Poverty, Deviance and Social Control

Deviance

any attitude behavior, or condition that violates cultural norms or societal laws and results in disapproval, hostility, or sanction

Crime

any act defined in the law as punishable (by fines, imprisonment, or both)

Social control

attempts to control the behavior of individuals and groups to make them conform to established norms

Anomie

condition of confusion that occurs when people lose sight of the shared rules and values that give order and meaning

Robert Merton building on Durkheim’s concept of anomie using - Structural Strain Theory

Merton argued that when there is a discrepancy between cultural goals of success and the legitimate, institutional means to achieve them, deviance will increase. When individuals reject both cultural goals and the legitimate means to pursue them, they rebel - creating new goals and means

Labeling theory

deviant behavior is a product of the labels people attach to certain types of behavior

Stigmas

labels which tend to devalue members of certain groups

Class-dominant theories

Argue that what is labeled deviant or criminal is determined by the interest of the dominant class (basically what the more powerful people say, goes)