Case Study 1: Deviant Behaviors
Write a 3- to 5-page paper in which you address the following thoroughly. Cite specifics from the case wherever possible to support your arguments:
Determine whether or not you believe social controls played a significant role in the consequences for the defendant. Provide a rationale to support your position.
Debate whether you believe that the social norms for persons of the defendant’s age support the use of this behavior. Next, support or criticize whether the social norms of persons the defendant’s age are reasonable in a very “politically correct” society. Provide support for your response.
Argue for or against the theory that an “informal sanction” (i.e., ostracism by peers) would have deterred the defendant’s behavior. Next, specify whether or not the “informal sanctions” would have satisfied anyone who was offended by the behavior of the defendant. Provide a rationale to support your response.
Identify formal sanctions brought against the defendant for the behavior. Considering the sanction, elaborate on the primary manner in which this formal sanction carried out the purpose of protecting persons connected to the defendant. Justify your response.
Use at least three quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar types of websites do not qualify as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references should follow the Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
Classify risk factors associated with age of onset and future deviant and / criminal behavior.
Differentiate between the main theoretical approaches used to address criminal personalities.
Use technology and information resources to research issues related to the criminal mind.
Write clearly and concisely about topics involving the criminal mind using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.
Case Study 1: Deviant Behaviors
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. SHAWN CHEEVER, Defendant
The case study is about Shawn Cheever’s who had a criminal record which contained eleven prior felony convictions (United States v. Cheever, n.d). Some of them were assault, forgery, fraud, drug possession, and impersonation. He also was convicted of possession of child pornography and had seven different aliases. Cheever was sentenced severally at the age of forty-five years old to probations and community corrections and failed to conform to the rules of the community corrections and probations. That led him to be sentenced to prison.
The norms, laws and the society’s social structure regulates the behavior appearances and thought in many ways which are referred to as social control (Goode, 2015). I believe social control greatly contributed to Cheever’s behavior since nobody in the society at large was bothered about what he was up to. He never cared about the laws or norms of society. He lived a very carefree life. The many felonies he was charged with are clear evidence of the kind of lifestyle he had. Cheever was a drug addict. The drugs led him to do awful things like observing child pornography.
Cheever was of forty-five years of age when he was sentenced the most number of times to probations and community corrections. At this age is when he also refused to conform to the rules of the community corrections and probations. The social norms surrounding Cheever do support his behavior. This is because he developed this behavior a long time ago and he kept adapting to it till when he was sentenced to prison. In a politically correct society, Cheever’s social norms are of no good. A politically correct society is expected to keenly watch out on each other and report cases that happen in the neighborhood to the police.
For a forty-five-year-old person, the social norms are reasonable in some way since the defendant is already a grown-up and nobody cares unless if he was a child or a teenager, but in a very politically correct society, the society was wrong for giving a blind eye on Cheever. They could have helped him change in one way or another, for example, giving him a decent job to keep him occupied and also, keep the public protected. The society should have raised an alarm long ago and maybe protested against the correctional service for providing Cheever with light charges.
Informal sanctions such as shaming, ostracism by peers or ridicule are some of the unwritten norms used to make somebody change his or her behavior (Thomas & Bishop, 1984). For instance, if Cheever had been ostracized by his peers or rather ridiculed by society, his behavior wouldn’t be the same. Perhaps he would have changed into a better man. Anyone who was offended by the behavior of Cheever would be satisfied with the informal sanctions if it happened. This is because the message would have been communicated making him change his bad habits, perhaps quit drugs completely.
Formal sanctions such as punishments and rewards are actions enforced by the authoritative force and are legalized by officials like law enforcement. Some of the formal sanctions brought against Cheever for his behavior were being sentenced to probations, community corrections, and prison. He was sentenced several times at the age of forty-five years old to probations and community corrections and failed to conform to the rules of the community corrections and probations. That led him to be sentenced to prison.
Since Cheever was sentenced to ten years in prison, the public was protected from him committing further crimes. He was also subjected to intensive treatment that helped him quit using drugs. That also helped the people connected to him from being harmed by him. For example, he was charged with assault and forgery cases. The involved parties felt protected by the formal sanctions brought against him. Cheever was also provided with vocational training since he demonstrated employable skills. That helped the public from being attacked by him once he was released since he would now be working.
The sex offender management program offers two programs to sexual offenders. These are residential and non-residential. The inmates are sent to a security level assessment facility then is allowed to pick any program. A high-risk offender like Cheever is usually taken to the residential sex offender management program. His failure to succeed on parole and probation in his record of convictions made him get classified under a high-risk offender. The sex offender management program was also a formal sanction he received from the authorities.
Generally, the case study is about Shawn Cheever’s who had a criminal record which contained eleven prior felony convictions. Some of them were assault, forgery, fraud, drug possession, and impersonation. I believe social control greatly contributed to Cheever’s behavior since nobody in the society at large was bothered about what he was up to. If Cheever had been ostracized by his peers or rather ridiculed by society, his behavior wouldn’t be the same. Some of the formal sanctions brought against Cheever for his behavior were being sentenced to probations, community corrections, and prison.
References
United States v. Cheever, Criminal Case No. 15-cr-00031-JLK. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-cheever
Goode, E. (Ed.). (2015). The handbook of deviance. John Wiley & Sons.
Thomas, C. W., & Bishop, D. M. (1984). The effect of formal and informal sanctions on delinquency: A longitudinal comparison of labeling and deterrence theories. J. Crim. L. & Criminology, 75, 1222.
