Sociology Ch 6: Deviance

What is deviance?

A behavior, trait, belief, or other characteristics that violates a norm and causes a negative reaction

What is true about deviance?

• It can be formal or informal

• Varies widely across cultures, societies, and historical periods

• The norms and the group reactions are necessary for a behavior or characteristic to be defined as deviant

• Deviant behavior must be sufficiently serious or unusual to spark a negative sanction or punishment (but it may not be inherently wrong)

Are definitions of deviance constructed?

Definitions of deviance are constructed from cultural, historical, and situational norms (what is deviant in one place and time might be completely normal in another)

What does the sociology of deviance provide?

provides critical insights into how societies define and respond to behavior that deviates from the norm

True or False: By examining various theoretical povs, we gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of deviance and the role it plays in social order and change 

True

What does the study of deviance involve exploring?

• Causes – What factors lead to deviant behavior?  (These can include individual characteristics, social conditions, and environmental influences)

• Consequences – How does society respond to deviance and what are the effects on individuals and communities? 

• Social Control – what mechanisms are used to regulate deviance and why? How effective are they? 

True or False: Sociologists have often focused on the most obvious forms of deviant behavior: Crime, mental illness, and sexual deviance

True

What else do sociologists focus on according to deviance?

Usually focuses on the deviance of the poor and powerless, while accepting the values and norms of the powerful in an unacknowledged way 

True or False: Those studying deviance must be impartial to any types of complexity and diversity

False; Those studying deviance must appreciate the diversity and complexity of the particular social worlds of the deviant and question the ways definitions of deviance themselves may have perpetuated inequalities and untruths 

True or False: When sociologists use the term ‘deviant,’ they are making a social judgment, never a moral one

True

What is social control?

The formal and informal mechanisms used to elicit conformity to values and norms and thus promote social cohesion

What are the types of social control?

• Informal – control through customs, norms, and expectations 

• Formal - the exercise of control through laws or other official regulations 

How is social control shown in the classroom?

• A student who did not bathe would be violating norms even through there is no formal rule that you have to wash your body before coming to class 

• Other students might avoid sitting in the next chair 

How is deviance found in body modification?

• What Americans might label deviant like Ethiopian lip plates is desirable or normal in other cultures 

• Breast augmentation is common in US, but in Brazil, butt augmentation is common 

What are some cultural responses to deviance?

• US: Serious crimes are now punished by imprisonment, but historically, corporal (physical) punishment was the rule 

• In other cultures, other types of punishments may be used, like shunning or banishment 

• What is considered deviant or criminal and how deviance, including crime, is punished varies across cultures and over time 

What does Structural Functionalism say about Deviance?

• Deviance clarifies moral boundaries (what is right/wrong) 

• Deviance promotes social cohesion (ppl can be brought together as a community in the face of crime/other violations) 

• Deviance can promote social change (deviant heroes) 

What are deviant heroes?

individuals who violate social norms and risk sanctions out of an intention to create social change

What does Conflict TH say about deviance?

• Deviance is examined through the lens of power dynamics and inequality 

• It suggests that those in power define what is deviant to maintain their dominance and control over marginalized groups 

• Those who are the top are subject to different rules and sanctions that those nearer the bottom, and the behaviors of less powerful groups and individuals are most likely to be criminalized than the behaviors of the powerful 

• Deviance is a result of social conflict and inequality is reproduced in the way in which deviance is defined 

What does symbolic interactionism say about deviance?

• Focuses on how meanings and labels attached to behaviors shape individuals’ identities and interactions 

• Deviance is understood as a social construct that evolves thru social interactions and interpretations 

• Labeling TH suggests that deviance is the consequence of labels that change an individuals’ self-concept and the change the way others respond to that person 

What is the self-fulfilling prophecy?

an inaccurate statement or belief that, by altering the situation, becomes accurate; a prediction that causes itself to come true 

True or False: Stereotyping is a major influence in the self-fulfilling prophecy?

True

Can the self-fulfilling prophecy be linked to racial issues in the US?

• Robert Merton, who coined the term, argued that the self-fulfilling prophecy can be used to explain some racial issues in the US 

• Elijah Anderson’s Streetwise details how the police and community perceive Black male inner-city teens as criminals, w/ the result that they are more likely to be arrested than other teenagers, and citizens are also more likely to report Black males for crimes 

What is a stigma?

Any physical or social attribute that devalues a person or group’s identity and that may exclude those who are devalued from normal social interaction 

What are the 3 types of stigma?

• Physical – physical/mental impairments 

• Moral – signs of a flawed character 

• Collective – membership in a discredited or oppressed group 

What is also true about stigmas?

• Almost any departure from the norm can have a stigmatizing effect 

• Not all stigmatized identities are just or deserved – only that they are specific to the norms and prejudices or a particular group, time period, or context 

What is passing and where can it be used?

• Passing – presenting yourself as a member of a different group than the stigmatized group to which you belong 

• Goffman meant to call to mind the experiences of light-skinned African Americans who concealed their racial heritage and passed as white 

• The ideal being racial passing can be applied to all types of passing like an tattoo artists covering their tats for a job