Social Deviation and Social Work Practice

Practice flashcards covering social deviation theories, feminism, psychological disorders, and the role of social workers based on the lecture notes.} Ready for exam reviews.

Deviance

Behavior that is recognized as violating expected rules/norms or departs significantly from social expectations; it changes over time.

Objectivists Approach to Deviance

Conceptualizes deviance as a norm violation measured through indicators such as perceived harmfulness of the act and the norm.

Subjective Approach to Deviance

Conceived as a social definition where deviance is a matter of perception and one’s own interpretation of what is deviant or not.

Admired Behavior

An example of deviance that might be considered as “good” or “admirable” behavior.

Odd Behavior

Behaviors that are not criminal but are frequently considered somehow “odd” or “different” to normal behavior.

Bad Behavior

Law breaking or criminal behavior.

Structural Functionalism

A perspective where society is viewed as a complex system whose parts work together interdependently to achieve equilibrium, assuming deviance creates social cohesion.

Anomie

A state of normlessness identified by Emile Durkheim occurring when individuals or groups go against socially accepted behavioral patterns.

Egoistic suicide

A type of suicide identified by Durkheim involving a socially isolated person who feels they have no place in society and lacks altruistic feelings.

Altruistic suicide

Suicide resulting from over-integration of the individual into a social group, occurring when individuals and groups are too close and intimate.

Anomic suicide

Suicide due to a sudden breakdown of social equilibrium, such as a situation following bankruptcy or winning a lottery.

Fatalistic suicide

Suicide due to overregulation in society, occurring when an individual like a servant, slave, or barren woman feels oppressed.

Social Control Theory

A theory suggesting people are naturally inclined toward criminal behavior and that institutions work together to prevent it through social bonds.

Social Bonding (Travis Hirschi)

Social control that ties individuals to conforming society through four elements: Attachment, Commitment, Involvement, and Belief.

Deterrence Theory

A set of measures taken to discourage law violation by increasing the threat of criminal penalties based on severity, certainty, and celerity.

Severity (Deterrence)

The principle that the more severe a punishment is, the more likely a rationally calculating human will desist from criminal acts.

Celerity (Deterrence)

The requirement that punishment must be swift in order to effectively deter crime.

Social Disorganization Theory

Developed by Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay, stating that crime in a neighborhood results from the weakening of traditional social bonds like family and community.

Strain Theory (Robert Merton)

Theory assuming deviance results from structural strains in society where success is valued more than playing by the rules.

General Strain Theory (Robert Agnew)

Suggests that strain leads to negative emotions like anger or frustration, which create pressure for corrective action such as criminal behavior.

Conflict Theory (Karl Marx)

Theory stating different groups compete over limited resources and that dominant classes control the definitions of deviance to their advantage.

Radical Feminism

Identifies patriarchy (male dominance) as the root cause of women's oppression and views gender-based deviance as a result of systemic inequalities.

Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS)

A defense recognized in the Philippine Supreme Court case People v. Marivic Genosa ($2004$) for women who killed their abusive partners.

Liberal Feminism

A feminism of equal rights demanding political equality, access to education, work, and equal pay, often challenging traditional gender norms.

Republic Act No. $11313$

Also known as the Safe Spaces Act or "Bawal Bastos Law," which criminalizes street harassment, workplace harassment, and online harassment.

Socialist/Marxist Feminism

View that patriarchy and capitalism are intertwined forms of exploitation, focusing on the economic system as a source of oppression.

Post-Modernism Perspective

Focuses on the interconnectedness of power, social control, and knowledge through surveillance, viewing deviance as an expression of autonomy.

Symbolic Interactionism (George Herbert Mead)

Theory stating humans act based on assigned meanings arising from social interactions, assuming deviance is a learned behavior.

Labeling Theory (Howard Becker)

The view that people become criminals when labeled as such and when they accept that label as their personal identity.

Primary Deviance

A violation of norms that does not result in long-term effects on an individual’s self-image or interactions with others.

Secondary Deviance

Occurs when a person’s self-concept and behavior change after being labeled as deviant by society.

Master Status

A label that describes the chief characteristics of an individual, which can result from strong secondary deviance.

Retrospective Labeling

Interpreting someone’s past behavior in light of some present deviance or reframing it to fit a specific narrative.

Projective Labeling

Using a deviant identity to predict an individual's future actions by imagining what they might do.

Differential Association Theory (Edwin Sutherland)

Proposes that criminal behavior is learned through interaction with others, specifically within intimate personal groups.

Neutralization Theory (David Matza)

Focuses on justifications or excuses used to allow law-breaking behavior, such as denial of responsibility or denial of injury.

Personality Disorder

A long-term pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that deviate from societal expectations and cause interpersonal difficulties.

Cluster A: Weird Personality

Includes disorders characterized by odd or eccentric behavior: Paranoid (accusatory), Schizoid (aloof), and Schizotypal (awkward).

Cluster B: Wild Personality

Includes disorders characterized by dramatic or erratic behavior: Anti-social, Borderline, Histrionic, and Narcissistic.

Cluster C: Worried Personality

Includes disorders characterized by anxious or fearful behavior: Avoidant (cowardly), Dependent (clingy), and Obsessive-Compulsive (OCPD).

Delusions

False beliefs that are a symptom of psychotic disorders.

Hallucinations

Faulty perceptions that are a symptom of psychotic disorders.

Anorexia Nervosa

Eating disorder where individuals see themselves as overweight even if underweight, strictly monitoring weight and avoiding certain foods.

Bulimia Nervosa

Characterized by binge eating large amounts of food followed by guilt and attempts to purge or vomit the calories consumed.

Pica

An eating disorder involving cravings for non-food items such as dirt, soil, chalk, pebbles, or paper.

Rumination Disorder

Characterized by vomiting previously chewed/swallowed food, rechewing it, and then either re-swallowing or spitting it out.