Sociology Ch: 7

Stigma

Is Erving Goffman's term, for any physical or social attribute, that devalues a person or group's identity, which may exclude those who are devalued from normal social interaction.

Desistance

Is the tendency for people to age out of crime as they get older. For example, 13-17 year olds=25% of criminal arrests, and people 65 and older=1% of arrests.

Primary Deviation

Is the thing that gets someone labeled in the first place.

Differential Association Theory

Asserts that we learn to be deviant through our interactions with others who break the rules.

Labeling Theory

Claims that deviance is a consequence of external judgements, or labels, which both modify the individual's self-concept, and change the way others respond to the labeled person.

Deviance

Is a behavior, trait, belief, or other characteristic, that violates a norm and causes a negative reaction.

Secondary Deviation

Is a deviant identity or career.

Crime

Is a particular type of deviance, that is a violation of a norm that has been codified into a law, for which you could be arrested and imprisoned. For example, if you risked arrest for gossiping about your roommate, you might think twice about doing it.

Deviance Avowal

Is a suggestion that Ralph Turner made, which was to allow individuals to conceive their deviant behavior into roles, rather than an isolated behavior that violates a single norm. For example, in Alcoholics Anonymous, the people that believe that they have a drinking problem, and willingly accept the label of an alcoholic, will be able to take the suggested steps towards recovery.

Criminal Justice System

Is a system that, like any other social institution, reflects the society in which it operates. In other words, while it provides important benefits, like social control and even employment for its workers, it also replicates some of the inequalities of power in our society.

Deviant

Is a term that sociologists use to describe someone's behavior as violating the values and norms, or a particular group.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Is an assumption, usually defined by a label, that causes itself to come true.

Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

Is how crime is officially measured by the FBI in the United States. It also records the number of arrests made, compared with the number of crimes committed, which is the most traditional measure of police effectiveness.

Deterrence

Is how theorists argue about punishment. They say that if the punishment seems to severe, people won't commit the crime.

Passing

Is presenting yourself as a member of a different racial or ethnic group than the one you were born into. For example, a black person concealing their identity, so that they will pass as a white person, to get relief from discrimination.

Incapacitation

Is the notion that criminals should be confined or even executed, to protect society from further injury.

Retribution

Is the notion that society has the right to "get even."

In-Group Orientation

What Goffman says about people that reject the standards that mark them as deviant, and may even actively propose new standards, in which their special identities are well within the normal range. For example, groups like ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) and NAAFA (the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance), have allowed people to have greater self-esteem, and to unite against prejudice and discrimination.

Outsiders

What Howard Becker refers to people living in one way or another outside mainstream society. For example, the punk subculture are assumed, by their distinctive looks, to be loud troublemakers, despite what their individual personality traits may be.

Positive Deviance

When individuals break laws, and are considered heros for doing so. For example, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her front row seat on the bus to a white man and move to the back. She got arrested for doing so, but her arrest triggered a bus boycott and protests, that eventually ended segregation in the South. It also advanced the fight against racial discrimination all across America.

What are the three main types of stigma?

physical, moral, and tribal

White-Collar Crime

Has been defined by sociologist Edwin Sutherland, as a crime that is committed by a person of respectability and high social status. This type of crime can include things like fraud, embezzlement, or insider trading.