Deviance and Social Norms Concepts

Deviance Concepts

• Deviance: Behavior that deviates from societal or group norms.
• Negative Deviance: Actions that fall short of accepted norms.
• Positive Deviance: Actions that exceed social expectations.

Deviants and Social Control

• Deviant: An individual who violates significant societal norms.
• Social Control: Mechanisms to promote adherence to societal norms.
• Social Sanctions: Mechanisms of reward or punishment to reinforce conformity.

Theoretical Frameworks

• Anomie: A state where societal norms are weak or absent.
• Strain Theory: Suggests deviance arises from gaps between cultural goals and the means to achieve them.
• Control Theory: Proposes that strong social bonds are necessary for compliance with norms.
• Differential Association Theory: Deviance is learned through exposure to deviant behavior.

Labeling and Identity

• Labeling Theory: Society defines deviance by labeling certain individuals as deviant.
• Primary Deviance: Occasional norm breaking not integrated into one's self-concept.
• Secondary Deviance: Deviance becomes central to an individual’s identity.

Stigmas and Crime

• Stigma: Negative labels that define and characterize individuals.
• Victim Discounting: Minimizing the seriousness of crimes against lower-status individuals.
• White-Collar Crime: Crimes committed by individuals of high status in their professional life.

Criminal Justice System

• Crime: Acts that violate legal statutes.
• Criminal Justice System: Institutions and processes that enforce laws and manage crime.
• Deterrence: Strategy aimed at discouraging criminal acts through fear of punishment.
• Retribution: Punishment aimed at making offenders compensate for their actions.

Correction and Recidivism

• Incarceration: Keeping criminals in prison to protect society.
• Rehabilitation: Process aimed at reforming offenders through socialization.
• Recidivism: The tendency for former offenders to relapse into criminal behavior.

Control Mechanisms

• Internal Control: Moral compass developed during socialization, leading to actions done for their inherent rightness.
• External Control: Governs behavior through sanctions, rewards, and punishments.

Crime Types

• Crimes of Street: Offenses typically committed by lower-class individuals, often highlighted in media.
• Crimes of Suites: Offenses by higher-status individuals, like white-collar crimes, usually underreported.

Adaptive Strategies

• Innovation: Accepts success goals while using illegal means to achieve them.
• Ritualism: Disregards success goals but continues with legitimate actions.
• Retreatism: Rejects both societal goals and means to achieve them.
• Rebellion: Rejects both success and the legitimate methods of achievement.

Sociological Perspectives

• Conflict Theory: Contends that powerful groups define deviance and establish penalties for it.
• Symbolic Interactionism: Explores how societal treatment influences individual behavior.
• Functionalism: Suggests that individuals will seek success through alternative means in the absence of traditional pathways.

Crime Measurement

• Uniform Crime Reports: Data generated only from crimes reported to law enforcement.
• National Crime Victim Survey: Collects data on unreported crimes through direct inquiries to individuals.

Social Bonds

• Basic Elements of Social Bonds: Includes attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief, which help regulate behavior within society.

Industrial Society and Deviance

• Societal Defense Mechanisms: Industrial society identifies and discourages criticism, noncompliance, threats to property, and challenges to authority, labeling such behaviors as deviant.

This quiz covers key concepts related to deviance, including definitions and types such as negative and positive deviance. Additionally, it explores various theoretical frameworks that explain deviant behavior and the role of social control. Test your understanding of how society labels deviance and the impact of social sanctions.