Part II Individual and Society Chapter 7: Conformity, Deviance and Crime

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Part II Individual and SocietyChapter 7
Conformity, Deviance and Crime

• Lecture 7

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• Society creates us?
• or
• Society is created by us?

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• Society is created by us.
• We are not completely socialized animals.
• Deviant from social rules or norms.

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The Study of Deviant Behavior

• Deviance
• nonconformity to a given set of norms that are
  accepted by a significant number of people in a
  community, (group) or society. (p.179)

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The Study of Deviant Behavior

• Deviance
• There are no norms that are accepted by every
  single member of society.
• Deviant from what?
• Whose rules and norms?

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The Study of Deviant Behavior

• Is smoking a cigarette a deviant behavior?
• The Prohibition

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Theories of Crime and Deviance

• Nature vs. Nurture
• Biological genetics
• Psychological personality

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Theories of Crime and Deviance

• Nature vs. Nurture
• Sociological
• The result of social circumstances
• interconnections b/w conformity and deviance in
  different social contexts.
• (p. 180-1)

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Sociological Theories of Crime and Deviance

• Interactionist /Learned Deviance
• Labeling Theory
• Functionalism

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Sociological Theories of Crime and
DevianceDifferential Association

• Criminal behavior is learned. (p.187)

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Sociological Theories of Crime and
DevianceDifferential Association
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Sociological Theories of Crime and Deviance
Labeling Theory

• The labels that create categories of deviance are
  reflection of the power structure of society.
• Who labels it deviance?
• How is it tagged a deviance label?
• (p. 188-)

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Theories of Crime and Deviance Labeling Theory

• How a certain behavior becomes considered
  (labeled) as a deviance is more important than
  what constitutes deviance.

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The Study of Deviant Behavior

• Is smoking a cigarette a deviant behavior?

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The Study of Deviant Behavior

• Is abortion deviant?
• Gender/Deviance

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Theories of Crime and Deviance Robert Mertons
Anomie as a Cause of Crime

• Robert Merton
• (1910-)
• Functionalism

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Theories of Crime and Deviance Robert Mertons
Anomie as a Cause of Crime

• Anomie
• A- without
• Nomie norm
• There is no clear standards to guide behavior in
  a given area of social life. (p.186)
• Emile Durkheim, Suicide
• Traditional to modern industrial society

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Theories of Crime and Deviance Robert Mertons
Anomie as a Cause of Crime

• Robert Merton
• Anomie
• the strain put on individuals behavior when
  accepted norms conflict with social reality.
  (p.186)

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Theories of Crime and Deviance Robert Mertons
Anomie as a Cause of Crime

• For instance
• Norms / Values
• Hard working Economic(or academic) success
• What if you get a grade that is much worse than
  you expected?
• Gap b/w norm/value and reality

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Theories of Crime and Deviance Robert Mertons
Anomie as a Cause of Crime

• Robert Merton
• How do people react when he/she is put in
  anomie.
• Five different reactions
• Conformist
• Innovators
• Ritualists
• Retreatists
• Rebels

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The Study of Deviant Behavior

• Has the increase of immigrants resulted in the
  increase in the rate of crime?

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Norms and SanctionsHow do we control crimes?

• Sanction
• Any reaction from others to the behavior of an
  individual or group that is meant to ensure that
  the person and group complies with (obey) a given
  norm (p.181)
• Positive
• Negative

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The Study of Deviant Behavior

• Does capital punishment, such as death penalty,
  really deter the number of crimes?