Behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society.

Behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society.

Chapter 6

Deviance

-Deviance- behavior that violates standards of conduct or expectations of a

group or society

-we are all deviant from time to time as we all violate common social

norms in certain situations

-What behavior is deviant?

-whats considered deviant depends on the context

-individuals and groups with the greatest status and power define what is

deviant

-Deviance and Social Stigma

-Stigma- labeling individuals or members of a group as less than whole

persons due to some attribute that marks them as different in the eyes of

others

-stigmatization brands some people as others and justifies

discrimination, thereby acting as a form of social control

-people may be stigmatized for past behaviors

-person need not be guilty of a crime to be stigmatized

Crimes

-Crime- violation of criminal law for which some governmental authority applies

formal penalties

-index crimes- eight types of crimes reported annually by the FBI in the

Uniform Crime Reports

-murder

-forcible rape

-robbery

-aggravated assault

-burglary

-larceny theft

-motor vehicle theft

-arson

-Trends in Crime

-significant decline in crime nationwide since 2004

-sociologists offer many possible explanations for this trend, including

-aging population

-economic changes

-enhanced community policing

-increased incarceration rates

-prison education programs

-Limitations of Index Crimes

-include only those crimes reported to law enforcement agencies

-Victimization Survey- questionnaire or interview given to a sample of the

population to determine whether people have been victims of crime

-shows that many crimes are never reported to police

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Relation between Conformity, Deviance and Social Control!

Conformity and deviance are two responses to real or imagined pressures from others. Conformity means going along one’s peers—individuals of a person’s own status. A recruit entering military service will typically conform to the habits and language of other recruits.

Conformity is opposite to social deviance which implies obedience to the norms that make a person acceptable in a particular society, group, or social setting. The concept of conformity was also used by Robert Merton (1957) to refer to acceptance of cultural goals and the legitimate or approved means of achieving them. In his scheme of adapta­tions to the goals and means, only conformity to both indicates non-deviance.

Deviance is a behaviour that violates the standards of conduct or expecta­tions or social norms of a group or society. Alcoholics, gamblers, sex deviants, drug addicts or late comers in the class are all classified as deviants or deviant acts.

Deviance involves the violation of group norms. It is a very compre­hensive concept that includes not only criminal behaviour but also many actions not subject to prosecution. Standards of deviance vary from group to group and also vary over time. Moreover, deviance can be understood within its social context.

A society must have social order if it is to function smoothly. But no society succeeds in getting all its members to behave as expected all the time. When a person fails to conform to the social norms of society, social deviation arises. If societies are to survive, they must have ways of making people conform to social norms.

This situation gives rise to different types of controls—planned and unplanned or persuasive and coercive. Control works two levels internal and external. Internal controls are those that exist inside individuals. It is sometimes referred to as self-control. It differs from social control. Self-control works from within while social control is from without.

What is the term for behavior that violates the norms?

Deviance is behavior that violates social norms and arouses negative social reactions. Crime is behavior that is considered so serious that it violates formal laws prohibiting such behavior.

Which theory emphasizes how a person comes to be labeled as deviant or to accept the label?

The premise of Labeling Theory is that, once individuals have been labeled as deviants, they face new problems stemming from their reactions to themselves and others to the stereotypes of someone with the deviant label (Becker, 1963; Bernburg, 2009).

What are the 4 types of deviant behavior?

According to Merton, there are five types of deviance based upon these criteria: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion. Merton's typology is fascinating because it suggests that people can turn to deviance in the pursuit of widely accepted social values and goals.

What is meant by deviant behavior?

Deviance or the sociology of deviance explores the actions and/or behaviors that violate social norms across formally enacted rules (e.g., crime) as well as informal violations of social norms (e.g., rejecting folkways and mores).