Chapter 6- Deviance

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 do not involve violence, including burglary, larceny theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

white collar crime

crime committed by people of high social position in the course of their occupations.

symbolic interactionism

definition of deviance is relative and depends on culture, time period, and situation

conflict theory

definitions and rules of deviance are applied unequally based on power

structural-functionalism

deviance clarifies moral boundaries and promotes social cohesion

labeling theory

deviance is determined by reactions of others; applying deviant labels to an individual may lead thm to further deviance

differential association theory

deviant behavior is learned in interaction with other people who break rules

stigma

evring 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.

labeling theory

howard becker's idea that deviance is a consequence of external judgements, or labels, that modify individual's self-concept and change way others respond to labeled person

innovators

individuals who accept society's approved goals, but not society's approved means to achieve them

theories of deviance

1)structural-functionalism theory -structural strain theory 2)conflict theory 3)symbolic interactionalism -differential association theory -labeling theory

deterrence

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

self-fulfilling prophecy

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

structural strain theory

origins of deviance to the tensions caused by the gap between cultural goal and the means pople have available to achieve those goals.

passing

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

functions of deviance

promote social cohesion; help a society clarify its moral boundaries

in-group orientation

Among stigmatized individuals, the rejection of prevailing judgments or prejudice and the development of new standards that value their group identity (page 165)

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 over 17,000 law enforcement agencies.

cyberbullying

Bullying through Internet applications and technologies such as instant messaging (IM), social networking sites, and cell phones.

differential association theory

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

ritualists

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

retreatists

Individuals who reject both society's approved goals and the means by which to achieve them.

rebels

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

pilfering

Stealing minor items in small amounts, often again and again (page 174)

capital punishment

The Death Penalty

outsiders

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

positive deviance

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

deviance

behavior/trait/belief that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society

merton's typology of deviance

conformity: achieving success through society's accepted methods (hard work and talent) innovation: using unconventional means to achieve a culturally approved goal ritualism: inability to reach a cultural goal, sticking ridgidly to the rules to at least feel respectable retreatism: rejecting both cultural goals and means

secondary deviance

subsequent acts of rule-breaking that occur after primary deviance and as a result of your new deviant label and people's expectations of you.

primary deviance

the first act of rule-breaking that may incur a label of "deviant" and thus influence how people think about and act toward you

incapacitation

the policy of keeping dangerous criminals in confinement to eliminate the risk of their repeating their offense in society

rehabilitation

the restoration of someone to a useful place in society

criminal justice system

the system of police, courts, and prisons set up to deal with people who are accused of having committed a crime

desistance

the tendency of individuals to age out of crime over the life course

crime

the violation of a norm that has been codified into law

structural strain theory

Robert King Merton's argument that, in an unequal society, the tension or strain between socially approved goals and an individual's ability to meet those goals through socially approved means will lead to deviance as individuals reject either the goals or the means or both.

retribution

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

social control

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

tertiary deviance

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