Chapter 6: Deviance Flashcards
Deviance
any behavior/physical appearance that is socially challenged because it departs from the norms of a group.
What makes something deviant?
the presence of an audience that regards the behavior as such
Emilie Durkheim stated that “Deviance will always be present even in a _______”
community full of saints
Claim Makers
those who articulate/promote claims and tend to gain in some way if audience accepts their claims.
Mechanisms of social control
strategies used to encourage or force people to comply with social norms
Sanctions
reactions of disapproval or approval to a behavior (can be formal or informal)
Formal sanctions
backed by law or policy
Censorship
action taken to prevent information believed to be unsuitable from reaching a specific audience
Who coined the term “group think”
Irving Janice
Group think
occurs when a group under great pressure achieves the illusion of consensus by putting pressure on members to suppress doubt and ignore moral consequences
Two assumptions that labeling theorists are guided by
- rules are socially constructed
-rules are not enforced uniformaly/consistently
Conformists
did not engage in criminal behavior and treated accordingly
Pure deviants
engaged in criminal behavior, punished, and labeled as outsiders
Secret Deviants
engaged in criminal behavior but not caught/punished
Witch hunts
campaigns to identify, investigate, and correct behavior defined as dangerous to society
Stigma
attribute that is deeply discrediting (3 types)
-based on physical appearances
-based on behaviors considered deviant (addiction, sexual orientation)
-based on nationality, ethnicity, race
Mixed contacts
interactions between stigmatized person and so called normals
Crime
behavior that violates a law
Differential Association
focuses on criminal patterns and isolation from non-criminal influnences
Illegitimate Opportunity Structures
social arrangements that provide the opportunity to commit specific crimes
Structural Strain
occurs when there is an imbalance between culturally valued goals and the means to achieve the goals
Anomie
cultural chaos
Merton’s 5 ways people respond to structural strain
conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion
Conformity
acceptance of cultural goals and attaiment thru legitimate means
Innovation
acceptance of cultural goals but rejection of legitimate means of attainment
Ritualism
rejection of cultural goals but acceptance of the ways in which to attain them
Retreatism
rejection of culturally valued goals and the legitimate means of achieving them
Rebellion
rejection of culturally valued goals and means of attainment while also creating new goals and means of attainment to oppose
Carceral culture
social arrangement in which society abandons physical/public punishment and uses surveillance as method of control
