Deviance and Conformity: SOC 224 PDF

What is Deviance? -​ More than just crime or things that are illegal -​ Explore behaviours and identities that are or could be considered deviant but not necessarily illegal, currently in differen place or different people -​ May include many having tattoos, being childless… o...

What is Deviance? -​ More than just crime or things that are illegal -​ Explore behaviours and identities that are or could be considered deviant but not necessarily illegal, currently in differen place or different people -​ May include many having tattoos, being childless… or other actions that are not deemed ‘normal’ -​ Not about personal dislikes and opinions -​ Deviance is characterized as something that crosses societal processe and orientation, what society deems as ‘normal’ -​ Deviance does not exist on its own only exists contextually, typically involving location or specific people -​ What is considered normal is affected by many various factors? -​ Deviance: a person, behaviour, or characteristic that is socially typed as deviant and subjected to measures of social control → deviating from an accepted norm -​ Many contradictory definitions considerable disagreements on what deviance is -​ 2 questions: who creates the norm and who enforces the norm -​ Conformity: behaviour that is in accordance with social norms because of agreement with social values or fear of sanctions -​ Can be both or overlap -​ Ex. not wanting to drink and drive due to personal beliefs that believe it is bad ad the fear of being caught and punished ​ Types of Deviance * broken down into 2 types but most of the time we thin and study deviance in terms of negative elements -​ But most look at all leemnts to truly understand deviance -​ Negative Deviance -​ violates situational expectations -​ Expected to behave in a ascertain way but fail to do that -​ Positive Deviance -​ Intentional behvaiours that depart from the norms of a referent group in honourable ways -​ Surpasses expectations -​ Better than what is expected of you -​ Praiseworthy -​ Relate to ations that have honourabl intentions -​ Unusual people but doesn't necessarily engage in negative behaviours- intentional behaviours that depart form social norms in honourable ways– positive behaviours -​ Ex. olympic athletes ​ Social Norms -​ Social norms: expectations of conduct in particular situations -​ Important as they regulate how we interctct with others, anf how we experience the world around us and impact the way we behave -​ Norm violations usually result in reactions or sanctions  -​ These are the reasons why we conform to social norms as we dont want people to react to us in negative ways and dont want to get in trouble or think negatively of us -​ Is compliance necessary? -​ Essential to maintain order, there would be absolute chaos in society -​ Changes in norms? -​ Some norms are natural and dont have to be enforced, except norms change -​ Ex. cell phones, being on them all the time was considered rude now most people are attached to us and are taken everywhere -​ Ddint happen overnight– happened over tie gradually -​ Social norms vary significantly -​ What is normal and acceptable in one place may be considered deviaant in a different time, place, or with a different group -​ Socialnoms vary through location, time, gender, sexuality, rac,e ethnicity, immigration, country of origin -​ And differentt ypes of norms -​ Proscriptive (what not to do) -​ Ex. not picking nose in public -​ Prescriptive (what to do) -​ Ex. shaking someones hand when they stick it out (context specific) -​ Social Role: collection of norms that together convey expectations about appropriate conduct for persons ina particular position -​ Ex. we expect different behaviours from doctors versus patients in a waiting room Objective/ Subjetive Continium -​ A common characteristic​ ​ ​ - no common characteristic -​ Defines deviance​ ​ ​ ​ - someone must tell us what is deviant -​ “You are so weird”​ ​ ​ ​ - “In our society, you would be labelled as weird” Objectivism -​ Something inherent in a person, behaviour, or characteristic that makes it deviant  -​ Points to empirical features of subject; we can see, hear, and measure them→ we can determine which traits exist and which are deviant -​ This assumption determining what is deviant and what is normal is easy -​ All personal judgements are based on value judgement– many problems to this approach -​ Problems: -​ Deviance labels are never purely objective -​ Always carry moral understanding of what they believe is deviant and what is not -​ Deviance carries a negative moral evaluation -​ People who are deviant according to this approach are considered bad, immoral, evil (all are negative aspectsal trait) -​ Label is applied to people on flimsy or fabricated basis -​ Applied to some people but not others– make up rules about when it exists verus when it does not -​ Main problem is eviance is never purely something that can be determined and measured as something deviant all of the time -​ How do we determine deviance? -​ Statistical rarity? -​ Harm? -​ Negative societal reaction? -​ Normative violation? 1)​ Statistical Rarity → something is deviant if it is rare (doesnt happen frequently) -​ Limitations: -​ Citeria for ‘rare?’ -​ What is considered care depends on what is being measured and who is doing the measuring- there is no established cutoff -​ No perfect scientific number -​ Common things may be unacceptable -​ Ex. technically speeding is considered unacceptable by the law but till many people do this -​ Ex. opera singers are rare but this doesnt make it deviant and is considered acceptable -​ Hidden, but not rare? -​ Ex. cheating- most peole hide the fact that they are cheating, this is recognized and stats show that this is not rare 2)​ What about harm? → harm can be used to measure to determine if something is deviant -​ Harm can be directed at a person or society (social harm) -​ Physical, emotional -​ Ex. assault, or physical harm to self like smoking, emotional harm like emotional abuse -​ Harm to functioning of society -​ Behaviours that interfere with the smooth running of the world  -​ Harm to understandings of the world -​ Those who jeapordize or comrosmised the present understanding of the world were stigmatized or shunned from society -​ Giordana Bruno -​ Italian philosopher, mathematician, astrologer -​ Claimed that earth was not the center of the universe -​ This undermined the church and their position since at the time the church believed and told people that this was what it was— Giordano was burned at the stake -​ He threatened the working of the system in place in society that provided the rules- threatened since he said the Chruch was wrong -​ He undermined things that made the medieval world importnat at the time– he suggested that they should ollow science over religion -​ At the time it was more important thath he caused chaos and disorder than the fact that he was right -​ Limitations of ‘harm’ -​ Perceptions of harm vary over time -​ Ideas of what is harmful vary over time -​ Ex. in the past interracial relationships in the past were considered harmfult o society -​ These things shift over time -​ Perceptions of harm are subjective -​ Shifts depending on the context -​ Some types of deviance less harmful than non-deviant behvaiours -​ Perceptions of harm largely exaggerated 3)​ Societal Reaction → argue that something is deviant based on the social response to that behaviour -​ Types of response -​ 1. Negative → when a behvaiour elicits criticism or punishment -​ When responses are negative it creates hatred, anger, stigma -​ 2. Tolerant → when deviancy is considered reasonable -​ Ex. some adults boast about evding income tax, is still tehnically deviant but still tolerated and even celebrated -​ 3. Denial → attempts to deny the deviance we see -​ Ex. not wanting to accept that a loved ones actions may be deviant and harmful -​ 4. Romanticization or demonization → imagined moral monster vs. robin hood -​ Robin hood was still acting deviantly since he was stealing but since he was stealing from the rich and giving to the poor his actions were romanticized  -​ But: -​ Whose reactions count the most? -​ If there is disagreement who gets to decide which behaviour is deviant or not -​ People may be still “deviantized” when society reacts positively -​ Even when most people are fine wth certain behaviours people may still face consequences for their actions 4)​ Normative violation? → argument that deviance is a violation of social norms Not ALL norms are the same… -​ Folkways: norms that govern everyday beahviour -​ Often things taken for granted -​ Ex. smiling back at someone when they smile, opening the door for people behind us -​ Mores: the foundation of morality -​ Ex. mores people have about non-monogamy, premartitial sex, etc. -​ Storng beliefs about what behaviours are bad, imoral, or evil -​ Law: Norms enshrined in the legal system -​ Essential to society -​ Criminalized behaviours, breaking these norms is also breaking the law -​ Limitations: -​ Lack of consensus over norms -​ We dont know how many people need to agree to consider something geviant -​ Situational differences -​ People belong to different groups with different expectations this causes issue about navigating social norms Criminal Law and Consensus? -​ Consensus crimes: -​ Widespread agreement that these are inherently wrong, harmful, mandate severe response  -​ Ex. murder -​ Conflict crimes: -​ These are illegal acts, but there is vast disagreement about whether they should be illegal, how serious they are, and how we should respond -​ Ex. weed Subjectivism -​ DEviance as a Label → No common ‘objective’ traits among deviants -​ Deviance cannot be recognized on its own, we have to be taught through socialization on what is deviant, essentially we learn often unconsciously about what is accepted in society versus what is not -​ No singular trait is possessed by all deviant people throughouttime and cultures -​ No singular trait or characteristic that is shared by ALL deviant people -​ Have to be taught who is deviant -​ Socialization -​ Powerful people have deemed someone ‘deviant’ -​ Ex. cannibalism → special circumstances such as plane crash, or stranded in wilderness that people had to commit this act in order to survive. In other contexts it can be considered ceremonial and important to certain cultures -​ Subjectivism focuses on the processes by which people, behaviours, or characteristics are perceived and labelled as deviant → established by dominant moral codes -​ A particular behvaiour is only considered deviant whent he dominant moral code of that specific society and at that time says that the behaviour is considered deviant -​ These moral codes provide the foundation for who and what -​ Importance of dominant moral codes -​ How many people condemn an act? -​ How much power do they have? -​ How strong is their disapproval? -​ Complex nature of power relations: -​ Not just oppression of the powerless, people can resist stigmatization -​ Subjectivism realizes that it is importantly about those who have power in society as well as the ability of those who have less power to resist and push back against societal expectations– and say that a rule or law is wring and should be achanged -​ Subjectivism: the social construction of deviance -​ -​ Deviance as a social construction -​ Social traits or creation of particualr societies at particualr times in history together we construct understandings of the world– nothing is inherent -​ Dominant moral codes are socially constructed -​ Something considered deviant and abnormalin one society may be deemed normal in a different society or at a different time -​ Of sociological significance is not the behaviour or characteristic itself, but:  -​ Its place in the social order -​ Roles assigned to individuals who exhibit it -​ The meanings attached to it -​ Levels of Social Construction -​ Sociocultural refers to our broader beliefs and values -​ Institutional- government, education, religion, uoversity -​ Interactional- with others influences how we think about others -​ Individual- own identities, concepts of self ​ All of these together form a part of the social cosntructiion of deviance The importanc of Power → some people in our society ar emore powerful tahn others, when it comes to ability to influence dominant moral codes (some popel have a greater say about where our standards for deviance and conformity come from) -​ Those that can influence are called moral entrepaneurs -​ 1) let us know baout an alleged problem that we should pay attention to -​ 2) try to change moral standing on the issue and because of this they work to influence the development or enforcement of specific moral codes -​