Sociology Ch. 6 Flashcards
a behavior, trait, belief, or other characteristic that violates a norm and causes a negative reaction
deviance
a theory of crime, proposed by Travis Hirschi, that posits that strong social bonds increase conformity and decrease deviance
social control theory
individuals who accept society’s approved goals but not society’s approved means to achieve them
innovators
individuals who have given up hope of achieving society’s approved goals but still operate according to society’s approved
ritualists
individuals who renounce society’s approved goals and means entirely and live outside conventional norms altogether
retreatists
individuals who reject society’s approved goals and means and instead create and work toward their own (sometimes revolutionary) goals using new means
rebels
the formal and informal mechanisms used to elicit conformity to values and norms and thus promote social cohesion
social control
Edwin Sutherland’s hypothesis that we learn to be deviant through our associations with deviant peers
differential association theory
Howard Becker’s idea that deviance is a consequence of external judgments, or labels, that modify the individual’s self-concept and change the way others respond to the labeled person
labeling theory
the use of electronic media (web pages, social networking sites, e-mail, Twitter, cell phones) to tease, harass, threaten, or humiliate someone
cyberbullying
in labeling theory, the initial act or attitude that causes one to be labeled deviant
primary deviance
in labeling theory, the subsequent deviant identity or career that develops as a result of being labeled deviant
secondary deviance
redefining the stigma associated with a deviant label as a positive phenomenon
tertiary deviance
an inaccurate statement or belief that, by altering the situation, becomes accurate; a prediction that causes itself to come true
self-fulfilling prophecy
a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy in which the fear of performing poorly-and confirming stereotypes about their social groups-causes students to perform poorly
stereotype threat
a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy in which positive stereotypes, such as the “model minority” label applied to Asian Americans, lead to positive performance outcomes
stereotype promise
Erving Goffman’s term for any physical or social attribute that devalues a person or group’s identity and that may exclude those who are devalued from normal social interaction
stigma
presenting yourself as a member of a different group than the stigmatized group to which you belong
passing
among stigmatized individuals, the rejection of prevailing judgments or prejudice and the development of new standards that value their group identity
in-group orientation
according to Howard Becker, those labeled deviant and subsequently segregated from “normal” society
outsiders
process by which an individual self-identifies as deviant and initiates her own labeling process
deviance avowal
a violation of a norm that has been codified into law
crime
the systematic scientific study of crime, criminals, and criminal justice
criminology
an official measure of crime in the United States, produced by the FBI’s official tabulation of every crime reported by more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies
Uniform Crime Report (UCR)
crimes in which violence is either the objective or the means to an end, including murder, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery
violent crime
crimes that do not involve violence, including burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson
property crime
crimes committed via the Internet, including identity theft, embezzlement, fraud, sexual predation, and financial scams
cybercrime
crime committed by a high-status individual in the course of his occupation
white collar crime
an approach to punishment that relies on the threat of harsh penalties to discourage people from committing crimes
deterrence
an approach to punishment that emphasizes retaliation or revenge for the crime as the appropriate goal
retribution
an approach to punishment that seeks to protect society from criminals by imprisoning or executing them
incapacitation
an approach to punishment that attempts to reform criminals as part of their penalty
rehabilitation
a collection of social institutions, such as legislatures, police, courts, and prisons, that creates and enforces laws
criminal justice system
the death penalty
capital punishment
actions considered deviant within a given context but are later reinterpreted as appropriate or even heroic
positive deviance
