Chapter 6 Flashcards
deviance
violation of norms or rules or expectations
crime
violation of norms written into law
stigma
blemishes that discredit a person’s claim to a normal identity
social order
a groups usual and customary social arrangements on which its members depend and on which they base their lives
social control
a groups formal and informal means of enforcing its norms
negative sanction
an expression of disapproval for breaking a norm ranging from mild, informal reaction such as a frown to a formal reaction such as a fine or a prison sentence
positive sanction
an expression of approval for following a norm, ranging from a smile or a good grade in a class to a material reward such as a prize
genetic predisposition
inborn tendencies
street crime
crimes such as mugging, rape and burglary
personality disorders
the view that a personality disturbance of some sort cause an individual to violate social norms
differential association
Edwin Sutherlands term: people who associate with some groups learn an excess of definitions of deviance, increasing the likelihood that they will become deviant
control theory
the idea that two control systems-inner controls and outer…work against our tendencies to deviate
labeling theory
view that the labels people are given affect their own and others perception of them, thus channeling their behaviors into either deviance or conformity
techniques of neutralization
ways of thinking or rationalizing that help people deflect (or neutralize) societys norms
degradation ceremony
coined by Harold Gardinkel to refer to a ritual whose goal is to remake someones self by stripping away that individuals self identity and stamping a new identity in its place
cultural goals
the objectives held out as legitimate or desirable for the memebers of a society to achieve
institutionalized means
approved ways of reaching cultural goals
strain theory
Robert Merton’s term: strain engendered when a society socializes large numbers of people to desire a cultural goal (such as success) but withholds from some the approved means of reaching that goal
illegitimate opportunity structure
opportunities for crimes that are woven into the texture of life
white-collar crime
Edwin Sutherlands term for crimes committed by people of high social status in the course of their occupations ex. false advertising and price fixing
corporate crime
crimes committed by executives in order to benefit their corporation
criminal justice system
the system of the police, courts, and prisons set up to deal with people who are accused of having committed crime
capital punishment
death penalty
police discretion
practice of the police, in the normal course of their duties, to either arrest or ticket someone for an offense or to overlook the matter
medicalization of deviance
to make deviance a medical matter, a symptom of some underlying illness that needs to be treated by physicians
medicalization
transformation of a human condition into a medical matter to be treated by physicians
