Sept. 4: Determining Deviance (assigned reading #1)

Deviance

a person, behaviour, or characteristic that is straying from an accepted norm and subjected to measures of social control

Norms

established standards of behaviour maintained by a society

Formal norms

laws; regulation

Informal norms: Mores

Morality; what is right/ wrong?

• ie) bullying children

Informal norms: Folkways

Politeness; what’s considered rude?

• ie) talking to loud on the bus

Social control

attempts by others to regulate people’s thoughts/ behaviours

• informal: raised eyebrow

• formal: censorship, criminal charges

Social typing

process that includes 3 steps

1. description (names)

2. evaluation (adjectives)

3. prescription (how do we deal/ react)

Objective definition

a behaviour/ trait itself that makes it deviant

• is a quality that goes against established norms

Subjective definition

society’s reaction/ label (especially by those in power) that makes it deviant

• not specific trait; someone decides to label it as unacceptable then control it

Objectivist Positions

Don’t always agree on how something is deviant

1. How uncommon/ rare?

2. Harm

3. Breaks social norms

4. Causes negative reaction from others

Physical harm (objectivists)

can be done to someone or yourself

• ie) assault, 2nd- hand smoke, cutting

Emotional harm (objectivists)

can be done to someone or yourself

• ie) cyberbullying, negative self-talk

Social harm (objectivists)

interfere with society

• ie) criminal activity = safety and social order

• ie) obesity = economic costs

Ontological harm (objectivists)

threat to a person’s sense of identity and place in the world

• ie) religion = cause conflict b/w people with secular pov

Limitations of statistical rarity

• hard to quantify

• some rare things ≠ deviant or require social control

  • ie) prodigies = rare → are respected

Limitations of harm

• not the most clear

• harmful things = are not necessarily deviant

  • ie) early feminists ≠ harming society, but changing it

  • ie) history = masturbation bad, not really

Limitations of societal reaction (masses response)

• hard to quantify → what percentage??

• “whose” reaction will likely have a response

  • ie) mine vs prime minister

Limitations of normative violation (violates social norms)

• different groups = have different norms (no consensus)

  • ie) language around friends vs with grandparents

• laws ≠ represents everyone belief/ views

• situation/ context matters

  • ie) murder = bad, circumstance of self-defence = okay, or no?

Law: consensus view

law reflects what society agrees is wrong

Law: conflict view

law reflects interests groups with power

Law: interactionist view

powerful interest groups influence which problems become laws

strict construction

reality depends on how people perceive it

• only deviant because people define it as such, not that it is inherently

contextual construction

reality exists, but depends on the culture and timeline → cause different views

• ie) smoking = different views by different groups → cool, unhealthy, etc

Social construction: individual level

own beliefs and identity = affect what you consider deviant

Social construction: interaction level

people around you (family, friends, etc) = = influence what you consider deviant

Social construction: institution level

organizations (school, government, religion, etc) = influence what’s considered deviant

• ie) gov = restrict smoking, school = teacher risks of smoking

Social construction: sociocultural level

society overall belief, norms, and values = decides what’s acceptable

Social construction: global level

worldwide influence

• International tobacco control

The deviance dance

The ongoing interaction and debate between groups of whether something is deviant or not

• Those with greater social “power” have a more dominant influence

Deviance Dance: country line

Groups agree what is deviant and how to control it

Deviance Dance: waltz

Groups agree what is deviant, but not how to control it

Deviance Dance: mosh pit

Groups don’t agree what is deviant and how to control it

preventative measures

stops deviance before it happens

retroactive measures

response after deviance happened

self- control measures

regulates own behaviour