SOC212H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Informal Social Control, Social Disorganization Theory, Scientific Method
Document Summary
Rise in the scientific method: rationality and empiricism. Shift to deviance as a result of free will and personal interest of moral corruption. People are self interest but value in cooperation. Major deviance as sin: result of corruption by evil. Deterrent effect of law is most often expressed in terms of making laws more severe. Opposed the use of torture and death penalty. Law must be clear, widely unknown, universally enforced. Absolute: penalties are effective in eliminating a crime. General: seeing others punished lowers our motivation to offend. Utilitarianism: greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. Felicific calculus: people weigh pain and pleasure when deciding to act. Punishment should be proportional to the damage it causes. Punishment can and should be calculated by scientific method. This is because severity is the easiest to control. Certainty is hard (large majority of crimes are undetected) Speed is hard (legal process can be drawn out for a very long time)
