SOC 2070 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Ingroups And Outgroups, Social Control, Discourse Analysis

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 2070
• Professor: Norman Dubeski

Document Summary

Consensus theorists recognize that there inevitably will be at least some value conflicts among different individuals and groups in every human society. Consensus theorists argue that the role of the organized state is to mediate these conflicts and to represent the common values and interests of the society. Conflict theorists argue that interests ultimately determine values. They argue that the organized state does not represent common interests, but instead represents the interests of those with sufficient power to control its operation. As a results more powerful people are legally freer to pursue self-interests, while less powerful people who pursue self-interests are more likely to be officially defined and processed as criminal. In 1938, thorton sellin presented a theory of criminology that focused on the conflict of conduct norms . Conduct norms are cultural rules that require certain types of people to act in certain ways in certain circumstances. Sellin defined primary cultural conflicts as those occurring between two divergent cultures.