Ch. 6: Deviance & Social Control

Deviance

a violation of accepted norms

ABC’s of deviance

Attitudes, Behaviors, Conditions

crime

Deviance that violates law, subject to formal penalties codified by law

Differential association theory

(micro) deviance is learned behavior through


1. Duration of time with group
2. Intensity of interactions
3. Frequency of interaction
4. Priority of that group to the individual

Labeling Theory

(micro) if you are labeled deviant after committing an initial deviant act (and you internalize it), you are more likely to commit further acts (self-fulfilling prophecy)

Primary deviance

Violation of a norm that be an isolated act or an initial act of rule breaking

secondary deviance

as a result of being labeled deviant you commit further deviance

Stigma

deviant label that leads to some social exclusion

Conflict theory

Chambliss presented this through the example of the Saints and the Roughnecks; Powerful define deviance and laws, enforce them, imposing their sense of justice on those with less

Saints

the middle class boys from ‘good’ families

Roughnecks

adolescents from lower class families

rational choice

Calculation of the costs and benefits of specific actions or exchanges (best strategy to deter crime is to have harsher penalties– that ‘cost’ becomes higher)

Social Control Theory

examines the processes a society or group uses to ensure \n conformity to its norms and expectations

Social Bonds

Attachment to conventional others, Commitment to conventional activities, Involvement in conventional activities (no time for deviance), Belief in the social rules of culture

Strain theory

(Merton 1968) There is a gap between society’s **goals for success** (in this case, primarily material wealth) and the **legitimate means** to achieve them, and this causes strain leading to deviance

1. Conformity
2. Innovation
3. Ritualism
4. Retreatism
5. Rebellion

Merton’s Responses to Strain

Conformity

accept cultural goals AND use of legitimate means

Innovation

largely a lower class response: accept the goal of success, reject legitimate means

Ritualism

lower or abandon high success aspirations– but maintain legitimate means \n to achieve them

Retreatism

a withdrawal from society; don’t care about success or the legitimate means to getting there (drug addicts, alcoholics are examples)

Rebellion

rejecting expectation of hard work and the rat race; but extends beyond to seek to implement new goals and new \n means to achieve them

Feminist Theory

One of the primary arguments is that these theoretical propositions have been developed by studying men only; women have been socialized differently and often have different values, expectations