Understanding Social Deviance

The Concept of Social Deviance

• Deviance is defined from statistical, legal, pathological, and sociological perspectives.
• Societies establish and enforce rules that guide behaviors considered acceptable or unacceptable, defining what actions are right or wrong (Abotchie, 2017).
• Deviant behavior violates significant social norms and faces strong disapproval (Lofland, 1969:1).

The Statistical Perspective

• Deviant behavior is statistically abnormal, varying from the average or acceptable norm (Abotchie, 2017).
• It includes actions practiced by a numerical minority, thus conformity aligns with the majority behavior.
• Actions "everybody does" are not considered violations of standard norms.

Criticisms of the Statistical Perspective

• The statistical perspective is overly inclusive, potentially categorizing everyone as deviant.
• It can label law-abiding actions as deviant if engaged in by a minority.

The Legal Perspective

• Deviance is defined by the law, any act violating a law is a crime, and crime involves acts or omissions violating criminal legislation (Abotchie, 2017).
• It considers any act prohibited by law as deviant, and failure to perform a legally required act is also deviant, while acts permitted by the law align with conduct standards and are conforming.

Criticism of the Legal Perspective

• The legal perspective is narrow, as criminal codes form only a small segment of societal norms, including folkways and mores.
• The law is seen as means for the powerful to protect privileges.
• Legally permitted acts can still be viewed as deviant.

The Pathological (Medical) Perspective

• In medicine, pathology examines the causes and effects of illness.
• Abnormal acts are seen as manifestations of illness with the person being the source of deviance.
• Criticism exists of a claim a diminished responsibility for crime.

Sociological Perspective

• Emile Durkheim believed deviance is an inevitable societal aspect that helps define and clarify social norms. clarifying norms and increasing conformity, leads to positive social change and strengthens the social bond among those who react to the Deviant.
• People engage in deviance when society lacks clear social norms and values, leading to anomie.
• Durkheim views deviance as an act that offends collective consciousness, evoking punishment through societal mechanisms (Abotchie, 2017).
• Punishment is the response to broken laws, administered by authority (Brooks, 2012).
• Robert Merton views deviance as behavior departing significantly from social norms
• Deviance varies by place, time, and circumstance (Abotchie, 2017 & 201).
• Deviance can be functional (advantageous) or dysfunctional (disadvantageous).
• Dysfunctional deviance disorganizes society, is costly, inspires negative sentiments and decreases morale.
• Functional deviance means that societies become stagnant without crime and deviance, and deviance clarifies unclear rules.
• Crime / deviance may relieve disruptions, bring solidarity, and those that conform can appreciate value.

Social Control

• Norms, rules, structures, and laws regulate behavior to maintain order.
• Social chaos ensues without social control.
• Socialization teaches society’s norms from birth (Cole, 2019).

Types of Social Control

• Social control is either formal or informal
• Formal control is enforced by state officials, and usually applied for crimes
• Informal controls are enforced family, teachers, etc., and are usually applied to mores

Mechanisms of Social Control

• Persuasion: Sanctions are specific penalties society attaches to norm violations (Abotchie, 2017).
• Sanctions include rewards for conformity and punishments for deviance (prizes, state honors, medals, praise).
• Coercion: Tangible coercion involves physical force by police; intangible involves withdrawing privileges to ensure conformity.
• Informal controls such as beliefs, taboos, ostracism, ridicule, stigma, and accusations compel conformity (Abotchie, 2017).

Delinquency

• Definition is behaviours related to children involved in illegal activities.
• A juvenile has not reached maturity age by law.
• Juvenile delinquency includes behaviours that are unwelcomed and not permitted by society

Theories of Crime and Deviance

• There is no universal answer to 'What causes crime?' but theories attempt to shed light on the causes of crime.
• Theories are categorized into biological and sociological perspectives

Biological Positivism Theory of Crime

• Cause of crime is located it within the person / individual while identifying differences between those that commit crime VS those that do not
• Factors determine behaviour beyond being beyond one's individual control.
• A person's disposition can be determined by characteristic and genetic traits.
• Physiognomy / physical traits and genetics are causes for crime

Physical Trait (Physiognomy)

• This is used to evaluate someone's personality or character by outward appearance.

• Giambattista della Porta concluded appearance and character linked in 'On Physiognomy', 1586.

• Johann Lavater detected criminal behavior via facial fragments in 1783.

• Cesare Lombroso published 'The Criminal Man' and was the father of criminology.

• Lombroso concluded some are "born criminals" in 1876.

• Born criminals have distinct physical characteristics or abnormalities.

• Criminals are from an earlier stage of evolution and commit acts because of degeneration.

• Kretschmer linked crime with observable differences, in Physique and Character, 1925.

• Cyclothemic personality has a heavy body, and commits non violent acts.

• Athletic bodies commit violence.

• Displastics have mixed features and commit sexual and passionate acts.

Body Type and Criminal Behaviour

• Sheldon's (1949) linked Kretschmer body type can be linked to personality.
• Three body /personality types have been identified by somatotypes.
• Ectomorphs have a thin bone structure and are creative.
• Endomorphs can be relaxed with wide hips.
• Mesomorphs have a strong body ad competitive nature.
• Sheldon (1949) found delinquent youth were primarily mesomorphs.
• Mesomorphs have high testrone, anger, a d aggression.

Genetics or Hereditary Characteristics

• The theory says traits can be passed down to generations.
• Francis Galton (1822-1911) proved it out through the family over generations, and charted their abilities.
• Richard Dugdale (1877) documented that crime was a family trait in 'The Jukes'.

Critique of biological theories

• Discared because they were biased.
• Promoted eugenics to breed out the undesirables.

Sociological Theories on Crime and Deviance

• Factors shape crime externally.
• Factors include neighbourhood, peer group, and family.
• Major theories include:
• Anomie/Strain Theory (Functionalism). Differential Association
• Social disorganisation (Structuralism). Labeling theory: symbolic interaction theory.

Anomie/Strain Theory (Durkheim, and Merton)

• Durkheim theorizes that society is a system with different components, including individuals.
• Society must control its components (the individuals) to maintain its existence and stability.
• Durkheim believed cravings or desires have no limit based on how much one has.
• It was believed that society can create an external mechanism to restrict them.
• In pre-modern society - common values, collective conscience, and solidarity are used.
• Individuality and a rapid pace is used for social change in modern society.
• The relationship between individuals and the various parts of society become unregulated.
• Individual aspirations become central.
• Eventually, there aren't enough moral constraints and it won't be clear whats acceptable.
• According to Durkheim, this is a state of aomie.
• Many individuals live in state of lack of purpise, emptiness, and hopelessness.
• Robert Merton then described different between goals that are accepted VS means.
• According to Merton, society has cultural and social structures.
• A cultural structure means defining something all members of society should desire.
• Cultural structure also means the means to achieve ends
• A social structure shows how to realistically achieve desired goals.
• Most in low statys share goals for successs
• Such cannot always attain due to job education

Merton and Anomie:

• Individuals have limited success due to a low status.
• As result, experiencing becomes constrained and deviating.
• Anomie results of imbalance beween goals VS hows.

What's the reality?

• Few societies contain equality due to differences in social economic.
• Unequal conditions lead to different paths to cultural goals.

Adaptations to anomie

• People adapt in 5 general ways or adaptations, by merton
• Conformity, conform
• Innovation
• Ritualism: continue with legitimate means but abandon
• Retratism, nuns
• rebellion

Conformity

• Acceptance to cultural norms achieved through legitimate way.
• Only adaptation to anomie through study trade, fits the the goal.

Innovation

• Achievement attained through iligitimate way.
• This includs dealing drugs, etc

Ritualism

• Cultural goals abandoned but live legitimatetely, such as a dedicated worker without passion

Retreatism

• Reject both materialims and means, such as monks

Rebellion

• Is an attempted change at the current sytem

Critique of strain theory'

• There is a focus on matieraliz and does not focus on non material crimes
• Lower class most affected
• Theory that all are good unless drove toward criminal activity

Social Learning Theories

• Shaw and McKay came up with Social disorganisation theory, 1942
• They focussed on on neighbourhood
• That a person's living conditions can shape likelihood of becoming delinquent
• Affluence = social controls. Low Income = Diversity (a good thing!) / conducive to delinquency.
• Sampson and Groves researched found low economic status led social disorganization.
• Guines and Miller studied and said crime = product of environment ie high school drop

Differential reinforcement of crime.

• Reinforements punish
• Reinforement of act has positive impact with less punishment
• A belief that crime must be reinforced above everything else.

Social/cultural crime model

• Crime is more likely to continue when it is reinforced and not punished.
• Belidf in favor of crime exist when bad prevails.
• Behaviour is affected by others
• There is a likeness to imitate reinforcement for their actions if they observe them.
• People learn how to commit crime through behaviours.

Critique of social learning theory

• Premises are flawed.
• Measuring is impractical

Labeling theory of crime and deviance

• Meaning is found via social interaction through meaning.
• Behavior is labelled as deviant
• Howard becker: deviance is the consequences to an ofending individual.
• Powerful create crime

Social Consquences

• People's responses influence how things are labelled
• Self consept changes once labelled
• devience amplified
• Negative labels are negative
• Labeling: should be avoided

Criticisms of Labelling Theory

• People continue to be deviant
• Offenders victimazed
• Too much emphasis
• Labeling is rejecteed

Rational Choice Theory'

• Posited by Clarke and Cornish, 1987
• Rationality that the best choice is selected
• Calculated move

Criticisms of Rational Choice

• Cannot account for impulse or the non self serving

Theories of Social Control

• planned or unplanned to teach and coerce people to act.
• theories center around obedience
• opposite behavior to being deviant

Theoritical framework

• Formal processes-unplanned procceses are the basis for these mechanism.
• Two mechanisms are based on macro and micro.
• Micro- the macro-social theories explain how society can conform through solidarity.
• Micro- the micro theories focus on the informal mechanisms that induce conformity.

Macro (formal) mechanisms

• Legal system
• Law enforcement is a means to implement decisons
• Power- goals to achieve others even with resistance.
• Exercased legitimately
• Coerception and power is given through a gun

Micro (informal) mechanisms

• They induce confoormity
• Walter reckless- to conatin
• There ae two components of conatinment
• Inner controlls to regulate what behaviour that's good
• moral and societal controls to reduce criminal behaviour.
• Societal and institiuial controls to improve safety

Society and bond

• School to improve family

Hirschi on relationships

• Ties in family support crime, an inevitable outcome
• deviance is a risk.
• There are social bionds
• attatachment
• commitment with goals
• belief

Attachment

• Love
• bonds
• support through time
• support encouragement

Commitment

• support
• excellence
• aspire

Involvement

• Time is too occupied for crime
• The more going on = less to do

Belief

• value
• respecgt

Social Control in Ghana

• maintenance of law an order
• conform
• western and traditional exist
• weaken

Traditional means

• family has shame - aeh bot

religion

• belief is that the gods are looking on

taboo

Explore social deviance from statistical and legal perspectives. Deviance includes behaviors violating social norms, varying from statistical averages, and contravening established laws. It is commonly seen that actions widely practiced are typically not considered violations of standard norms.