Sociology Chapter 6 Definitions

Innovators

Individuals who accept society's approved goals but not society's approved means to achieve them.

Positive Deviance

actions considered deviant within a given context, but are later reinterpreted as appropriate or even heroic.

White Collar Crime

crime committed by a high-status individual in the course of his occupation.

Violent Crime

crimes in which violence is either the objective or the means to an end, including murder, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery.

Property Crime

crimes that did not involve violence, including burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

Primary Devinace

in labeling theory, the inital act or attitude that causes one to be labeled deviant

Secondary Deviance

in labeling theory, the subsequent deviant identity or career that develops as a result of being labeled deviant.

Rebels

individuals who reject society's approved goals and means and instead create and work worad their own (sometimes revolutionary) goals using new means.

Differential Association Theory

Edwin Sutherland's hypothesis that we learn to be deviant through our associations with deviant peers.

Stigma

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

Ritualists

Individuals who have given up hope of achieving society's approved goals but still operate according to society's approved means.

Deviance

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

Criminal Justice System

a collection of social institutions, such as legislatures, police, courts, and prisons, that create and enforce laws.

Crime

a violation of a norm that has been codified into law.

Outsiders

according to Howard Becker, those labeled deviant and subsequently segregated from "normal" society.

Deterrence

an approach to punishment that relies on the threat of harsh penalties to discourage people from commiting crimes.

Incapacitation

an approach to punishment that seeks to protect society from criminals by imprisoning or executing them.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

an inaccurate statement or belief that, by altering the situation, becomes accurate; a prediction that causes itself to come true.

Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

an official measure of crime in the United States, produced by the FBI's official tabulation of every crime reported by more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies.

Passing

presenting yourself as a member of a different group than the stimatized group you belong to

Deviance Avowal

process by which an individual self-identifies as deviant and initiates her own labeling process.

Capital Punishment

the death penalty

Social Control

the formal and informal mechanisms used to increase conformity to values and norms and thus promote social cohesion.

Cyberbullying

the use of electronic media (web pages, social networking sites, e-mail, instant messengers, and cell phones) to tease, harass, threaten, or humiliate someone.

Labeling Theory

Howard Becker's idea that deviance is a consequence of external judgments, or labels, that modify the individual's self-concept and change the way others responding to the labeled person.

In-group Orientation

among stigmatized individuals, the rejection of prevailing judgments or prejudice and the development of new standards that value their group identity.

Reabilitation

an approach to punishment that attempts to reform criminals as part of their penalty.

Retribution

an approach to punishment that emphasizes retaliation or revenge for the crime as the appropriate goal.

Tertiary Deviance

redefining the stigma associated with a deviant label as a positive phenomenon.

Pilfering

stealing minor items in small amounts, often again and again.