SOCY 1004 Lecture 1: Course Introduction
Document Summary
Deviance is all around us - it ranges from minor things like wearing inappropriate clothes to a social event to major things like terrorist activity or mass shootings. These types of behavior share commonalities that will help us to understand what makes something deviant. These ideas are focused on the social construction of deviance. Social construction of deviance is making the suggestion that nothing is inherently deviant, but social construction determines what is labeled as deviant and other things are not labeled as deviant. This explains why things that were once not deviant are now labeled as deviant in society. Essential to look at the social response to deviance: social control. How society acts in ways that are intended to stop/limit deviance in society. Studying deviance from a sociological perspective: deviance as a social process. The social reaction is essential to our studying. Read over and review the syllabus: what can you expect and how you will be evaluated!
