Test 1 Flashcards
Norms
generally understood to be the formal and informal rules of conduct for membership in a group. They are the rules that guide our behaviour.
Folkways
Everyday rules that don’t cause too much turmoil if violated (ex. Manners, Etiquette)
Mores
Carry a greater social significance. Violating leads to harsher criticism. (ex. cheating on a parter, stealing from a friend)
Laws
Strongest form of norms. Backed on official sanctions.
Informal Social Control
The sanctions (consequences) applied to individuals violating folkways and mores.
Formal Social Control
Sanctions applied to individuals who violate laws.
Agents of Informal Social Control
Members of the group that enforce control. (ex. family and friends).
Agents of Formal Social Control
Enforce control as police, the state, doctors, social workers, etc. They have the power to create a lasting document.
What are the 5 reasons to study deviance?
- Vicarious Experience (reality tv. Engage without being deviant)
- Reform
- Understanding Oneself and Others
- Intellectual Curiosity
- Self-Protection and Sophistication
What are the 3 concepts of deviance?
- Objective
- Subjective
- Critical
Objective Conception
- Also known as positivistic
Deviance is a violation of a universal law (or norm) OR it is something inherent in an individual, behaviour or characteristic that makes it necessarily deviant.
Very standard and used widely.
Focus: Macro social structures
Methods: Scientific Method, generating statistics, surveys, questionnaires, deductive reasoning.
Values: Only important in choosing a research topic and why it is worthy of study. The researcher is expected to be value neutral and the outcome of research is value free.
Problems: Humans are distinctly different than the areas of investigation in the natural sciences, Imagination, majority of sociology has been established through the lens of middle-aged white men studying marginalized groups.
The basic supposition of this perspective is that there are “universal laws” (or the norms of macro social structures) that govern our behaviour and that exist beyond the individual.
Subjective Conception
- ‘Social Constructionist’, ‘Reactionist’, & ‘Relativist’
Deviance as a social construction
Focus: the individual actor/micro social structures
Methods: Qualitative Research methods: content analysis, ethnographies, narratives, embedded research, open ended questions in interviews, case studies focus groups, grounded theory, and inductive reasoning.
Values: are an important part of the research and an important element of the group being studied. Researchers are not expected to be value neutral.
Problems: - What about very serious norms that are violated that are never known about, or discovered, and therefore cannot be reacted to?
- Some who are strict subjective reactionists would argue that these acts (or beliefs or attitudes) are not deviant.
A particular person (or group), behaviour, or characteristic is deviant only if the dominant moral codes of a specific society at a certain time in history say it’s deviant
Critical Conception
The newest conception
Focus: Macro and Global Level Social Structures
Methods: This conception sees the value in both Qualitative and Quantitative methods
Values: Some values are right and some are wrong. This conception takes a stance when it comes to the role of values.
Problems: There are still some things that the vast majority of society agrees are so immoral, so unethical, and so deviant that they should be illegal and the system can serve to protect our interests against.
What makes us (humans) distinctly different than other subjects of study?
Our imagination!
Who is C. Wright Mills?
- Neisha’s sociological boyfriend
- Wrote “The Sociological Imagination”
What is the Sociological Imagination?
- the ability to see the intricate connection between individual experiences and larger social forces
- It involves understanding how personal challenges and successes are influenced by historical context, cultural norms, and societal structures rather than being purely the result of individual choices.
- Building block for our understanding of deviance and theory
What were the 4 most frequently cited ways that Objective Conceptions of Deviance have used to find the “Common Thread” found in all things considered deviant?
- Statistical Rarity
- Harmfulness
- Societal Reaction
- Normative Violation
What is statistical rarity?
- Deviation from the common centre
- This is not common academia, but it is popular in everyday language
- The statistical method is simple and ‘apparently’ objective, but it is not a reliable way of distinguishing deviance.
What is harmfulness (common thread)?
- Physical harm
- Functional harm
- Ontological harm
How does harmfulness not distinguish deviance?
- Evidence that deviance is harmful is often exaggerated or invented by those who want to control it
- Sometimes the greatest harm of deviance lies in the cost of its suppression
- Many kinds of deviance are less harmful than other things not so labeled
What is normative violation?
- The notion that violating folkways and mores (formal and informal norm violation) constitutes deviance.
- On the surface, this seems like a good way to define or designate deviant conduct; however, there are problems.
What is societal reaction?
- tolerant response to deviant behaviour
- denying response
- polarizing response-robin hood being loved by the poor for stealing from the rich but the rich hating him…aka demonization vs romanization
Who/what are moral entrepreneurs?
- Those who manufacture public morality via the construction of norms
- Who are these people/groups in our society? (Influencers, political figures, leaders, advocacy groups)
- Rules are invoked when someone with influence feels they are needed, not every time someone breaks them.
- Therefore, deviance is more of a descriptive name or label used to exclude people in the view of influential others.
Why is this course based on theory?
- Theory turns our anecdotal experience of deviant human behaviour into a systematic understanding of social behaviour.
- Plus, ideas about deviance have changed and evolved based on the development of theory over time.
- Theoretical solutions to the issues of deviance are really important because many of our current responses to deviant behaviour are erroneously based on an “individualistic” notion.
what are the three social structures of?
Micro, Macro, Global
What is physical deviance?
the most visible form of deviance, and it can evoke stereotypes, stigma, and discrimination.
What are the two main categories of physical deviance and appearance?
- Violations of aesthetic/beauty norms
- Physical incapacity – or physical disability
What is Snapchat dysphoria?
A condition where people want to alter their physical appearance so they can look like their own filtered and altered selfies.
What were the issues discussed around the issue of self harm?
Self-injuries may seem maladaptive, but as reported by those who engage in such behaviour, most of these behaviours are seen as attempts at self-help…
- Some researchers are now suggesting that self-injury is being ‘De-Medicalized’
- Self-harm methods were described by research respondents as “quick fixes” to alleviate difficult or painful emotions, which allow them to continue to be productive in their daily lives.
Relationships and deviance
Like all forms of deviance, sexual deviance is largely determined by the community, culture, and context.
- Sexually unconventional behaviour is another central topic of discussion when it comes to the study of deviance.
- Monogamy is the legal norm, yet some religions and subcultures still allow and encourage men to take multiple wives.
In our culture, monogamy is the legal norm… what were the two ”deviant” examples we discussed that defy this norm?
Ashley Madison and Yearning for Zion Ranch raid.
What are some of the ‘deviant’ issues with ELITE DEVIANCE?
- White-collar crime, corporate crime.
Examples: Ford Pinto, Collapse of ENRON, BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Bernie Madoff Ponzi Scheme
Features of deviance?
- Culturally specific (behaviour acceptable at a bar or hockey game may not be acceptable in the classroom or at the dinner table)
- Varies within and across cultures
- Varies in time and space (wine at 7am vs 7pm)
- There are different norms for different people members of society
- Deviant subcultures
- Degrees of Deviance
Global Perspectives
All too often, people are punished, oppressed, and sanctioned simply because of who they are, or for what Howard Becker would call their master status.
What were the two examples discussed in lecture that detail global perspectives?
Malala and David Kato
(Social control of girls and women, social control of homosexuality)
what is the demonic perspective?
devilmademedoit
- Early explanations of deviance could not draw from the scientific world, as it did not yet exist, instead they located explanations in the supernatural.
- Common explanation was demonic possession
- Deviance was EXPLAINED (rather than described) as being caused by SUPERNATURAL FORCES.
- No one looked to physiology, medical, environmental or natural reasons for “bad” things.
- No coincidences either…
- Everything that happened, happened outside of human control
What are the two main paths to deviance under the demonic perspective?
possession and temptation
(could invite or be victims of)
Temptation (shows himself in many different ways or guises. Devil can promise you many things in exchange for his soul)
Possession (not necessarily tempted to do it but rather feel like they have been taken over by these forces… the devil invades your body. People are victims of the devil or spells by demonic forces)
prior to the Enlightenment, deviance was thought of as both ____ and ___
causal and supernatural
Procter and Gamble, as a corporation, were accused of Satanism, and their logo, thought to be a symbol of Satanism, was presented as proof. This can be seen as a modern day urban legend, and sociologically as a ____?
Moral panic
What is a moral panic?
when concern about an issue is drummed up disproportionately to the actual potential harm.
Example of a trickster
Papa Legba and Anansi
What is a trickster?
- common archetype in folklore and mythology
- Everything the trickster does is permeated with laughter, irony, wit, and deviance
What are different conceptions of a trickster?
- Harmless Practical Jokester (Bugs Bunny)
- Deviant in the name of greater good (Robin Hood)
- Malicious Deviant (The Joker)
- Any shape shifting characters
- Typically portrayed as foxes, coyotes, etc. what we already know as trickster
- Also the use of Ouija boards are connected to tricksters. Attracts trickster spirit rather than the person you actually want to speak to
- Trickster embodies the paradox and the dangerous side of deviance
History of trickster
- West African Mythology
*Most prominent trickster, Anansi (a spider) - Originating from Benin, Papa Legba. Guardian of crossroads. If you want to talk to someone that has crossed over you have to ask Papa Legba and he has to give you permission
- All these tricksters are inspired by these
- They were migrated here as slaves and brought their tales with them
What is the difference between a pantheistic world view and a monotheistic world view?
Pan: God is everywhere, multiple Gods
* Word means “All in God” in greek
* The doctrine that regards the universe as a manifestation of the gods/goddesses
* Deviance (and all “bad” things) are the acts of gods/goddesses and/or hostile spirits
* Deviance was not predictable or preventable and was beyond human control
* Suffering was beyond human control
Mono:
- Belief in only one god, deity or spirit…. Offset by one evil
- Ie: Judaism, Christianity, Islam
- Concept is dominated by Abraham based religion
- * Deviance of all forms has some human accountability …. For giving into the forces of evil.
- 2 pathways: temptation and possession
How is deviance seen from each of these world views?
Pan:
- Deviance (and all “bad” things) are the acts of gods/goddesses and/or hostile spirits
* Deviance was not predictable or preventable and was beyond human control
* Suffering was beyond human control
Mono:
- Deviance has some human accountability
