Deviance—Behavior that violates a norm
Who decides what is deviant?
Answer: each society decides based on morals etc
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As a threat—unpredictable
Society needs norms
Why?
Stigma--
POSITIVE
NEGATIVE
Over-conformity to norms
Rejection of norms
Idealize norms
Ignore norms
Unaware of norms
Ex: anorexia, Singapore &
cleanliness
Ex: crime
Costs of
Deviance
Benefits of
Deviance
•$ for police; social
workers etc
•Erodes trust
•Clarifies norms
•Promotes social change;
•Creates unity
INTERNAL
EXTERNAL
-inside of individual
-group
-learn thru socialization
-learn thru rewards & punishments
-internalize norms—”what to do”
-desire to be “good” people
-integrity; fear of punishment
-positive & negatives
“Shaming”
Example—shoplifting
Which type of control is more effective?
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Deviance depends on the bonds between society
& individual
◦ Social bonds:
 1-attachment
 2-commitment
 3-involvement
 4-belief
 **Bonds control individual behavior
 THE MORE BONDS YOU HAVE---THE MORE INTERNAL
SOCIAL CONTROL YOU HAVE
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Anomie—the strain people feel when they are
blocked in their attempt to achieve societies
goals
Strain Theory by Merton
◦ Gap between goal and means of attaining the goal
◦ Forces people to be deviant
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1-conformity
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2-innovation
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3-ritualism
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4-retreatism
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5-rebellion
**key criticism—just being “frustrated” doesn’t CAUSE
deviance
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Cloward & Ohlin
Social classes have different styles of crimes
Illegitimate opportunities—
◦ Opportunities for crimes—part of social life
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Urban poor
◦ Hustles—drug dealing, robbery, gambling,
prostitution
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Prison time
Death penalty
Reasons:
◦ Lack $
◦ Crimes against whites punished more
◦ Victim discounting—
 Don’t care about crime if it is done to someone of a
lower status
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High status people do crimes usually as they
do their jobs
◦ Insider trading
◦ Tax evasion
◦ Embezzlement
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Huge $ to economy
Usually treated better
◦ Less jail time
◦ “country club” prisons—ex-Governor Blagojevich
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1-Differential Association
 Who you associate with makes you more deviant
◦ Learned behavior-
◦ Age of exposure to deviance makes a difference
◦ “friends determine your behavior”
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2-Labeling
“scarlet letter-A=adulteress”
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Label people as deviant—then they will do
deviant things
◦ Ex: Teen pregnancy
 Who gets labeled???
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SAINTS & ROUGHNECKS
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Sykes & Matza—people resist labels
◦ Denial—of victim, injury, responsibility,
◦ Appeal to loyalty
◦ Condemnation--
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Some groups like the label of “deviant”
◦ Ex: motorcycle gangs, street gangs
Primary
Secondary
Occasional breaking of norms
Life & identity centered around
norm breaking
Juvenile record, but no adult
record
Master status
Ex: teens or college age
Drink when not 21
Ex-gang members; career
criminals
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Deviance
1-threatens status quo (or norm)
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2-challenge beliefs
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3-who makes rules???
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Who decides on what is deviance?
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Agree/Disagree:
The death penalty is cruel and unusual
punishment and should be abolished in the
US. Explain your view.