Sociology: Deviance and Conformity

Anomie

normlessness

Conformist

person who complies with accepted rules and customs

Control Theory

the idea that two control systems--inner controls and outer controls--work against our tendencies to deviate

Covert Norm

norms that are implicit, silent, perhaps even unconscious

Crime

the violation of a society's formally enacted criminal law

Degradation Ceremony

a term coined by Harold Garfinkel to refer to a ritual whose goal is to remake someone's self by stripping away that individual's self-identity and stamping a new identity in its place

Deviance

behavior that departs from societal or group norms

Differential Association

a theory of deviance that holds violation of rules results from exposure to attitudes favorable to criminal acts

Formal Norm

a norm that generally has been written down and that specifies strict punishments for violators

Ideal Norm

expectations of what people should do under perfect conditions

Illegitimate Opportunity Structure

an alternative door to success opens such as robbery, burglary, drug dealing, prostitution

Innovators

individuals who accept society's approved goals, but not society's approved means to achieve them

Institutionalized Means

socially acceptable ways to achieve cultural goals (hard work, education)

Labeling Theory

theory that society creates deviance by identifying particular members as deviant

Medicalization of Deviance

the transformation of moral and legal deviance into a medical condition

Real Norm

Norms that are expressed with qualifications and allowances: AKA how people really behave (eg- you should never steal unless...)

Recidivism

habitual return to crime (i.e.Prison reformers in the United States are disturbed by the high rate of recidivism)

Relative Deviance

what is deviant to one group is not deviant to another

Sanction

A penalty or reward for conduct concerning a social norm.

Shaming

a way of punishing criminal and deviant behavior based on rituals of public disapproval rather than incarceration

Social Order

a groups usual and customary social arrangements, on which its members depend and on which they base their lives

Stigma

a powerfully negative label that greatly changes a person's self-concept and social identity

Strain Theory

Merton's theory that deviance occurs when a society does not give all its members equal ability to achieve socially acceptable goals

Techniques of Neutralization

explanations given by people as a way of rationalizing their deviant/criminal behavior

White-Collar Crime

Edwin Sutherland's term for crimes committed by people of respectable and high social status in the course of their occupations (e.g. bribery of public officials, securities violations, embezzlement, false advertising, and price fixing)