Sociology | Chapter 8

The study of deviance

Includes both the sinners and the saints

Consensus crimes

Are punished the harshest and most people agree these crimes are terrible for society

Social diversions

Are minor acts of deviance that are generally perceived as relatively harmless ; these are tolerated differences within a society

Social deviations

Are non-criminal departures from norms that are nonetheless subject to official control (or official sanctions)

Law violations

Are criminal violations of the law

Deviance can also be a _________________

Precursor to social change and simultaneously help people to adapt to social change

Deviance

Refers to a person who does not conform to social norms or social expectations (Deviant)

Informal sanctions

Are imposed by other members of the group, usually in face to face interaction (but they can be imposed digitally as well) ; mild social reactions like distain or amusement

Formal sanctions

Are formally imposed, usually when the judicial system penalized someone for breaking the law, but formal sanctions are not limited to the legal system

Stigmatization

Occurs when a person is negatively evaluated because of a marker that distinguishes them from others and that is labelled as socially unacceptable

Subjective positions of defining deviance

View deviance as a social construct and study it from the actor’s point of view

Objective positions of defining deviance

Study deviance in terms of its macro level impact on society and see deviance as norm violation, or something inherent in an individual, or is the result of strain embedded in social conditions

Labeling theorists believe that ____________________

Social reaction to an individual will produce deviance

Labeling someone or something deviant is _______________

A process

Labeling theory made by

Howard Becker

Labeling theory holds that ________________________

Deviance results not so much from the actions of deviants, but rather in the response of other who label the rule breaker deviant

Howard Becker established the theory that the process of becoming a career deviant is a ______________________________

Learning process that occurs in a social context

Howard Becker determined that people who become successful members of a deviant sub-culture acquire a _______________________

Master status of being “deviant”

Edwin Sutherland differential association (a learning theory)

Deviance is learned in the same way that conformity is learned, the only difference is you are learning different lessons

Emile Durkheim - Functionalism focus

Macro level impacts of deviance

Emile Durkheim believed

That deviance was a natural and normal phenomenon, and that it was a necessary part of society ; in this sense, deviance can be both positive and negative

Eufunction

Positive impact

Eufunction deviance

Deviance has an important impact on social solidarity ; it raises the value of conformimty

Dysfunctions

Negative impact

Robert Merton

When we see strain impacting an entire group of people within particular areas, that is often because social conditions are frequently structured in such a way that they unintentionally produce deviance

As a result of unintentionally producing deviance, ______________________

Strain can also lead to subcultural solutions to said strain

Conflict theories emphasize ___________________________

The connection between power and crime and how power is used to maintain and perpetuate privilege

Powerful members of society impose deviant and criminal labels on other, especially those who __________________________

Attempt to defy or disrupt the existing social order

The rich and power are often able to ___________________________

Escape punishment for their deviant behaviour/crimes by using their money and influence to avoid sanctions

Economic NEED

The motivation for crime for those who occupy low class positions

Economic GREED

The motivation for crime for those who occupy privileged positions

Feminist theory focus

The consequences of power differences in terms of gender

Social control

Refers to the ways in which a social system attempts to regulate people’s thoughts, feelings, appearance, and behaviour

Social control can be broken into two types:

INTERNAL social control ; EXTERNAL social control

Internal social control

Regulates people through socialization

External social control

Regulates people by imposing punishments and offering rewards

Preindustrial societies were characterized by ______________________

Strict social control and high levels of conformity

When it comes to crime and deviance, post-industrial society is characterized by surveillance, _________________________

The all encompassing use of surveillance and technology to optimize social control

The Panopticon

An all seeing place, was used as a metaphor for surveillance in modern society by Michel Foucault

Medicalization of deviance

More and more behaviour once labelled deviant is now being medicalized ; from “badness” to “sickness”

Moral panic

An extreme over response that occurs when people believe that some form of deviance poses a profound threat to our well-being

Why create a moral panic? Who benefits?

Mass media, crime prevention and punishment industries, the criminal justice systems is a huge bureaucracy, political tools

Moral panics are _____________

Political tools

Mass media:

Publishing every major crime in a major way draws major audiences, which means major revenues from advertisers

Crime prevention and punishment industries:

Moral panics benefits the prison construction industry, maintenance firms, and arms manufacturers

The criminal justice system is a huge bureaucracy:

Moral panics are like job security for a lot of people

Recidivism rate

The percentage of convicted offenders who commit another crime within 2 years of being released from prison

Diversion involves ___________________________

Reducing the number of incarcerated offenders by diverting them from the court and prison systems

Restorative justice

Focuses not on punishment, but on rehabilitating offenders through reconciliation with victims and the larger community

Law

A norm stipulated and enforced by government bodies

Crime

Deviance that is against the law

Stigma

A negative evaluation because of a marker that distinguishes a person from others and that is labelled as socially acceptable

Conflict crimes

Illegal acts that many (but not all) people consider harmful to society and are punishable by the state

Consensus crimes

Illegal acts that nearly all people agree are bad in themselves and harm society greatly, and are subject to severe punishment by the state

Victimless crimes

Violation of the law in which no victim steps forward and is identified

Street crimes

Illegal acts disproportionately committed by people from lower socioeconomic classes (like arson, break and enter, assault, etc.)

White collar crimes

Illegal acts committed by business owners and those in professional occupations in the course of their work

Labelling theory

A theory based on the argument that deviance results not so much from the actions of the deviant as from the response of others, who label the rule breaker a deviant

Strain theory

A theory that holds that people may turn to deviance when they experience strain, which is the result of a culture that teaches people the value of material success but society fails to provide enough legitimate opportunities for everyone to succeed

Control theory

The theory that because rewards of deviance and crime are ample, nearly everyone would engage un deviance and crime if they could get away with it, so the degree to which people are prevented from violating norms and laws accounts from variations in the level of deviance and crimes

Intersectionality

The way in which gender and/or race, social class, and sexuality interact to produce unique outcomes with respect to health, education, income, and other aspects of life

Recidivism

The percentage of previously imprisoned people who commit another crime, usually within two years after release from prison

Criminalization

The process by which an activity is turned into an illegal act

Restorative justice

An approach to justice that focuses not on punishment but on rehabilitating offenders through reconciliation with victims and the larger community