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posted by Wesley @ 2:35 pm 0 comments

Hello everyone,

It has been a tiny while since you heard from me. Got a good excuse for that, life's good. I'm really involved in new things again like choosing a study and university for next year, a political committee to promote the national elections in November and another political workgroup to promote the provincial elections in March. Besides that I found a job.

Yes a job. It has been a whopping two months since I left my last and          'most splendid' job as a telemarketer and now I am officially employed as promoter for a Fitness Centrum. Once again it seems like an unusual combination ( I would not want to be found dead in a Fitness Centrum) but there is a simple explanation for all this; there is money involved. And after my call center adventure I thought I could not possibly sink lower so (which I am not that sure of because my job involves interrupting people's shopping and asking them to come and join the fitness club) I am giving this a try.

As last I just want to give some attention to the Hobart bushfires which seem to be pretty bad. http://picasaweb.google.com/wstuurman/TheYear0607bywes 

Hope everyone in Hobart is surviving the blaze and that everyone else is fine as well. Take care and I'll hope to speak to you later!

Love,

Wes

posted by Wesley @ 7:22 pm 0 comments

Under construction

Hello,

I'm using this really cool new handy program to update my weblog. I just wanted to let you know that this website will be under construction for a little while but in September I will start to post again.

In the meanwhile I hope you will enjoy my photo's on http://picasaweb.google.com/wstuurman/Australia.

Greetings,

posted by Wesley @ 7:50 pm 0 comments

48 hours and counting

posted by Wesley @ 1:02 pm 7 comments

AFS camp and essay

Friday just before friday turned saturday we arrived at the camp. It took us a whopping four hours to get there!! The camp didn't look too bad and I shared a cabin with two other guys. Saturday we went and planted some trees (see photo's) to leave something physical behind in Tassie. It was pretty cool and this is probably the first photo I've taken this year were I am actually working! Besides that hard work, we went and painted a bag, gave little messages to each other and had some nice food. At night it was time for the bushdance (all sorts of traditional dances), most of the dances ended up in one or more people making mistakes and us hurrying to get back into the rhythm of the music. Sunday was probably the last time I've talked to most of the other exchange students, it has been awesome to meet them and it is sad that it will be a while before I see some of them. I'm happy though that I've had the oppurtunity to make so many new friends all over the world and learn so much about different cultures.

Besides my AFS camp things have been going pretty well lately. I am slowly starting to realise that I won't see some things again for a while and I am already starting to work out what to bring back home and what to leave behind/send home by mail. I can only take twenty kilo's with me on the plane so I have to find a way to get more stuff home!

Anyway, main point of this post is to inform you all that I got an A-, A- and an A for my sociology essay about deviance & juvenile offenders. This has been my best essay so far and I am very proud of the result. SO proud that I've decided to share it with you all!!!! Enjoy it!!!

Deviance assignment May 2006

Deviance is what society perceives as immoral and wrong. According to Browne (1989) deviance is the failure to conform to norms. However, deviance is a relative concept; it is relative to time, space and culture. Within a culture deviance strongly depends on the circumstances, for example age, location, time and gender. What is perceived as deviant by one individual can be perceived as normal by another. Deviance can exist because individuals might not be aware of the norms due to a lack of socialisation and/or cultural capital, or by consciously rejecting the norms through joining an anti-subculture. Socialisation is a development process whereby individuals learn and become aware of the patterns of behaviour expected by society (Aspin, 1996). A subculture is a group which shares in the overall culture of society but also has its own distinctive norms, values and attitudes (Robertson, 1989).

According to the stimulus article ‘What works in reducing young people’s involvement in crime?’ (Australian institute of Criminology, 2002) ‘Many young people participate in criminal activity at some point in time.’ This essay is about why the majority of young people cease a life of crime while a minority go on to become chronic offenders. The socialisation they receive and the pathway that they choose to follow varies for each individual. Personal circumstances may push an individual further towards committing criminal acts or pull him/her out of that environment. Most juvenile offenders stop after committing one criminal act, while a smaller group desists after the second crime. Only a small minority goes on to become chronic offenders this is called recidivism. According to Brandon L. Clark (2005) recidivism is the continued, habitual or compulsive commission of law violations after first having been convicted or prior offenses.

There is no definitive evidence that any group in Contemporary Australian Society commits more crime then another. Different groups commit different types of crimes, as stated in Browne (1989), an individual from a disadvantaged background will commit a crime with a high risk and a low yield, while those from advantaged backgrounds commit high yield, low risk crimes. Besides that, several groups in society are labelled and seen as ‘more criminal’ then others. It has been found that police enforcers will concentrate on these groups in society thereby increasing the chance of catching them and enhancing the label of ‘crime committers.’ This then becomes a continuous cycle that becomes difficult to break. Some individuals will feel that they are already labelled and assume that any other behaviour can not make a difference. They will live up to the label by continuing their criminal acts and deviant behaviour. Another possible reason for deviant behaviour is to choose not conform to society’s norms and rules or not being able to recognise deviant acts. An example often used to describe someone who is choosing not to conform is a homeless person. Rejection of society can also be called ‘retreatism’. Another example of someone who is not able to recognise deviant acts is a mentally ill individual.

Chronic offenders do not have to be deviant in all aspects of life and in general only one aspect of their life is considered deviant. For example, a computer hacker still conforms to all society’s rules except to the rules that are enforced on the internet. When individuals have entered the environment wherein they commit crimes, it is difficult to remove them. Programs that help juvenile offenders to conform to society’s norm’s, values and rules after they have committed crimes and received penalties often do not work because the label of ‘criminal’ is still enforced and most of these programs only try to improve one aspect of life while there is more then one factor that influences an individuals life chances.

Deviance is viewed differently within from a sociological perspective. According to the Social learning Theory deviance is passed on from teacher to student. The student lives up to the role model the teacher presents. It explains why some children become juvenile offenders and deviant, and others not. According to this theory a cycle of deviant behaviour is created and maintained by the passing on of ‘knowledge’ to the next generation. The theory does not include outside factors like living area and why some individuals become criminals later in life when the role-model has disappeared. This perspective is also in conflict with the stimulus. According to the stimulus ‘Over two-thirds of juveniles offend just once before desisting, and a further fifteen percent desist after committing two offences.’ Why do juveniles live up to a role model and then decide to go into another direction.

According to the functionalist perspective deviance is necessary and beneficial for society. It affirms norms and cultural values, it clarifies moral boundaries, promotes social unity, encourages social change and it provides jobs to control deviant behaviour. Deviant behaviour is also seen as a way to adapt to society and react to change. Functionalist theory is the most common perception.

The conflict perspective explains deviant behaviour as a power struggle within society between individuals and groups. The norms and values of society are created by the individuals with the most power within society thereby creating a system that advantages high SES groups. Because individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds do not have the cultural capital, they need to function well within society they are labelled deviant and watched more closely by law enforcers. Thereby more deviant and criminal behaviour is observed and the label continues.

All this information leads to the conclusion that there will always be a small minority that will not conform to society’s rules and expectations. That there are three main ideas this essay highlights. Choosing not to conform to society’s rules and thereby ‘losing membership’ of society. The living up to a label, and thereby starting the self-fulfilling prophecy and lastly not having the ability to function within society, nor recognising its norms and values.

986 words
Wesley Stuurman

Reference:
Stimulus article, page 13 first paragraph:
http://www.cmd.act.gov.au/Documents/ACT_juv_justice_051202.pdf
Reference recidivism:
http://brandonlclark.com/glossary.html?letter=R
Social learning theory:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociology_of_deviance
Functionalist perspective:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deviant_behavior#Social_foundations_of_deviance
Conflict perspective:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociology_of_deviance

posted by Wesley @ 8:32 am 4 comments

Life's Good

posted by Wesley @ 5:25 am 3 comments

The worldcup

posted by Wesley @ 9:14 am 1 comments