Download File sociology chapter 8

Deviance
Chapter 8
What Is Deviance?
The word deviance connotes odd or
unacceptable behavior, but in the
sociological sense of the word, deviance is
simply any violation of society’s norms.
 Deviance can range from something
minor, such as a traffic violation, to
something major, such as murder.
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Relativism and Deviance
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Deviance is a relative
issue, and standards
for deviance change
based on a number of
factors, including the
following:
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1: Location
2: Age
3: Social status
4: Individual
societies
Deviant Traits

A person does not
need to act in a
deviant manner in
order to be
considered deviant.
Deviant Traits
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Sometimes people are
considered deviant
because of a trait or a
characteristic they
possess.
Sociologist Erving
Goffman used the term
stigma to identify
deviant characteristics.
These include violations
of the norms of physical
ability or appearance.
Social Control
Punishing people for deviant behavior
reminds people what is expected of them
and what will happen if they do not
conform to society’s norms.
 Every society has methods of social
control, or means of encouraging
conformity to norms.
 These methods of social control include
positive sanctions and negative sanctions.

Positive Sanctions
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Society uses positive sanctions
to reward people for following
norms.
Positive sanctions can be
formal, such as an award or a
raise.
They can also be informal and
include words, gestures, or
facial expressions.
A reaction to an individual’s
actions can be a positive
sanction, even if it is not
intended to be.
Negative Sanctions
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Negative sanctions can range from
formal to informal.
Some subcultures dole out negative
sanctions for behaviors generally
condoned by the rest of society.
Academic achievement is usually held
in high esteem.
Some subcultures, succeeding in a way
that the dominant society approves of
is not considered a good thing.
In some gangs, getting good grades is
not acceptable, and gang members
who do well in school are criticized by
their friends for “selling out.”
Conformity to traditional figures of
authority, such as teachers, is
negatively sanctioned.
Symbolic Inter-actionist
Perspective

Symbolic inter-actionists study how people
use symbols to create meaning.
THEORY OF DIFFERENTIAL
ASSOCIATION
Sociologist Edwin Sutherland studied
deviance from the symbolic inter-actionist
perspective.
 The basic tenet of his theory of differential
association is that deviance is a learned
behavior— people learn it.

Edwin Sutherland
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He further explained
exactly what one learns
from people who commit
deviance.
He said that the future
deviant learns values
different from those of
the dominant culture, as
well as techniques for
committing deviance.
Edwin Sutherland
Part of Sutherland’s theory is that if people
learn deviance from others, the people
with whom we associate are of utmost
importance.
 The closer the relationship, the more likely
someone is to be influenced.

Deviant Subcultures
When individuals
share a particular
form of deviance,
they often
 form a deviant
subculture, a way of
living that differs from
the dominant culture
and is based on that
shared deviance.

Control Theroy
Sociologist Walter Reckless developed the
control theory to explain how some people
resist the pressure to become deviants.
 According to control theory, people have
two control systems that work against
their desire to deviate.
 Each person has a set of inner controls
and outer controls.

Travis Hirschi and
Control Theory
Sociologist Travis Hirschi elaborated on the
control theory.
 He identified four elements that would
render an individual more or less likely to
commit deviance: attachment,
commitment, involvement, and belief.
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Labeling Theory
A key aspect of the symbolic inter-actionist
perspective of deviance is labeling theory.
 First proposed by sociologist Howard
Becker in the 1960s, labeling theory posits
that deviance is that which is so labeled.
 No status or behavior is inherently deviant
until other people have judged it and
labeled it deviant.
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Primary and Secondary
Deviance
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Sociologist Edwin Lemert differentiated between
primary deviance and secondary deviance.
The difference between primary deviance and
secondary deviance is in the reactions other people
have to the original act of deviance.
Primary deviance is a deviant act that provokes little
reaction and has limited effect on a person’s selfesteem.
The deviant does not change his or her behavior as a
result of this act.
Secondary deviance includes repeated deviant
behavior that is brought on by other people’s negative
reactions to the original act of primary deviance.
Chambliss and the Saints and
Roughnecks
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In the 1970s, sociologist William
Chambliss studied two groups of high
school boys to find out how strongly labels
affected them.
Structural Functional Theory
Another framework sociologists use to
understand the world is the structural
functional theory.
 Its central idea is that society is a complex
unit, made up of interrelated parts.
 Sociologists who apply this theory study
social structure and social function.
 French sociologist Emile Durkheim based
his work on this theory.
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Functions of Deviance
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Emile Durkheim
Affirmation of cultural norms and values: Seeing a
person punished for a deviant act reinforces what a
society sees as acceptable or unacceptable behavio
2. Clarification of right and wrong: Responses to
deviant behavior help individuals distinguish between
right and wrong.
3. Unification of others in society: Responses to
deviance can bring people closer together.
4. Promoting social change: Deviance can also
encourage the dominant society to consider alternative
norms and values.
Strain Theory of Deviance
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Sometimes people find that when they attempt to attain
culturally approved goals, their paths are blocked.
Not everyone has access to institutionalized means, or
legitimate ways of achieving success.
Strain theory, posits that when people are prevented
from achieving culturally approved goals through
institutional means, they experience strain or frustration
that can lead to deviance.
People also experience anomie, or feelings of being
disconnected from society, which can occur when people
do not have access to the institutionalized means to
achieve their goals.
Institutionalized Means to
Success
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In the 1960s, sociologists Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin theorized
that the most difficult task facing industrialized societies is finding
and training people to take over the most intellectually demanding
jobs from the previous generation.
To progress, society needs a literate, highly trained work force.
Society’s job is to motivate its citizens to excel in the workplace,
and the best way to do that is to foment discontent with the status
quo.
Cloward and Ohlin argued that if people were dissatisfied with what
they had, what they earned, or where they lived, they would be
motivated to work harder to improve their circumstances.
In order to compete in the world marketplace, a society must offer
institutionalized means of succeeding.
For example, societies that value higher education as a way to
advance in the work place must make educational opportunity
available to everyone.
Illegitimate Opportunity
Structures
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Cloward and Ohlin further elaborated on Merton’s strain theory.
Deviant behavior—crime in particular—was not just a response to
limited institutionalized means of success. Crime also resulted from
increased access to illegitimate opportunity structures, or various
illegal means to achieve success.
These structures, such as crime, are often more available to
poor people living in urban slums.
A poor person can become involved in prostitution, robbery, drug
dealing, or loan sharking to make money.
While these activities are clearly illegal, they often provide
opportunities to make large amounts of money, as well as
gain status among one’s peers.
Reactions to Cultural Goals &
Institutionalized Means
Method of adaptation
Cultural goals
Institutionalized means
Conformists
Accept
Accept
Innovators
Accept
Reject
Ritualists
Reject
Accept
Retreatists
Reject
Reject
Rebels
Reject / Replace
Reject / Replace
Conflict Perspective
A third important sociological framework is
the conflict theory.
 Unlike the structural functional theory,
which views society as a peaceful unit,
conflict theory interprets society as a
struggle for power between groups
engaging in conflict for limited resources.
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Conflict Perspective
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Karl Marx is the founder of
conflict theory.
Conflict theorists like Marx
posit that there are two
general categories of people in
industrialized societies: the
capitalist class the working
class.
The capitalist class, or elite
consists of those in positions
of wealth and power who own
the means of production or
control access to the means of
production.
Conflict Perspective
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The working class
consists of relatively
powerless individuals who
sell their labor to the
capitalist class.
It is advantageous to the
elite to keep the working
class in a relatively
disadvantaged position so
that they can maintain
the status quo and their
own privileged positions.
Conflict Theory and Crime
Conflict theorists believe that the broad
division of people into these two
categories is inherently unequal.
 Conflict theorists cite the criminal justice
system to support their claim.
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Conflict Theory and Crime
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The capitalist class passes laws designed to
benefit themselves.
These same laws are detrimental to the
working class.
Both groups commit acts of deviance, but the
system the capitalists created defines deviance
differently for each group.
The criminal justice system judges and
punishes each group differently.
Conflict Theory and Crime
In addition, the elite can often afford
expensive lawyers and are sometimes on
a first-name basis with the individuals in
charge of making and enforcing laws.
 Members of the working class generally do
not have these
advantages.
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White - Collar Crimes
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Conflict theorists also look at the types of crimes committed by
members of the two classes.
The working class is more likely to commit so-called street crime,
such as robbery, assault, or murder.
Members of the elite are less likely to commit acts of violence but
more likely to engage in white-collar crime, or nonviolent crime
committed by the capitalist class during the course of their
occupations.
White-collar criminals are difficult to catch and prosecute for two
main reasons:
a. White-collar crime is difficult to identify. It leaves little
physical evidence and no easily identifiable victim.
b. White-collar criminals are sometimes able to use their power
and influence to avoid prosecution. Because of their social
and economic clout, white-collar criminals rarely face
criminal prosecution.
Deviance and Power
Conflict theorist Alexander Liazos points
out that the people we commonly label as
deviant are also relatively powerless.
 The people in positions of power make the
laws of any given society they create
laws to benefit themselves.
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Deviance and Power
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According to the conflict
view of deviance, when
rich and powerful people
are accused of
wrongdoing, they have
the means to hire
lawyers, accountants, and
other people who can
help them avoid being
labeled as deviant.
Deviance and Power
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Lastly, members of a
society generally
believe that laws are
inherently fair, which
can draw attention
away from the
possibility that these
laws might be unfairly
applied or that a law
itself might not be
good or just.
Crime
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White-collar crime is just
one type of crime. Crime,
or the violation of a
written law, is a specific
kind of deviance. What
constitutes a crime varies
from society to society. In
our society, sociologists
have identified three
general categories of
crime
Crime
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Crimes against the
person: These are
crimes in which an act
of violence is either
threatened or
perpetrated against a
person. A mugging is
an example of a crime
against the person.
Crime
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Crimes against
property: These are
crimes that involve
the theft of property
or certain forms of
damage against the
property of another.
Arson is an example
of a property crime.
Crime
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Victimless crimes:
These are crimes in
which laws are
violated, but there is
no identifiable victim.
Prostitution is often
classified as a
victimless crime.
Profile of a Criminal
Sociologists studying crime and deviance
study statistics on who commits crime.
Identifying a criminal profile can help
sociologists understand the causes of
crime and other deviance.
 Sociologists use the categories of age,
gender, social class, and race and ethnicity
to create this profile.
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Profile of a Criminal
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Age: Young people, roughly between the mid-teens and early
twenties, commit almost 40 percent of all crimes. The likeliness to
commit crime, particularly violent crime, decreases with age.
Gender: Men are arrested for crimes far more often than women.
Men are arrested for approximately 70 percent of all property crimes
and 80 percent of all violent crimes. Several theories, including the
following, attempt to explain this situation:
a. In all known societies, men are allowed more behavioral
freedom than women are. More freedom means more
opportunity to engage in deviant acts.
b. Traditionally, police have been less willing to define a
woman as a criminal, and the court system has been less
likely to convict a woman and sentence her to jail or prison.
Profile of a Criminal
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Social Class: Street crime, particularly
violent crime, is more prevalent in poor,
inner-city neighborhoods than in affluent
communities. Violent crime in inner-city
neighborhoods tends to be committed by
the same group of seasoned criminals.
Their victims are most often the lawabiding inhabitants of those
neighborhoods. White- collar crime tends
to occur in more affluent communities.
Profile of a Criminal
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Race and Ethnicity: African Americans
represent approximately 12 percent of the
population in the United States and
comprise 30 percent of property-crime
arrests and 38 percent of violent-crime
arrests. White people represent 66
percent of the arrests for property crimes
and 60 percent of the arrests for violent
crimes.