SOC100H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Conflict Theories, Main Source, White-Collar Crime
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SOC100H5 Full Course Notes
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Document Summary
The social definition of deviance and crime: because norms vary widely, deviance is relative (connected). What some people consider normal, others consider deviant and vice versa. No act is deviant in and of itself. People commit deviant acts only when they break a norm and cause others to react negatively: from a sociological point of view, everyone is a deviant in one social context or another. Just as deviance is relative, so is crime. Sanctions: many deviant acts go unnoticed or are considered too trivial to warrant a negative sanctions actions. It is imposed during face-to-face interaction, rather than by the judicial system. 2) authorities and public decide which criminal acts to report and which to ignore, for example if authorities decide to crack down on drugs, more drug related crimes will be reported. Symbolic interactionist approaches to deviance and crime: people may learn deviant and criminal behaviour when they interact with others.
