Chapter 21 - Crime and Deviance - Polity

Crime and Deviance
variously seen as a sickness, a deviance and an evil. Today, some individuals and groups
retain these views, even though homosexuality is, no longer a crime.
The question of crime and homosexuality now focuses on those who would express
their dislike and disapproval of homosexuality through violent means. The Criminal
Justice Act, 2003, permits judges to increase sentences in the context of ‘hate crimes’
including homophobic attacks. Read the subsection ‘Crimes against homosexuals’ (pages
946-7), which outlines a paper by Diane Richardson and Hazel May (1999). Now read this
extract from that paper:
Consideration of how we understand and explain violence differently in relation
to who the victim is, rather than the circumstances in which the violence occurs,
raises the question of the social recognition and worth accorded certain
individuals or social groups and, related to this, the degree to which they are
considered to have ‘lives worth living’ …
The focus on lesbians and gay men is extremely useful in highlighting how
interpretations of violence are mediated through notions of culpability and
victimisation. As a marginalised and stigmatised group within society, lesbians
and gay men are unlikely to be construed as ‘innocent’ victims. On the contrary,
the idea of the ‘homosexual’ as dangerous, a threat both to individuals they
have contact with, especially children, and to national security and social order
has a long history … Analysis of the meanings attributed to violence towards
lesbians and gay men, therefore, helps to make explicit the normative processes
by which we define someone as an ‘undeserving’ or ‘deserving’ victim …
… The idea that the public existence of ‘homosexuals’ represents some form of
provocation, which renders violence and harassment intelligible, is evident in
institutional as well as informal assessments of public violence. This is
supported by the literature on homophobic violence … which draws attention
to the failure of the police to acknowledge the significance of recording ‘sexual
orientation’ among the reasons which motivate attackers to abuse and kill, and
the reluctance of the courts to impose harsh sentences on the perpetrators of
such crimes.
(Diane Richardson and Hazel May, ‘Deserving victims?: sexual status and the
social construction of violence’, Sociological Review, 1999, pp. 308–31)
1. What other groups are sometimes seen to be ‘asking for it’?
2. In what ways is this analysis of the position of gay men and lesbians as victims of
crime similar to the analysis of ethnic minority groups as victims of crime?
3. Could there be a link between anti-gay crime and the ‘crisis of masculinity’?
Activity 3: Young people and prison
The section ‘Youth and crime’ points to the ways in which public fears about a general
social and moral breakdown become focused upon the question of youth crime. These
fears far outstrip the reality of youth crime and often focus upon deviant rather than
strictly criminal acts. The ‘law and order’ emphasis upon drug use and the use of Anti-
Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) can have the effect of criminalizing behaviour which in
other ways can be seen as a normal part of growing up. Read that section now.
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