Chapter 6: Deviance

Merton's typology of deviance

Robert Merton provided a bridge between functionalist and conflict theories in his example of deviance Different orientations toward society's goals and differential access to the means to achieve those goals combine to create different categories of deviance.

Deviance

a behavior, trait, belief, or other characteristic that violates a norm and causes a negative reaction in a particular group;norms and group reactions are necessary to define this

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

Rehabilitation

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 he crime as the appropriate goal

Deterrence

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

In Group Orientation

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

Stereotype Threat

a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy in which the fear of performing poorly- and confirming stereotypes about their social groups - causes students to perform poorly part of self-fulfilling prophecies.

Outsiders

according to Howard Becker, those labeled deviant and subsequently segregated from "normal" society people living in one way or another outside mainstream society.

Positive Deviance

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

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; measures police effectiveness by comparing the number of arrests to the number of crimes committed

Functionalism

argue that each element of social structure helps maintain the stability of society.

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

Theories of Deviance

functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism—can be applied to deviance.

Primary Deviance

in labeling theory, the initial 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

symbolic interactionism

interactionists consider the way that interpersonal relationships and everyday interactions shape definitions of deviance.

Cyberbullying

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

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; three main types: physical, moral, and tribal from the Greek word tattoo

Innovators

individuals who accept society's approved goals but not society's approved means to achieve them (Ex: seek financial success, goal of society, through unconventional means such as drug dealing)

Ritualists

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

Conformists

individuals who pursue approved goals through approved means; the only combination of goals and means that is no deviant

Rebels

individuals who reject society's approved goals and means and instead create and work toward their own, sometimes revolutionary, goals using new means

Retreatists

individuals who renounce society's approved goals and means entirely and live outside conventional norms altogether (Ex: dropouts or hermits)

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 respond to the labeled person proposes that deviance is not inherent in any act, belief, or condition; instead, it is determined by the social context.

Stereotype Promise

a kind of self-fulfilling promise in which positive stereotypes, such as the "model minority" label applied to Asian Americans, lead to positive performance outcomes for Asian Americans

There are three main types of stigma:

physical (including physical or mental impairments), moral (signs of a flawed character), and tribal (membership in a discredited or oppressed group).

Passing

presenting yourself as a member of a different group than the stigmatized group you belong to concealing stigmatizing information. Ferris, Kerry; Stein, Jill. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology (Fifth Edition) (Page 159). W. W. Norton & Company. Kindle Edition.

Deviance Avowal

process by which an individual self-identifies as deviant and initiates her own labeling process provoke others to do so, a condition Ralph Turner (1972) calls

Tertiary Deviance

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

conflict theory

study inequalities of wealth and power, note that inequalities are present in our definitions of deviance as well. In other words, conflict theorists believe that rules are applied unequally and that punishments for rule violators are unequally distributed: those at the top are subject to different rules and sanctions than those nearer the bottom, and the behaviors of less powerful groups and individuals are more likely to be criminalized than the behaviors of the powerful.

STRUCTURAL STRAIN THEORY

that an individual's position in the social structure will affect his experience of deviance and conformity. Social inequality can create situations in which people experience tension (or strain) between the goals society says they should be working toward (like financial success) and the means they have available to meet those goals (not everyone is able to work hard at a legitimate job).

Approaches that focus exclusively on background factors neglect one very important element:

the deviant's in-the-moment experience of committing a deviant act, what sociologist Jack Katz refers to as the "foreground" of deviance.

Social Control

the formal and informal mechanism used to elicit conformity to values and norms and thus promote social cohesion

Capital Punishment

the legally authorized execution of an individual as a punishment for crimes they committed; the death penalty