HSP 3M - Unit 3

Social Institutions

Ms. Pannell

Bain, C.M., & Colyer, J.S. (2001). The Human way. Toronto: Oxford University Press.

Unit 3 Social Institutions

So far in the course we have been focused on:

Forces that influence and shape human behaviour (age, gender, mental illness, ethnicity…)

How we are socialized (agents of socialization (family, school, peers, media, workplace, religion)

In a nutshell, the forces within our self (nature), and in others (nurture)

Unit 3 Task - To look at how these forces fit into society

Social structures

Social Institutions

What are social Institutions?Social Institutions are social structures in a society that:

shape values and beliefs maintain order help society to function efficiently

FamilyMarriage Peers

SchoolChurches

Legal systemMilitaryMedia

Government

Personal Institutions Impersonal Institutions

Because they affect large groups of people

Affect individual’s lives intimately

Characteristics of Social Institutions

Legal system

Govern-ment

military

media

work

church

peers

family

Society

Have usually existed for a long time Have well established or entrenched patterns of functioning (change usually

occurs slowly) Have a specific purpose Members are joined together by shared values and beliefs

Purposes of Social Institutions Act as an agent of socialization maintain order and security

Unit 3 Question:

Are Canada's social institutions successful according to the above definition?

Discuss using examples:

Criminal Justice Systems

All societies need to have mechanisms for social control

CJS

to ensure that individuals behave in acceptable ways

to determine what happens

when individuals break the

rules

Canada's Formal Justice System 3 Components

1. Law EnforcementPolice

Apprehend / arrest criminals

To protect

To prevent crime

2. The CourtsAdversarial – lawyers representing the defendant compete with crown prosecutors

To process people charged by the police with a crime

Canada's Formal Justice System 3 Components (continued)

3. Correctional Agencies and Institutions

a) Punishment of theOffender, once convicted by the courts

b) Rehabilitation (the Offender chooses not to re-offend due to their new acceptance of society’s norms

c) To protect the public by jailing violent offenders

1. Retribution: “An eye for an eye” (society’s desire)

2. Deterrence(individual)(society)

Rehabilitation of the offender most Canadians think it's necessary

changing the offender's values so they will not re-offend

Criticism: The facts! but most also think that prisoners “have it easy” and don't

support government spending on programs

less than half of the general prison population receives counselling or treatment

less than one third of sex offenders receive any kind of treatment

Canada's recidivism rate (the rate at which offenders re-offend) is currently 75%

Informal Justice Systems in Other Societies

In Canada, the justice system is highly impersonal

In other cultures personal relationships and maintaining social harmony are much more important in the justice system

Informal Justice Systems continued Aboriginal

communities emphasize

healing offenders righting the

conditions that led to the offence

integrating the offender back into the community

The community is of primary importance. Within the community, each person had his or her roles and responsibilities, each of equal value to one another.

Kpelle culture of Africa (central Liberia and Guinea)Gibbs’ study of the legal system in 1957 and 1958

Patrilineal culture (inherit through the male line) population 175 000 two branches – formal and informal

Formal court handles assault, possession of illegal charms and theft involving unrelated litigants

Informal court or moot is an informal airing of disputes before an assembled group (Includes the complainant, the accused, neighbours, other family members and a mediator selected by the complainant)

Factors which make the moot successful Proceedings, although

“spirited”, were orderly and open, anyone could speak and felt like they had been heard

All felt like they had an impact on the resolution

the faults of both parties were pointed out therefore allowing those at fault to save face, not labelled

Example: Read page106 of textbook

Issues in Canadian Criminal Justice1. The Power of the Police

Approximately 1 police officer for every 475 Canadians

Studies of police behaviour tell us 6 factors influence police behaviour

1) how serious the police perceive the situation to be - more serious = more likely to arrest

2) what the police believe the victim wants3) the amount of co-operation the suspect offers- unco-operative

suspects tend to get arrested4) police's history with the suspect- prior negative contact more

likely to arrest5) presence of bystanders- more likely to arrest6) Race - more likely to arrest people of colour

Police Behaviour and Race

While this study was conducted in the U.S. we know that in Ontario

black people are imprisoned at 5 times the rate for white people

Aboriginal people are jailed at 3 times the rate for white people

News Reports http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/racial_profiling/

Racial Profiling Racial Profiling exists when

the members of a particular racial or ethnic group become subject to greater criminal justice or institutional surveillance than others. Profiling exists when racial characteristics - rather than behaviour – contributes to surveillance decisions

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Chinese Black

FemaleMale

Percentage of Toronto residents whoHave been stopped by police on Multiple occasions in the past 2 years

Source: Scot Wortley, CERIS – Justice Domain Leader, Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto

Issues in Canadian Criminal Justice2. The Number of Prisons Between 1987 and 1997, the total

correctional population increased by 44% (Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics 1997)

In 2001, there were 34 000 inmates in Canada (Linden 2000) 115: 100 000 population much higher than in Western Europe, but lower

than the U.S.

Prisons continued

Average cost of keeping an offender in a federal penitentiary is $50 000 to $65 000 a

year halfway house - $33 000 parole - $9000 (Solicitor General Canada 2001)

In 1995-97 77% of the total caseload was outside of prisons only 12% of all correctional spending was for

community supervision services

Issues in Canadian Criminal Justice 3. Rehabilitation or Radical Reform Some sociologists argue that we should abandon

our current criminal justice system, particularly prisons

Why: only protect the public temporarily do little to reshape offenders attitudes or behaviours strengthens criminal attitudes and skills by association severs social ties with the outside world which makes it

more likely that individuals will re-offend

Rehabilitation continued

crime rates are high in late teens and early twenties and fall steeply among older groups

most taxpayers' money is going towards warehousing a diminishing crime threat

we must intervene in the lives of young people before they break the law e.g. restrict the

unsupervised activities of teenagers

02468

101214161820

18-19

25-29

35-39

45-49

Likelihoodto commita crime

Hirschi's analysis of criminal behaviour

Age of offenders admitted to Federal Custody, Canada. 1995-97

Rehabilitation continued

strong link between criminal behaviour and low self-control teaching children self-control at an early age will reduce

crime advocates strong families target funds and assistance to seriously dysfunctional

families reducing teen pregnancy alone would reduce crime more

effectively than all the current criminal justice programs combined