What Is Deviance?
6.1 Explain what deviance is, why it is relative, and why we need norms; also summarize the types of sanctions.
Deviance (the violation of norms) is relative.
What people consider deviant varies from one culture to another and from group to group within the same society.
As symbolic interactionists stress, it is not the act but the reactions to the act that make something deviant. All groups develop systems of social control to punish deviants—those who violate their norms.
Competing Explanations of Deviance: Sociobiology, Psychology, and Sociology
6.2 Contrast sociobiological, psychological, and sociological explanations of deviance.
How do sociological and individualistic explanations of deviance differ?
To explain why people deviate, sociobiologists and psychologists look for reasons within the individual, such as genetic predispositions or personality disorders.
Sociologists, in contrast, look for explanations outside the individual, in social experiences. 194 The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
6.3 Apply the symbolic interactionist perspective to deviance by explaining differential association, control, and labeling.
How do symbolic interactionists explain deviance?
Symbolic interactionists have developed several theories to explain deviance such as crime (the violation of norms that are written into law).
According to differential association theory, people learn to deviate by associating with others. According to control theory, each of us is propelled toward deviance, but most of us conform because of an effective system of inner and outer controls. People who have less effective controls deviate. Labeling theory focuses on how labels (names, reputations) help to funnel people into or divert them away from deviance. People often use techniques of neutralization to deflect social norms. The Functionalist Perspective
6.4 Apply the functionalist perspective to deviance by explaining how deviance can be functional for society, how mainstream values can produce deviance (strain theory), and how social class is related to crime (illegitimate opportunities). How do functionalists explain deviance?
Functionalists point out that deviance, including criminal acts, is functional for society.
Functions include affirming norms and promoting social unity and social change.
According to strain theory, societies socialize their members into desiring cultural goals.
Many people are unable to achieve these goals in socially acceptable ways—that is, by institutionalized means.
Deviants, then, are people who either give up on the goals or use disapproved means to attain them. Merton identified five types of responses to cultural goals and institutionalized means: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion.
Because of illegitimate opportunity structures, people have different access to illegal means of achieving goals. The Conflict Perspective
6.5 Apply the conflict perspective to deviance by explaining how social class is related to the criminal justice system and how the criminal justice system is oppressive.
How do conflict theorists explain deviance?
Conflict theorists take the position that the group in power imposes its definitions of deviance on other groups.
From this perspective, the law is an instrument of oppression used by the powerful to maintain their position of privilege.
The ruling class, which developed the criminal justice system, uses it to punish the crimes of the poor while diverting its own criminal activities away from this punitive system.
Reactions to Deviance 6.6
Be able to discuss street crime and imprisonment, the three-strikes laws, the decline in violent crime, recidivism, bias in the death penalty, the medicalization of deviance, and the need for a more humane approach.
What are common reactions to deviance in the United States? In following a “get-tough” policy, the United States has imprisoned millions of people.
African Americans and Latinos make up a disproportionate percentage of U.S. prisoners.
The death penalty shows biases by geography, social class, gender, and race–ethnicity.
Are official statistics on crime reliable? The conclusions of both symbolic interactionists (that the police operate with a large measure of discretion) and conflict theorists (that a power elite controls the legal system) indicate that we must be cautious when using crime statistics.
What is the medicalization of deviance? The medical profession has attempted to medicalize many forms of deviance, claiming that they represent mental illnesses.
Thomas Szasz disagreed, asserting that these are problem behaviors, not mental illnesses.
The situation of homeless people indicates that problems in living can lead to bizarre behavior and thinking. What is a more humane approach?
Deviance is inevitable, so the larger issues are to find ways to protect people from deviance that harms themselves and others, to tolerate deviance that is not harmful, and to develop systems of fairer treatment for deviants.
Key Terms View Flashcards Key Terms View Flashcards Thinking Critically about Chapter 6 Select some deviance with which you are personally familiar.
(It does not have to be your own—it can be something that someone you know did.)
Choose one of the three theoretical perspectives to explain what happened. As explained in the text, deviance can be mild.
Recall some instance in which you broke a social rule in dress, etiquette, or speech.
What was the reaction?
Why do you think people reacted like that?
What was your response to their reactions?
What do you think should be done about the U.S. crime problem? What sociological theories support your view?
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