SOCI 325 Lecture 4: Sociology 325 1-4
26 Jan 2018
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Document Summary
There are multiple contributors to discussions regarding crime and deviance. Statisticians were the first to identify deviance by categorizing and counting behaviors and establishing what the norm was. Very little moral value was attached to deviation when it was first established statistically. Many norms were derived from this statistical aggregation though. Statisticians describe the norm and deviance describes that which lies outside of the norm. The control of those seen as insane has become an important territory for middle-class professionals. Decisions regarding how to respond to deviance largely reflect power interests. Professional fields lobby for control of different spheres of deviance, primarily by showing how they are intellectually qualified to make the best decisions regarding those deviant behaviors. Deviance gives the professional class a foothold in various institutions. This gives rise to the question of whether crime and deviance exist naturally or if they are perpetuated via social institutions.
