Chapter 6 Flashcards
Negative sanctions (punishments)
Show society’s Disapproval of deviance
Positive sanctions (rewards)
show society’s Approval of conformity
Relativity of deviance
What is deviant to some is not deviant to others
Social control
A groups formal and informal means of enforcing its norms
Biological explanations
Focus on genetic predispositions and inherited traits
Body type, extra Y chromosome, squarish muscular body street crime
Psychological explanations
Focus on abnormalities within the individual
personality disorders
Sociological explanations
Look at societal influences and outside explanations for deviance
Social class, education, occupation
Cultural transmission theory
Deviant behavior is learned
Differential association theory
We learn deviant behaviors from different groups we associate with
Strain theory
Discrepancy between socially approved goals and socially approved institutionalized means
5 types of deviant behavior (anomie)
Conformity
Innovation
Retreat
Ritualism
Rebellion
Conformity
accept cultural goals and means to attain those goals
Innovation
Except cultural goals and reject means to attain those goals
Retreat
Reject cultural goals and reject means as well
Ritualism
Except means to attain goals but reject the goals them selves
Rebellion
Reject the cultural goals and reject that means as well, create your own
Labeling Theory
The view that the labels people are given affect their own and others’ perceptions of them, challenging their behavior into deviance or conformity
Control Theory
Inner controls and outer controls work against our tendencies to deviate
Conflict theory
Social class is related to the criminal justice
White color vs property crime
Medicalization of deviance
Thomas Szasz
“Mental illnesses are neither mental nor illnesses. They are simply problem behaviors”
Deviance
Behavior that violates significant social norms and is disapproved by a large number of people
