SOCI 1210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Social Disorganization Theory, Sociological Theory, Symbolic Interactionism
20 Jun 2018
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Theories
Deviance and crime have always been of interest to sociologists
-why does deviance occur?
-how does it affect a society?
The theories can be grouped according to the three major sociological paradigms:
-functionalism
-symbolic interactionism
-conflict theory
Functionalist theory
-concerned with how the different elements of a society contribute to the whole
-society a whole system, greater than the sum of its parts
-all parts contribute to the functioning of the whole
-system seeks a state of equilibrium
-deviance always present in societies, thus it’s a key component of a functioning society
Durkheim
-Deviance is a necessary part of a successful society
-challenges people’s present views
-if change is needed to adapt to some new social or material reality, deviance provides a means
to start the conversation
-when punished, it reaffirms currently held social norms
-allows society to make a n example of person exhibiting deviant behaviour
Social Disorganization Theory
-university of chicago in the 1920-1930
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-asserts that crime is most likely to occur in communities with weak social ties and the absence of social
control
-absence of moral and social solidarity provides the conditions for social deviance to emerge.
-mapped the zones in chicago where high levels of social problems were concentrated
-zones particularly prone to social disorder: mixture of races, immigrant ethnic groups, and non english
languages, and a high rate of influx and turn over
-zones were prone to social disorder because the residents had not yet assimilated to the american way
of life
-when they did assimilate they moved out, making it difficult for a stable social ecology to become
established there
-speaks to an inability of a social system to establish equilibrium
-argues that broad social factors are the cause of deviance
-a person is not born a criminal, but becomes one over time, often based on factors in his or her social
environment
Control Theory
-social control directly affected by strength of social bonds
-many people would willing to break laws or act in deviant ways to reap the rewards
-those who do are those who are only weakly controlled by social restrictions
Strain Theory
-Agreed that deviance is a normal behaviour in a functioning society
-Expanded on Durkheim’s ideas by developing strain theory
-notes that access to socially acceptable goals plays a part in determining whether a person
conforms or deviates
-those who conform, either have that access or accept their situation, and thus choose either conformity
or ritualism
-deviants tend to be people that lack access to socially acceptable goals, and choose to retreat, rebel, or
innovates
-conformists
-conformity: the majority of people in society choose to conform and not to deviate. They
pursue their society’s valued goals to the extent that they can through socially acceptable means.
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Document Summary
Deviance and crime have always been of interest to sociologists. The theories can be grouped according to the three major sociological paradigms: Concerned with how the different elements of a society contribute to the whole. Society a whole system, greater than the sum of its parts. All parts contribute to the functioning of the whole. Deviance always present in societies, thus it"s a key component of a functioning society. Deviance is a necessary part of a successful society. If change is needed to adapt to some new social or material reality, deviance provides a means to start the conversation. When punished, it reaffirms currently held social norms. Allows society to make a n example of person exhibiting deviant behaviour. Asserts that crime is most likely to occur in communities with weak social ties and the absence of social control. Absence of moral and social solidarity provides the conditions for social deviance to emerge.
