Chapter 7: Deviance and Crime, continued, Sections 7.2a to 7.4III. The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective on Deviance and Social ControlSOC 101 Monday, March 29 Lecture Outline PART ONEChapter 7: Deviance and Crime, continued, Sections 7.2a to 7.4III. The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective on Deviance and Social ControlFor the symbolic interactionist approach on deviance, the focus is on memberships in groups and how groups affect behaviorsA. Differential Association Theoryclaims that people learn to either deviate from or conform to society’s norms through thedifferent groups with whom they associatewhat we learn influences us toward or away from deviancefamilies, friends, neighborhoods, and subcultures with which people associate teach us attitudes that, in turn, translate into conforming or deviating behaviorsresearch indicates that delinquents are more likely to come from families who get into trouble with the law research demonstrates that delinquency tends to be clustered in certain neighborhoodswith children from these neighborhoods more likely to become delinquent than children from other neighborhoods Although groups influence behavior, symbolic interactionists also stress that they do notdetermine behavior. People are not destined to think and act as their groups dictate. B. Control Theory According to control theory, people generally avoid deviance because of an effective system of inner and outer controlstwo control systems work against people’s inclinations to deviate.People’s inner controls People’s outer controls 1The stronger an individual’s bonds are with social structures, such as the family or school, the more effective their inner controls are. These bonds are based on attachments (feeling affection and respect for people who conform to the dominant norms of society), commitments (having a stake in society that you don’t want to risk, such as family, employment, and reputation) involvements (investing time and energy into legitimate activities), and beliefs (believing deviant behaviors are morally wrong). These components summarize one’s level of self-control with deviant behavior reflectinga lack of self-control. Self-control is a product of socialization with parents being primarily responsible for the socialization of self-control into their
View Full Document
Unlocking...