SOC101Y1 Chapter 12: Deviance and Crime
Deviance: any behaviour or physical appearance that is socially
challenged and/or condemned because it departs from the norms and
expectations of some group
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Ex: how to greet a friend
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Know they exist
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Accept them
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Enforce them uniformly
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Think they are important
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Back them up with force of law
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Adhere to them in public and private
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Norms depend on whether people
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Some exist to prevent harm, others exist with no valid reason
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Norms: rules and expectations for the way people are supposed to
behave, feel, and appear in a particular social situation
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What makes something deviant relies on an audience that regard it
as deviant and takes some action to discourage it
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Study context under which something becomes deviant
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Based on social group that determines deviance
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Any behaviour can be deemed deviant
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No society without deviance
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It is impossible for all to be exactly alike
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Groups lose identity if they don't persecute
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Durkheim: 'acts that offend collective sentiments'
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Sociological Perspective
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Depends on: claim markers' access to media, available
resources, position in society, skills in fund raising, promotion
and organization
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Labels of claim makers tend to evoke specific cause,
consequences, solution to problem
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Claims makers : those who articulate and promote claims and who
tend to gain in some way if targeted audience accepts as true
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Who defines what is deviant?
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“Defining Deviance,” in Commit Sociology, vol 1 p370-375
Usually follow prescribed norms / rules
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Norms that govern behaviour
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Social control: systematic practices developed by social groups to
encourage conformity and discourage deviance
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What is Deviance?
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“Crime and Deviance,” in Commit Sociology, vol 1 p376-409
Reading 2.1: Deviance & Crime
January 11, 2017
12:00 PM
READINGS Page 131
encourage conformity and discourage deviance
Socialization: individuals internalize societal norms and values
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Negative sanctions: punish rulebreakers and non-conforming acts
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All societies have some degree of deviance
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Deviance is relative - act becomes deviant when it is socially
defined as such
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What is deviant is changing : ex: racism
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Some forms of behaviour are defined as crimes
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Defining deviance
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Strain theory: people feel strain when they are
exposed to cultural goals they cannot achieve
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Poor turn to deviance - only method
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Robert Merton: in a smoothly functioning society deviance
will be limited because most people share common
cultural goals and agree upon appropriate means for
reaching them
Strain
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Cloward and Ghlin: access to illegitimate opportunity
structures - circumstances that provide opportunity for
people to acquire through crime what they can't go legally
Economic gain, territory, money
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3 types of subculture: criminal, conflict, retreatist
Opportunity
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No families, churches - strong bonds that prevent
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Communities that are lacking control (disorganized)
Attachment to other people
1.
Commitment to conventional lines of behaviour
2.
Involvement in activities
3.
Belief in norms and convention
4.
Social bond theory : likelihood of deviant behaviour
increases when ties to society are weak or broken
Contra
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Functionalist perspective
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Individuals have a greater tendency to deviate from social
norms when they frequently associate with people who
favour deviance
Edwin Sutherland
Differential Association Theory
1.
Deviants are those people that have been labelled as such
by others
Labelling Theory
2.
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
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Sociological Perspectives on Crime and Deviance
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READINGS Page 132
Document Summary
Defining deviance, in commit sociology, vol 1 p370-375. Deviance: any behaviour or physical appearance that is socially challenged and/or condemned because it departs from the norms and expectations of some group. Norms: rules and expectations for the way people are supposed to behave, feel, and appear in a particular social situation. Some exist to prevent harm, others exist with no valid reason. What makes something deviant relies on an audience that regard it as deviant and takes some action to discourage it. It is impossible for all to be exactly alike. Claims makers : those who articulate and promote claims and who tend to gain in some way if targeted audience accepts as true. Depends on: claim markers" access to media, available resources, position in society, skills in fund raising, promotion and organization. Labels of claim makers tend to evoke specific cause, consequences, solution to problem. Crime and deviance, in commit sociology, vol 1 p376-409.
