SOCA02H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Michel Foucault, Criminal Stereotype Of African Americans, Forego
Document Summary
Week 3: chapter 7 deviance and crime. Deviance: occurs when someone departs from a norm and evokes a negative reaction from others. Thus, no act is inherently deviant or normal. Law: norm stipulated and enforced by government bodies. Laws are reactionary, what is legal today may become illegal tomorrow and vice versa. People can be named criminals even though today they are seen as heroes, this is because norms and laws change over time (ex. Stigmatized: negatively evaluated because of a marker that distinguishes them from others and that is labelled as socially unacceptable (goffman) Informal punishment: involves a mild sanction that is imposed during face to face interaction, not by the judicial system (ex. raised eyebrows, gossiping) Formal punishment: takes place when the judicial system penalizes someone for breaking a law (ex. jail, community service) Types of deviance and crime vary based on severity of the social response, perceived harmfulness, and degree of public harmfulness.
