YOUTH DEVIANCE + SOCIALISATION - section A

Question 1

INTRO

Answer 1

• Deviance is defined as “any behaviour that does not conform to social norms… that is considered offensive by a large number of people.”
• In CAS, young people = more likely to engage in deviant behaviour compared to other social groups
• Evaluated using sociological theories (social control, labelling, cultural trans, structural strain)
• Through these, the role of socialisation in fostering deviant behaviour in young people is illustrated

Question 2

SOCIAL CONTROL (funct, conf + fem)

Answer 2

• Social control theory hypothesises that deviance is a given
• however, through mechanisms of social control we are discouraged, or prevented, from deviating
• known as sanctions (formal, informal, positive and negative)

Functionalist - Travis Hirschi
- conformity is based on strength of 4 bonds an indv has to society (attachment, commitment, involvement, belief)
- as adolescents are “incompletely socialised” lesser developed bonds = t/f engage in more deviance than adults
- STIMULUS
- … this deviance shown… by adolescents arose due to a lack of these connections experienced during socialisation.

Conflict theorist - Michel Foucault
- H/w, Foucault counters that excessive control during socialisation often has unintended effect = encourage deviance
- STIMULUS

Feminist - Frances Heidensohn
- F/m, greater social control (sanctions) placed on girls = discourages deviance, encourages passivity/conformity
- contrastingly boys face lesser sanctions, leading to greater deviance
- STIMULUS/supported by ABS statistics, suggesting boys are more likely to be perpretators of crime, with 75%
- … higher level of conformity and submission to society in comparison to male… who has turned to deviance

Overall, SCT indicates deviance in young people arises from sanctions, or a lack thereof, during socialisation.

Question 3

LABELLING THEORY (int)

Answer 3

Symbolic interactionist lens - labelling theory suggests that social groups create deviance when they label the behaviours of others as such.

Interactionists - Edwin Lemert + Howard Becker
- developed two distinct phases
- Primary deviance (temporary, exploratory, more trivial)
- Secondary deviance (habitualised, internalised)
- STIMULUS?

Interactionist - Harold Garfunkel
- adds that to progress to 2ndary, indv must undergo a process ‘degradation ceremony’ - publically shamed and labelled for their deviance
- this causes them to (cons or subcons) accept the deviant behaviour + behave according to new self-image
- often occurs during secondary socialisation, where individuals are more susceptible to be influenced by external pressures to behave or think in certain ways
- STIMULUS

Criticism
- however, been criticised for the way labelling/degred ceremony sometimes serves its intended purpose, serving as an effective warning or deterrent from deviance
- STIMULUS?

Despite this - LT provides insight into why young people more frequently adopt deviant behaviours, due to internalisation of societal labels during socialisation.

Question 4

CULTURAL TRANSMISSION (int)

Answer 4

• alternative symbolic interactionist approach, presents deviance as a learned behaviour, transmitted through generations through our interactions with other people

Edwin Sutherland
- known as ‘differential association’, coined by Edwin Sutherland theorising that people learn deviant behaviours as a result of his or her life experiences
- in other words, deviance manifests due to sufficient exposure to it during socialisation.
- several factors contribute to determing this: Age (more likely to be influenced during primary + secondary socialisation), Intensity (strength of the relationship between indv and the influence), Ratio (how often indv is exposed to deviance vs conformity)
- STIMULUS

Albert Cohen
- Additionally, fellow interactionist suggests a ‘delinquent subculture’
- Deviance encouraged through positive sanctions individuals receive from the peer group
- esp prominent in adolescents (secondary soc phase where peer group is one of most influential agents of soc)
- STIMULUS
- … demonstrating how gaining recognition and prestige from his friends incited his behaviour

Through CT, deviance in young people can be understood due to the learning of new N, V + B which are transmitted to individuals during the early phases of socialisation.

Question 5

CONCLUSION

Answer 5

• common occurrence of deviance among young people can be evaluated through these sociological theories
• Within SCT, funct Hirschi, conf Foucault, and fem Heidensohn illustrate how sanctions during socialisation may prevent or produce deviance.
• LT, according to interactionists Becker and Lemert = deviance arises through society’s labelling of individuals leading to internalisation.
• CT proposes deviance something that is transmitted due to sufficient exposure to it during socialisation, as developed by interactionists Sutherland and Cohen.