Social Deviance- First Midterm (November)

-The positive and negative ways breaking or non-conforming of social norms as an indevidual or group. Breaking of social norms can be informal or against the law
Hair Clothing Jewlery Personality Actions Modivations (ie. smoking) Religion Make-up Relationships Attitudes
Being in a sub culture

Objectivist
Deviance: Violation of absolute norm (society has a widespread consensus) Abnormalities, harm, uniquness
Focus: Why people are deviant and how they can be stopped
~We all see things the same way

Subjectivist
Deviance: What society so labels (it's a social construction & involves social rxn)
Focus: Meanings attached to people and consequences of labelling
~No one characteristic defines deviance
~Impact of labelling

Statistical Rarity
Harm
Negative Societal Rxn
Normative Violation

Something is deviant if it is rare
Limitations:
-"rare" can have more than one meaning (once a day/year)
-common things may be unacceptable ,', not rare
-rare things may be acceptable ( hardly wearing sun screen in summer)

Something is deviant of harms self or world physically or emotionally
Limitations;
-perception of harm varies over time
- perception of harm is subjective (interpreted to ones own bias--depends on person)

Negative rxn by society's masses (ie Surveys, public opinion polls, elected officials as abuse)
Limitations
-Whose rxns count the most
-People might be deviantized even if "masses" react positively

Deviance is violating the social norms
Limitations:
- Lack of consensus over norms
- Does criminal law reflect consensus?

-No common "objective" traits amung deviants (no rules)
-Dominant moral codes are socially constructed
-The definition of what is and is not deviant changes across cultures, over time, in different situations, and depending on who is defining deviance and who is being defined

Definition of deviance varies across cultures

Definition of deviance changes over time

Definition of deviance varies from situation to situation

Definition of deviance depends on a) who is defining and b) who is being deviant

Objective---------------------------Subjective
(absolutive view.................radical constructionism)
Not always one or the other; sometimes in between

Process where a person, behaviour, or characteristic is deviantized
Has 3 components:
-Description-The label or category
-Evaluation- The judgement or assumption
-Prescription- The social control