SA 150 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Structural Functionalism, White-Collar Crime, Labeling Theory

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Sociology and Anthropology
• Course: SA 150
• Professor: Amie Mc Lean

Document Summary

Star can represent the stars that jewish people had to wear. Crime: the violation of society"s formally enacted criminal law. Believed that we can find deviance from biological differences. What is deviant in one society is normal in another. Cultural universals: taboos against incest, what we find humorous. Deviance varies based on cultural norms and based on history. People become deviant as others define them that way. Strain theory suggests that everyone measures things the same way wealth/success. Main critique is that not everybody shares the same ideas of how to evaluate right and wrong. The law in its majestic equality forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges. Stigma: norms/laws reflect the interest of the powerful, powerful can resist deviant labels. Bank example: they are too big to imprison. The rich and powerful are able to avoid being titled deviant (donald trump: norms and laws are political. Look at a society on a small scale.