What is conformity?

circumstances where we may act or think differently in our given situation than we would if we were alone

What is informational influence?

reason why we conform; occurs when there is a gap in your knowledge about something

What is normative influence?

reason why we conform; giving in to the pressure of the group

What is obedience?

type of conformity; a direct order

What is the autokinetic phenomenon?

Sherif conducted this experiment to understand how social norms were formed. He put ppl in a dark room to directed them to watch for a pinpoint of light and ppl had to guess how far the light moved and tell the researchers their guess. The phenomenon is that when participants were alone they said the light moved 2-6 inches but when they were in a small group they often compromised to the group’s answer.

What is deviant behaviour?

the violation of local or societal norms

What is anomie theory? Expand on the 5 modes of adaptation [hint: CIRRR].

Anomie theory, developed by Merton, suggests that individuals feel a sense of "anomie" or normlessness when social standards or norms are unclear or not present. This can lead to feelings of confusion, isolation, and despair, and can potentially contribute to deviant behavior.

the modes of adaptation

The Modes of Adaption refers to the different ways individuals adapt to societal expectations and the strain caused by the gap between societal goals and the means to achieve them. There are five modes:

1. Conformity: People accept both the goals and the means society promotes.

2. Innovation: People accept societal goals but develop new, often illegitimate, means to achieve them.

3. Ritualism: People abandon the goals they once believed to be within their reach and become dedicated to their current lifestyle.

4. Retreatism: People reject both the societal goals and the means to achieve them, often retreating into substance abuse or even suicide.

5. Rebellion: People reject societal goals and means, proposing new goals and means to replace them.

What is control theory?

keeps us in line to ensure we don’t all become deviants; the stronger your ties are to you and those around you, the less likely you are to be deviant

What is differential association theory?

Sutherland; deviant behaviour is learned from primary groups, refers to classical conditioning

What is differential identification theory?

Glaser; we can learn deviant behaviour from non-significant others like media

What is labelling theory?

becker; deviance is in the eye of the beholder/subjective

• What is primary deviance? What is secondary deviance?

  primary is the initial act, whereas secondary is where you get the label “deviant”

  • deviance will remain in the primary stage until it is repeated a lot or you get caught

• What are 5 techniques of neutralization?

  • ways to mitigate internalization of deviance

  1. denial of responsibility

  2. denial of injury; deny any harm was done

  3. denial of victim; person had it coming, they got what they deserved

  4. condemning the condemners: you’re just as bad as I am

  5. appeal to a higher loyalty; there is a reason behind what i did

What are reactions to deviance?

• What is formal social control?

  a label placed by institution or social service; law or institutional role broken

• What is informal social control?

  when informal rules are broken