Sociology of Deviance and Stigma

Vocabulary flashcards covering core definitions, sociological theories, classifications, research methods, and Goffman's stigma concepts from the lecture notes.

Deviance

The violation of social norms.

Norms

Rules of behavior that guide people's actions and self-presentations.

Folkways

Everyday norms based on customs, tradition, and etiquette that do not generate much uproar if violated.

Mores

Moral norms that may generate significant outrage if broken.

Law

The strongest category of norm because it is backed by official sanctions.

Normative / Positivist Conception of Deviance

A perspective that assumes there is a general set of norms of behavior, conduct, and conditions on which members of society agree.

Social Constructionist / Relativist Conception of Deviance

A conception holding that deviance is constructed through social interactions; behavior is not inherently deviant but becomes deviant when defined as such.

Critical Conception of Deviance

A perspective asserting that normative understandings of deviance are established by those in power to maintain and enhance that power.

ABC's of Deviance

Attitude, Behavior, and Condition; the three avenues through which individuals can be labeled deviant according to Adler & Adler.

Three S's of Deviance

Sin, Sickness, and Selection; the three historical and conceptual categories through which deviance is perceived and interpreted.

Medicalization Model

An explanation of deviance emerging in the first half of the 20th century where deviant behaviors or conditions are framed as sickness and prospected for medical intervention.

Sociological Imagination

C. Wright Mills' concept that understanding an individual's experience requires understanding the societal, institutional, and historical conditions under which they live.

Deductive Research

A research approach that originates from a theoretical perspective, formulates hypotheses, collects and interprets data, and assesses whether the hypotheses are supported.

Inductive Research

A research process that starts with a question, gathers observations or data, identifies common themes, and generates theory from the ground up.

Functionalism

A theoretical framework viewing society as a system of interconnected parts working together in harmony to maintain balance and social equilibrium.

Commitment Ceremony

A public, dramatic process (such as a criminal trial or verdict) through which an individual is negatively labeled as deviant and undergoes an enduring status change.

Anomie

A state of normlessness, described by Durkheim as a breakdown in social regulation and by Merton as a mismatch between culturally approved goals and legitimate means.

Differential Opportunity Theory

Cloward and Ohlin's theory stating that illegitimate opportunities are unequally distributed, shaping the type of delinquent subculture that emerges in a neighborhood.

General Strain Theory

Robert Agnew's micro-level theory focusing on emotional reactions to strain—particularly anger—which lead individuals to use deviance as a coping mechanism.

Institutional Anomie Theory

Messner and Rosenfeld's macro-level theory arguing that the American Dream's cultural emphasis on monetary success allows the economy to dominate and weaken other social institutions.

Negative Deviance

Under-conformity to social norms that elicits a negative evaluation or reaction.

Deviance Admiration

Under-conformity or non-conformity to social norms that is positively appraised by others.

Rate Busting

Over-conformity to social norms that meets with negative social evaluation.

Positive Deviance

Over-conformity to social norms that receives positive social evaluation.

Ascribed Status

A social position assigned at birth or involuntarily by others rather than chosen (e.g., race, sex, age).

Achieved Status

A social position earned or acquired through individual effort, choice, or action (e.g., occupation, education, criminal record).

Internal Validity

The degree to which experimental conditions are controlled and executed consistently such that no alternative factor explains the findings.

External Validity

The extent to which research findings can be generalized and applied to contexts outside the study, specifically the real world.

Operationalization

The process of defining variables into measurable items so they can be selected, categorized, and replicated consistently across researchers.

Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

An FBI secondary data source established in the 1930s compiling violent and property crimes known to nearly 17,000 police agencies.

Stigma

Erving Goffman's concept of a discrepancy between virtual and actual social identity, reducing an individual with an undesirable attribute from a whole person to a tainted one.

Virtual Social Identity

The assumptions and normative expectations society holds about what an individual ought to be.

Actual Social Identity

The true character and attributes that an individual can be verified or proved to possess.

Normals

Persons who do not depart negatively from the particular social expectations in question.

Discredited Stigma

A condition in which an individual's stigma is already known or immediately evident, making interaction tension management the primary issue.

Discreditable Stigma

A condition in which an individual's stigma is neither known nor immediately perceivable, making information control the primary issue.

Tribal Stigma

Stigma attached to race, nation, or religion that can be transmitted through family lineages and contaminates all members equally.

The 'Wise'

Normal persons whose circumstances make them intimately acquainted with and sympathetic to the secret life of the stigmatized, granting them courtesy membership in the group.

Moral Career

The structural learning experiences regarding an individual's stigma and the accompanying shifts in their conception of self.

Disidentifiers

Signs that disrupt an otherwise coherent stigmatized picture in a positive direction, casting doubt on the validity of the virtual identity.

Passing

The management and concealment of undisclosed discrediting information about one's true social identity by a discreditable person.

Covering

Techniques used by a discredited person to make a known stigma less obtrusive, easing social interaction without hiding the condition entirely.

Disclosure Etiquette

The practice where an individual admits a failing matter-of-factly to foster the assumption that others are above prejudice while preventing awkwardness.