Transcript What is Deviance? - National Paralegal College

Essentials of
Sociology
9th Edition
Chapter 6: Deviance
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Deviance and Social Control
Chapter Overview

What is Deviance?

The Symbolic


The Conflict
Perspective
Interactionist

Types of Crime
Perspective

The U.S. Prison System
The Functionalist
Perspective
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Deviance and Social Control
What is
Deviance?
“It is not the act itself, but the reaction to the act, that
make something deviant.”
Howard Becker, 1966
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Deviance and Social Control
What is
Deviance?
 Deviance is a violation of
societal norms
 What is deviant to some is not
deviant to others
 “Deviance” is a
nonjudgmental term
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Deviance and Social Control
Stigma
Stigma –Erving Goffman
 A person can have a stigma and be considered deviant
 A stigma is a blemish on ones identity
 A stigma is a violation of norms of appearance and
ability
 A person can have a stigma by being a member of an
involuntary group
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Deviance and Social Control
Norms and
Social Life
 Norms Make Social Life Possible by Making
Behavior Predictable
 Informal and Formal Norms (crimes)
 Norms Bring About Social Order
 Societies have formal and informal means to
enforce norms and this is referred to as Social Control
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Deviance and Social Control
Explanations of
Deviance
Sociobiology
 Look for Answers Inside Individuals
 Genetic Predispositions
Psychologists
 Focus on Conditions Within Individuals
 Personality Disorders
Sociology
 Sociologists look for Answers Outside
Individuals
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Deviance and Social Control
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective:
Differential Association Theory
Created by Edwin Sutherland
We learn to deviate by those we associate with in our
lives
 This includes family, friends, and neighbors
 50 % of people in prison also have a father, mother,
brother, or sister that have also committed a crime
 Prison or freedom?
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Deviance and Social Control
Symbolic Interactionist
Perspective: Control Theory
Created by Travis Hirschi
We all want to commit deviant acts but we don’t
because of inner and outer controls
 The stronger the controls, the less likely deviance is to
occur
 Inner controls: Conscience, Morals, Religious Beliefs
 Outer controls: Attachments, Commitments,
Involvements in society
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Deviance and Social Control
Symbolic Interactionist
Perspective: Labeling Theory


Created by Howard Becker
Labels propel us into deviance or can divert us away
from it
 Techniques of Neutralization: 5 ways people reject
labels
 Denial of Responsibility, Denial of Injury, Denial of
a Victim, Condemnation of the Condemners, Appeal
to Higher Loyalties
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Deviance and Social Control
Functionalist
Perspective
Can Deviance Be Functional?
 According to Durkheim, deviance is
functional because:
1) It affirms moral boundaries
2) Promotes Social Unity
3) Promotes Social Change
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Deviance and Social Control
Functionalist
Perspective
Strain Theory
 Robert Merton created the Strain Theory
We are all socialized to want certain cultural
goals but we don’t all have the means to
attain those goals
 People develop strain and a sense of anomie
(normlessness)
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Deviance and Social Control
Functionalist Perspective:
Responses to Strain





Conformity – This is the most common response to
strain and is a non-deviant response
Innovator – Wants to achieve cultural goals but uses
illegitimate methods
Ritualism – Has given up on attaining cultural goals but
still clings to conventional means of conduct
Retreatism – Rejects cultural goals and means to attain
those goals
Rebellionism – Rejects cultural goals and tries to
replace them with own goals
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Deviance and Social Control
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Deviance and Social Control
Conflict Perspective


The law is used as a means to oppress the masses
Those who have the wealth and power often
bypass the law and others must pay full penalties
 Every once in a while someone from the upper
social classes is “showcased” so as to appear fair
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Deviance and Social Control
Two Types of Crime
White Collar Crime
Street Crime
 Crime that is
 Often committed by
committed by those who
those of the lower social
have wealth and power
classes as a way to
survive
 Corporate crime is a
type of white collar
 Includes property
crime
crime
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Deviance and Social Control
The U.S. Prison System





The U.S. has the highest amount of prisoners in the
world
Many prisons face overcrowding
The recidivism rate is high; 2/3 of those who
commit violent crimes are rearrested
The majority of prisoners are male, have a high
school education, and are from the lower to middle
social classes
What should be the purpose of prisons?
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Deviance and Social Control
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Deviance and Social Control
Figure 6.1 Some States Are Safer: Violent Crime in the United States
Note: Violent crimes are murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. As this figure illustrates, violent crime varies widely among the states. The
chance of becoming a victim of these crimes is seven times higher in South Carolina, the most dangerous state, than in Maine, the safest state.
Washington, D.C., not a state, is in a class by itself. Its rate of 1,508 is thirteen times higher than Maine’s rate.
Source: By the author. Based on Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009:Table 297.
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Deviance and Social Control
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Deviance and Social Control
Figure 6.3 Recidivism of U.S. Prisoners
Note: The individuals were not necessarily rearrested for the same crime for which they had originally been imprisoned.
Source: By the author. Based on Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 2003:Table 6.50.
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Deviance and Social Control