Defining Morality

AuthorCarl E. Pope
Published date01 September 1975
Date01 September 1975
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/009385487500200307
Subject MatterArticles
[276]
DEFINING
MORALITY
A
Note
on
the
Regulation
and
Control
of
Nude
Dancing
in
California
Bars
CARL
E.
POPE
Criminal Justice Research Center
Latham,
New
York
Author’s
Note:
An
earlier
version
of
this
paper
was
read
at
the
twenty-fourth
annual
meeting
of
the
Society
For
the
Study
of
Social
Problems,
Montreal,
Canada,
1974.
I
wish
to
thank
Professors
Reed
Adams,
Michael
Hindelang,
Gilbert
Geis,
and
Travis
Hirschi
for
their
valuable
comments
and
suggestions.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
AND
BEHAVIOR,
Vol.
2
No. 3,
September
1975
The
role
of
an
administrative
agency
in
attempting
to
suppress
behavior
which
it
deems
to
be
morally
objectionable
is
examined.
Data
were
obtained
by
means
of
participant
observation
and
a
systematic
examination
of
case
records.
The
regulatory
nature
of
the
agency
and
its
relationship
to
local
law
enforcement,
the
behavior
(bottomless
dancing),
and
the
methods
utilized
by
the
agency
to
eliminate
the
behavior
are
examined.
Relevant
state
and
federal
appellate
court
decisions
are
considered,
followed
by
an
analysis
of
the
problems
generated
by
the
agency’s
attempt
to
regulate
moral
standards.
―
d
.
istorically,
distinct
forms
of
deviant
behavior
(and,
corre-
spondingly,
those
defined
as
deviants)
have
been
identified
by
various
social
control
agencies
which
have
undertaken
programs
to
eradicate
the
particular
vice
and
punish
those
engaged
in
pursuit
of
the
prohibited
activity.
Thus,
at
one
time
or
another,
prostitution,
homosexuality,
abortion,
and
even
consumption
of
alcoholic
beverages
have
been
subject
to
the
criminal
sanction.
With
the
passage
of
time
and
changing
social
conditions,
many
previously
sanctioned
acts
have
gained
a
measure
of
social
acceptance,
or
at
least
toleration,
and
have
been
removed
from
the
purview
of
the
criminal
law.
Other
[277]
activities,
however,
retain
their
pariah
status
while
new
forms
of
socially
objectionable
behavior
become
defined
as
deviant
by
those
responsible
for
the
enactment
and
application
of
statu-
tory
law.
The
emergence
and
development
of
such
moral
crusades
are
well
documented’
1
and
often
prove
to
be
self-defeating
(Hum-
phreys,
1970;
LaFave,
1965;
Skolnick, 1967).
Frequently,
attempts
to
enforce
standards
of
moral
behavior
have
led
to
such
questionable
police
practices
as
surreptitious
undercover
activity,
harassment
of
suspected
deviant
groups,
and
a
tend-
ency
to
resort
to
the
use
of
illegal
search-and-seizure
techniques
to
gain
evidence
of
guilt.
Further,
such
practices
often
encroach
on
fundamental
constitutional
provisions
embodied
in
the
First
Amendment
guarantee
of
free
speech
and
expression.
Packer
(1968:
265),
among
others,
argues
that,
&dquo;In
a
society
that
neither
has
nor
wants
a
unitary
set
of
moral
norms,
the
enforcement
of
morals
carries
a
heavy
cost
in
repression.&dquo;
Unfortunately,
enactment
and
application
of
prohibitive
laws
too
often
become
the
first
line
of
moral
defense.
As
Skolnick
(1968:
589)
observes:
there
is
a
tendency
to
solve
or
ameliorate
what
are
perceived
to
be
social
problems
through
the
instrumentality
of
the
law.
The
theory
seems
to
be
that
the
imposition
of
a
criminal
sanction
will
deter
the
&dquo;undesirable&dquo;
activity,
thereby
ridding
society
of
the
perceived
social
problem.
In
the
late
1960s
a
new
form
of
behavioral
expression
aroused
the
ire
of
enforcement
agencies,
providing
a
fresh
area
for
intervention.
This
new
phenomenon,
bottomless
or
nude
dancing
in
public
taverns
licensed
to
sell
liquor
by
the
drink,
evoked
a
traditional
response
from
&dquo;rule
enforcers&dquo;-a
crusade
to
rid
society
of
the
undesirable
behavior.
Here,
criminal
sanctions
prohibiting
obscenity
were
employed
and
often
supplemented
by
local
ordinances
in
an
attempt
to
ban
those
taverns
employing
nude
dancers.
Hindered
by
the
intractability
of
then
current
court-articulated
definitions
of
obscenity,
&dquo;
recourse
was
made
to
the
use
of
administrative
sanctions
in
an
effort
to
revoke
the
liquor
licenses
of
those
who
permitted
bottomless
entertainment.
Such
intervention
was
often
rational-

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