SOC101Y1 Chapter Notes -General Strain Theory, Official Statistics, Anomie
Document Summary
Human behaviour is not always predictable, rules are not always obeyed, and we don"t always live up to people"s expectations. Surveys confirm that deviance particularly violent interpersonal crime is one of the major discontents of our society. On the other hand, crime and deviance fascinates us (crime stories in our entertainment culture) One way of conceptualizing crime or deviance is to emphasize it"s rule-breaking qualities. All known human societies have norms (i. e. , generally accepted ways of doings things) about appropriate behaviour. Some norms have wide scope, applying to more or less everybody in the community prescriptions against murder and armed robbery, for instance. Other norms may only apply to particular subgroups of society (certains norms for teenagers that might not apply to adults. Norms are enforced in many ways, both formally and informally. At the formal level, norms are enforced with laws regulated by a criminal justice system that includes police, courts, prisons, etc.
