classmates and Himself in 16

Seconds, Authorities Say.” CNN, Cable News Network, 15 Nov. 2019,

www.cnn.com/2019/11/14/us/california-school-shooting/index.html.

Ma, Alexandra. “California School Shooting Suspect Described as 'Quiet' Boy Scout

Who Opened Fire on Classmates on His 16th Birthday.” Insider, Insider, 16 Nov. 2019,

www.insider.com/california-school-shooting-suspect-nathaniel-berhow-2019-11.