U2 AOS3 - DEVIANCE Flashcards
Deviance
Behaviour that violates and deviates from social norms
Sanctions
Society’s reactions to behaviours.
Why is media a social construct?
It is a social construct as is influenced by the biases, prejudices and assumptions of their creators.
Moral panic
The intensity of feeling expressed in a population about an issue that appears to threaten the social order.
Folk devils
Those who supposedly threaten the social order.
Moral entrepreneur
Those who start moral panic when they fear a threat to current social or cultural values.
Relativity of deviance
What constitutes as deviance depends on time and space.
Social norms
The ways that we are expected to behave in particular situations or contexts.
Positive sanctions
Used to reward behaviours that adhere to social norms.
Negative sanctions
Used to control or punish deviant behaviour.
Legal sanctions
Written down by law, used to try and control the behaviour.
Informal deviance
Involves the breaking of a social norm, but no actual law is being broken.
Formal deviance
Involves the breaking of an actual codified law.
5 stages of a moral panic
- Concern
- Hostility
- Consensus
- Disproportion
- Volatility
Mediated Culture
The idea that culture is created through mass media.
Self–Fulfilling Prophecy
When a person decides to further engage in deviant behaviour that reinforces and fulfils the label given to them
Interactionist theory coined by…
Howard Becker
Interactionist theory is..
Argues that crime is a social construct and that an act only becomes deviant when others perceive and label it to be deviant.
Durkheim’s functionalist view on deviance
A necessary and inevitable part of a society that contributes to social order and does this through the four roles of deviance.
The four roles of deviance
- Clarify Moral Boundaries
- Affirming Cultural Norms and values
- Unifying Society
- Encouraging Social Change
Clarifying moral boundaries
When certain behaviours cross a moral threshold, they can be negatively sanctioned formally or informally.
Affirming cultural norms and values
When we can learn to understand what societies norms and values are through the use of positive sanctions.
Unifying society
When we affirm to each other that we’re an “us” and the deviants are “them” by reacting in similar ways to something that seems ‘deviant’.
Encouraging social change
When people perform deviant acts as a crucial service in helping the law to reflect the wishes of the population and legitimising social change.
Durkheim argues that all social change begins with some form of deviance…
…in order for changes to occur, yesterday’s deviance becomes today’s norm.
Social control theory coined by…
Travis Hirschi
Social control theory
Argues that deviance occurs when a lack of restraint and social control exists and that behaviour can be regulated via the use of positive and negative sanctions
Hirschi’s four core principles
- Attachment
- Belief
- Commitment
- Involvement
Attachment
Measures our connections to others.
Belief
An agreement on common values within a society.
Commitments
Investments we make in the community.
Involvement (like commitments but macro)
Levels of involvement, or participation in socially legitimate activities.
Two types of social constraints
Inner/informal and outer/formal
Informal constraint
Refers to our immediate agents of socialisation such as family, friends and community
Formal constraint
Refers to structures within society including law enforcement, schools and government.
Pygmalion affect
The idea that high expectations, such as labelling, can lead to improved performance due to strong commitments and attachments
Two types of social controls
Positive and negative social controls
Positive deviance
Refers to behaviours that exceed normal standards in a positive way.
The 6 types of positive deviance
- Altruism
- Supra–conformity
- Ex–deviance
- Charisma
- Innate characteristics
- Innovation
Altruism
Refers to people who have voluntarily helped a person or group to benefit others.
Supra conformity
Refers to performing beyond normal expectations to the point of an idealised level.
Ex–deviance
Refers to people that have transcended the criminal identity label as they assume a new role.
Charisma
Refers to people who have unique personal characteristics and are natural leaders that reach objectives.
Innate characteristics
Innate characteristics Refers to people who possess culturally–valued natural traits such as beauty, talent, and intelligence.
Innovation
Refers to people who have new ideas or creations.
Deviancy amplification
Refers to when labelling deviant behaviour unintentionally intensifies deviance.
Positive deviance was coined by
Druann Heckert
