SOCY 1004 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Salem Witch Trials, Drug Abuse Resistance Education, Scapegoating
Document Summary
Deviance and its consequences are constructed by groups of people and institutions. There are a number of theoretical perspectives that can help us understand the process. *labeling theory (constructiv the deviant vs. constructing deviance) Deviance is socially constructed - not a random process. One of the first functionalist social thinkers. (cid:862)what is (cid:374)o(cid:396)(cid:373)al, si(cid:373)pl(cid:455), is the e(cid:454)iste(cid:374)(cid:272)e of (cid:272)(cid:396)i(cid:373)e, p(cid:396)o(cid:448)ided that it attai(cid:374)s a(cid:374)d does (cid:374)ot e(cid:454)(cid:272)eed a (cid:272)e(cid:396)tai(cid:374) le(cid:448)el. (cid:863) Deviance is a necessary and important part of the social world. Deviance will always exist because of this necessity. Looking further into the quotes listed above: Crime or deviant behavior is not an abnormal aspect of society - it is normal, functional, and important. It serves a purpose or function. (what purpose?) Even if we limited all the murder, rape, robbery, etc. we would have to come up with some kind of new behavior that we could consider deviant.
