What do these have in common?

1. What do these have in common? Continuously talking to oneself in public (John Nash) Drag racing on a public street or highway Regularly using illegal drugs A man wearing women’s clothing Attacking another person with a weapon People who “clean” their hands by spitting slimy tobacco juice into them.

2. Deviance and Social Control Chapter 8

3. Think-Pair-Share What is deviance? Who gets to define deviance? What gives certain people the authority and/or power to define deviance? H0w do definitions of deviance differ from culture to culture, group to group, and time period to time period?

4. Read opening story in Chapter 8… Pg. 204

5. I. What is Deviance? A. Sociologists use the term deviance to refer to a violation of norms • According to sociologist Howard Becker, it is not the act itself that makes an action deviant, but how society reacts to it • Because different groups have different norms, what is deviant to some is not deviant to others.

6. Deviants are people who violate rules, whether the infraction is minor or serious • Ervin Goffman used “stigma” to refer to attributes that discredit one’s claim to a “normal” identity– “spoiled social identity”

7. B. Norms make social life possible by making behavior predictable. Without norms, social chaos would exist. The reason deviance is seen as threatening is because it undermines predictability. Thus, social control (the formal and informal means of enforcing norms) is necessary for social life.

8. What is the function of deviance? • Clarify norms • Unify the group – Durkheim • Diffuse tension • Promote social change • Provide jobs

9. When a norm is violated, sanctions are imposed • Sanctions can be either negative or positive • Negative sanctions, which reflect disapproval of a particular behavior, range from frowns and gossip for breaking a folkway to imprisonment and capital punishment for breaking a more. • Positive sanctions, from smiles to formal awards, are used to reward conformity. • Most sanctions are informal

10. Shaming is another sanction. It is particularly effective when used by members of a primary group or in a small community. • Shaming can be the centerpiece of public ritual, marking the violator as deviant for all the world to see – Degradation Ceremony • "The Scarlet Letter“ • Page 206 in book

11. Comparisons can be made between biological, psychological, and sociological explanations of deviance • Psychologists and sociobiologists explain deviance by looking within individuals; sociologists look outside the individual

12. Biological explanations focus on genetic predisposition, including factors such as low intelligence; the “XYY” theory; or body type • Psychological explanations focus on personality disorders • Deviance is not associated with any particular personality • Sociological explanations search outside the individual: examine external influences as socialization, membership of subcultures, and social class.

13. Think-Pair-Share Pg. 207

14. II. The Symbolic Interaction Perspective • Edwin Sutherland coined the term differential association • We learn to deviate from or conform to society’s norms primarily from the different groups we associate with. • Families that are involved in crime tend to set their children on a lawbreaking path.

15. Friends, Neighborhoods, and Subcultures • Most parents want to move out of “bad” neighborhoods because they know that if their kids have delinquent friends, they are likely to become delinquent, too • Some neighborhoods even develop subcultures in which killing is considered an honorable act

16. B. According to control theory, everyone is propelled towards deviance, but a system of controls work against these motivations to deviate • Inner controls are our capacity to withstand temptations toward deviance and outer controls involve groups that influence us not to deviate • Strong attachments, commitments, involvement and beliefs, lead to more effective inner controls. • Applying the theory– page 211

17. Labeling theory is the view that labels people are given affect their own and others’ perceptions of them, thus channeling their behavior either into deviance or into conformity. • Most people resist being labeled deviant, but some revel in a deviant identity • Saints and Roughnecks provides and excellent illustration of the labeling theory, which is how labels given to people affect how other perceive them and how they perceive themselves, thus channeling their behavior into deviance or conformity.

18. III. The Functionalist Perspective • Emile Durkheim stated that deviance, including crime, is a function, for it contributes to social order • Deviance clarifies moral boundaries • Deviance promotes social unity • Deviance promotes social change • Robert Merton developed the strain theory to analyze what happens when people are socialized to desire cultural goals but denied the institutionalized means to reach them

19. The Social Functions of Deviance • Emile Durkheim observed that deviance has some uses in social life • Deviance helps: • Clarifying norms • Example: ? • Unifying the group • Diffusing Tension • Right to assemble to express political or social discontent • Promoting social change • Identify problem areas • Providing jobs • ?

20. IV. The Conflict Perspective The state’s machinery of social control represents the interests of the wealthy and powerful; this group determines the laws whose enforcements essential for maintaining its power

21. Explaining Deviance

22. V. Reactions to Deviance • Imprisonment, which follows the degradation ceremony, is an increasingly popular reaction to crime but fails to teach inmates to stay way from crime. -- Figure 8.2 • The U.S. has the dubious distinction of having not only more prisoners than any other nation, but also a larger percentage of its population in prison. – Table 8.3 • African Americans are disproportionately represented among the prison population. • For about the past twenty years, the United States has followed a “get tough” policy. “Three strikes and your out”

23. 4. The recidivism rate in the U.S. is high. For those sentenced to prison for crimes of violence, within just three years of their release, 62% are rearrested, and 52 percent are back in prison. Shawshank Redemption

24. The Green Mile • The death penalty is the most extreme and controversial measure the state can take. Many argue that there are biases in the use of the death penalty. These reflect regional, gender, social class, as well as racial and ethnic biases.

25. The trouble with Official Statistics • Caution is needed in interpreting official crime statistics because the reactions of authorities are influenced by social class of the offender. 1. Police discretion