SOC212 - 3. Theory Part II

Question 1

Labelling Theory

Answer 1

emphasize process through which society defines acts as deviant
focus on role of negative social sanctions in influencing individuals to engage in subsequent deviant acts

Question 2

Labelling Theory

Answer 2

focus shifted from individuals + their actions to social definitions that label acts and people as deviant.

Question 3

Deviance as Reaction

Answer 3

Becker’s (1973) definition of deviance may have become the best known in labeling definitions: “deviant is one to whom the label has successfully been applied; deviant behavior is behavior that people so label” (1973: 9).

Question 4

Deviance as Reaction

Answer 4

reactivist + theory of secondary deviance
behaviour/conditions labeled as deviant by other
determine deviance, not by reference to norms, but by reference to the reactions (notably sanctions) of act’s social audience

Question 5

Labels Create Deviants

Answer 5

shifted interest from the origin of the deviant behavior to:

(1) characteristics of societal reactions experienced by labeled individuals
(2) consequences of label for further deviation by those individuals

Question 6

Labels Create Deviants

Answer 6

subtle + long process: central to person’s identity (race, gender)
can lead to more deviance when they accept label

Question 7

Labels Create Deviants

Answer 7

labels can have effects throughout life course
do the fight it, embrace it, change it?
can change how they view behaviour

Question 8

Labels Create Deviants

Answer 8

Tertiary Deviance: attempts to neutralize the label, change what the label means
prostitution change to sex word

Question 9

Who’s got the power?

Answer 9

Labeling theorists focus nature of deviant labels:
Who creates the rules that define deviance.
How society singles out certain individuals + groups for labeling

Question 10

Who’s got the power?

Answer 10

Schur (1980) sees deviance in terms of stigma contests betw different groups who promote competing rules + definitions of deviance
Society’s classifications of deviant behavior always reflects relative power of these groups

Question 11

Who’s got the power?

Answer 11

similar to conflict theory

power of definition of social norms, thus deviance + crime

Question 12

Critiques

Answer 12

Where Is the Behavior?

ignores the first deviant act + basis for society’s reaction to it

Question 13

Critiques

Answer 13

Who or What Labels?
•3 groups could conceivably label deviants: agents of social control (police, judges), society at large, or immediate group they belong

Question 14

Critiques

Answer 14

How Much of a Label?
What constitutes an effective label?
Formal, informal sanctions?

Question 15

Critiques

Answer 15

Who Is Deviant?: Behaviors that trigger labels occur far more frequently in lower classes/low SES than in other groups
glosses over social norms
competing norms from diff groups

Question 16

Cooley’s Looking Glass Self

Answer 16

identity grows out of society’s interpersonal interactions + perceptions of others
shape their sense of self based upon their perception of how others see them.

Question 17

Cooley’s Looking Glass Self

Answer 17

imagine how we must appear to others
imagine or react to what we feel their judgement of that appearance must be
develop our self through the judgement of others

Question 18

Cooley’s Looking Glass Self

Answer 18

begins with socialization
interpretations stop us from being deviant
diff ppl see you diff
value you put on what someone closer to you thinks

Question 19

Critiques

Answer 19

Overlooks the differences between in groups + out groups
more of an us vs them
Our interpretation of other’s perceptions (and the value we attach to it)
will vary by group status + relationship type

Question 20

Control Theory

Answer 20

Control theorists argue deviance is a result of absence of social control

Question 21

Control Theory

Answer 21

propose various reasons for lack of control, but assert

that reductions in control will generate more deviance by freeing people to follow “natural” inclinations.

Question 22

Hobbes vs Rousseau

Answer 22

Hobbes thought in nature, there is no morality, violent
state of constant fear - gov meant to control, prevent war
protect ppl from themselves
keeps ppl in line

Question 23

Hobbes vs Rousseau

Answer 23

rousseau: ppl in natural state, free and equal
society that corrupts them
bring ppl into harmony
ppl make society, not institution

Question 24

Durkheim & Control

Answer 24

Control theory originated from the work of Emile Durkheim

focused on methods of maintaining social order in complex societies with a division of labor and social differentiation.

Question 25

Durkheim & Control

Answer 25

focused on social integration + strength of bonds that develop between individuals + larger social groups.
Suicide & Religious Group: catholics created more cohesion than protestants so it insulated them from suicide

Question 26

Durkheim & Control

Answer 26

as society gets larger, ppl start to specialize
start to become more interdependent
leads to social cohesion

Question 27

Some Basics

Answer 27

Deviance as the default: assumed everyone has urge to commit crime
act on natural motivations because released from restraint that holds everyone in check

Question 28

Some Basics

Answer 28

Conformity as problematic
Motivation as a non-issue
Weak social control is the cause

Question 29

Hirschi’s Four Components: Attachment

Answer 29

extent to which a person feels bound to specific groups through affection, respect + socialization to group social
norms

Question 30

Hirschi’s Four Components: Involvement

Answer 30

Refers to non-deviant physical activities.

Continued involvement in conventional activities strengthens commitment

Question 31

Hirschi’s Four Components: Commitment

Answer 31

degree to which adherence to social norms is
important to an individual + group.
Acts of deviance are seen as putting other, more valued
conditions and activities in jeopardy

Question 32

Hirschi’s Four Components: Belief

Answer 32

personal allegiance to dominant value system of a
group (personal belief in social norms).
values may become moral imperatives for individual, rendering violations unthinkable acts

Question 33

Hirschi’s Four Components

Answer 33

decrease in social control creates + allows deviance

deviant behaviour will stop when 4 components become stronger

Question 34

Critiques

Answer 34

Where Is Deviant Motivation?
Control theorists contend that everyone has equal motivation to commit deviant acts yet some are able to control conduct
intentions vary, some are more motivated (SES)

Question 35

Critiques

Answer 35

Disagreement Among Theorists
Control theory predicts highest rates of deviance in groups with least effective social controls but no strong relationship

Question 36

Critiques

Answer 36

Assumption of a Central Value System

Most modern industrial societies have variations, which condone certain acts considered deviant in others

Question 37

Learning/Socialization Theory

Answer 37

Deviant behaviors learned + developed according to the same basic processes through which nondeviants learn conformity

Question 38

Learning/Socialization Theory

Answer 38

Deviance results from learned
acquisition of deviant norms and
values, particularly those learned
within subcultures and among peers

Question 39

Sutherland’s Differential Association

Answer 39

Sutherland argued that deviant group behavior resulted from normative conflict

Question 40

Sutherland’s Differential Association

Answer 40

Conflict among norms affects deviance through differential

social organization, determined by neighborhood structures, peer group relationships, and family organization.

Question 41

Nine Propositions of Differential Association

Answer 41

1. Criminal/deviant behaviour is learned.
2. This behaviour through interactions with others in a process of communication.
   primary learning of deviant behavior occurs within intimate personal groups.

Question 42

Nine Propositions of Differential Association

Answer 42

3. behavior deviants learn includes:

Techniques of committing the crime, which range from the very complicated to the simple

Question 43

Nine Propositions of Differential Association

Answer 43

4. Specific direction of motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes that characterizes the particular form of deviance.
5. deviant learns specific direction of motives + drives from definitions of norms as favorable/unfavorable standards

Question 44

Nine Propositions of Differential Association

Answer 44

6. becomes deviant because definitions that favor violating norms exceed definitions that favor conforming to norms
7. Differential associations may vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity

Question 45

Nine Propositions of Differential Association

Answer 45

8. learns deviant behavior by association with deviant + non-deviant patterns involving all of mechanisms involved in any other learning.

Question 46

Nine Propositions of Differential Association

Answer 46

9. While deviant behavior expresses general needs + values, those general needs + values do not fully explain it, since non-deviant behavior is expression of same needs and values

Question 47

Critiques

Answer 47

Learning/socialization theories have established wide acceptance among sociologists

Question 48

Critiques

Answer 48

seems to be an over-socialized conception of human beings, with insufficient attention to differential responses in regards to motivations and rational actions

Question 49

Critiques

Answer 49

Problems of logic – circular reasoning
Glosses over biological + psychological
elements

Question 50

Feminist Theory

Answer 50

Notes that all other theories based on male model of offending
Women & Girls have a different structural position which affect pathways to crime + deviance

Question 51

Feminist Theory

Answer 51

• Patriarchy
• Explanations of crime and deviance need to be aware of patriarchal context
• Social Control agents – reinforce woman’s place in society