1
What Is Social Deviance?
• Social deviance is any transgression of
socially established norms.
– Formal deviance or crime involves the
violation of laws.
2
Minor transgressions of these norms can be described as
informal deviance.
3
Deviance and Social Control
Social cohesion refers to the way people form
social bonds, relate to each other, and get along
on a day-to-day basis.
4
Deviance and Social Control
• Social control is the set of mechanisms that create
normative compliance in individuals.
• Normative compliance is the act of abiding by
society’s norms or simply following the rules of group
life.
5
Deviance and Social Control
• Punitive justice is focused on making the violator suffer
and thus defining the boundaries of acceptable behavior.
• Rehabilitative justice examines the specific circumstances
of an individual transgressor and attempts to find ways to
rehabilitate him or her.
6
Deviance and Social Control
• Informal social sanctions:
– are unspoken rules and expectations about
people’s behavior.
– help maintain a base level of order and cohesion in
society and form a foundation for formal social
control.
7
Once Deviance
Now Fashion
8
Deviance and Social Control
(Structural Functionalism)
Émile Durkheim theorized that social cohesion is
established either through:
mechanical solidarity — based on the sameness of
society’s parts or members (fraternity – sorority)
organic solidarity — based on the interdependence of
specialized parts or members. (football team)
9
Deviance and Social Control
A Functionalist View
Robert Merton’s strain
theory argues that deviance
occurs when a society does not
give all its members equal
ability to achieve socially
acceptable goals.
10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuzYGzXJJcw
11
Strain Theory
Conformists accept
the goals of the
society and the
means of achieving
those goals
Strain Theory
Innovators accept the
goals of the society,
but they look for new,
or innovative, ways of
achieving those goals
Strain Theory
Ritualists aren’t
interested in the goals of
the society, but they do
accept the means of
achieving those goals.
Strain Theory
Retreatists don’t
accept the goals of the
society or the means of
achieving those goals.
Strain Theory
Rebels don’t accept
the goals of the
society or the means
of achieving those
goals, so they create
their own goals using
new means.
Weaknesses of Strain Theory
1. It is difficult to empirically test.
2. It works on the assumption that conformity
is the norm and assumes a concensual
society.
3. It doesn't explain all forms of criminal
behavior.
4. It over-predicts criminality. does not
explain hate-crime, violence etc
17
Symbolic Interactionist Theories
of Deviance
• Symbolic interactionists take a micro view of
society, examining the beliefs and assumptions
people bring to their everyday interactions to
find the causes or explanations for deviance.
18
Symbolic Interactionist Theories
of Deviance
• Labeling theory
– People see how they are labeled and accept the
label as being “true.”
– People behave the way that they think
someone with their label should behave.
19
Symbolic Interactionist Theories
of Deviance
• Primary deviance:
– the first act of rule breaking, which may result in the rule
breaker being labeled “deviant” and thus influence how
people think about and act toward him or her.
•
Secondary deviance:
– refers to acts of rule breaking that occur after primary
deviance and as a result of a person’s new, deviant label.20
Symbolic Interactionist Theories
of Deviance
• Stigma
– negative social label that changes your behavior
toward a person; also changes that person’s selfconcept and social identity
– has serious consequences in terms of the
opportunities made available – or rather, not made
available – to people in a stigmatized group
21
Interview, Devah Pager
Crime Reduction
Devah Pager discusses her field
experiments, racism, and the stigma men
with a criminal record face when they're
on the job market.
22
Symbolic Interactionist Theories of Deviance
Broken window theory of deviance (Philip Zimbardo):explains how
social context and social cues impact the way individuals act
People who wouldn’t exhibit a certain behavior in one social context
might do so in another context where the behavior seems more
permissible.
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People inspect an abandoned car in the South Bronx. Zimbardo placed this car in
New York City and University in Palo Alto, California. The car near Stanford went
untouched for days, but the car pictured above was in New Your City was
relieved of its hubcaps and other parts almost immediately.
Deviance and Social Control
• Examples of formal social control include laws and the
authority of police officers.
25
Formal deviance or crime involves the violation of laws.
George Zimmerman
Trevor Martin
26
Crime
• street crime — refers to crime committed in public
and is often associated with violence, gangs, and
poverty
• white-collar crime — committed by a professional
against a corporation, agency, or other business
• corporate crime — type of white-collar crime
committed by the officers or executives of a company
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Crime
• It can be difficult to measure crime rates over time for
a variety of reasons, including:
1. changes in how crimes are defined.
2. fluctuations in whether people report crimes.
3. in the case of murders, improvements in
medical technology. CSI
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Number of prisoners per 100,000 population.
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Reported Crimes
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Which is it?
31
Figure 6.2 Total U.S. Violent Crime Rate, 1960–2008
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Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
Figure 6.5 Size of Death Row Population since 1973
You May Ask Yourself, 2nd Edition
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Figure 6.6 Number of Executions and Race of Prisoners
Executed, 1976–2009
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Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
Crime Reduction
Deterrence theory is a philosophy of criminal
justice based on the notion that crime results from
a rational calculation of its costs and benefits.
35
Unintended Consequences of Deterrence
36
Crime Reduction
Recidivism occurs when a person who has been involved in the
criminal justice system reverts back to criminal behavior.
37
Crime Reduction
Since the 1970s, there has been a change from a more rehabilitative sense of
justice to a more punitive one in the United States.
This is evidenced by historically high rates of incarceration.
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Societal Effects of Mass Incarceration
http://www.youtube.com/embed/lUt_fIB6A_Y
• staggering costs
• the disenfranchisement of millions of
former felons
• a disproportionately high rate of
imprisonment for black males
• a ripple effect throughout black
communities and beyond.
39
Victor Rios, author of Punished. To see my interview
with Rios, visit wwnorton.com/studyspace.
You May Ask Yourself, 2nd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment.
You May Ask Yourself, 2nd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
This Iraqi detainee in Abu Ghraib prison was hooked up to wires
after soldiers made him stand on a box. How can Zimbardo’s You May Ask Yourself, 2nd Edition
experiments help us understand the torture at Abu Ghraib? Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
Figure 6.3 Homicide Victimization Rate, 1950–2008
You May Ask Yourself, 2nd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
A 2003 performance by the Surveillance Camera Players in
Times Square. They are trying to raise awareness of the density You May Ask Yourself, 2nd Edition
of public and private surveillance cameras.
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
A surveillance camera map from the iSee project.
You May Ask Yourself, 2nd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
This map of Brooklyn, New York, shows the
density of prison admissions in 2003.
You May Ask Yourself, 2nd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company