Download chapter 6: deviance and crime

CHAPTER 6: DEVIANCE AND CRIME
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Define deviance and differentiate between formal and informal deviance.
2. Discuss the different types of sanctions applied when one performs informal deviant
acts and when one performs formal acts of deviance.
3. Discuss and give examples of deviance in terms of a) cultural relativism (i.e.
behavior can only be understood in the context of its culture), b) social movement, c)
the social construction of deviance, and d) psychological explanations of deviance.
4. Explain Durkheim’s arguments for how deviance may be functional for society.
5. Differentiate and give examples of the three types of suicide proposed by the classic
functionalist sociologist, Emile Durkheim.
6. Explain what sociologists mean by the medicalization of deviance.
7. Explain Merton’s strain theory of deviance give examples of the application of these
patterns to people you know, including yourself. Explain why Merton’s strain theory
is a functionalist perspective although it may initially appear as if Merton is using a
conflict perspective.
8. Explain and give examples of the recently developed Social Control Theory
developed by Travis Hirschi (Hirschi gives another functionalism perspective).
9. What are the characteristics common to all types of functional theories of deviance?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of functionalist theories of deviance?
10. Explain whether the conflict theory developed by Karl Marx explains deviance
behavior and whether the dominant class or the social elite exploits the middle and
the poor classes of society. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of conflict theories
of deviance.
11. Discuss white collar crime, social control mechanisms, and social control agents.
12. Discuss the issues of corporate and government crimes and show how these crimes
represent the normalization of crime and how it is embedded in the U.S. society.
13. Describe and give examples of the symbolic interaction perspective on deviance in
terms of the labeling theory, the development of a deviant identity, and the
differential association theory, or situational analysis, proposed by W.I Thomas of
the University of Chicago.
14. Discuss primary, secondary, and tertiary deviance, and deviant identity, careers and
communities. Describe how deviance is a socially constructed condition – in other
words, give an illustration of how official statistics are the product of who defines
“deviant.”
15. Explain how labeling and conflict theory may be connected. What are the strengths
and weaknesses of labeling theory of deviance?
16. Describe and give examples of mental illness and differentiate it from social
deviance.
17. Define and discuss the term stigma coined by Ervin Goffman and demonstrate how
this may become an individual’s master status.
18. Examine crime from the three theoretical perspectives: functionalism, conflict and
symbolic interaction.
19. Distinguish types of crime—including personal, property, hate, victimless, corporate,
and organized—and discuss the different societal perceptions of and reactions to
them.
20. Show how treatment within the criminal justice system (police, courts, and the law) is
significantly related to patterns of race, gender, and class inequality.
21. Discuss and give illustrative examples of whether prisons rehabilitate criminals, deter
crimes, or simply warehouse prisoners.
22. Describe the globalization of crime with an emphasis on terrorism.