SOC 214 Study Guide - Spring 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Canada, Substance Abuse, Positivism
SOC 214
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Chapter 1 text: determining deviance
• Questioning legitimacy of government, law, systems: there is still right and wrong that cannot
e justified y ritial thikig. We still hae orals that should’t e aadoed.
Who is deviant? How do we know who is deserving of that label?
• Implied understanding of deviance- wrong/bad/weird
• Timeframe, context and culture all need to be considered when labelling something as deviant
• Objective definition:
o Deviance is a quality- oe a thief alays a thief- deviance is fixed in character
o a common trait.
o Behaviours or characteristics which have that trait
• Subjective definition:
o Deviance is a process (committing deviance and labelling others: dynamic: changing eg.
Social smokers.)
o not common trait.
o Behaviours that people in power say need control.
• Objectivism: common traits that define deviance:
o Statistical rarity (smokers, green hair, convicted of crime etc)
▪ Limitations:
▪ riteria for rare are aiguous. What % is rare? 49?39?2?%
▪ Common acts may be considered unacceptable. Statistically not rare,
but deviant eg. Underage drinking
▪ Some rare characteristics considered acceptable eg. Geniuses, sports
prodigies
▪ What if the majority is wrong? Do we need deviance?
▪ Only having positive reinforcement/feedback is dangerous. This limits
creativity/advancement/adaptation. Statistically rare individuals serve
as corrections/alternatives when society faces stagnation. Learn from
the rare.
▪ Majority alays rog he it oes to high perforae-If you do
hat eeryoe else is doig you’re ot distiguishig yourself.
• Harm (Harm can be criminal, physical, emotional, psychological, social, ontological (new
religions))
▪ Limitations:
▪ Perceptions of harm are subjective. Eg. Nuns who do not wear a habit,
feminist.
▪ Perceptions of harm vary over time eg, drinking, smoking, masturbation.
• Negative societal reaction: (reactions are subjective, we can have a negative societal reaction
ee if soethig is’t harful)
▪ People, behaviours, and harateristis that soiety’s asses
dislike/hate/fear/distrust
▪ Limitations:
▪ Criteria for deteriig soiety’s asses is ulear
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▪ “oe people’s reatios hae greater ipat tha others.
▪ People ay e deiatized ee he soiety’s asses reat positiely
eg, marijuana criminalization despite public approval for
decriminalization
• Normative violation (how often/normal is it to violate this): People, behaviors or characteristics
that violate societal norms→changing views of norms.
▪ Cultural specific view of norms→absolutist view of norms
▪ Limitations:
▪ Lack of consensus over norms: society made up of many groups, varied
expectations for behavior
▪ Does the criminal law reflect consensus?
Consensual vs. conflict vs interactionist views
• Subjectivism: Deviance= people behaviour or characteristic that people in power say need of
control.
o Not a quality but a process. Importance of dominant moral codes.
o Deviance is socially constructed
• Levels of social construction: Global, Sociocultural, Institutional, Interactional, Individual
• Objective: Statistical rarity, harm, normative violation, negative societal reactions. Focus on
deviant act
• Subjective: dominant moral codes, social construction, power. Focus on our perceptions of and
reactions to the act.
• Social typing process:
description (the label) → Evaluation (the judgement)→ Prescription (social control)
• Forms of social control:
formal vs informal, retroactive vs preventative, regulation of others vs. self regulation
• Agents of power: individual who indemnified a social problem and mobilized resources to
resolve that problem
o Politicians, scientists, religious institutions, media, commercial enterprise
o Moral entrepreneurs^
• How scientific communities serve as agents of power
o Religious power: Scholasticism (latin- schola/ scholasticus)
Scientific/academic communities evolved out of ancient ideological institutions like
religion
o Political power- tanks, policy advisors
o Economic Power (capital) eg, sugar, tobacco, alcohol addiction
• Modernization, rationalization and rise of scientific communities as agents of power
• Knowledge justification/stigmatization of behaviors
o Incest taboo & shift of boundaries
o Stigmatization of LGBT
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find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Chapter 1 text: determining deviance: questioning legitimacy of government, law, systems: there is still right and wrong that cannot (cid:271)e justified (cid:271)y (cid:272)riti(cid:272)al thi(cid:374)ki(cid:374)g. we still ha(cid:448)e (cid:373)orals that should(cid:374)"t (cid:271)e a(cid:271)a(cid:374)do(cid:374)ed. 49?39?2?: common acts may be considered unacceptable. Do we need deviance: only having positive reinforcement/feedback is dangerous. Statistically rare individuals serve as corrections/alternatives when society faces stagnation. Learn from the rare. (cid:862)majority al(cid:449)ays (cid:449)ro(cid:374)g (cid:449)he(cid:374) it (cid:272)o(cid:373)es to high perfor(cid:373)a(cid:374)(cid:272)e(cid:863)-if you do (cid:449)hat e(cid:448)eryo(cid:374)e else is doi(cid:374)g you"re (cid:374)ot disti(cid:374)guishi(cid:374)g yourself: harm (harm can be criminal, physical, emotional, psychological, social, ontological (new religions)) Consensual vs. conflict vs interactionist views: subjectivism: deviance= people behaviour or characteristic that people in power say need of control, not a quality but a process. Importance of dominant moral codes: deviance is socially constructed. Levels of social construction: global, sociocultural, institutional, interactional, individual: objective: statistical rarity, harm, normative violation, negative societal reactions. Focus on deviant act: subjective: dominant moral codes, social construction, power.
