SOCI 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Relativism, Deterrence Theory, Upper Class
Document Summary
Negative deviance: behavior that under-conforms to accepted norms: examples- obesity, unconcerned students. Positive deviance: over-conforms to societal norms and creates imbalance and extremes of perfectionism: examples- straight a students, body builders, wearing too much make-up. The anti-miscegenation law prohibited having sex with or marrying a person from another race. This anti-miscegenation law took effect in virginia of 1691. There are two ways deviance can be defined: absolutism states behavior is inherently good or inherently bad. The rightness or wrongness of it exists prior to humanly created rules and judgements: relativism states that deviance is socially constructed and can change as our judgements change. An expectation- norms that define appropriate, acceptable behavior inn society. A reaction- the group or society reacts to the deviance. It can be through avoidance, criticism, warnings, and punishment. Emile durkheim- structural functional suggests that deviance has many positive functions for society, like bringing people in society together.
