Chapter 7
SOCIOLOGY: DEVIANCE
– the recognized violation of
cultural norms
– violation of a society’s formally
enacted criminal law.
 What deviant attitudes or actions have in
common is some element of difference that
causes us to view another person as an
outsider.
–
attempts by society to
regulate people’s
behavior and thoughts
– a formal
response by courts,
police, and prison
officials to alleged
violations of the law
 Deviance is more than
a matter of individual
choice or personal
failing.
 How a society defines
deviance depends on
how that society is
organized.
believed that criminals
could be identified by certain physical traits.
proposed that body shape
could predict criminality.
proposed
that powerfully built sons grow up less sensitive
toward other people.
 However, there is no conclusive evidence linking
genetics to criminality.
Psychological explanations focus on individual
abnormality.
found that “
” display strong
conscience.
“
” demonstrate weak conscience.
The Function of Deviance:
Structural – Functional Analysis
*All behaviors are shaped by society.
•Deviance varies according to the cultural
norms of a society.
•People become deviant as others in society
define them that way.
•Both the acts of rule-making and rulebreaking involve social power.
 Durkheim felt that there was nothing
abnormal about deviance.
 Deviance affirms cultural norms and values.
 Responding to deviant behavior clarifies a
society’s moral boundaries and promotes
community unity.
 Deviance also encourages social change.
Robert Merton: StructuralFunctional Analysis
 Merton proposed that excessive deviance
results from certain social arrangements.
 The type of deviance depends on whether a
society provides people the means to achieve
cultural norms.
 For example, the strain between our own
culture’s emphasis on wealth and the limited
opportunities people have gives rise to crime.
and
suggested that crime results from easily
accessible illegal opportunity.
proposed that delinquency
is most pronounced in lower class youths
because they have the least opportunities to
achieve in society.
characterized delinquent
subcultures.
Labeling Deviance: SymbolicInteraction Analysis
Medicalization of Deviance
Medicalization of Deviance:
Sutherland and Hirschi
Sutherland’s Theory
Hirschi’s Theory
 A person’s tendency
 Social control
toward deviance
depends on the
degree or amount of
contact they may
have with other
deviants.
depends on a
person imagining
the consequences of
his/her behavior.
Deviance and Inequality:
Social-Conflict Theory
 Deviance reflects social inequality.
 People we think of as deviant share the trait
of powerlessness.
 The norms of any society generally reflect the
values and interests of the wealthy and the
powerful
 People who threaten the rich are defined as
radicals and/or thieves.
Deviance and Inequality:
Steven Spitzer
 Spitzer contends that deviant labels are
attached to people who interfere with the
operation of capitalism.
 People who threaten the property of others
are labeled as deviants.
 Those who will not or cannot work also risk
being labeled as deviant.
Deviance and Capitalism
- committed by
people in high social positions in the course of
their occupations.
– the illegal actions of a
corporation or the individuals acting on
behalf of the corporation.
– a business supplying
illegal services and/or goods.
Deviance and Social
Diversity
motivate
hate crimes.
– a criminal act against a person
or his/her property motivated by racial or
other bias.
is another important variable
affecting deviant labeling.
 Men often escape direct responsibility for
actions that victimize women.
 (page 173 has chart of three theories)
Crime
 Crime consists of
itself AND the
.
– violence
or threat of violence against a particular
person.
– no readily apparent
victims
!! The crime rate is 2-4 times higher than reports
indicated. (map pg. 175, graph pg. 176)
The Criminal Justice System
 The criminal justice system is society’s formal
system of social control.
 Police serve as the primary point of contact
between the system and the people.
 90% of criminal cases are resolved before trial
through plea bargaining.
 The oldest justification for punishment is the
public’s craving for revenge. (map pg. 180,
chart pg. 182, map pg. 184, graph pg. 185)