Sociology of Deviance Turnstile Jumping
As most scholars, judges, prosecutors, and correctional officers will attest, the criminal justice system as it now stands is broken. At a structural level, the criminal justice system continues to be plagued by high rates of recidivism, and many courts are severely backlogged to the point that they cannot process new cases in a timely manner. At a personal level, many deviants experience the criminal justice system as an overwhelmingly negative force in their lives. Yet policy reform is often slow and piecemeal. Sociologists of deviance have long argued that the perspective and insights we bring to the table are of value and might provide the basis for policy reform. Yet sociologists are rarely given the opportunity to directly influence policy.
One issue that has received particular attention is turnstile jumping. Through the 80s, turnstile jumping
was tacitly tolerated, even if it clearly qualified as illegal and deviant behavior. But a slew of laws aimed
at restricting the practice have effectively criminalized turnstile jumping, resulting in jumpers regularly
confronting the criminal justice system. In the 1990s, Police Chief William Bratton’s crackdown on
jumpers was the showpiece of his infamous “broken windows” approach to crime control, which targeted petty crime as a proxy for more serious violations. Today, turnstile jumping is receiving renewed focus from an MTA that is chronically starved of revenue.
Imagine that you have been appointed Sociological Advisor to the City of New York on turnstile jumping Policy and awarded unlimited funds to pursue whatever set of reforms you deem necessary. The City has asked you for a summary report outlining your proposed interventions. The reforms you suggest can be as far-reaching as you choose, and expense is no object. Feel free to think outside the box and be as bold and creative as you want, even if that means discarding or overhauling major aspects of the current system.
A few issues for your consideration (you’re under no obligation to include each of these):
Which theoretical explanation for deviance is most closely aligned with your personal beliefs? Are you
most sympathetic to positivist, relativist, or critical theories? How will your proposed reform reflect your theoretical inclinations?
To the extent that turnstile jumping policies incorporate sociological research at all, they have tended to rely on remedies that target the individual jumper, based on the assumption that jumping is nothing more than an individual “choice”. Far less common are approaches to turnstile jumping that implicate anomie theory, differential association, control theory, labeling, or conflict theory. Might a shift in emphasis benefit the system? Why or why not?
Which types of turnstile jumping deserve to be targeted? Are certain varieties of turnstile jumping
currently afforded too much attention? Are others ignored or neglected?
How will your proposed reform rectify existing inequalities within the criminal justice system? Will it seek to ameliorate disparities of race, gender, sexuality?
Although your powers are limited in scope to the criminal justice system, the underlying causes of turnstile jumping are arguably even more intransigent. How can criminal justice reform interface with the root causes of turnstile jumping, if at all? How will your proposed reform intersect with other spheres of social life? Will your reform in some way impact education, the labor market, etc?
Which approach to turnstile jumping do you believe is most effective? How should the current system be changed to align more closely with your prefered objective?
At least three outside sources are required for this assignment. You can also upon your textbook, and, if relevant, your own knowledge of the turnstile jumping. If you choose to quote directly from any source other than your text, be sure to use quotations and proper citation format. Even if you don’t quote directly, all sources must be carefully documented.
Reference page, abstract, and cover page must be included but does not count towards the 4 pages.
