Definitions of Deviance Flashcards
what is deviance and what does it result in?
the violation of principles or rules that people are expected to observe; this can result in sanctions by sources of social control
what are folkways?
simple everyday norms that are based on customs, traditions, and etiquette; violations of folkways are not seen as serious but may have mild social consequences
what are mores?
norms based on moral values; violations of mores are seen as a threat to social order and typically have more severe social consequences
what are laws?
certain norms upheld by codified social sanctions; violations are seen as a major threat to society and have formal consequences
are crime and deviance the same thing?
crime and deviance overlap with independent dimensions, which means they can be the same thing but aren’t necessarily
what are the ABCs of deviance?
attitudes (being branded deviant for an alternative attitude or extreme belief system), behaviours (overt acts that are regarded as deviant), and conditions (personal characteristics or traits seen as deviant)
what are the 3 Ss of deviance?
sin (violation of religious norms attributed to satanic influences during the middle ages), sick (medicalization of deviance from 19th-mid 20th centuries), and selected (perceived voluntary lifestyle choices by individuals)
what were Erikson’s two counter-intuitive claims?
- deviancy is not necessarily bad, and may even be good for society
- social control agencies contribute to, and may even generate deviant behaviour
what does boundary-maintaining mean in the context of Erikson’s theories?
members of all communities tend to confine and limit themselves to a certain range of conduct and behaviour in order to retain solidarity, promote stability, and retain cultural integrity; boundaries are learned from relationships with others
what role do official ceremonies play in maintaining boundaries?
violations are often publicized via interactions between deviants and officials (ex. criminal trials, psychiatric determinations) in order to restate and reaffirm boundaries
how do commitment ceremonies enable deviance?
they act as rites of passage for offenders which prevents reintegration and rehabilitation; type of self-fulfilling prophecy
why is it difficult to classify deviance?
deviance is culturally, socioeconomically, geographically, and temporally relative
what are the 2 traditional perspectives on deviance?
normative by Merton (deviance is the objective study of norm violation and is based on the expectation of non-conformity within societal norms) and reactivist by Becker (deviance is the subjective reaction of a social audience to perceived norms)
what reactivist solution did Heckert & Heckert present in 2004?
provided a dialectical solution to opposing theoretical perspectives using four types of deviance: negative deviance, positive deviance, rate busting, and deviance admiration
what is negative deviance?
nonconformity + negative evaluations (ex. serial killers)
