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

Labling theory: Theroy that deviance is created through reactions to an act AKA people become deviant because other label them that way and treat them differently  

Functionalist theories of deviance: Theories that focus on potenrial 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 (when expectations are unclear or weakened, leads people to turn to crime) 

Strain: Stress that results from a mismatch between goals and means 

Strain theory: Functionalist theory that describe five adaptations to strain: conformity (accept goals and follow rules), innovation (accept goals and break rules), ritualism (give up goals but follow rules anyways), retreatism (give up both), and rebellion (give up both and try to replace the system) 

Oppurtunity 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 supports of the subordinated  

Differential association: Theory that deviance is learned through intimate personal contacts  

Control theory: Theory that claims deviance arise 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 and themselves, creating a longstanding norm of violence behaviours 

Relative deprivation: A feeling of falling behind other people do better and 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 imprisonemnet to the highest level in the world or in US history  

Positive Deviance: Behaviour that breaks social norms in a good or beneficial way