SOCIOLOGY
Any behavior that violates a
norm of a particular society.
Deviance cannot exist
independently from norms.
Some norms violations are
tolerated, some are dealt with harshly. (E.g. Bad
Norms governs what a society believes to be
deviant.
As norm varies between different societies,
deviance also varies.
The definitions of deviance in a society also
change over time.
The degree of tolerance for the deviance act also
varies.
Dysfunctions:
Negative/disruptive
consequences
Interferes with operations
of institutional life
Can affect morale of
non-deviants negatively
Erodes societal trust
Functions:
Positive/integrative consequences
Promotion of conformity/Strengthen
social cohesion
Censuring deviance clarifies
boundaries
Classify and observing deviance can
warn non-deviant majority
Sometimes deviance can be a
catalyst for change
Social control: Methods that regulate behavior within
society.
Three Main Types of Social Control:
1. Those that leads us to internalize what society considers “normal”
2. Those that structure our world of social experiences
3. Those that employ social sanctions
1. Those that leads us to
internalize what society considers “normal”
Internalization: process by
which individuals incorporate within their personalities the standards of behavior
prevalent within the larger society via socialization.
2. Those that structure our world of social experiences
Our social structures shape our experiences. Our sense of reality is largely determined by
our society.
If we remain within a certain limited world, we
may not be aware that other standards exist.
3. Those that employ social sanctions
Informal Sanctions
Occur in small communities, peer groups, or
family.
Formal Sanctions
Reaction of official agents
E.g. Police, Court judgments
Functionalist Vs. Conflict Theorists
Functionalist: see it as indispensible
because if many people break society’s
behavioral standards, there will be a break down in order and chaos would result.
Conflict Theorists: See it as a tool of
powerful groups to maintain existing social structures which benefit the powerful.
Anomie
(Theory of Structural Strain)
Control
Conflict
Cultural Transmission
Labeling
Social Consensus
Hold the society together.
The members of the society agree upon,
and work together to achieve, what is best for society as a whole.
Based on Durkheim’s concept of
‘Social Integration’.
Durkheim
A social condition in which people find it difficult
to guide their behavior by norms that they experience as weak, unclear, or conflicting.
The lack or breakdown of the framework by
which individuals use to interact with others => lack of social consensus
When people’s expectations about rewards and
gratifications are not closely matched by what they actually receive.
E.g. Economic Downturn
Robert K. Merton
Adaptation of Durkheim’s ‘Anomie’
( American Life)
This theory traces the origins of deviance to
the tensions that are caused by the gap between cultural goals and the means people have available to achieve those goals.
Anomie
(Functionalist Perspective)
Example: Material Wealth = Social Goal
Only some means are institutionally acceptable (Norms) E.g. Securing good education/Get good jobs
Not all have access to means which are institutionally
acceptable
Those who internalized the goals but do not have the
means are pushed by structural strains towards unconventional means
- E.g. Crimes
Question:
Why don’t people deviate?
Elements of the Social Bond
Travis Hirschi
Four components to social bond:
1. Attachment:
The process of being connected in social relationships with other members in
the community.
Caring about one’s another’s opinion
2. Involvement:
Involvement in conventional activities would keep someone's time too
occupied to allow him to pursue deviant behavior.
3. Commitment:
People with high social and emotional investment are less likely to be deviant.
4. Belief:
The stronger the belief in society’s values, the less likely it is that deviance will
occur.
Capitalist class are able to exploit and rob
the masses.
Individuals victimized by capitalist
oppression are driven by their struggle to survive to commit deviant acts
Some moral degeneration fostered by the
oppression of the poor leads also lead to other types of deviance. (e.g. alcoholism, domestic violence)
Richard Quinney:
Crimes of Domination
Crimes of Economic Domination
: committed by capitalists to secure their position in the system.
Crimes of Control and Crimes of Government
: committed by officials
Crimes of Accommodation
Predatory Crimes
: Crimes to survive in the capitalist social order. (i.e. burglary, drug dealing)
Personal Crimes
: Crimes by those brutalized by the conditions of capitalism. (i.e. assault, rape)
Crimes of Resistance
: Acts of resistance (i.e. protests, sabotage)
Deviance is culturally
transmitted within certain subcultures.
An individual’s
cultural conditions help determine
his/her likelihood of and attitudes towards deviance.
Cultural Transmission Theory
Labeling theorists’ key interest:
process by which some individuals come to
be tagged as “deviants”, begin to think of themselves as deviants and enter deviant careers.
Labeling Theory
The Social Reaction to Deviance Approach:
Every person engages in primary deviance.
“Primary Deviance”: are behaviors that violate social norms but may go unnoticed by the
agents of social control.
Whether people’s act will be seen as deviant depends on which rules society chooses to
enforce, in which situations and with respect to which people.
The Social Reaction to Deviance Approach (cont.):
Labeling people as deviant locks them into outsider status, inducing
secondary deviance.
“Secondary Deviance”: deviance individuals adopt in response to the
reactions of other individuals.
A deviant label stigmatizes a person and pushes him/her into a deviant
subculture.
By joining a deviant group, it strengthens a deviant self-image, foster a
deviant lifestyle and weakens ties to the law-abiding community.
A ‘Self-fulfilling Prophecy’
