Deviance and Social Control Lecture Notes PDF

# Introduction to Sociology ## Topic: Deviance and Social Control - Deviance, Crime, and Social Control - Diagram of deviance, crime, and social control - Rana Zahid Zulfiqar - PhD Scholar Sociology(GCUF) - Visiting Lecturer Sociology, (BZU) Multan, Pakistan - ranaz...

# Introduction to Sociology ## Topic: Deviance and Social Control - Deviance, Crime, and Social Control - Diagram of deviance, crime, and social control - Rana Zahid Zulfiqar - PhD Scholar Sociology(GCUF) - Visiting Lecturer Sociology, (BZU) Multan, Pakistan - [email protected] ## Deviance - A behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society. - Involves the violation of group norms, which may or may not be formalized into law. - Diagram of two overlapping circles, both saying "Deviance" on the outside. - The circle on the left says: A behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society. - The circle on the right says: Involves the violation of group norms, which may or may not be formalized into law. - To sociologists, deviance is relative. "It is not the act itself that is deviant; rather it is people's interpretation of it or judgment about it that makes it deviant" (Sullivan 2003, 301). Behavior that is considered inappropriate (deviant) in one situation may be considered appropriate (non-deviant) in another situation. - Diagram of a series of circles, the size varying, with no text. ## Types of Deviance - **Formal Deviance** - Describes an act committed by a person or group of persons that contravenes (goes against) the established laws of society. - Diagram of a red rectangle, the heading "Types of Deviance", and two downward-pointing arrows pointing towards the word "Formal Deviance" and "Informal Deviance". - **Informal Deviance** - Refers to the fact that an individual (or group of individuals) may be slightly nonconformist to the general trend of society. It does not constitute an illegal act. - Informal deviants are people / groups of people therefore whose behavior might raise an eyebrow but will not encourage a person to call the police. Informal deviants are people who are simply "different" for some reason or another. ## Social Control - Social control exists to prevent negative deviance (that is deviance, which can be damaging to others). - Refers to the techniques and strategies for preventing deviant human behavior in any society. - It occurs in all levels of society. ## Levels of Social Control - **1. Conformity:** Means going along with peers individuals of our own status, who have no special right to direct our behavior. - Diagram of a purple rectangle, "Levels of Social Control" in red, and a blue rectangle labelled "1. Conformity" to the left of a text box saying "Means going along with peers individuals of our own status, who have no special right to direct our behavior". - **2. Obedience:** Compliance with higher authorities in a hierarchical structure. - Diagram of a yellow rectangle, "Levels of Social Control" in red, and a blue rectangle labelled "2. Obedience" to the left of a text box saying "•Compliance with higher authorities in a hierarchical structure". ## Types of Social Control - **1. Formal** - **2. Informal** - **3. Inner** - **4. Outer** - Diagram of a blue rectangle, "Types of Social Control" in red, a circle to the left of the rectangle and the numbered items listed inside. ## 1. Formal Social Control - A social control that is carried out by authorized agents such as Police Army Rangers, Intelligence forces etc. - Diagram of a right-pointing arrow pointing to a box containing the words, "According to Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) this type of social control is usually practicing in Organic solidarity (Urban society)." - Diagram of three boxes, "Police", "Army", and "Rangers, Intelligence forces etc." to the left of the arrow. ## 2. Informal Social Control - A social control that is carried out casually by ordinary people. - Diagram of a right-pointing arrow pointing to a box containing the words, "The Family, Peer group and other members of society appreciate the Conformists and discourage the deviants." - Diagram of three boxes, "According to Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) informal social control is practice in the Mechanical settings of society." and "the Family, Peer group and other members of society appreciate the Conformists and discourage the deviants.". ## 3. Inner Control - Inner control refers to an internal control of a person. - The primary socialization plays an important role in this regard. The primary group construct the definition of right and wrong and people, control their deviant behavior in the situation where they have a chance to deviant. ## 4. Outer Control - An individual performs the act, according to the imagination of others. - The person performs the action as others want to look him/her. - Diagram of an arrow pointing towards the box with the sentence, "Society likes to law abidance and people try their level best to show them as conformists." - Diagram of two boxes with the text: one saying "An individual performs the act, according to the imagination of others.", and the other saying: "The person performs the action as others want to look him/her." - Examples: Society likes to law abidance and people try their level best to show them as conformists. ## How is Social Control Exercise? - Social control, is exercised, through the use of sanctions. - Social sanctions, played a vital role in the smooth running of society. - Diagram of a circle with two arrows pointing in opposite directions and text on each side. - The text to the left says: "Social sanctions played a vital role in the smooth running of society." - Teh text to the right says: "Social control is exercised through the use of sanctions." ## Types of Social Sanctions - **Formal Positive Sanctions** - **Informal Positive Sanctions** - **Formal Negative Sanctions** - **Informal Negative Sanctions** - Diagram of a light-blue rectangle with the heading, "TYPES OF SOCIAL SACTIONS". - Diagram of a horizontal arrow pointing to the right. The arrow starts in the middle of a box with the sentence, "FORMAL POSITIVE SANCTIONS". - Diagram of three circles in between the words "FORMAL POSITIVE SANCTIONS" and the words "INFORMAL POSITIVE SANCTIONS". - Diagram of a box with the sentence,"INFORMAL POSITIVE SANCTIONS" at the very right of the arrow. - Diagram of the words, "FORMAL NEGATIVE SANCTIONS" below the arrow. - Diagram of the words, "INFORMAL NEGATIVE SANCTIONS" at the end of the continuation of the arrow. ## 1. Formal Positive Sanctions - Exercised by a group (or groups) that fall under the concept "formal social control". - It is a reward for good behavior. - Diagram of a circle with an arrow pointing towards another circle containing the sentence, "it is a reward for a good behavior.". - Diagram of a circle with the sentence "exercised by a group (or groups) that fall under the concept "formal social control"" to the left of the arrow. ## 2. Formal Negative Sanctions - Exercised by "people in suits” so to speak. - Form of a punishment for bad behavior / undesirable behavior, rather than a reward. ## 3. Informal Positive Sanctions - Applied by groups in society, that we are most likely to turn to for guidance. - They are groups that fall under the term "informal social control" e.g. family, peer groups. ## Informal Negative Sanctions - Agencies of informal social control do, however, also exercise negative sanctions. - Hence, agents of informal control also provide punishments as well as rewards. - Diagram of an upward-pointing arrow. ## Informal Nagitive Sanctions - Agencies of informal social control do, however, also exercise negative sanctions. - Hence, agents of informal control also provide punishments as well as rewards. - Diagram of two arrows. There is a left-pointing arrow that starts from the middle of a box containing the sentence, "Agencies, of informal social control do, however, also exercise negative sanctions." and another right-pointing arrow that starts in the middle of a box containing the sentence, "Hence, agents of informal control also provide punishments as well as rewards." ## Theories of Deviance - **1. Biological Perspectives** - **2. Structural Functionalist** - **3.Structural Strain** - **4. Opportunity Structures** - **5.Social Conflict Perspective** - **6. Symbolic-Interactionist Perspective** - **7. Labeling** - **8. The Medicalization of Deviance** - **9. Cultural Transmission** - **10. Globalization and the Internet** - Diagram of a grid of three boxes with three rows, each box containing one of the numbered theories of deviance. The grid has a red background. Two boxes on each row have green backgrounds, and the remaining boxes have red backgrounds. ## 1. Biological Perspectives - **Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909)** - Cesare Lombroso was an Italian army psychiatrist who was impressed from Darwinism. - He believed that he could distinguish "born criminals." - They were identifiable, he contended, by physical characteristics common to criminals, but not shared by the wider population. - Lombroso's research consisted of recording anatomical and physiological measurements from thousands of living and dead Italian soldiers and prisoners. - His data included the length of arms and fingers, facial features, amount of body hair, distance between the eyes, and even measurements of brains, bones, and internal organs. - **Continue** - Lombroso (1876) concluded that the "criminal man” was atavistic, or less evolved and closer to apes or Neanderthals, than were noncriminal, and shared five or more physical characteristics on a list of "stigmata" he developed. - His list included large jaws, high cheekbones, handle-shaped ears, insensitivity to pain (physical and moral), and good eyesight, as well as characteristics such as excessive laziness, sexual drive, and craving for evil. - Lombroso used his data to argue that criminality was instinctual. - A subsequent study of women resulted in similar conclusions about female criminality. - Female "born criminals" were, however, fewer in number and more difficult to detect (Lombroso 1980). - **Continue** - William Sheldon (1949) concluded that muscular bodies (which he associated with aggression), indicated a criminal type. - Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck (1950, 1956) expanded on Sheldon's work, adding more factors to consider. - Other biological factors studied in relation to deviance include chromosomal abnormality, biochemical substances, cognitive deficits, and birth complications. - Researchers have even drawn from the field of psychophysiology (the science that deals with the interplay between psychological and physiological processes) in considering variables such as the electrical activity of the skin and heart rate (Yaralian and Raine 2001). ## 2. Structural-Functionalist Perspectives - To Durkheim (1964a, 1964b), deviance strengthens social bonds by defining moral boundaries, a shared sense of acceptable behavior that establishes right and wrong as well as sanctions for behaviors that fall outside permissible bounds. - In other words, identifying and punishing deviance also identifies what is considered okay. - People draw together to respond to deviance. ## Social Bonds ( E. Durkheim ) - **Preindustrial societies** - Social bonds were stronger - Had Collective consciousness and collective representation - **Continue** - **Industrial Societies** - Encourage people to focus on individual wants and desires, resulting in an increasing plurality of values and loss of social constraints. - This weakening of bonds in modern societies can result in anomie, an uncomfortable and unfamiliar state of normlessness that results when shared norms or guidelines break down. ## 3. STRUCTURAL STRAIN - Robert K. Merton expanded Durkheim's concept, into a general theory of deviant behavior. - According to Merton's (1968) structural-strain theory, anomie results from inconsistencies between the culturally approved means to achieve goals and those actual goals. - There are goals in a society that most people pursue (e.g., financial and material wealth, power, status). - There are also socially acceptable means to achieve these goals (e.g., hard work, honesty). - Most people conform to the acceptable means to achieve goals. - While some people are able to buy a nice home, designer clothing, and expensive vehicles through legally derived funds, others do not have legitimate means to obtain these things. - Deviance results from a "strain" between means and goals-for example, when there, is a contrast between wants and economic realities. ## Table # 3.1 Merton's Strain Theory of Deviance | Response | Culturally-Accepted Means | Culturally-Accepted Goals | |--------------|---------------------------|---------------------------| | Conformist | Accepted (+) | Accepted (+) | | Innovators | Rejected (-) | Accepted (+) | | Ritualizes | Accepted(+) | Rejected (-) | | Retreatism | Rejected (-) | Rejected (-) | | Rebellion | Replaced | Replaced | ## 3.1 CONFORMIST - Conformist, are the people who lies on the Top of the list because they confirm the culturally approved means and Culturally approved goals. - They are the law-abiding people and very innocent in their nature. ## 3.2 INNOVATORS - The most common type of deviance is innovation. - People accept culturally approved goals, but pursue them in ways that are not socially approved. - A person who steals property or money to pay rent or purchase a car is innovating, as is a drug dealer or embezzler. - A person gets a bribe to construct his home. ## 3.3 RITUALISM - Ritualism, occurs when someone is unsuccessful at achieving these goals, yet continues to adhere to social expectations for their achievement. - Merton identified lower-level bureaucrats as examples of this circumstance. - They may adhere so strictly, to rules, that they may even over conform by focusing exclusively on following rules, rather than other goals. ## 3.4 Retreatism - Retreatism occurs when both culturally approved goals and means are rejected. - Retreatists are social "dropouts". - They include alcoholics, drug addicts, the homeless, and the hopeless. ## 3.5 REBELLION - When both culturally approved goals and means, are rejected and replaced by other goals and means, the response, is a rebellion to those goals and means. - Rebels substitute unconventional goals and means in their place. - For example, The Terrorists, Baghi etc. ## Social Control - social-control theories, have been developed that focus our attention, in another, direction. - Social-control theories ask not why people deviate, but rather why they conform. - The answer, according to, this perspective, is that people conform, because of social bonds (Hirschi 1969). - When those bonds are weak or broken, they are, more likely to commit deviant acts. ## SOCIAL CONTROL ARISES FROM SEVERAL ELEMENTS - Attachment to others through strong / caring relationships - Commitment to legitimate social goals, such as a college education or prestigious jobs, and consideration of the costs of deviance. - Involvement in legitimate activities, such as academic activities, sports teams, a religious body, or a job. - Belief in a common value system that says conformity is right and deviance is wrong. - The more vested a person is within the society, and the more they have to lose, the less likely they are, to become involved in deviance. - Some research from this perspective, has focused, on curbing, juvenile delinquency, by keeping teens involved in, and feeling attached to, socially approved activities and goals (Agnew 1991; Hirschi 1969). - Other research adds that, since many people have the opportunity to deviate, those who do so, are more in tune with short-term benefits. - They are, more likely to be impulsive, short-sighted, insensitive, and risk takers, than those who conform (Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990). - Additionally, a study of over 450 people convicted, of insider trading, found that these offenders, were lacking in overall self-control (Szockyj and Geis 2002). ## SOCIAL-CONFLICT PERSPECTIVES - Engels argued that the inequalities, inherent in capitalism set up, a system in which the poor had little, and would try to obtain more. - Meanwhile, the rich had a vested interest, in controlling the poor. - Conflict theory, became a major criminological, perspective during the 1970s and 1980s, in a stage set by, the political activism of the 1960s (Moyer 2001, 190-241). - They see the legal and criminal justice, systems as being established, such that powerful groups benefit (Kennedy 1990; Quinney 1970, 1974, 1980). - They argue that these systems focus, the vast majority, of attention and resources on the less powerful, in society while largely overlooking, the activities, of, the powerful. - The powerful, construct and apply definitions, of crime that fit, their own interests and impact, less powerful factions. - Vagrancy, loitering, and drug laws, for example are, all, typically, written such that they target the lower classes (Chambliss 1964; Lynch and Stretesky 2001; Brownstein 2000). ## 7. LABELING - The focus of labeling theory is not the behavior itself; rather, it is the response of others than defines (labels) the behavior as deviant and impacts further deviance. - According to this theory, any number, of behaviors might be considered, normal or deviant. - The crucial, factor, is, the behavior being, labeled, deviant by, others (Becker 1963; Cavender 1991). - Labeling theory cannot explain, the original causes of deviant behavior. - The focus, and, value, are, in explaining, reactions to, deviance, when it does occur. ## TYPES OF STIGMAS - **POSITIVE:** Teacher Labels one student as Talented, His performance will Excellent - **NAGATIVE:** Teacher declares another student not-talented, His performance will Poor - Diagram of two boxes with one downward pointing arrow pointing to each box. The heading "TYPES OF STIGMAS" is in a blue rectangle. ## STIGMA - As this example shows, labels can focus on positive or negative attributes. - Negative, labels can become a stigma, a powerful negative label that changes a person’s social identity and how, they see, themselves (Goffman 1963b). - A stigma often becomes a master status. ## William Chambliss (1973) - William Chambliss (1973), who is profiled below, demonstrated just how, powerful labeling, can be in his, classic study on teen deviance. - Chambliss, studied, delinquency, among two groups of, teenage boys, he referred to as, the "Saints" and the "Roughnecks". - These names referred to the ways, the community viewed and, labeled, the boys, and the outcomes, these labels, had for members of each group.  - They, had nothing to do, with to the, actual number of delinquent acts, committed by each group.