6192009

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The Sociology of Deviance An Introduction
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For the purposes of this course, deviance is
defined sociologically as

• An attitude, behavior, or condition--physical or
  mental (the ABCs of deviance)
• that violates, departs, or deviates from a
  basic norm
• and is likely to generate negative reactions from
  others who observe or otherwise learn about about
  the violation.

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What Makes Something Deviant?

• Not all norm violations are deviantseveral
  characteristics of a given ABC help determine if
  something or someone is seen as deviant.

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What Makes Something or Someone Deviant? (1 of 4)

• Matter of degree some ABCs such as incest,
  murder, or supporting Osama Bin Laden result in
  severe negative reactions, others such as
  stirring coffee with ones finger, picking ones
  nose in public, or denying the existence of God
  tend to result in only mildly negative reactions
• In general, the greater the degree of negative
  reaction to a given ABC the more likely it is
  that the ABC will be considered deviant by a wide
  variety of people/audiencesand be subject to
  social control.

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The Matter of Degree of a given form of
deviance is not a straightforward matter.

• Our perception of the degree or seriousness
  of a given act is socially conditioned by
  historical context, educational, and media
  influences among other things.
• For example, while we may believe that child
  abuse is highly deviant act, this has not always
  been the case.
• Similarly, while many now consider smoking
  cigarettes indoors a rather serious offense, few
  take offense at someones car exhaust (which may
  be more serious and harmful from a medical.

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What Makes Something or Someone Deviant? (2 of 4)

• Matter of Numbers some actions are condemned by
  many people (e.g. murder, prostitution) while
  others are condemned by fewer people (pre-marital
  sex, smoking tobacco).
• Those attitudes, behaviors, or characteristics,
  that are negatively reacted to by many people are
  more likely to be seen as deviant by most of
  societys members and are also more likely to be
  handled by agents of social control.

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What Makes Something or Someone Deviant? (3 of 4)

• Matter of Power those actions that are defined
  as deviant by those in power are more likely to
  be seen as deviant by people in general.
• Persons who wish to have their definitions of
  deviance accepted by most of societys members
  either may choose to gain power themselves, or
  may choose to influence persons in power to
  accept or adopt their views about deviance.

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What Makes Something or Someone Deviant? (4 of 4)

• Just because someone holds a deviant attitude,
  behavior, or characteristic does not
  automatically mean the person WILL be regarded as
  deviant
• And just because someone does not hold a deviant
  attitudes, behaviors, or characteristics does not
  automatically mean they WONT be regarded as
  deviant.
• Instead, the labeling of a person as adeviant
  and/or the development of a deviant identity is
  a socially patterned process.
• We know that some people are more likely to be
  labeled or treated as deviant than others.
• Things such as ones education level, skin
  color/ethnicity, social status, place of worship,
  location of residence, and social connections
  tend to affect who gets labeled deviant and who
  does not.

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The Matters of Degree, Number, and Powerand the
process of defining people as deviant--are
intertwined.

• Those in power can use their positions to
  influence peoples perception of the degreeor
  seriousness of a deviant acteither through
  political campaigns, the pulpit, or the media
  this can, in turn, lead to a greater number of
  people who view a given act as deviant.
• Larger numbers of people with a given view of
  deviance also influence perceptions of matter of
  degree--especially to the extent that these
  groups make themselves highly visible. This is
  because we tend to follow the principle of
  social proof in making decisions about the
  social world.

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Is Deviance Always voluntary or a matter of
choice/free will?

• Often deviance is perceived as a voluntary choice
  or an act of free will.
• However, from a sociological perspective this
  view is overly simplistic and fails to account
  for the complexity of social life.
• In the eyes of many sociologists, it is possible,
  and perhaps even necessary, for society and the
  social structure to ascribe some people (or
  their behaviors, attitudes, or conditions) into
  deviant categories.

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What forms of deviance can be ascribed?

• The most obvious are forms of ascribed deviance
  include physical deformity or disability arising
  from genetic or biological factorswe do not
  choose our genetics.
• Less obvious forms could include some types of
  cognitive deviance in which an individual has
  deviant beliefs because of his/her
  socialization by parents or others. Likewise,
  eating disorders such as anorexia or obesity may
  be the un-chosen result of socialization.
• Another example could be deformity or injury
  resulting from an auto accident (most people
  dont choose to get in accidents).

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However, even forms of deviance that we tend to
think of as being clearly voluntary or chosen may
be ascribed by the social structure in several
ways (the four ways listed here are not
exhaustive).

• First, the individual may find that an ABC that
  was not initially deviant has been redefined as
  deviant by societythereby ascribing deviance
  to the individual.
• Second, the social structure has a fixed number
  of legitimate or non-deviant positions to earn
  money, status, or power once these positions are
  filled there may be nowhere else to go but to the
  deviant or illegitimate positions. Such may
  be the case with certain drug dealers,
  prostitutes, petty thieves, etc.

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Ascription of Deviance (cont)

• Third, the social structure may force people to
  engage in deviance such as fraud, environmental
  crimes, and tax evasion in order to cut costs,
  increase revenue, or turn a profitin order to
  keep their jobs.
• Fourth, the social structure may limit
  opportunities for certain individuals to develop
  self-control mechanismsthereby assuring that
  at least some of these individuals will engage in
  deviance and will be regarded as a deviant by
  their peers and community.

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Is All Deviance negative in its impact on
society?

• Deviant ABCs and deviant people are usually seen
  in a negative lightas things or people that need
  to be tightly controlled or eliminated from
  society altogether.
• However, while deviant attitudes and behavior are
  often the target of scorn, retribution, and
  punishment, these deviant attitudes and/or
  behaviors can be important engines of positive,
  desirable social change.

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The Positive Impact of Deviance on Society

• Without deviance from attitudinal, behavioral,
  and characteristic norms society would not change
  much, if at all.
• In other words, social change often rests on the
  actions, attitudes, or conditions of deviant
  individuals.
• In addition, without deviance and deviants to
  measure our own behavior against, there would be
  great uncertainty as to what constitutes
  appropriate behavior. According to Emile
  Durkheim, society needs deviance and deviants
  in order to generate social solidarity (a sense
  of we-ness) that is necessary for the
  maintenance of social order.

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Ideological, Ethical, and Moral Implications of
Studying Deviance
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Although we can study deviance using social
scientific methods, a scientific approach does
not allow us to ignore or escape the ethical,
ideological, and moral implications studying
deviance.

• The sociological study of deviance cannot tell us
  which attitudes, behaviors, or characteristics
  should and should not be treated as deviant.
• Perhaps the best a sociology of deviance can do
  is to address the degree to which claims about
  the negative impact of deviance are, in fact,
  accurate. For example, if those who see illicit
  drug use as deviant say it leads to crime, the
  sociologists can examine and assess the degree of
  accuracy of that assertion.

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(Research and Ideology (1 of 2)

• In general, social scientists simply research and
  describe those attitudes, behaviors, or
  conditions that are treated (or are likely to be
  treated) as deviant by given individuals, groups,
  or institutions in society and attempt to draw
  valid conclusions about the nature and impact of
  the deviance under study.
• However, sociologists who study deviance may be
  construed as having political or social motives
  by virtue of the topics they choose to research
  and the conclusions they draw from such
  researchregardless of whether or not such
  motives actually exist.
• While most sociologists have their own social and
  political views they also tend to do their best
  to objectively uncover social reality to the
  greatest extent possible. Most social researchers
  DO NOT tailor their research results in order to
  support a given political line or ideology.

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Research and Ideology (2 of 2)

• Ultimately, the degree to which the sociologists
  own social, religious, or political beliefs
  effect his/her research is largely influenced by
  their position on the relationship between
  ideology and research.

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Three positions on the relationship of ideology/
values to empirical research on deviance. (1 of 3)

• -Naive positivism
• suggests that the sociologist can be completely
  value free in his/her research,
• argues that the researcher can study deviance
  from a purely objective standpoint.
• This approach is rejected by most
  sociologistsalthough some social scientists
  still insist that research can be totally value
  free.

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Three positions on the relationship of ideology/
values to empirical research on deviance. (2 of 3)

• Politically engaged scientist / engaged
  ideologue
• Proposes that values and empirical fact are
  inseparable
• According to this view no facts exist without
  values.
• Those adopting this position argue that the
  researcher should do research that
  verifies/upholds the good or the right and
  challenges/undermines the bad.
• Only a handful of sociologists adopt this
  approach.

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Three positions on the relationship of ideology/
values to empirical research on deviance. (3 of 3)

• Middle-ground approach
• This approach admits that values and political
  ideology does influence research at the very
  least by
• -influencing the researchers selection of topics
  or phenomenon to research and teach.
• influencing which theories of deviance are
  emphasized.
• However, this approach does not advocate the
  selective use of research and facts to promote
  ones political or social agenda.
• Instead, this view emphasizes that whatever ones
  political or social ideology may be, the most
  important aspect of responsible research is to
  get the facts straight and to acknowledge those
  facts that are contrary to our political, social,
  or religious views.

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Religious, Ideological, Ethical, and Moral
Implications for Students Studying Deviance.

• The sociology of deviance IS NOT intended to
  change your mind about any particular deviant
  ABC.
• However, the sociology of deviance will likely
  conflict with or challenge some of your current
  ideas, perceptions, and beliefs about deviance,
  in general, and specific types of deviance, in
  particular.
• While the sociology of deviance is not intended
  to change your mind. it should help you
  evaluate the pre-existing ideas, beliefs, and
  perceptions you have about general and specific
  forms of deviance.

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Religious, Ideological, Ethical, and Moral
Implications for Students Studying Deviance.

• Remember that claims about deviance, and its
  effects on people and society, are rarely a
  matter of black and white. As you progress
  through the course try to think in terms of the
  degree of accuracy of claims about deviance.
  Some claims about deviant ABCs are quite
  accurate others are not very accurate at all.
• In addition, you must remember that there is a
  difference between discussing what is going on in
  the world that we know (physical realm) and
  discussing what is the truth in the spiritual
  realm. The question of whether or not something
  is/is not or has/has not always been deviant is
  an empirical question about the reality of our
  physical, material world. This is a totally
  different question than whether or not something
  is/is not deviant for all time in the eyes of God
  or a Supreme Being.

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Religious, Ideological, Ethical, and Moral
Implications for Students Studying Deviance.

• Ultimately, I can only ask that you keep an open
  mind in this class. Please dont reject research
  data or other information just because youve
  been taught something different all your life
  (people were taught for centuries that the sun
  revolves around the earthso the length of time
  youve been taught something doesnt make it any
  more or less true than it actually is) but at
  the same time dont uncritically accept what you
  are taught or what you read. If you have doubts
  about whether or not some data or some claim is
  accurate do some research of your own to find
  outthat is what real learning is all about
  anyway. ABOVE ALL THINK, RESEARCH, AND GO FIND
  OUT ABOUT THINGS FOR YOURSELFOTHERWISE YOUWILL
  BE EASY PREY FOR PROPAGANDISTS AND OTHER SOCIAL
  MANIPULATTORSBE THEY EDUCATORS, SALESMEN,
  POLITICIANS, OR WHATEVER.

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Introduction to the Sociology of Deviance
Conclusion (1 of 3)

• Although we may think of deviance as a clear,
  unambiguous concept, such a view ignores the
  sociological complexity of deviance.
• Deviance, whether it be an Attitude, Behavior, or
  Condition (ABC), is socially defined definitions
  of deviance are in constant flux and considerable
  ambiguity exists regarding what is and is not
  deviant.

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Introduction to the Sociology of Deviance
Conclusion (2 of 3)

• Although we may think of deviance as something
  that is chosen or voluntary, it is possible that
  certain forms of deviance are ascribed and
  certain individuals can be forced into deviance
  by the social structure.
• In addition, while we may be tempted to think of
  deviance as something that has only a negative or
  undesirable impact on society, the sociology of
  deviance suggests that deviance is actually a
  necessity of social life and can be an important
  engine of desirable social change.

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Introduction to the Sociology of Deviance
Conclusion (3 of 3)

• Finally, be aware that the study of deviance is
  not intended to answer the question of what
  should or shouldnt be deviant.
• The sociology of deviance can at best help us
  assess the degree of accuracy of certain claims
  made about deviance.
• Dont reject information just because it doesnt
  jive with what you think you already know.
• Think freely and independently. Dont let others
  do your thinking for younot in this class, in
  another class, or in life in general.
• Finally, remember that things arent always what
  they seem (recall the first day of class) and
  problems and their solutions usually arent as
  simple as we are often lead to believe.