Week 4 Flashcards
1
Q
Moral Panics
A
- A moral panic is an intense feeling expressed in a population about an issue that appears to threaten the social order
- Based on the grassroots model (moral panic = general public), the elite-engineered model, and interest group theory (groups who have a stake) they all discuss that the moral panics originate within a powerful group
- The powerful groups exaggerate the problem at hand (danger and frequency) and target minorities to be the root cause of these problems.
2
Q
Moral panics concept
A
- In a moral panic, the reactions of the media, law enforcement, politicians, action groups, and the general public are out of proportion to the real and present danger a given threat poses to the society.
- The fear and heightened concern are exaggerated, that is, are above and beyond what a sober empirical assessment of its concrete danger would sustain.
- Sensitization occurs
3
Q
Moral entrepreneurs
A
- those who start the panic when they fear a threat to prevailing our social or cultural values.
4
Q
Folk devils
A
- those who supposedly threaten the social order.
5
Q
Moral panics are defined by 5 criteria elements
A
- Concern – heightened level of concern over the behaviour of a certain group o
- Hostility – increased level of hostility toward the category of people seen as engaging in the threatening behaviour, becoming folk devils (them vs. us)
- Consensus – certain minimal measure of agreement in the society as a whole must be widespread
- Disproportionality – implicit assumption in the use of the term moral panic that the concern is out of proportion to the nature of the threat
- Volatility – they are volatile erupt fairly suddenly and nearly as suddenly they subside
6
Q
Media attention
A
- The panic is typically short lived however it has a carrying capacity for media attention
- Even though people aren’t scared about the situation the media tries to make it a bigger deal than it is
- Moral panics are the centre of attention for as long as the next moral panic
7
Q
Extreme deviance
A
- Extreme deviance is behaviour, beliefs or physical traits that are so far outside the form, so unacceptable to a wide range of different audiences, that they elicit extremely strong negative reactions
8
Q
Extreme deviance reasons
A
- Continuum (those when detected highly unlikely to generate outsiders to those likely to do so)
- 3 reasons…
1. Primary + secondary deviance
2. Concept encompasses dramatic examples of normative violations (easy 2 remember)
3. Challenge our capacity to empathize w the norm violators
9
Q
Why does extreme deviance matters?
A
- We are often trying to study reactions (those who evaluate deviant behaviour)… The more extreme the deviant, the more observable the reaction
- Lemert’s primary deviance… The initial violation (transitory)
- Secondary deviance: The serious, pervasive, begin to think of actors as deviants and they take on a deviant role/identity
- The process or ‘career’ becomes more obvious… Individuals transition from being someone who did something deviant to being deviant
10
Q
What is deviant crime?
A
- Perpetrator: Gender + Demographics
- Nature of the crime: Excessive violence, Rare/unusual
- Impact: Widespread harm, Social reaction
- Power dynamics: Who says it is or not
- Victim: Vulnerability, Perceived social value
- Morality: Belief systems + Remorse
11
Q
Pathology vs. appreciation
A
- Psychologists describe their cases in terms appropriate for practitioners… pathology
- Sociologists enter the world of the deviant not only to empathize with that world but to appreciate it (naturalistic)… only thru appreciation can social patterns + nuances of human engagement w those patterns can be understood and analyzed
- We are not trying to ‘fix them’
12
Q
Accounts of deviance
A
- Deviant accounts are the social face that those whom many members of the society wish to discredit present to themselves and others
- They are the ‘passport’ of deviance, permitting persons to navigate in a world in which their sense of self-worth is under attack
- Accounts that attempt to neutralize the stigma of deviance don’t always work
13
Q
Rejection & Reaction
A
- Reject stigmatize and abhor the people
- Ppl begin to acquire the identity of a deviant status and take on a deviant role
- Social exclusion is powerful… normative violations & societal reaction… mild to serious
14
Q
Social exclusion
A
- Focus is on the forms of exclusion that are perpetuated in more insidious ways… differentiate & other, marginalization, pathologize/medicalize
- The ‘real world’ is far more complex than most of our academic literature portrays
15
Q
Managing redeemability
A
- status & identity to manage… worthiness and value
- Those ‘helpers’ become gatekeepers… moral entrepreneurs, mandate support people
- Inclusion and exclusion is fluid not fixed… multidimensional, ‘social junk’
- Social exclusions have profoundly negative affect on ppls wellbeing and life experiences… hopelessness (leads to struggle to be resilient
