Deviance Flashcards
Deviance
The violation or divergence from social rules or norms
ABC’s of deviance
Attitudes, Behaviors, Conditions or types of persons deemed immoral, sinful, sick, illegal, inappropriate, and so on
Norms
Generally agreed-upon codes about how people should behave.
Norms guide our actions and the way we comport & present ourselves.
Three types of norms
1) Folkways
2) Mores
3) Laws
Folkways
Simple everyday norms based on custom, tradition, or etiquette
Mores
More serious norms based on broad social norms
Laws
Strongest norms; codified and enforced by formal sanctions
Relationship between ctime & deviance
(i.e. are they the same thing?)
Crime and deviance are not always the same thing.
One can be deviant but not criminal. Deviance is a broader term than criminality.
Achieved status
An earned status. More blame to the individual.
Ascribed status
Born into a status. Less blame, if any, to the individual.
Statistical definition: Deviance
Any variation or departure from a statisticl average
Statistical definitions look at ________ rather than at ___________
what is; what should or should not be
Social Control
The means by which society secures adherence to social norms; how society controls unwanted behavior
Informal Social Control
Self-control
Relational controls
Conscience - Socially created product
Fromal Social Control
Institutionalized and enforced by large groups or social institutions
Is Informal Social Control or Formal Social Control more common?
Informal Social Control is more common.
Absolutist/Positivist perspectives on deviance
Deviance is an objective fact: There is something inherent in the act itself that makes it deviant & wrong
Deviance is universal: It is similar for all cultures
Assumes normative consensus
Searches for the etiology (causes) or social origin of deviant behavior
Relativist/Interactionist perspectives on deviance
Deviance is not universal or unchanging: Deviance is in the eye of the beholder
Deviance is relative
Deviance and morality are socially constructed
Assumes normative conflict
Interested in social reaction to deviance, how deviance is socially defined, how labels are attached, and the consequences of being labeled.
The Salem Witch Trials: Absolutist Perspective
What questions could we ask?
What caused the kid’s behavior?
The Salem Witch Trials: Relativist Perspective
What questions could we a sk?
Why did the society react as they did?
The Salem Witch Trials: What tensions and threats to community in Salem may have encouraged the moral panic around witchcraft?
People going to create the colonies had different reasons for going to create them.
Political instability
Local non-religious merchants
The Salem Witch Trials: Who was most likely to be accused?
Women, they couldn’t become minsters and were socially weaker than men.
Women are “naturally lustfull” (Eve)
The Salem Witch Trials: How did the characteristics of the accused change with e ttime? Why is this significant?
The accused became more and more significant women in the colonies. This is significant because it eventually put an end to the trials.
The Salem Witch Trials: What might have been the positive functions of the reactions to witchcraft?
The community became stronger after this event.
Due process & the idea of “innocent until proven guilty” came about.
External Validity
Generalizability of the data to other contexts
Internal Validity
The quality of how accurate we measured what we think we are measuring
Reliability
Ability to generate consistant results over time with similar samples. Results can be biased as long as the bias remains constant.
Survey Research
Survey data measures attitudes, beliefs, values, personality traits, and behavior of participants.
Can be cost prohibative
More anonymous
Easier to reach a larger population size
Sampling
The process of selectiong for a study a limited number of subjects who represent larger groups sharing similar characteristics called populations.
This process is ideally randomized so that each person has the same chance to be selected for the sample
Victimization Surveys
A type of self-report survey where participants are asked about their experience with crime or being victimized.
Advantages/Disadvantages of Surveys
Advantages: Better ecternal validity if done correctly (randomization)
Disadvantages: Interal validity
Official Aggregate Data
Data collected by government agencies or other institutions
Examples: UCR
Advantages/Disadvantages of Official Aggregate Data
Advantages: Easily available/Free, Cost Efficient, Large Samples, and Standardization
Disadvantages: Many factors may bias official reports
Ethnographic and Interview Research
In-depth interviews, observation and interactiong with subjects in their own social environment.
Advantages/Disadvantages of Ethnographic and Interview Reasearch
Advantages: Clear understanding of certain experiences
Disadvantages: Time consuming, small sample size
Biological Explination of Deviance
Attributes certain forms of deviance to physical characteristics or nomolies such as body chemistry compositions (hormones) or to genetic/hereditary characteristics
Psychological Explinations of Deviance: Psychiatric Model
Deviance is the result of psychological illness or maladaptive personality
Psychological Explinations of Deviance: Psychoanalytic Model
Deviance results from the dynamics of the unconscious mind rather than from conscious mental activites
Psychological Explinations of Deviance: Personality Trait Model
Deviance can be explained bt certain antisocial personality characteristics
Micro-Level Explination
Focus on the individual deviance
Explains deviance in terms of personal chaacteristics of an individual or the immediate social context in which deviant acts occur.
Macro-Level Explination
Focus on social aggregates
Explains deviance rates in terms of structural or cultural charactersitcs of areas
Anomie/Strain Theory: Originator
Robert Merton (1930’s, 50’s)
Anomie/Strain Theory: Macro or Micro / Origin or Reaction?
Macro/Origin
Anomie/Strain Theory: Definition
Seeks to uncover how some social sructures exert a definite pressure upon certain groups in society to engage in nonconformity
Anomie/Strain Theory: Why is it a motivational theory?
Anomie/Strain Theory assumes that, under normal conditions, human beings are naturally inclined to conform to social norms and rules.
Therefore the theory must explain why human beings commit deviance and this is why Anomie/Strain Theory is a motivational theory.
Anomie/Strain Theory: Two Elements of Social Struture
Culturally defined goals: Prevailing ideals, aspirations, things worth striving for (Money)
Institutional norms and means: Norms that define, regulate, and control the acceptable ways (means) used to achiev goals
Anomie/Strain Theory: Integration of Goals and Norms
Anomie/Strain Theory claims that societies differ in the degree to which the folkways, mores, and institutionalized cotrols are effectively integrated with goals.
Caste societies are a good example of proper integration
Anomie/Strain Theory: Malintegration of Goals and Norms
Malintegration occurs when more emphasis is placed on the cultrual goals rather than the ways of achieving those goals
Mertons Three Cultural Axioms
1) All should dstrive for the same lofty goals since they are open to all
2) Present failure to obtain these goals is temporary or a “way-station” to ultimate sucess
3) True failure is attributed to lack of ambition or drive
Control Theory: Micro or Macro / Origin or Reaction?
Micro/Origin
Control Theory: When does deviance occur?
Deviance occurs when individuls are inadequately controlled by their social environment. Reduction in social controls “frees” people to follow their natural inclinations.
Control Theory: Why is Control Theory a motivational theory?
Its not. Control Theory doesn’t assume that people are good as their base nature.
Control Theory: Integration
Integration occurs when individuals are attached to something other than themselves.
Control Theory: Four Elemens of the Soial Bond
1) Attachment
2) Commitment
3) Involvement
4) Belief
Control Theory: Attachment
The affective or emotional elemnt of the social bond.
It is the degree to which a person feels bound to specigic groups through affection, respect, and socialization to group norms.
Control Theory: Commitment
The material element of the bond.
Also called your stake in conformity. (What you stand to lose when you commit a deviant act)
