Lec 1-2 Flashcards
Conformity or normality
Acts that are statically common
Harmless
Acts that society respond to with positive emotions
Acts that correspond to societal norms
Acts that dominant moral codes say are acceptable
Deviance
When acts violate or contradict the dominant moral codes
A person, behaviour, or characteristic that is socially typed as deviant and subjected to measures of social control
Types of deviance
Positive
Negative
Social norms
Expectations of conduct in particular situations
Norm violations usually result in reactions or sanctions
They change from time to time and place to place
Objectivist views
Deviance as a quality
Subjectivist views
Deviance as a process
The common trait that deviance is
Rarity
Harm
Negative societal reaction
Normative violation
EG of deviance, stastical rarity
Most people do not commit crimes
Most people do not smoke
Few people have green hair
Few people belong to white nationalist groups
Criteria for rare is
Ambiguous (could be 49 percent, 20? 2?)
Limitations of statistical rarity
Criteria for rare are ambiguous
Common acts may be considered unacceptable (ie underage drinking is common but not allowed)
Rare acts may be considered acceptable (heroic acts, sports prodigies)
Harm
Can be physical, emotional, social, or ontological
Limitations of harm idea of deviance
Perceptions of harm vary over time (ie. homosexuality, cannabis use)
Perceptions of harm are subjective (eg. feminists, drug prohibition)
Negative social reaction
Feeling fear in response
Surveys, opinion polls, elected officials can all shape what we think is negative
Negative social reaction idea limitations
Criteria for determining “masses” are unclear (eg. what if 51 percent of people dislike a certain behaviour)
Some people’s reactions have a greater impact (ie scientist vs students)
Public opinion often matters less than other factors (ie. Political party incentives create uniformity among members)
Normative violation
Changing views of norms
Absolutist views (universally accepted) of norms have become culturally specific views of norms
Absolutist view of norms
Behaviour or characteristic is inherently and universally deviant
Absolute moral order
Some norms should be followed in all cultures at all times
Culturally specific views of norms
Norms are culturally specific
No absolute moral order
Normative violations idea limitations
Lack of consensus over norms (Society is made of many social groups, with varied expectations for behaviour)
Does the criminal law reflect consensus (Consensual versus conflict versus interactionist views)
High consensus vs low consensus deviance
Subjectivism
Deviance is socially constructed
Deviance is not a quality but rather a process (people learn what is deemed deviance through socialization)
Some moral codes attain positions of dominance (powerful people have deemed things as deviant)
Subjectivity and the “social construction” of deviance
Levels of social construction
Individual
Interactional
Institutional
Sociocultural
Global
The objective-subjective continuum
Absolute moral order (Objective)—- Radical constructionism (Subjective)
Studying deviance
2 approaches
Objective approach: studying the act
Subjective approach: studying social processes
Objective end of the continuum
Focus on deviant acts
Those acts have an inherently deviant quality
eg. why do people join white nationalist groups if they know that racism violates Canadian norms
Studying social processes
Subjective end of the continuum
Focus on our perceptions of an relations to the act
Emphasis on the deviance dance (debate on what is deviant and what isn’t)
Importance of power relations (moral entrepreneurs)
