Jaymie Ticknor Intro Sociology 1510 Sect 900 17 October 2013 Chapter 7 Deviance and Crime Defining Deviance Deviance behavior that is recognized as violating expected rules and norms departs significantly from social expectations Four main characteristics emerges in a social context not just the behavior of individuals see deviance in terms of group processes and judgments not all behaviors are judged similarly by all groups what is deviant to one group may be normative not deviant to another established rules and norms are socially created not just morally decided or individually imposed lies not just in behavior itself but in the social responses of groups to behavior by others Sociological Perspectives on Deviance Formal Deviance behavior that breaks laws or official rules Informal Deviance behavior that violates customary norms Labeling Theory recognizes that deviance is not just in the breaking of norms or rules but it includes how people react to those behaviors social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance and by applying those rules to particular people and labeling them as outsiders The Context of Deviance Emile Durkheim argued that one reason acts of deviance are publicly punished is that the social order is threatened by deviance judging those behaviors as deviant and punishing them confirms general social standards Argued that societies actually need deviance to know what presumably normal behavior is considered deviance functional for society deviance produces social solidarity instead of breaking society up deviance produces a pulling together or social solidarity Social Movements networks of groups that organize to support or resist changes in society The Influence of Social Movements The Social Construction of Deviance The public understands deviance as the result of individualistic or personality factors sociologists see deviance as influenced by society the same social processes and institutions that shape all social behavior not necessarily irrational may be positive and rational adaptation to a situation The Medicalization of Deviance Medicalization of Deviance attributes deviant behavior to a sick state of mind where the solution is to cure the deviant through therapy or other psychological treatment Deviance is not a pathological state but an adaptation to the social structures in which people live Sociological Theories of Deviance Functional Theories of Deviance Functionalist theorists argue that deviance is functional because it creates social cohesion deviance is necessary to clarify what society s norms are Durkheim The Study of Suicide Emile Durkheim criticized the usual psychological interpretations of why people commit suicide turning instead to sociological explanations with data emphasized the role of social structure in producing deviance pointed to the importance of people s social attachments to society in understanding deviance elaborated the functionalist view that deviance provides the basis for social cohesion Argued that the causes of suicide were to be found in social factors not individual personalities argued that suicide rates are affected by the different social context in which they emerge Anomie condition that exists when social regulations in a society break down Anomic Suicide occurs when the disintegrating forces in the society make individuals Altruistic Suicide occurs when there is excessive regulation of individuals by social normlessness feel lost or alone forces Egoistic Suicide occurs when people feel totally detached from society Merton Structural Strain Theory Robert Merton Structural Strain Theory traces the origins of deviance to the tensions caused by the gap between cultural goals and the means people have available to achieve those goals Conformity cultural goals are accepted and the institutionalized means toward goal is Innovative Deviance cultural goals are accepted but the institutionalized means toward Ritualistic Deviance cultural goals are not accepted but the institutionalized means Retreatism Deviance cultural goals are not accepted and the institutionalized means available goal is not available toward goal is available toward goal is not available Rebellion old cultural goals are not accepted and old institutionalized means toward goal is not available new cultural goals are accepted and new institutionalized means toward goal is available Social Control Theory Social Control Theory type of functionalist theory that suggests that deviance occurs when a person s or group s attachment to social bonds is weakened people internalize social norms because of their attachments to others Functionalism emphasizes that social structure not just individual motivation produces Functionalism Strengths and Weaknesses deviance crime Conflict Theories of Deviance Control Theory is a macrostructural approach looks at the structure of society as a whole in developing explanations of deviant behavior Corporate Crime crime committed within the legitimate context of doing business Elite Deviance wrongdoing of wealthy and powerful individuals and organizations white collar Social Control process by which groups and individuals within those groups are brought into conformity with dominant social expectations Social Control Agents those who regulate and administer the response to deviance such as the police and mental health workers Conflict Theory Strengths and Weaknesses Insight into the significance of power relationships in the definition identification and handling of deviance links commission perception and treatment of crime to inequality in society and offers a powerful analysis of how the injustices of society produce crime and result in different systems of justice for disadvantaged and privileged groups Symbolic Interaction Theories of Deviance Microsociological theories of deviance look directly at the interactions people have with one another as the origin of social deviance Symbolic Interaction Theory holds that people behave as they do because of the meanings people attribute to situations W I Thomas and the Chicago School W I Thomas one of the early sociologists from the University of Chicago was among the first to develop a sociological perspective on social deviance Explained deviance as a normal response to the social conditions in which people find themselves One of the first to argue that delinquency was caused by the social disorganization brought on by slum life and