Chapter 1: Defining Deviance

Question 1

Objectivist view of deviance

Answer 1

the presence of certain characteristics defines deviance.

Question 2

Subjectivist view of deviance

Answer 2

There is no shared, observable characteristic that can clearly tell us who or what is deviant. Someone must instead tell us who is deviant in Canadian society.
=> we have to be taught through socialization who or what is deviant.

Question 3

Name for the distinction between the objectivist and subjectivist views

Answer 3

a dualism or dichotomy

Question 4

4 most frequently suggested defining characteristics of deviance from the objective perspective.

Answer 4

Statistical rarity
Harm
Negative societal reaction
Normative violation

Question 5

3 Types of Norms

Answer 5

Folkways, Mores, Laws

Question 6

Folkways

Answer 6

informal norms. If you violate them, you might be considered odd (ex. rules of etiquette)

Question 7

Mores

Answer 7

Mores: standards often seen as the foundation of morality in a culture (ex. prohibitions against incest). If you violate them, you may be seen as immoral.

Question 8

Laws

Answer 8

Laws: Considered to be so central to the smooth running of society that they are in the legal system. Violation would make you a criminal.

Question 9

Consensual view of law

Answer 9

law is perceived as arising out of social consensus and is then equally applied to all.

Question 10

Conflict/ Social power view of law

Answer 10

perceive the law as a tool used by the ruling class to serve its own interests.

Question 11

Interactionists view of law

Answer 11

suggests that society’s powerful define the law at the behest of interest groups, who appeal to those with power to rectify a perceived social ill.

Question 12

In the subjectivist view, what is the foundation for determining what is deviant?

Answer 12

Dominant moral codes

Question 13

Radical/strict subjectivism

Answer 13

The world is characterized by endless relativism.

Question 14

Soft/ Contextual subjectivism

Answer 14

Social constructionism as a process, not a theory. Emphasize the process by which social phenomenon come to be perceived in certain ways in a given society at a given time.

Question 15

4 Levels of Social Constructionism

Answer 15

Individual
Institutional
Interactional
Sociocultural

Question 16

Today, the previously objective/ subjective dichotomy is thought to be more of a

Answer 16

Continuum

Question 17

Researchers leaning towards the objective side may be more likely to study ___________ and subjective __________.

Answer 17

High-consensus forms of deviance; low consensus.

Question 18

The deviance dance is the focus of researchers on the ______ side.

Answer 18

Subjectivist

Question 19

Deviance dance

Answer 19

the interactions, negotiations, and debates among groups with different perceptions of whether a behaviour or characteristic is deviant and needs to be socially controlled, and if so, how.

Question 20

Radical phenomenalism

Answer 20

countless phenomena are studied in great detain w/out attention to larger social structures.
=>studying deviance goes beyond this

Question 21

Moral Entrepreneurs

Answer 21

“manufacture public morality,” first by bringing a problem to public awareness, and second by facilitating “moral conversation”

Question 22

Name the 3 steps of the Social Typing Process

Answer 22

1. Definition
2. Evaluation
3. Prescription

Question 23

Informal social control

Answer 23

occurs via patterns of interaction with diverse people.

-talk to, smile at, stare, tease, laugh at, agree/disagree with, avoid, frown at, ignore, criticize, applaud, etc.

Question 24

Formal regulation/ control

Answer 24

involves processing at some type of an organizational or institutional level.

Question 25

Prior to industrialization, the form of formal social control was primarily….

Answer 25

the church.

Question 26

T/F self-regulation/ self-control is a form of social control

Answer 26

True!