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SOC1301 Ch 7 #101067
SOC Ch 7 - DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL CONTROL.ang
Question | Answer |
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Anomie | Durkheim’s term for the loss of direction felt in a society when social control of individual behavior has become ineffective. |
Anomie theory of deviance | Robert Merton’s theory of deviance as an adaptation of socially prescribed goals or of the means governing their attainment, or both. |
Conformity | Going along with one’s peers—individuals of our own status who have no special right to direct our behavior. |
Control theory | A view of conformity and deviance that suggests that our connection to members of society leads us to systematically conform to society’s norms. |
Crime | A violation of criminal law for which some governmental authority applies formal penalties. Significant decline in violent crime in the US. The accuracy of measuring crime and tabulating crime statistics varies widely. |
Cultural transmission | A school of criminology that argues that criminal behavior is learned through social interactions. Critics charge Sutherland’s theory fails to explain first-time, impulsive deviance. |
Deviance | Behavior that violates stds of conduct or expectations of group/society. Involves violations of group norms that maymay not be formalized into law. Ex: criminals, alcoholics, compulsive gamblers, & mentally ill. Not always negative. Ex: whistle blowers |
Differential association | A theory of deviance proposed by Edwin Sutherland that holds that violation of rules results from exposure to attitudes favorable to criminal acts. |
Differential justice | Differences in way social control is exercised over diff't groups.Conf. theory says criminal suspects are treated diff't by race, ethnicity, social class. May lead > violence, crime i.e. those who see themselves as victims of unfair treatment strike out. |
Formal social control | Social control carried out by authorized agents, such as police officers, judges, school administrators, and employers.Example: imprisonment |
Index crimes | The eight types of crime reported annually by the FBI in the Uniform Crime Reports: murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. |
Informal social control | Social control carried out casually by ordinary people through such means as laughter, smiles, and ridicule. Example: spanking or slapping children as punishment. |
Labeling theory | An approach to deviance that attempts to explain why certain people are viewed as deviants while others engaged in the same behavior are not. |
Law | Gov'tal social control. Reflects continually changing stds of what's right/wrong.Some are directed at all members of society. Ex: prohibiting murder. Some affect particular categories of people. Ex: hunting/fishing |
Obedience | Compliance with higher authorities in a hierarchical structure. |
Organized crime | The work of a group that regulates relations among various criminal enterprises, including prostitution, gambling, and the smuggling and sale of illegal drugs. |
Professional criminal | A person who pursues crime as a day-to-day occupation, developing skilled techniques & enjoying certain degree of status among other criminals. Ex: burglary/safecracking. |
Routine activities theory | The notion that criminal victimization increases when motivated offenders and vulnerable targets converge.Examples: theft of car from an airport parking lot; ATM machine thefts, tourist areas. |
Sanction | A penalty or reward for conduct concerning a social norm. |
Social constructionist perspective | An approach to deviance that emphasizes the role of culture in the creation of the deviant identity. |
Social control | Techniques/strategies for preventing deviant human behav. Family/peers socialize indiv. to social norms.Ex: dress codes. Govt legislates/ enforces social norms. Functionalists say people must respect norms. Conf. theorists: society benefits the powerful. |
Societal-reaction approach/theory | Another name for labeling theory. |
Stigma | A label used to devalue members of certain social groups, often for deviant behaviors they may no longer engage in. Ex: ex-convict or recovering alcoholic |
Transnational crime | Crime that occurs across multiple national borders. Examples: terrorism, trafficking in human beings, endangered species, drugs, and stolen art/antiquities & child pornography via high tech. |
Victimization survey | A questionnaire or interview given to a sample of the population to determine whether people have been victims of crime. |
Victimless crime | A term used by sociologists to describe the willing exchange among adults of widely desired, but illegal, goods and services. Ex: prostitution, drug abuse, gambling. |
White-collar crime | Term coined by Edwin Sutherland in 1939. Illegal acts committed by affluent, “respectable” individuals in the course of business activities. Examples: income tax evasion, embezzlement, bribery. |
Types of crime | professional crime, organized crime, white-collar and technology-based crime, corporate crime, transnational crime, and victimless crime. |
National Crime Victimization Survey | initiated in 1972 to question ordinary people about crime victimization |
Erving Goffman | coined the term stigma to refer to a label used to devalue members of certain social groups. Example: redheads or short people. |
Functionalist view of deviance | Deviance is a normal part of human existence. Helps to define the limits of proper behavior. |
Robert Merton | Functionalist view adapted from Emile Durkheim's notion of anomie to explain why people accept/reject goals of society. Five basic forms of adaptations: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion. |
Interactionist perspective of deviance | is reflected in two explanations of crime, cultural transmission and routine activities theory. |
Edwin Sutherland | Cultural transmission, which he drew upon, suggests crim. behav.'s learned thru interactions w/ others. Used term differential assoc. to describe how exposure to attitudes favorable to crim. acts leads to violation of rules. Pub. book prof. thief wrote. |
Richard Quinney | Conflict theorist who argues that lawmaking is often an attempt by the powerful to coerce others into their own brand of morality. Conflict view of deviance suggests that people with power protect own interests & define deviance to suit their own needs. |
Feminist perspective of deviance | Suggests that deviance, including crime, tends to flow from economic relationships. Suggests that cultural views and attitudes toward women influence how women are perceived and labeled. This view is akin to roots of conflict theory. |
Stanley Milgram | Defined conformity as going along w/ peers who've no special right to direct our behavior. Defined obedience as compliance w/ higher authorities. Ex: military recruit. Both can cause damage. Ex: His electric shock experiment |
Deviance and Technology | Socially tolerated forms of deviance can be found in world of high tech. Internet anonymity allows uncivil behav. EX: hate speech/porn & criminal: software piracy/black-market activity |
Hirschi | His control theory suggests that our connection to members of society |
Explaining Deviance | Early explanations ctr on supernatural/genetic factors. Sociologists reject emphasis on genetic roots of crime & deviance. Functionalist (Durkheim & Merton); Interactionist (cult.trans/routine activity/labeling theory); Conflict (Quinney); Feminist |
Conflict Theory | People with power protect their own interests and define deviance to suit their own needs. |
Corporate crime | Any criminal act by corporation that is punishable by the govt. Ex: stock fraud, accounting fraud, production of unsafe goods, environ. pollution, anticompetitive behavior, public health violations, bribery & corruption |
Computer crime | High technology allows criminals to carry out embezzlement or electronic fraud, often leaving few traces.Ex: computer viruses (most common) |
International Crime Rates | Violent crime rates are higher in the United States than in Western Europe.England, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand have higher rates of car theft. |
Death Penalty | < half of all nations allow it. 97% of executions in 2004 = China, Iran, Vietnam, U.S. (38 states) |
Functionalist View of Death Penalty | It should deter serious crimes & worst criminals deserve to die. Life sentences are expensive. In 2004, 74% support it. |
Conflict View of Death Penalty | It's unfair and reflects social and economic inequality. More likely to be applied when the victim is White. Policymakers show little concern regarding the fairness issue. May be issue of human rights violation. |
Crime Rates | Significant decline in violent crime nationwide. Reasons: booming economy, community-oriented policing, gun control laws, increase in prison pop. Major crimes committed by women rose 9%, male arrests declined 9% over 10-yr period. |