Chapter 8 Notes PDF

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Chapter 8 lecture notes from in class...

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Chapter 8 Notes Deviance:  Crime is a category of deviance. Not all deviant acts are criminal  All behavior is shaped by society  No one is inherently deviant  What and who is considered deviant is decided upon by those in power  What/who is considered deviant is relative and changes over time  Always has some element of DIFFERENCE that causes us to think of another person as an "outsider"  Not al deviance involves action or even choice o The very existence of some categories of people are troublesome to others  Elderly, LGBTQ, disabled, poor  What purpose does defining deviance serve? o SOCIAL CONTROL Social Control:  The attempts by society to regulate people's thoughts and behavior  Sanctions can be positive or negative  Informal sanctions- parents scolding a child; peer pressure  Formal sanctions- criminal justice system, organizations that respond to alleged violations of the law Social Boundaries:  Labeling people as deviants and criminals creates and reinforces a society's boundaries  Society's members reinforce these boundaries by participating in the confrontations that occur when someone is accused of being a deviant  Participating in the labeling of deviance strengthens the solidarity of the "insiders" Biological theories- explain human behavior as a result of biological instinct Psychological theories- see deviance as result of "unsuccessful socialization"  Both focus on individual abnormalities and view deviance as a trait of some individuals but most violations are carried out by people are considered normal Sociological Look at Deviance:  Sociologists do not label to judge "good" and "bad" behavior or people, instead we look at: o What behaviors are defined as deviant o Who does the defining o How and why people become deviant o How society deals with deviancy  All of these depend on how society is organized Social Foundations of Deviance:  View all behavior, deviant as well as conforming, as products of society o Deviance varies according to cultural norms  No thought or action is inherently deviant

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Thoughts or actions become deviant in relation to a society's norms Norms vary from place to place People become deviant as others define them that way  Whether a particular behavior is defined as deviant or criminal depends on how others perceive, define, and respond to it  Black Lives Matter  Women who sued McDonalds for hot coffee-widely misunderstood and people labeled her as deviant Norms and how they are applied involve social power (reflect inequality)...