Deviance and Social Control
Chapter Eight
Deviance
Section One
I. Definition of Deviance
Behavior that violates significant social norms
II. The Nature of Deviance
A. Violation of norms is inevitable
B. Depends on the situation (example: a police officer
who kills someone in the line of duty is not
deviant)
C. Depends on society (example: divorce is not deviant in
the U.S., but it is in the Philippines)
D. Labeling
1. A repeat offender—someone who constantly
speeds
2. An act with serious negative effects on society—
robbery
3. Must have a detectable act linked to a stigma (a
mark of social disgrace—The Scarlet Letter)
Visual signs for today:
III. The Social Functions of Deviance
A. Clarify Norms—defines boundaries
B. Unify the Group—identify the outsider
C. Diffusing Tension—only if a minor act;
demonstrations
D. Promoting Social Change—if a lot of people
violate a norm, maybe it shouldn’t exist any
longer; department bans on tattoos
E. Providing Jobs—judges, lawyers, police,
prison personnel, parole officers, crime
reporters, criminologists
IV. Explaining Deviance
A. Functionalist Perspective
—Strain Theory
1. Developed by Robert
Merton
2. Society says certain goals
are important (economic
gain), but some people
cannot reach these goals;
this strain causes deviant
activity
3. 5 Modes of Adaptation:
give an example for each
B. Conflict Perspective
1. A struggle between those with power and
those without
2. Richard Quinney: any act that threatens the
haves’ power are deviant
C. Interactionist Perspective
1. Control Theory: a natural occurrence when people
are not connected to society; Travis Hirschi—social
bonds develop in four ways
a. Form attachments
b. Believe in the moral codes of society
c. Are committed to traditional values (like getting a
job)
d. Full involvement in non-deviant activities
2. Cultural Transmission Theory—deviance is
learned behavior from interaction with
individuals engaging in deviant acts
Edwin Sutherland proposed the theory of
differential association—whomever you
associate with dictates what you’ll act like
3. Labeling Theory—everyone commits deviant acts with
varying degrees of deviance; studied by Edwin Lemert
and Howard Becker
a. Primary Deviance: undetected by authority
b. Secondary Deviance: a person is labeled a deviant in a public
setting, like a trial
Section One Review
1. Answer the two questions under Finding the Main
Idea (#4) on page 185
2. Tattoos were once considered deviant—and people
with visible tattoos were looked down on. How has
this view changed? In what ways does it still exist?
3. Read the Case Study on page 178. Answer the two
questions under Think About It. Do you think
gangs are a problem in America?
Crime
Section Two
I. Introduction
A. Crime is labeled by those in authority,
prohibited by law, and punishable by the
government.
B. Affects everyone as victims, criminals,
or bystanders (even through the media)
C. Demographics
Most criminals are white males, aged 18-24
II. Crime Statistics
A. Publication: The Uniform
Crime Reports (UCR)—
published yearly by the FBI
B. Not all crimes are reported
III. Types of Crimes
A. Violent Crime
1. Murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault
2. Occurs every 22 seconds in the U.S.
B. Crimes Against Property
1. Burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson
2. Occurs every 3 seconds in the U.S.
C. Victimless Crime: prostitution, illegal gambling,
illegal drug use, and vagrancy
D. White-collar Crime
1. Term was coined by Edwin Sutherland
2. Crimes are committed by those with
high social status in the course of their
professional lives
3. Costs the U.S. more than $300 billion
each year
4. Crimes include fraud,
misrepresentations, tax evasion,
embezzlement, price fixing,
toxic pollution, insider trading, and
political corruption
E. Organized Crime
1. Large scale group of professional criminals
2. Use legal businesses as fronts for criminal activity
3. Make huge profits through drug trafficking, unfair labor
practices, illegal gambling, and loan sharking
IV. The Criminal Justice System
A. Police: decide who is / isn’t arrested
1. Consider the seriousness of the crime, victim’s wishes,
suspect’s attitude, presence of witnesses, and race of suspect
2. Racial profiling: the assumption that non-whites commit
more crimes
B. Courts
1. Determine a person’s guilt or innocence and assign
punishment when guilty
2. More than 90% of criminal cases are settled through plea
bargaining (plead guilty to a lesser charge to save the courts
time and money)
C. Corrections
1. Basic Functions
a. Retribution: revenge for victims
and society
b. Deterrence: to discourage others
c. Rehabilitation: so released are
law-abiding citizens
d. Social Protection: to prevent
repeat crime
2. 62% of released prisoners are
charged with new crimes; 41%
will return to prison within 3 years
V. Juvenile Justice System
A. Those under 18 make up
the 3rd largest group of
criminals
B. Had few rights until the
1960s
C. Are now guaranteed the
same rights and
privileges as adults