Crime and Deviance

Deviance

Behaviours that violate social norms.

Folkways

Norms about customs, traditions, and etiquette.

Mores

More seriously protected norms that reflect the morals and values of a social group.

Laws

Most seriously protected norms, formal (usually written) and enforced by the government.

Social control

Way societies try to influence members’ behaviour to maintain social order.

Moral panics

Overheated, short-lived periods of intense social concern about an issue.

Moral entrepreneurs

People who try to influence societies toward increased awareness of and concern over the violations of social norms.

Stigma

A phenomenon in which a person is discredited and or rejected by society because of an attribute they have.

Labeling theory

Theory that deviance is created through reactions to an act; people become deviant because others label them that way and treat them differently.

Functionalist theories of deviance

Theories that focus on potential social purposes that deviance serves.

Social cohesion

Degree to which we identify with and maintain social rules and connections.

Normative

Accepted and expected behaviour.

Anomie

Lack of morals and expectations for behaviours that can lead to deviance.

Strain

Stress that results from a mismatch between goals and means.

Strain theory

Functionalist theory that describes five adaptations to strain: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion.

Opportunity theory of deviance

Functionalist theory that says delinquency is a function of opportunity and access to delinquent behaviour.

Illegitimate opportunity theory

When a deviant subculture's nearness and norms encourage and allow delinquency.

Conflict theory of deviance

Theories that ask about how rules and norms are shaped by power relations in society.

Worldview

Set of shared values, beliefs, and understandings about how the world should be.

Ideology

Set of beliefs, values, and assumptions we use to view and understand the world.

Hegemony

Type of domination in which the powerful obtain the consent or support of the subordinated.

Differential association

Theory that deviance is learned through intimate personal contacts.

Control theory

Theory that claims deviance arises from a weakening of social connections.

Social network

Group of people linked together in a specific way.

Social bonds

Connections and attachments to people and institutions in mainstream society.

CPTED

Strategy to reduce crime through the design of buildings and physical space.

Broken windows theory

Theory of policing that argues that small signs of disorder lead to outbreaks of more serious crimes.

Culture of violence

The idea that the US has a unique heritage in which settlers had to resort to violence to protect their property.

Relative deprivation

A feeling of falling behind others who do better; this feeling creates strain, leading to crime.

Theory of relative deprivation

Theory that the inequality in a society, not just the presence of poverty, predicts how much crime and violence there will be.

Mass incarceration

The expansion of imprisonment to the highest level in the world or in US history.

Positive Deviance

Behaviour that breaks social norms in a good or beneficial way.