Ch 6 Flashcards
deviance
any behavior, belief, or condition that violates significant social norms in the society or group in which it occurs
- in sociology, it is related to social situations and social structures rather than to the behavior of individual actors
characteristics of deviance
- relative (changes depending on how it is socially defined)
- varies in degrees of seriousness
crime
behavior that violates criminal law and is punishable with fines, jail terms, and/or other negative sanctions.
juvenile delinquency
a violation of law or the commission of a status offense by young people.
status offenses
illegal acts only when committed by younger people
(Ex: cutting school or running away from home)
social control
systematic practices that social groups develop in order to encourage conformity to norms, rules, and laws and to discourage deviance.
Internal social control
internalization of
- societal norms and values on behavior
- people begin to follow norms through the socialization process
external social control
uses negative sanctions that proscribe certain behaviors and set forth the punishments for rule breakers and nonconformists
(police, jail, courts)
criminology
the systematic study of crime and the criminal justice system, including the police, courts, and prisons.
How does sociology view criminology?
does not focus on good or bad but rather focus on the who, what and why of types of deviant behavior
functionalist perspective on deviance
focus on societal stability and the ways in which various parts of society contribute to the whole
- certain amount of deviance contributes to the functioning of society
Three functions of deviance (functionalist theory)
- deviance clarifies rules
- deviance unites a group (work against the deviance)
- deviance promotes change (violate norms for change)
Strain theory
developed by Robert K. Merton
the proposition that people feel strain when they are exposed to cultural goals that they are unable to obtain because they do not have access to culturally approved means of achieving those goals.
Merton’s five modes of adaption to goals
conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion
conformity
when people accept culturally approved goals and pursue them through approved means
(Ex: saving money, go to school)
- seeks cultural goals and follows cultural approved ways
innovation
when people accept society’s goals but adopt disapproved means of achieving them
- seeks cultural goals, DOES NOT follow approved ways
Ritualism
when people give up on societal goals but still adhere to the socially approved means of achieving them
- opposite of innovation
- DOES NOT seek cultural goals, follows approved ways
Retreatism
when people abandon both the approved goals and the approved means of achieving them
- drug addicts, alcoholics or people who don’t adhere to conventional ways
Rebellion
when people challenge both the approved goals and the approved means for achieving them and advocate an alternative set of goals or means
- rioting, protests
illegitimate opportunity structures
developed by Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin
circumstances that provide an opportunity for people to acquire through illegitimate activities what they cannot achieve through legitimate channels
What did studies on gang behavior show?
- gang membership was linked to the members’ belief that they might reach their aspirations by transforming the gang into a business enterprise
- gangs stick together in income-generating business organizations
- the close association between certain forms of deviance and social class position
Three types of gangs?
criminal, conflict and retreatist
criminal gangs
devoted to theft, extortion, and other illegal means of securing an income