SOC 2070 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Social Change, Molehill, Essentialism

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 2070
• Professor: Norman Dubeski

Document Summary

The sociology of deviance as non-pejorative: every one of us has our own views, and those views may agree or disagree with the audiences whose reactions we are looking at. Deviance does not refer to immorality or psychopathology; sociologically, it means one thing and one thing only: the violation of social norms that can result in punishment, condemnation, or ridicule it is a descriptive, not pejorative term. Societal and situational deviance: there are two sides to judgments of deviance: Attitudes refer to unpopular, unconventional beliefs that may or may not manifest themselves in overt actions. Behaviour is made up of any overt action (which includes the failure to act) that is likely to attract condemnation, hostility, or punishment. Conditions include physical characteristics or traits that, likewise, make someone a target of an audience"s disapproval, avoidance, derision, or other types of negative social reactions.