Chapter 6: Deviance, Crime, and Punishment Flashcards
norms
rules of conduct that specify appropriate behavior in a given range of social situations;
a norm either prescribes a given type of behavior or forbids it;
all human groups follow norms, which are always backed by sanctions of one kind or another - varying from informal disapproval to physical punishment
mores
norms that are widely adhered to and have great moral or social significance;
violations are generally sanctioned strongly
folkways
norms that guide casual or everyday interactions;
violations are sanctioned subtly or not at all
deviance
modes of action that do not conform to the norms or values held by members of a group or society who can enforce their definitions;
what is regarded as deviant is as variable as the norms and values that distinguish different cultures and subcultures from one another
deviant subculture
a subculture whose members hold values that differ substantially from those of the majority
sanction
a mode of reward or punishment that reinforces socially expected forms of behavior
laws
rules of behavior established by a political authority and backed by state power
crimes
any actions that contravene the laws established by a political authority
psychopath
a specific personality type:
such individuals lack the moral sense and concern for others held by most normal people
anomie
a situation in which social norms lose their hold over individual behavior
–Emile Durkheim
relative deprivation
the recognition that one has less than his or her peers
What does Robert K. Merton identify as 5 possible reactions to the tensions between socially endorsed values and the lmited means of achieving them?
Conformists - accept both societal values and the conventional means of realizing them, regardless of whether they meet with success (the majority of the population)
Innovators - accept socially approved values but use illegitimate or illegal means to follow them (criminals who acquire wealth through illegal activities)
Ritualists - conform to socially accepted standards, although they have lost sight of the values behind these standards (might remain in dead-end job)
Retreatists - thus reject both the dominant values and the approved means of achieving them, by abandoning the competitive outlook altogether (self-supporting communes)
Rebels - reject both the existing values and the means of pursuing them but wish actively to substitute new values and reconstruct the social system (radical political groups)
What are 3 types of theories on the sociological perspectives on deviance?
Functionalist Theories - see crime and deviance as resulting from structural tensions and a lack of moral regulation within society
(Crime and Anomie: Durkheim and Merton, Subcultural Explanations);
Interactionist Theories - focus on deviance as a socially constructed phenomenon,
(Learned Deviance: Differential Association, Labeling Theory, Control Theory);
Conflict Theory - reject the idea that deviance is determined, rather that individuals purposively engage in deviant behavior in response to the inequalities of the capitalist system
differential association
an interpretation of the development of criminal behavior that says criminal behavior is learned through association with others who regularly engage in crime
–Edwin H. Sutherland
labeling theory
an approach to the study of deviance that suggests that people become “deviant” because certain labels are attached to their behavior by political authorities and others
