Punishment & Sanctions
In the past the use of violence as punishment was common, people were executed or publicly physically abused as a consequence of antisocial or behaviour against the expected norms of a community. The move away from violence as a consequence has been slow and reflects a change in the 'humanity' of modern civilisations. As our society became more urbanised and industrialised old rural order was replaced with more people living in greater density (cities) and our work life became more communal (factories and workplaces). As our population grew in urban centres, historical forms of social control could not be maintained, they were drawn out, long winded and lost impact in a wider society context. That is, hanging someone for theft was seen as effective in a small community of less than 100 people as it would put fear into others and reinforce conformity, in a city of 100,000 it is less effective at maintaining social order.
Prisons emerged as an organisational response to controlling and disciplining antisocial behaviour. At the start of the 'prison institution' it wasn't just criminals who were locked away, but the sick, the unemployed, the wanderers & roamers (gypsies / vagabonds) and the insane. The shift of prisons to housing just criminals was slow, as was the shift to prisons 'rehabilitating' criminals. Punishment became more focused on reinforcing and creating obedient citizens rather than displaying brutal consequences for breaking the norms and expectations of your community.Norms are the social rules that govern behaviour in a community. Norms can be explicit (such as laws) or implicit (such as codes of polite behaviour). Norms can be difficult to identify because they are so deeply instilled in members of a given society. Norms are learned by growing up in a particular culture and can be difficult to learn if one does not grow up in the same social milieu.
The act of violating a social norm is called deviance. Individuals usually have a much easier time identifying the transgression of norms than the norms themselves. For example, few Australians would tell a sociologist that it is a social norm to hold the door open for a fellow pedestrian entering a building if within a particular distance. However, someone might remark that another person is rude because he or she did not hold the door open.
Like deviance, norms are always culturally contingent. To study norms and deviance, one must contextualize the action, or consider the action in light of all of the circumstances surrounding it. For example, one cannot merely say that showing up nude to a job interview is a violation of social norms. While it is usually social convention to show up in some manner of (usually professional) dress to a job interview, this is most likely not the case for someone interviewing to be a nude model. To understand the norm, one must understand the context.
The violation of social norms, or deviance, results in social sanction. Different degrees of violation result in different degrees of sanction. There are three main forms of social sanction for deviance: 1) legal sanction, 2) stigmatization, and 3) preference for one behaviour over another. Formal deviance, or the violation of legal codes, results in criminal action initiated by the state. Informal deviance, or violation of unwritten, social rules of behaviour, results in social sanction, or stigma. Lesser degrees of social violation result in preference rather than stigmatization. While society might deem it preferable to show up to most job interviews wearing a suit rather than casual attire, you will likely not be out of the running for the job if you are wearing khakis rather than a suit. However, should you show up nude to most interviews, you would likely be stigmatized for your behaviour, since it would be such a drastic departure from the norm.
SANCTIONS
The process of managing people who do not behave “normally” or who violate norms;
Prisons emerged as an organisational response to controlling and disciplining antisocial behaviour. At the start of the 'prison institution' it wasn't just criminals who were locked away, but the sick, the unemployed, the wanderers & roamers (gypsies / vagabonds) and the insane. The shift of prisons to housing just criminals was slow, as was the shift to prisons 'rehabilitating' criminals. Punishment became more focused on reinforcing and creating obedient citizens rather than displaying brutal consequences for breaking the norms and expectations of your community.Norms are the social rules that govern behaviour in a community. Norms can be explicit (such as laws) or implicit (such as codes of polite behaviour). Norms can be difficult to identify because they are so deeply instilled in members of a given society. Norms are learned by growing up in a particular culture and can be difficult to learn if one does not grow up in the same social milieu.
The act of violating a social norm is called deviance. Individuals usually have a much easier time identifying the transgression of norms than the norms themselves. For example, few Australians would tell a sociologist that it is a social norm to hold the door open for a fellow pedestrian entering a building if within a particular distance. However, someone might remark that another person is rude because he or she did not hold the door open.
Like deviance, norms are always culturally contingent. To study norms and deviance, one must contextualize the action, or consider the action in light of all of the circumstances surrounding it. For example, one cannot merely say that showing up nude to a job interview is a violation of social norms. While it is usually social convention to show up in some manner of (usually professional) dress to a job interview, this is most likely not the case for someone interviewing to be a nude model. To understand the norm, one must understand the context.
The violation of social norms, or deviance, results in social sanction. Different degrees of violation result in different degrees of sanction. There are three main forms of social sanction for deviance: 1) legal sanction, 2) stigmatization, and 3) preference for one behaviour over another. Formal deviance, or the violation of legal codes, results in criminal action initiated by the state. Informal deviance, or violation of unwritten, social rules of behaviour, results in social sanction, or stigma. Lesser degrees of social violation result in preference rather than stigmatization. While society might deem it preferable to show up to most job interviews wearing a suit rather than casual attire, you will likely not be out of the running for the job if you are wearing khakis rather than a suit. However, should you show up nude to most interviews, you would likely be stigmatized for your behaviour, since it would be such a drastic departure from the norm.
SANCTIONS
The process of managing people who do not behave “normally” or who violate norms;
- help to promote order and security in society and avoid conflict;
- can be formal e.g. involve the law, or informal e.g. being ignored, being excluded etc.
- A sanction is a reward or punishment that society sets up to enforce norms. They are set up in order to protect society from chaos.
- Positive sanctions = rewards (promises, awards, bonuses, money, certificates, recognition, clap, smile);
- Negative sanctions = punishment (ridicule, fines, prison, smack, detention, laughter);
- For example, people who work hard at their job are rewarded with a promotion, while those who work poorly or don’t show up for work will likely be punished, by having their pay penalised, or even fired.
There are five purposes of punishments or sanctions.
DeterrenceDeterrence is the use of punishment as a threat to deter people from offending. The smoking of marijuana is an example where imprisonment and fines are a result.
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RestitutionWhen something that has been taken from a person or group is returned to its rightful owner. An example may include when a person steals food from a store but is caught and forced to pay back the cost of the item.
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IncapacitationTo hold somebody in custody so they are under surveillance and the person is removed from society. This could include a prison sentence.
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RehabilitationPlacing a member of society who has committed a crime back into society, and adjusting them to make sure they do not commit a crime again. An example of this may be after a person is given a jail sentence, they are put under house arrest for a period of time and given therapy to adjust back to a regular lifestyle.
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RetributionThe act of getting revenge on those who has committed a negative act against someone. This may include punching someone who has tormented you in the past.
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Questions: You're The Judge
Go to the virtual judge website and watch one of the 4 videos presented on the website. Selct one of the cases that interests you, then click “to take on the case”.
Once you have selected a case, click through and listen to the defendant, his lawyer and the prosecution. Make notes on their arguments and evaluate the defendant’s level of responsibility. Read the victim impact statement and evaluate the ‘cost’ the defendants actions had on others. Select your sentence based on your evaluation of all the information presented. Now, listen to the actual sentence. Answer these questions.
Now select another case and go through the entire process for a second time. |