intro to deviance and conformity

Question 1

what is the commonality between all definitions of deviance?

Answer 1

all are negative

Question 1

what is deviance?

Answer 1

• a person, behavior or characteristic that is socially typed as deviant and subjected to measures of social control
• social control can range from a dirty look to being put in jail

Question 2

what are norms?

Answer 2

standards of behavior maintained by society
ex. standing the ‘wrong way’ on the elevator

Question 3

what are the two categories of an informal norm?

Answer 3

• mores (morality)
  ex. children should not work in dangerous conditions / work full-time
• folkways (politeness)
  ex. cover your mouth when you yawn, cough into elbow

Question 4

what are formal norms?

Answer 4

laws, regulations
- generally written !

Question 5

what are the three characteristics of norms?

Answer 5

norms are subject to change
- cannabis used to not be legal

norms are culturally specific
- don’t greet someone by kissing them on the cheek in Canada

norms are circumstance specific
- wearing a bikini to the beach is
acceptable, wearing one to lecture would be odd

Question 6

overall, all norms are subject to?

Answer 6

social control !!

Question 7

what is social control?

Answer 7

attempts by others to regulate people’s thoughts / behaviour

Question 8

social typing is a process that includes what three steps?

Answer 8

description: label (bag lady)
evaluation: judgement (poor, homeless, dirty)
prescription: how we respond to individuals based on their label (assume that she has no money if she tried to take a loan)

Question 9

an example of social typing?

Answer 9

redneck woman

Question 10

what are the consequences of being deviantized?

Answer 10

criminal record
isolation / loneliness

Question 11

what are the traits of the objective dichotomy?

Answer 11

• deviance is a quality
• a common trait
• deviance: behaviors or characteristics that have that trait

Question 12

what are the traits of the subjective dichotomy?

Answer 12

subjective definition:
- deviance is a process
- no common trait
- behaviors that people in power say are in need of control
- process: who decided something was
deviant?

Question 13

define the objective position

Answer 13

there is an INHERENT quality in certain people, behaviors or characteristics that MAKE them deviant

Question 14

what are the four categories of the objectivist position?

Answer 14

1. statistical rarity
2. harm
3. normative violation
4. negative societal reaction

Question 15

example of a statistical rarity?

Answer 15

giving candy to the food bank

Question 16

example of harm?

Answer 16

drinking alcohol before 18

Question 17

example of normative violation

Answer 17

male wearing speedo at the beach

Question 18

example of a negative societal reaction?

Answer 18

20 year old smoking marijuana while walking the dog

Question 19

what are the four types of harm?

Answer 19

physical, emotional, social, and ontological (a threat to the fundamental ways we understand the world and our place in it, such as religion)

Question 20

what is the subjective definition?

Answer 20

deviance is a social construction, nothing inherent about the characteristic that is deviant, only that society makes it deviant
- people, behaviors, or characteristics that people in power say are in need of control

Question 21

what are moral entrepreneurs?

Answer 21

those who see something as wrong, and make it their life mission to eradicate or increase that behavior
- typically from the upper class
- often have to rely on others to implement their agenda

Question 22

what are crusaders?

Answer 22

people who are disturbed by a perceived ‘evil’ and embark on a ‘holy mission’ to address it

Question 23

what was the bootlegger and baptist dilemma?

Answer 23

• baptists are strongly organized groups who were opposed to alcohol consumption / sales
• bootleggers were interested in prohibition and wanted more restrictions on the sale of alcohol
• politicians did not want to lose support from either the bootleggers or the baptits
• USA the resolution was sunday, the lords day, was not allowed to sell alcohol

Question 24

objectivity and subjectivity are on a?

Answer 24

continuum!