Ch. 6 Deviance Flashcards
Deviance
Behavior, trait, or belief that departs from a norm and generates a negative reaction in a particular group
What is necessary for a behavior or characteristic to be defined as deviant?
The norms and group reactions (eating with hands)
Why was imprisonment in the United States rare prior to the 19th century?
Lack of resources: buildings, guards, payments, food, clothing
How do the Amish handle those who violate the norms?
By practicing meidung, temporarily shunning the violator before before they are expected to apologize and be welcomed back to the community
What is the most cost effective method of punishment?
Banishment
How did Native Americans utilize banishment?
Banishment was considered worse than death as it severed ties between the group and individual; helped maintain social control
How have the methods of punishment in America changed over time?
In Colonial America, corporal punishment was the rule for the majority of crimes
What was the function corporal punishment?
To deliver pain and mark the offender; punishment fit crime (pickpocket gets hand cut off)
What is the last fragment of corporal punishment?
Spanking, used as discipline by elementary teachers
What was a common use of branding during the 1800s?
To mark African American slaves as property
According to Durkheim, what are the functions of deviance for society?
Help clarify its moral boundaries and promote social cohesion
How are moral boundaries clarified?
We are reminded about what is right when we have to address wrongdoings (Schiavo caese: taking wife off tube feeding)
How does deviance promote social cohesion?
People can be brought together as a community in the face of crime or other violations (national polls regarding ethics of Schiavo case)
Travis Hirschi
Social Control Theory; argued that social bonds promote conformity
Social Control Theory
The stronger one’s social bonds is to family, religion, and civic groups, the less likely he is to commit crime
Why do bonds decrease crime?
Bonds increase one’s investment in the community and increase commitment to that community’s shared values and norms
Robert Merton
Provided a bridge between functionalist and conflict theories of deviance by stating that an individuals position in the social structure will affect his experience of deviance and conformity;structural strain theory
How does social inequality create conflict?
People feel tension between societal goals (financial success)and the means they have available to meet those goals (not everyone can work hard at a legitimate job)
Innovators
Individuals who accept society’s approved goals but not their approved means to achieve them
How might an innovator achieve their goals?
They seek financial success through unconditional means (drug dealing)
Ritualist
Given up hope of achieving society’s approved goals but still operate according to society’s approved means
Retreatists
Renounce society’s approved goals and means entirely and live outside conventional norms all together
Rebels
Reject society’s approved goals and means and create /work towards their own goals using new means
How do conflict theorists study inequalities of deviance?
Believe that rules are applied unequally and punishments for rule violators are unequally distributed
How are rules applied unequally?
Those at the top are subject to different rules and sanctions than those nearer to the bottom
How are punishments for rule violators unequally distributed?
Behaviors of less powerful groups and individuals are more likely to be criminalized than the behavior of the powerful
Richard Quinney
Theorized the forms of capitalism pertaining to deviance and the oppression of the working class
How did the ruling class target the poor?
Made deviant behavior inescapable for the poor by creating laws that make them targets when they act out against repression; rich remain powerful and free to do what they want
Social control
Informal and formal ways of eliciting conformity to values and norms, promoting social cohesion; can be exercised in unequally in a hierarchical society
Informal ways of social control
Exercise of control through customs, norms, and expectations
Formal ways of social control
Exercise of control through laws or other official regulations
From a conflict theorists perspective, how were anti-sodomy laws viewed?
As a way for the heterosexual majority to exercise control over same sex minorities (penalty for sexual acts between homosexuals, even in privacy of home)
How does the Great Recession exemplify the inequalities associated with social class?
Millions of people lost jobs and homes due to risky behavior of the banks, yet the banks and corporations were bailed out by tax payer money; wealth protects powerful from being defined as deviant or punished for violations
How does the controversy over voter identification reveal the unequal application of rules in our hierarchical society?
Those opposed to voter ID claim that is keeps certain ethnic groups, immigrants, and elderly from voting Democrat away from the voting booth
Edwin Sutherland
Differential association theory
Differential association theory
Edwin Sutherland; Asserts that we learn to be deviant through our interactions with others who break the rules (peer pressure can lead to deviant behavior)
Why is the differential association theory not applicable to addressing all forms of deviance?
Deviance is not always the result of a willful act, like in mental illnesses. Seeks to explain “why they did it”, but can’t explain every case
Labeling Theory
Howard Becker; idea that deviance is not in any act, belief, or condition and instead determined by the social context (person who commits murder treated differently depending on label of either a hero or villain)
How can applying deviant labels lead to further deviance?
Person moves from primary deviance to secondary deviance
Primary Deviance
The thing that gets the person labeled in the first place (being fat)
Secondary Deviance
A deviant identity or career (recognizing they’re fatties who need to slim down)
Tertiary Deviance
Occurs when the person labeled deviant rejects the notion of deviance and attempts to redefine her “deviant” behavior as normal (gaining weight after show and accepts body as is)
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Robert Merton; a prediction that causes itself to come true merely by being stated (Great Depression “rumor of insolvency”)
Stereotype Threat
When students worry about academic performance, they confirm that stereotype by actually performing poorly
Stereotype Promise
Positive stereotypes such as the “model minority” label applied to Asian Americans, lead to positive performance outcomes
Stigma
Term used to signify some disgrace or failing
How did Ervin Goffman elaborate of stigmas?
Believed that once an individual is labeled as deviant , he is stigmatized and acquires a “spoiled identity”
What are the three mains types of stigmas?
Physical, Moral, Tribal
Physical Stigma
Physical or mental impairments
Moral stigmas
Signs of a flawed character
Tribal Stigmas
Membership in a discredited or oppressed group
What does the study of obvious forms of deviance likes crime and mental illness tend to focus on?
Focuses on deviance of poor and powerless while accepting the values and norms of the powerful in an unacknowledged way
How do social scientists tend to apply definitions of deviance?
Apply them uncritically in their research and failed to question the ways in which the definitions themselves may have perpetuated the inequalities and truths
How did David Matza encourage social scientists to change their ways of thinking?
“Naturalism”, setting aside preconceived notions in order to understand the deviant phenomena on their own terms
What was Matza’s fundamental aspect for those studying deviance?
Must appreciate the diversity and complexity of a particular social world
What would happen if the world is approached as a simple social pathology that needs correcting?
The researcher will never fully understand it
How does the labeling theory suggest that a persons social location is a crucial determinant?
It shapes how others see the person, as well as his or her own self view, and these perceptions can lead to a person from primary to secondary deviance and into a deviant career
What do approaches that focus entirely on background factors of deviance neglect?
The deviant’s own in the moment experience of committing the act; “foreground”
How can crime be emotionally seductive?
Shoplifters seek a rush or thrill from stealing rather than the product itself (rich people)
How is Katz’s foreground model of deviance useful?
Deepens our appreciation for the complexity of deviant behavior and reminds us that social actors are not mere products of their environment but are active participants in creating meaningful experiences for themselves, even if harmful to others
Crime
Violation of a norm that has been codified into law for which you could be arrested or imprisoned
Criminology
Study of crime and criminals by using systematic data and the social scientific theory
Uniform Crime Report (UCR)
Official measure of crime in the U.S. produced by the FBI’s tabulation of every crime reported by law enforcement agencies
Violent crime
Violence is either the objective or means to an end
Property crime
Does not involve violence, including burglary and arson
