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6.pptxWhat Is Social Deviance?
Social Deviance: any transgression of socially established norms.
Informal Deviance: Minor norm violations
Think of what you did for your first paper assignment
Folkways
Formal Deviance: the violation of laws.
Crime
Mores
Sanctioning/Punishment
Informal sanctions:
rules and expectations about behavior
May be unspoken, generally understood
maintain order and cohesion in society.
Formal sanctions: Imposed by legal system
Laws, law enforcement, court system, prisons
What is social control?
Normative compliance = abiding by society’s norms or following rules of group life.
Social control = set of mechanisms that create normative compliance in individuals.
Photo Courtesy of Getty
Functionalist Approaches to Deviance and Social Control
Social cohesion social bonds, relationships, societal functioning.
Durkheim: cohesion is established through:
Mechanical solidarity —sameness of society’s parts or members (Shared Values and Norms)
Organic solidarity — interdependence of specialized parts or members
Durkheim
DEVIANCE OCCURS IN ALL SOCIETIES
Cultural Universal
DEVIANCE CLARIFIES RULES
Norms/Values
DEVIANCE UNITES A GROUP
Social Cohesion
DEVIANCE PROMOTES SOCIAL CHANGE
Response to Problems in society
Merton’s Strain Theory
Merton’s Strain Theory
Society sets up goals and means to achieve them
Individuals may accept or reject goals
Society provides differential opportunity or access to means
Results in conformity or types of deviance
Merton’s Strain Theory: Typology of Deviance
| Deviant type | Goals | Means |
| Conformist | Yes | Yes |
| Innovator | Yes | No |
| Ritualist | No | Yes |
| Retreatist or revolutionary | No | No |
Functionalist Approaches to Deviance and Social Control
Sutherland: Differential Association Theory
Deviance is learned behavior
Learning takes place in peer groups
# of deviant peers is predictive of deviant behavior
Strongly supported for adolescents and teens
Introduction to Sociology
Please come in, take a seat, and enjoy the music. We will begin shortly.
Deviance, Crime, And Criminality
Symbolic Interactionist Theories of Deviance: Labeling Theory
Labeling Theory
We notice how others see us
We internalize these labels as “truth.”
Behavior reflects internalized label
Labeling Theory-Stigma
Stigma-a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.
May result in “retrospective” labeling
(“we should have seen it coming”)
Negative social label changes person’s behavior, self-concept, and social identity
(“I’m just a criminal.”)
Opportunities may be limited among a stigmatized group (e.g. Convicted Felons often can’t get jobs, vote, go to school, slave labor in prisons…)
Labeling Theory
Primary deviance
initial act of rule breaking
may or may not result in being labeled “deviant”
may influence how people think about and act toward rule breaker
Secondary deviance
acts of rule breaking that occur after primary deviance
result from new deviant self concept
Labeling Theory: Activity
Make a list of some of the deviant things you’ve done. Next to the act, list the Sanctions, if any, you received for your actions. (I will not collect this list, so don’t worry about self reporting)
On a separate sheet of paper, think about the following:
Have you been labeled deviant by society?
Do you view yourself as deviant (deviant self-identity)? Why or why not?
Did the punishment (sanction) you received (or did not receive) affect your self-identity (deviant or non-deviant)?
Symbolic Interactionist Theories of Deviance
Broken Windows Theory (Zimbardo)
social context and cues impact behavior
More crime in run-down neighborhoods
Broken car window invited crime even in middle class neighborhood
misbehavior seems more permissible in certain contexts – e.g. anonymity, others doing it
May explain crowd behaviors
Conflict theory: Deviance and Power
Capitalist system depends on profit, productive labor, respect for authority.
Deviance defined by those in power
People are labeled deviant if they:
Threaten or take private property
Don’t work for pay
Resist authority
Don’t fit in
Conflict Theory: Deviance and Power
Unequal justice: poor, minorities are more likely to be formally labeled and punished.
Deviant acts can be used to change societies.
Behavior theories: Rational Choice
Individuals are rational actors
Decision to commit deviant act is based on calculation of risks/ benefits
Decision depends on
Perceived benefits of act (e.g. pleasure, financial gain, group acceptance)
Swiftness, severity, and certainty of punishment
Rational Choice/Crime Reduction/Criminal Justice
BASED ON RATIONAL CHOICE THEORIES:
Deterrence theory - based on assumption that crime results from a rational calculation of costs and benefits.
stiffer penalties, increased prison terms, and stricter parole increase costs of crime
Rationally, this should reduce crime
Photo Courtesy of AP Photo
SHIFT IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE/RATIONAL CHOICE INFLUENCE
SHIFT IN C.J. SYSTEM FROM:
Rehabilitative Justice
focuses on specific circumstances of violator or act
attempts to rehabilitate offender.
often goes along with organic solidarity
Punitive Justice:
focused on making the violator suffer
defines boundaries of acceptable behavior
Meant to Deter future rule breakers
Deterrence Theory & Criminal Justice
Consequence of deterrence theory:
Recidivism
a person who has been in the criminal justice system reverts back to criminal behavior (e.g. repeat offending).
Reasons for high rates of recidivism:
Increased parole supervision – more technical violations found
Social stigma on convicted criminals makes it hard to find job
Living with other criminals teaches techniques and justification for crime (socialization)
Punitive Justice/Increasing incarceration
Since 1970s, there has been a change from rehabilitative to more punitive sense of justice in U.S.
historically high rates of incarceration.
staggering costs, disenfranchisement of former felons, disproportionately high rate of imprisonment for Black (and Brown) males.
Racial Bias and the U.S. Criminal Justice System
Minorities more likely to be arrested, incarcerated:
Minorities make up 25% of population, but 33% of individuals arrested for property crimes and 50% of individuals arrested for violent crimes (Especially among Black and Brown Men)
Profiling: stopping and detaining on basis of skin color. Built into social structure of justice system.
1 in 3 African American men will be under the control of the penal system at some point in their lives.
1 in 17 White Men will be under the control of the penal system at some point in their lives.
Controlling Crime: Policy Considerations
Prisons and Profits
Prisons can be a source of jobs for communities
More prisons are now operated by for-profit companies
Privatizations of prisons has grown over time
Profits are found through inmate labor
Controlling Crime: Alternative Policy Considerations
Revert to a Rehabilitative System
For potential offenders:
Build social capital (networks, resources, shared values) so as to reduce likelihood of crime and imprisonment
For minor offenders:
Education or job skills programs
Shock probation: early release of first time offenders in hopes that the shock of prison life will deter them
Day treatment or half-way houses
Community service & work release programs
Restitution: offender compensates victim or community
