16 Mar 2012
School
Department
Course
Professor
Oct. 18, 2011
Deviance and Social Control
What is Deviance?
- Deviance: behaviour that violates the standards of conduct or explanations of a
group or society.
- Going against the groups values and it is harmful to the group in some way
- Deviant: person whose behaviour is viewed as typically rule-violating (bully)
- Margin of Tolerance: extent to which the commission of an act that is normally
disapproved of, escapes censure
The Power of Deviantizing:
- Deviantizing: the power to define what is acceptable and what is deviant
- Stigma: a label used to devalue members of a certain group in society
- Identifier: visible sign that suggest membership in a particular social role or
group
- Social Distance: lack of closeness in social interaction; degree of separateness
between an individual and the group
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: tendency of people to respond to and act on the basis of
stereotypes, leading to validation of definitions.
Deviance Requires 2 Parts:
1. Some action/condition on the part of the deviant
2. A negative response from the group
Theories of Deviance
Structural Functionalism:
Durkheim:
- Anomie: state where rules are unclear and results in more deviance due to lack
of clarity
- Deviance is functional for keeping social order
Robert Merton:
- Means-end discrepancy: contradictions between culturally encouraged goals and
structurally available means for achieving them
- Anomia: when accepted goals are not matched by available means
Alison Morris:
- Gender is always a barrier to success
Edwin Sutherland:
- Differential Association: violation of rules results from exposure to attitudes
favourable to criminal acts
- White-Collar Crime: illegal activities committed by affluent, respected
individuals in the course of their business activities