Deviance, crime and

social control

Soc 101
Fall 2017
 Deviance, Crime and Social Control
• “Any behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a
group or society(p.151).”
• Deviance is violation of group or social norms that may be or may not
formalized into law.
• That’s why all deviant acts are not subjected to prosecution.

• Positive sides of being deviant.
• Deviance is socially defined notion and at a particular time.
•Individuals and groups holding status and power define what is
acceptable and what is deviant.
 Deviance and Social Stigma


Deviance and Label:
 Deviant identity is acquired through different physical or behavioral
characteristics.
 Ervin Goffman termed stigma, the labels society uses to devalue
members of certain social groups.
• Deviance and negative image.
• Violation beauty myth and spoiled identity.
 Deviance and Technology
 Deviant use of technology
 Pirating of software, motion pictures and music.
 Violation of copyright.
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 Social Control
 “Social control refers to the techniques and strategies for preventing
deviant human behavior in any society (p.153).”
 Social control through socializing agents: family, peer-group, schools and many other
secondary agents.
 Social control through sanctions: positive and negative reinforcements.
Formal and informal sanctions.
Functionalist perspective and conflict perspective.
 Conformity and obedience
 Obedience is compliance with higher authorities in a hierarchical structure.
 Conformity to habit and language of group.
 Law and Society
 Law can be defined as governmental social control through imposition
of formal norms.


 Socialization is the primary source of conforming and obedient
behavior.
 Sociological Perspectives
 Functionalist Perspective
 Durkheim Legacy.
 Punishment defines the form of accepted behavior and contributes to social stability.
 Social norms are flexible.
 However, changing norms could create crime waves.
 Anomie refers to a state of normlessness , or when norms fail to control human
behavior, or human beings are not attached with norms.
 Merton’s Theory of Deviance
 Anomie theory of deviance has five basic forms of adaptation:
 Innovation
 Ritualism
 Retreatism
 Rebellion
 Interactionist Perspective
 Two explanations of crime: cultural transmission and routine
activities.


 Cultural transmission: learning techniques and criminal behavior.
 Differential association: the process through which exposure to
attitudes favorable to criminal acts leads to the violation of rules.
 Social Disorganizaiton theory:
 The absence or breakdown of communal relationships and social institution such as
family, schools, church, and local government.
 Labeling Perspective
 It attempts to explain why certain people are viewed as deviants,
delinquents, bad kids, losers, and criminals whereas others whose
behaviors are similar but not seen as criminal acts.
 (the societal-reaction approach)
 The Saints and the Roughnecks case.
 Labeling and agents of social control.
 Social constructionist perspective
 Conflict perspective
 “The criminal justice system serves the interest of the powerful. “
 Police treats suspects differently based on their racial, ethnic, or social class
background.
 Differential justice 
 Feminist perspective
 The law defines rape.

 Crime: a sociological approach

 Crime is a violation of criminal law for which some governmental authority
applies formal penalties.
 Six types of crime
 Victimless crime
 Professional crime
 Organized crime
 White-collar crime or technology based crime
 Hate crime
 Transnational crime