Deviance and Crime Flashcards
Social Structure
the regular, predictable, repeated forms of social relations in operation most the time
Deviance
behaviour that contradicts normal social structures or values to a degree that leads others to condemn or punish it
Examples of criminal deviance
theft, murder, racism
Examples of non criminal deviance
unusual appearance, mental illness and alternative lifestyles
Conformity
adjustment of individual behaviour, attitudes, and beliefs so as to meet social norms and the expectations within your society
Social Stigma
Personal characteristic that sharply distinguished an individual from ‘norm’ in the eyes of society and leads them being viewed as lesser
Erving Goffman explored what set of characteristics?
Deviance and stigmatised
Primary Deviance
the basic act of deviating from the norm or committing an often minor crime, without identifying oneself as deviant
Secondary Deviance
the (willing or unwilling) incorporation of deviancy into a sense of self and gradual identification as a deviant
Anomie
Durkheim’s term for ‘normlessness’ or ‘lawlessness’ – a state in which social norms that normally regulate us are weaker and less binding.
Durkheim sees anomie as a major source of social problems:
In Division of Labour in Society
the modern economy is insufficiently regulated
Durkheim sees anomie as a major source of social problems:
In Suicide
the economy had lack of such social bonds may be a major social cause of suicide
differential association theory
explanation of crime by looking at how we learn from peers how to become criminals
Edwin Sutherland
argued that people may become criminals if their group has more favourable definitions of deviance than unfavourable ones.
Social controlled theory
explains crime as a result of weak bonds betwen parents and children, including disciplinary
Travis Hirschi
leading representative of social control theory – the modern equivalent of Durkheim’s anomie
