Deviance
Unit Goals
1. Define deviance
2. Give an example of both positive and negative deviance.
3. How do we develop internal social control?
4. Give an example of external social control?
5. Do you think internal social control or external social control is more
powerful in controlling behavior? Explain your answer.
6. How can deviance be positive? Give an example.
7. Explain what you know about the mind of a serial killer. Why do they
commit murder? How is deviance different for a serial killer than it is for
other members of society?
8. How is prison supposed to stop deviance? Do you think the system is
flawed? Give 3 reasons why or why not.
9. What is an alternative to prison that you think could be effective at
reducing crime? Why do you think it would work?
Deviance
 violates
social norms.
 Breaking law=obvious
 other deviance varies from dif
societies. Ex: homosexuality, divorce....
Negative Deviance
 behavior
that fails to meet accepted
norms. ppl either reject, misinterpret or
are unaware of norms.
Positive Deviance
 overconformity
to norms. Imbalance and
extremes of perfectionism. Idealize
norms. Ex: Anorexia
Social Control

ways to encourage
conformity of a society.
internal social control:
w/in individual (I know
what is right)
external social control:
based on social
sanctions ex: ridicule,
gossip, prison,
grades.....
Functionalism


there are pos and neg consequences of
deviance on society
Pros: social stability Deviance can be good
for smooth operation of society. Parents go to
court for mistreating kids, OTHER parents learn
how society expects them to act.
Neg effects of deviance-expensive, diverts
resources if police have to deal with
crime. Hard to follow schedules if there are
protests ex: bus strike
Other benefits of deviance
 temporary
safety valve: ex: teens rebel to
relieve pressure from authority figures
other good things: can increase unity
within a group
 promotes
needed social change ex: civil
rights movement
Strain Theory
 Strain
Theory: deviance occurs when
there is a gap b/w culturally desirable
goals and a legit way to get them. Ex:
Hurricane victim getting food.
How do people respond to
Strain?
 Merton’s
strain theory: 4 ways (p211)
1. Innovation (steal),
 2. ritualism (not much effort-do a job you
hate half-ass)
 3. retreatism (drop out of race for success:
homeless),
 4. rebellion: new way to achieve new
goal: join a militia group...
Control Theory
 compliance
with social norms requires
strong bonds between individuals and
society. Don’t want to “lose face” with
fam and friends, classmates.
Basic elements of social bonds
 1.
Attachment to group or individual
2. Commitment: to social goals
3. involvement: participation in approved
social activities
4. Belief: in norms and values of society
Symbolic Interactionism and
deviance


2 theories of deviance
1. learned behavior that is
culturally transmitted: ex: gangs
or friends who are deviant can
make you the same.
2. labelling: an act is only defiant
IF other people name it so. Ex:
Men can sleep around but
women are deviant if they do.
Differential Association Theory
 more
exposure to people who break the
law, more apt to be criminals
3
characteristics that affect DA:
1. More people in the group are deviant
2. whether the deviant behavior is
practiced by sig others
3. the age of exposure to deviant
behavior (the younger learn faster)
Labeling Theory
 society
creates deviance by identifying
particular members as deviant/ Some not
fair: ex: teen pregnancy, girl is defiant but
not guy
Degrees of Deviance

primary and secondary
primary deviance not a part of a person’s
lifestyle or self-concept. Ex: prank
Secondary deviance: deviance in which
an individual’s life and identity are
organized around breaking society’s
norms. Organized crime: career
Consequences of Labeling
 cause
pain and suffering
stigma: ex-con is not accepted by many
as a member of society even after
release. Discredits entire worth of
individual
How do rich and powerful
define deviance?

1.critics of industrial society are deviants b/c
they challenge economic, political, and
social basis
2. Because industrial society requires a willing
workforce, those who will not work are
considered deviants
3. Those who threaten private property esp.
belonging to rich are targets for punishment
4. Society needs respect for authority so
people show show lack of respect for
authority are treated as deviants
Race, ethnicity and crime

conflict perspective: minorities receive
unequal treatment in American Criminal
Justice System
even when offence is the same, African
Americans and Latinos are more likely to be
convicted and serve more time in prison than
whites.
42% of people on death row are black
although they only make up about 13% of
total population
Why are minorities and whites
treated differently?
 -many
minorities don’t have economic
resources to buy good legal service.
-society sees minority interests as less
important than the interests of whites
Victim discounting
 If
the victim is less valuable, the crime is
less serious, and the punishment is less
severe
White collar crime
 job
related crime committed by people
who are high status
-usually treated more leniently despite the
fact that they cost taxpayers 100s of
billions of dollars/year
What about serial killers!
 The
mind of a serial killer
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRWn
8zMGxbA
Crime
Against the law. Over 4000 acts of crime only in the FEDERAL
system! Even more in state level
Crime in U.S. 15%if households exp some type of crime.
problem: stats collected only from police reports and not everything is
reported correctly.
-tends to over-represent lower classes and under count middle and
upper class crime.
ex: prostitution: only woman is arrested and reported not man!
about ⅔ of crimes in the U.S. are not reported
NCVS (National Crime Victimization Survey) launched to get more
accurate stats.
Criminal Justice System
 system
comprising of institutions and
processes responsible for enforcing
criminal statutes. 4 approaches to
control/punish law breakers:
deterrence, retribution, incarceration,
rehabilitation
Deterrence
 uses
threat of punishment to discourage
criminal actions
research: this only works if potential law
breakers know they are likely to get
caught and punishment is severe. Death
penalty is NOT deterrent to murder! More
for feelings of revenge
Retribution
 punishment
intended to make criminals
pay compensation for their acts.
Incarceration
 goal:
protect society from criminals by
keeping them in prison
Do prisons rehab criminals?
rehabilitation: process of changing or
reforming a criminal through
socialization. More than ½ of those
released from prison return w/in 3-5 yrs.
Recidivism
 return
to criminal behavior. Why? Basic
nature of offenders, influences of more
hardened criminals while in jail, stigma of
being ex-con makes it hard to be
accepted living any normal life. Transfer
of prison norms to society doesn’t work.
Alternatives to prison
 1.
Combo of prison and probation
2. Community based programs to reintroduce criminals into society
3. Diversion strategy: handle outside
formal system of criminal law.
will they work? Don’t know yet! Recently,
Americans have taken harsher view
towards criminals.
Boot camp!
 http://resolutionranch.com/RRC/VisionQu
estCamp
will it work?
Unit Goals
1. Define deviance
2. Give an example of both positive and negative deviance.
3. How do we develop internal social control?
4. Give an example of external social control?
5. Do you think internal social control or external social control is more
powerful in controlling behavior? Explain your answer.
6. How can deviance be positive? Give an example.
7. Explain what you know about the mind of a serial killer. Why do they
commit murder? How is deviance different for a serial killer than it is for
other members of society?
8. How is prison supposed to stop deviance? Do you think the system is
flawed? Give 2 reasons why or why not.
9. What is an alternative to prison that you think could be effective at
reducing crime? Why do you think it would work?