Deviance and Social Control:

1
Deviance and Social Control

• Deviance violation of social norms
• ( norms are socially defined,
• accepted by majority,
• who is powerful.)
• Note Deviance is the opposite of conformity to
  social norms, not to morality.

2
Who is Deviant?

• Whether Deviant or not depends on social
  responses, such as stigma, negative sanction, for
  violation of the core values of society.
• Not necessarily on violations
• Sometimes ascribed status and subculture make
  people become deviants.

3
Relativity of Deviance

• No absolute definition, deviance is relative
  because
• No action itself is inherently deviant, deviance
  only exist in relation to cultural norms and
  social definition.
• To some, it is deviance and to others it is not.
• People become deviants because others define them
  that way.
• Whether something is deviance or not has a lot
  to do with power pattern in society.
• Norms and definition of deviance change across
  situations, cultures, time, place and who perform
  the acts.

4
Why deviance?

• Individual approach biological, genetic factors
• Predisposed psychological factors personality
  disorder, weak self-control.
• Sociologists consider biological and
  psychological explanations inadequate, and
  believe that
• Outside factors, not inside / innate factors,
  are responsible for deviance. and
• the individual perspectives is blaming the
  victim.
• Social factors social structural arrangement,
  social class, socialization, social inequality,
  social disorganization

5
Functionalist

• Nothing abnormal about deviance, every society
  has deviance, just like human body get sick.
• Society needs deviance, when lacking deviance,
  society will create some.
• Functions of deviance 1. promote social unity.
  2. Affirm cultural values and norms,
• 3. Clarify moral boundaries, 4. encourage social
  change. 5, provide a safety valve for society.

6
Why do some societies have excessive amount of
deviance?

• Durkheim anomie normlessness
• social integration
• Merton strain theory (anomie theory) if society
  inculcates certain cultural values, goals, but
  fails to provide adequate means for people to
  achieve the cultural goals, anomie appears.
• Critical thinking question poverty causes crime?

7
Point If the discrepancy exists between cultural
goals and means, people tends to seek
alternative way to adapt to the adversity of life.

• Deviance behavior
• 1. Innovation still keep cultural goals, give up
  institutionalized means.
• 2. Ritualism, stick to the rules, give up
  aspirations.
• 3. Retreatism reject both.
• 4. Rebellion reject both, but seek change by
  challenging existing social order.

8
Opportunity Theory by Cloward and Ohlin (1960)

• Blocked opportunity (lack legitimate means for
  achievement, but have --).
• Access to illegitimate opportunity
• For example inner city residents, young,
  male, poor -? high crime rate.
• Point crime rate differ, not based on individual
  characteristics, but based on neighborhood
  characteristics.
• Responsible Structural factors
  deindustrialization, suburbanization.

9
Conflict explanation

• Deviance resulted from class struggle social
  inequality is the root of other social problems.
• Deviance resulted from group conflict value
  conflict, interest conflict.
• Which argument is more powerful in explaining
  crime in America?
• Why, compared to Japan, America has higher crime
  rate?
• People in America are more likely to be
  victimized by .?

10
Interactionist theory

• the differential association theory people
  influenced by their primary groups, the
  intensity, the frequency of interaction affect
  behavior.
• Subculture theory e.g. gang membership caused by
  teenage subculture violence, rebellion etc.
• Social Bonds theory attachment, commitment,
  involvement, beliefs developed through
  socilaization bonds people together.

11
Control theory

• Deviance/criminal is normal, conformity is
  abnormal.
• Behave based on natural desires
• Society control exercise social control of
  peoples natural tendency for conformity
• outer control outside force to press you to
  conform.
• inner control conscience for what is right and
  what is wrong

12
Labeling theory

• Labeling theory deviance is a result of being
  labeled by society.
• Primary deviance out of curiosity,
  emergency, or as a spontaneous reaction.
• secondary deviance out of peoples self
  perception of being labeled deliberate
  non-conformity behavior.
• Labels open or close doors of opportunity for the
  individuals involved.
• Point labeling channels peoples behavior into
  continuance of deviant behavior.

13
Techniques employed to resist labeling

• Denial of responsibility
• Denial of injury
• Denial of a victim
• Condemnation of the condemners
• Appeal to high loyalty
• The theory is based on the conflict theory (power
  struggle), and the symbolic interactionist theory
  (people interpret their social situation and act
  accordingly).

14
Medicalization of Deviance

• Deviance is resulted from physical illness and
  need to be treated by medicine.
• Sociologist finding social experiences underlie
  deviant behavior. People deviate from social
  norms and social labeling made people deviants.
• Social implication Institutionalized treatment
  vs de-institutionalization. Labeling, stigma, or
  blovked opportunity for the individuals involved.
  

15
Social control

• Internal control Individuals internalize norms
  and values, develop conscience and voluntarily
  control themselves.
• External control Outside forces such as
  controlling actions of social groups. formal
  informal
• legal codes family
• enforced by
  friends
• government agencies peers

16
Formal control the Criminal Justice System

• Three parts the police, the courts, and the
  corrections
• Deter crime, preserve order, maintain justice,
  and rehabilitation
• Deterrence theory deter crime by creating fear
  letting potential offenders know that those who
  break the law will be punished severely,
• Certainly,
• And swiftly.

17
Why Criminal justice system does not function as
expected, and Why Prisons do not Rehabilitate?

• Inmate Subculture
• Inconsistency between the goals and the internal
  structure of prisons
• Inconsistency between written laws and
• laws in action
• Decision is at the discretion of individual
  law-enforcement agents.
• Social structural factors such as social class
  and gender.