Chapter 7

Understand deviance as culturally relative.
Explain the functions and dysfunctions of deviance.
Distinguish between internal and external means of social control.
Differentiate among the various types of sanctions.
Describe and critique biological, psychological, and sociological theories of deviance.
Discuss the concept of anomie and its role in producing deviance.

What determines whether a person’s actions are seen as eccentric, creative, or deviant?
Moral codes differ widely from one society to another.
- Norms and values make up the moral code
- Expectations about proper behavior

Moral code DEF: The symbolic system in terms of which behavior takes on the quality of being “good” or “bad,” “right” or “wrong.”
Deviant behavior DEF: Behavior that fails to conform to the rules or norms of the group in question

Why will two men walking hand-in-hand cause raised eyebrows in one place but not in another?
Why is panhandling viewed as normal in some societies and not in others?

Émile Durkheim, as a functionalist theorist, stated, that all social phenomena must have a purpose
He stated that deviance is “An integral part of all healthy societies”

1. It can cause the groups members to close ranks.
2. It teaches normal behavior by providing examples of rule violation.
3. It prompts a group to organize and work together to limit future deviance.
Tolerance of deviance can act as a safety valve and help prevent more serious acts of non conformity.

It is a threat to the social order because it makes social life difficult and unpredictable
It causes confusion about the norms and values of a society.
Deviance also undermines trust.
To control widespread deviance, vast resources must be called upon and shifted from other social needs.

Socialization involves the individual accepting the norms (rules of behavior) of the group
This means the rules come to be internalized (accepted as correct internally). Thus, the individual feels “guilty” or “wrong” if they violate these rules
Through this process the individual passes judgment on their own actions and controls their own behavior, avoiding rule breaking

External means of control
Other people’s responses to a person’s behavior—that is, rewards and punishments.
Sanctions
Def: Rewards and penalties that a group’s members use to regulate an individual’s behavior

Sanctions can be:
Positive or Negative
Formal or Informal
SANCTIONS work only to the degree that people can be reasonably sure that they actually will occur as a consequence of a given act.

Spontaneous displays to express their approval of another’s behavior.
Examples:
Smiles
Pats on the back
Handshakes
Congratulations
Hugs are informal positive sanctions .

Spontaneous displays of disapproval or displeasure ,
Examples:
frowns
damaging gossip
impolite treatment directed toward the violator of a group norm.

Public affairs, rituals, or ceremonies that express social approval of a person’s behavior.
Examples:
Parades
Presentation of awards or degrees

Formal negative sanctions
Actions that express institutionalized disapproval of a person’s behavior.
EXAMPLES:
BANISHMENT
PUBLIC PUNISHMENT

Biological Theories of Deviance
Cesare Lombroso (1835–1901)
People are born criminals
Criminals are evolutionary throwbacks whose behavior is more apelike than human
Driven by their instincts to engage in deviant behavior
Believed that certain criminal types could be identified by their head size, facial characteristics and even hair color.

Psychological Theories of Deviance
Downplay biological factors and emphasize instead the role of parents and early childhood experiences, or behavioral conditioning, in producing deviant behavior.
Assume that the seeds of deviance are planted in childhood and that adult behavior is a manifestation of early experiences rather than an expression of ongoing social or cultural factors.

Sigmund Freud
Psychoanalytic
unconscious, the part of us consisting of irrational thoughts and feelings of which we are not aware, causes us to commit deviant acts.

RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY
STRAIN THEORY
CONTROL THEORY
LEARNING THEORY

Behavioral Theory
People adjust and modify their behaviors in response to the rewards and punishments their actions elicit.
Something that leads to a favorable outcome, we are likely to repeat that action.
If an act is more likely to have a positive outcome, the individual will rationally decide to commit the act.

Routine Activities Theory
For a crime to be committed there must be three merging facts:
1. A motivated Offender
2. A suitable target
3. A lack of a capable guardian (defender)
Anything that changes this equation will affect whether a crime is committed.

Anomie (Durkheim)
Refer to the condition of normlessness, in which values and norms have little impact and the culture no longer provides adequate guidelines for behavior.
Robert Merton built on this concept and developed a general theory of deviance in American society.

American society pushes individuals toward deviance by overemphasizing the importance of monetary success
But fails to emphasize the importance of using legitimate means to achieve that success. Those who cannot achieve monetary success legitimately use deviant means to try and succeed.

Merton identified four types of deviance that may emerge from this strain.
Innovators
Rebels
Ritualists
Retreatests

Accept the culturally validated goal of success but find deviant ways of going about reaching it.
Examples
Con artists,
Embezzlers

Reject both the goals of what to them is an unfair social order and the institutionalized means of achieving them.
Example
Tears down the old social order and build a new one with goals and institutions they can support and accept OR builds a new order within a deviant sub-group that does not accept societal norms .

Individuals who deemphasize the importance of success and instead concentrate on following and enforcing rules more precisely than was ever intended.
Example:
A person who continues to stay at a job because it’s their job. They do only because they suppose to not because they really want to. They have no love or passion for the job.
WHAT IS DEVIANT ABOUT THIS?

People who pull back from society altogether and cease to pursue culturally legitimate goals.
Examples:
High School dropout
Hermits (religious or otherwise)
WHAT IS DEVIANT ABOUT THIS?

Social ties among people are important in determining their behavior.
What causes deviance is the absence of what causes conformity (commitment to norms and values of the group).
There are four ways in which individuals become bonded to society and conventional behavior

The more bonds a person has to society through these different modes, the less likely they are to act in a deviant manner
- ATTACHED TO OTHERS
- PURSUE “NORMAL” ACTIVITES
- TIME IS USED UP IN THESE ACTIVITIES
- ADOPT/ACCEPT THE MORAL CODE

Criminal Behavior is learned in interaction with intimate groups who teach two components:
- Criminal techniques (difficult or easy)
EX: How to break into and start autos
- Criminal attitudes (motives, drives, attitudes and rationalizations)
EX: Rationalizations that justify criminal behavior.

To rationalize that an act is not deviant or not the fault of the individual the offender neutralizes their responsibility.
- Deny responsibility
- Deny of any Injury
- Denial of the victim
- Condemnation of authority
- Appeal to higher authority

Explores how and why society applies the label of “criminal” to certain people and behaviors:
Although we all break rules from time to time, we do not necessarily think of ourselves as deviant— nor are we so labeled by others.

Three factors that affect whether a deviant label is applied:
The importance of the norms that are violated
The social identity of the individual who violates them
The social context of the behavior

The theory states that there are two types of deviance:
Primary deviance
The original behavior that leads to the application of the label to an individual.
Secondary deviance
Behavior that people develop as a result of having been labeled as deviant.

Conflict theorists see the application of a “criminal code” and enforcement as a part of the larger social control mechanism of the state which includes:
- education
- mental health
- legal sanctions
- mass media
It is a means of keeping problem populations in line.

There are two separate types of sanctions in modern society:
1. official reaction of social control groups
2. personal reaction of individuals and
groups to norm breaking.
How do we reach the point where norms need to be codified and given the power of authority for enforcement?

Legal code
The formal rules, called laws , adopted by a society’s political authority. Breaking of these laws is what constitutes crime.
The code is enforced through the use of formal negative sanctions when rules are broken. (courts, fines, imprisonment)

Conflict approach
Assumes that the elite use their power to enact and enforce laws that support their own economic interests and go against the interests of the lower classes. Conflict model
Consensus approach
Assumes that laws are merely a formal version of the norms and values of the people.
Functionalist model for explaining a society’s legal system.

There are two categories of crime in the U.S.
Violent crime
An unlawful event such as homicide, rape, and assault that may result in injury to a person.
- Aggravated assault, Rape, Murder, Robbery
Property crime
An unlawful act that is committed with the intent of gaining property but that does not involve the use or threat of force against an individual.
- Larceny, Burglary, Motor vehicle theft

Refer to the acts of individuals who, while occupying positions of social responsibility or high prestige, break the law in the course of their work for the purpose of illegal personal gain.
They are less likely to be caught, prosecuted or punished than other crimes even though their effect on society is often much larger

Acts that violate laws meant to enforce the moral code but do not cause harm to another individual.
Examples:
The use of narcotics
Illegal gambling
Public drunkenness
The sale of sexual services
Status offenses by minors. (curfew, smoking, etc)

Juvenile crime - DEF: The breaking of laws by individuals younger than age 18.
25 % of those arrested are under 19
59% of those arrested are under 29
Labeling theory would say that the arrest and imprisonment of these individuals leads to more crime.
Most of those who commit low level crimes at this age do not go on to be career criminals

Chapter 7

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