Week 1: Social Deviance

Theory

a connected set of ideas that explain or predict a phenomenon

Parsimony

a good theory explains much with few variables

The Standard Social Science Model (SSSM)

• we are shapedby society - “blank slate”

• human bheaviour is a reult of socilization and enviroment

• contrasts with biological or innate explenations

Objective Deviance

• deviance as an act

• devaince has inherent qualities that make it wrong or harmful 

• mesurable or inherent

Characteristics of Deviance

1. harm

2. rarity

3. negtaive reaction

4. norm violation

Subjective Deviance 

• deviance as a label 

• deviance exists only when society defines it as such 

• meaning is created through interoretation and power 

Hybrid Approach 

• combines both objective and subjective approaches 

• deviance is real, but norms are socially created 

Retroactive Control

reacts to deviance that has already occured

Preventative Control

aims to prevent deviance before it happens

External Regulation

control imposed by others

Self-Regulation

individuals control themselves to conform

Informal Social Control

happesn in everyday interaction

Formal Social Control

comes from institutions adn organizations

Levels of Social Construction

• deviance is a processs and reaction 

1. Individual

2. Interactional

3. Institutional

4. Sociocultural

5. Global

The “Deviance Dance”

• groups negotiate what counts as deviant 

• shows devianc eus socially contrsucted

• highlights power and inequality

Consensus 

groups agree on deviance and cooperate to control it

Negotiation

agree on devaince, but differ on how to manage it

Conflict

disagree on devaince anf act to impose thier views

Social Typing Process

1. Description: assigning label

2. Evaluation: attaching judgemnt

3. Persciption: response/control

Moral Entrepreneurs

individuals/groups who identify problems and mobilize resources for social change