Chapter 1 Flashcards
What is the 4th amendment right?
It protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government.
Clinard and Meir suggest 2 general conceptions of deviance, what are they?
- Normative Conception
- Relativist Conception
What is the normative conception of deviance?
Its the conception of deviance that assumes there is a general set of norms of behaviours, conduct, and conditions on which all individuals can agree.
What is the relativist conception of deviance?
It assumes that the definition of deviance is constructed based on interactions with those in society.
Thio, Taylor, and Schwartz: positivist perspective and social constructionist perspective.
- Positivist perspective: it is a deterministic approach that focuses on “factual” knowledge acquired through observation and measurement.
- Social constructionist perspective: assumes that behaviours or conditions are not inherently deviant but that they become so when the definition of deviance is applied to them.
What are norms?
Norms are rules of behaviour that guide people’s action.
According to Sumner (1906), what are the 3 categories of norms?
- Folkways
- Mores
- Laws
What are Folkways?
They are everyday norms that do not generate much uproar if they are violated. Behaviours that might be considered rude if engaged in, like standing too close to someone while speaking or picking one’s nose.
What are Mores?
They are “moral” norms that may generate more outrage if broken. Drinking too much or alcoholism may be seen as a lapse in moral judgement.
What are Laws?
Considered the strongest norm because it is backed by official sanctions or a formal response.
Deviance is a violation of the law:
1. deviance becomes a violation of a rule understood by the majority of the group in this conception.
2. this rule may be minor, in which case the deviant is seen as “weird but harmless,” or the rule may be major, in which case the deviant is seen as “criminal.”
The first conception of deviance (normative, or positivist conception of deviance):
A violation of the law:
1. deviance occurs when someone violates a rule that is recognized by the majority of a group.
2. if the rule is minor, the deviant is often viewed as strange but harmless, whereas if the rule is significant, the deviant may be seen as a criminal.
The second conception of deviance (reactionist or relativist, social constructionist):
Behaviours or conditions are not inherently deviant; they become so when the definition of deviance is applied to them.
Construction of norms:
1. the study of deviance is not about why certain individuals violate norms, instead, it is about how those norms are constructed.
2. social constructionists believe that our understanding of the world is in constant negotiation between actors.
A third conception of deviance is a critical definition of deviance: It…
- critiques the existing social system that creates norms of oppression.
- argues that then normative understanding of deviance is established by those in power to maintain and enhance their power.
- suggest that deviance has been framed from White, male, middle-to upper-class perspective.
- implies that people of colour, women, and the working poor are often viewed as inherently deviant.
- focuses not on individual acts of deviance, but on critiquing the social system that creates these norms.
What’s the Sociological Imagination?
It is an ability to see the context which shapes your individual decision making, as well as the decisions made by others.
Who was the first to talk about sociological imagination?
C. Wright Mills
What is the scientific method?
The scientific method is a systematic procedure that helps safeguard against researcher bias and the power of anecdotes by following several simple steps.
What is deductive research?
In deductive research, the question is derived from a theoretical perspective. The theory and question lead to the formation of hypotheses about the phenomenon being studied.
What is inductive research?
In inductive research, the researcher starts with a research question but the theory evolves from the data. This approach often uses grounded theory.
