Dangerous Driving And The Effects On Youth

Essay, Research Paper

Dangerous Driving and The Effects on Youth

In today’s society, dangerous driving is criminal and is also considered

to be deviant. There are different levels of dangerous driving, all of which

have different meaning to different people, some are considered part of the

social norm and others are considered to be deviant. Speeding for example is

considered to be a norm of society. Everyone speeds and this is not considered

a problem which needs societies immediate attention, however there is a line

which changes speeding from being a criminal offense to a deviant offense. The

following analysis will provide a descriptive summary of the functionalist

perspective, the social control theory and the power control theory.

These theories have been applied to a news story in which two young

teens from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Renee and Danielle Orichefsky, were killed in

a dangerous driving accident. The driver was Ralph Parker, a twenty year old

man from Halifax who lost control of his sports car as he attempted to make a

turn on the corner where the girls were sitting. This article involves the day

of Mr. Park’s conviction, the reaction of the girls’ parents and also the

reaction of Mr. Park’s mother.

The problem of dangerous driving as viewed from a theoretical standpoint

can easily be identified with the social control theory. The control theory

questions not what motivates individuals and society in general to indulge in

societal deviant behaviour but rather examines what is within the structure of a

society that causes individuals to conform to social laws. A social control

theorist would argue that it is social pressures that prevent people from acting

out in deviant manners; otherwise people would act upon inborn animal impulses.

In this case, Mr. Park it seems felt the need to drive his sports car very fast

and dangerously because it catered to his instinctive need for excitement. If

Mr. Park had been thinking about the possible consequences of killing two young

girls, he may have decided to slow down and be a little more careful. This is

because murder is a deviant act in our society and committing murder would not

be socially acceptable. Thus it can be concluded that that the structure and

organization of society is very influential in determining the conduct of

individuals in our society.

There are inner and outer controls related to the theory of social

control. Inner controls are considered as norms which have been internalized

through the socialization process. They are norms which are learned in the home

at a young age, and which are very relevant to an individuals level of self

control. The key players in inner controls would of course be the parents. In

this article, Mr. Parker’s mother is spoken of, but there is no mention of his

father. Because there doesn’t seem to be a father in this family, a social

control theorist might say that this may have had an impact on how Mr. Parker

feels about social and criminal laws.

Outer controls might have a strong impact on dangerous driving. That is

both formal controls as the threat of conviction and informal controls, such as

humiliation in front of friends, family and society as a whole. Society may

discount him from being a valuable member of society because his actions are

unforgivable by our society’s standards. People are frowned upon for reckless

driving, and they are shunned for murder, which is how people may interpret this

horrible event. Both inner and outer controls are extremely efficient, in

suppressing behaviour that is considered to be socially deviant and non-

conformist. Thus, according to the social control theory, when the strength of

inner and outer controls are powerful and pressuring, the levels of deviance

will be lower. On the other hand, if an individual’s controls are weak, and

outside societal influences are lower, then the level of deviance will increase.

In relation to this article which considering dangerous driving, an

individual’s inner self control, that is their ability to restrain from acting

in such a manner, is an important factor in determining what one’s decision will

be. The outer pressure from friends and family also has an influence. A social

control theorist may read this article and consider this person as someone who

did not conform with the ideals or society because his inner desires were to

strong, or because his inner and outer controls were too weak.

The theory of functionalism states that there is a use in society for

deviance and crime. The funtionalist approach considers four arguments as to why

this may be true, the first of which is group solidarity. The theory behind the

creation of group solidarity is that the fatal accident killing two young girls

will likely scare people. This can bring the community closer together because

everyone feels the loss when young people die needlessly. They will think of

the hurt that the parents and the girls’ must be feeling; this will create a

sense of community. The community may also think that something happened to

this young man to make him take such a risk in driving the way he did. The

feeling that most people have in a city is fear. People don’t speak to one

another if they are strangers. The difference after an accident like this is

that people will be a little more open to other people, at least they can speak

of this accident and how it has affected them. Durkheim would be annoyed that

this article does not include any mention of the community and the changes that

may be coming about as a result of this accident.

The clarification of boundaries is the second argument that

functionalists use to support the usefulness of deviance and crime. In our