UCSP 4TH QE

• Deviance


  Any behavior, belief, or condition that violates significant social norms in the society or group in which it occurs
• Deviant behavior


  One who is considered "deviant" by one category of people may be seen as "conformist" in another group
• Factors that deviance depends on

  • Time
  • Place
  • Situation
  • Culture
• Time


  • Fashion and grooming change with time, like the Founding Fathers Fashion
• Place


  • Where behavior occurs determines whether it is appropriate or deviant (Cheering/booing at Football game vs. in class)
• Situation


  • Takes precedence over place in determining appropriateness of actions (Laughing in class vs. laughing in class during a moment of silence)
• Culture


  • Most influential in defining deviance (Men greeting each other - US: Hand shake, Japan: Bow, Europe: Kiss on cheek)
• Structural-Functionalism


  Durkheim and Merton's theory that analyzes deviance from the perspective of society as a whole
• Durkheim's view on crime

  • Crime is an inevitable and normal aspect of social life, and is functional because it strengthens social cohesion
• Merton's Strain Theory


  • Deviance results from the culture and structure of society itself - members of society are placed in different positions in the social structure and do not have the same opportunity of realizing the shared values, which can generate anomie and deviance
• Merton's modes of adaptation

  • Conformity
  • Innovation
  • Ritualism
  • Retreatism
  • Rebellion
• Symbolic Interactionism


  Sociological perspective that views society as a product of everyday social interactions of individuals, and studies how people in everyday situations define deviance, which differs between cultures and settings
• Cultural Transmission Theory


  • Deviance is a learned behavior - people learn it from the different groups with which they associate
• Social Disorganization Theory


  • Crime is most likely to occur in communities with weak social ties and the absence of social control
• Labeling Theory


  • Deviance is that which is so labeled - no status or behavior is inherently deviant until other people have judged it and labeled it deviant
• Social Constructionist Perspective


  • Deviance is a product of the culture we live in
• Primary Deviance


  Deviance involving occasional breaking of norms that are NOT a part of a person's lifestyle or self-concept
• Secondary Deviance


  Deviance in which an individual's life and identity are organized around breaking society's norms
• Rational Choice Theory


  The decision to be deviant depends upon a cost/benefit analysis of sanctions
• Control Theory


  • People have two control systems that work against their desire to deviate: inner controls (internalized thought processes) and outer controls (people in our lives who encourage us not to stray)
• Feminist Theory


  • Existing approaches to deviance and crime developed with men in mind, and cultural views and attitudes toward women influence how they are perceived and labeled
• Social Control


  The many ways in which our behavior, thoughts, and appearance are regulated by the norms, rules, laws
• Types of Social Control

  • Informal social control (conformity to norms and values learned through socialization)
  • Formal social control (produced and enforced by the state and its representatives)
• Forms of Social Control

  • Built-in controls (deterrents like personal shame or fear of supernatural punishment)
  • Sanctions (actions taken by other members of society to approve or disapprove of behavior)
• Personality


  A product of socialization that comes about as a result of the interplay of various forces: biological inheritance or heredity, cultural environment, social groups and social structures, and past experiences
• Forces that shape personality

  • Biological inheritance or heredity
  • Cultural environment
  • Social groups and social structures
  • Past experiences
• Chromosomes


  • Microscopic particles that carry the hereditary units (genes) that we receive from our parents and transmit to our offspring
• Gender socialization


  The aspect of socialization that contains specific messages and practices concerning the nature of being female or male in a specific group or society
• Racial socialization


  The aspect of socialization that contains specific messages and practices concerning the nature of one's racial or ethnic status as it relates to personal and group identity, inter-group and inter-individual relationships, and position in social hierarchy
• Desocialization


  The process by which people give up old norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors
• Total institutions


  Places where residents are separated from the rest of society, such as mental hospitals, cults, and prisons
• Resocialization

  The process of learning a new and different set of attitudes, values, and behaviors from the ones previously held
• Voluntary resocialization


  Occurs when we enter a new status of our own free will
• Involuntary resocialization


  Occurs against a person's wishes and generally takes place within a total institution
• Anticipatory socialization


  The process of preparing for future roles and statuses
• Reference groups


  Groups that individuals use as a standard for evaluating themselves and their own behavior
• Phases of occupational socialization

  • Career choice
  • Anticipatory socialization
  • Conditioning and commitment
  • Continuous commitment
• Ageism


  Prejudice and discrimination against people on the basis of age
• Processes of cultural transmission

  • Enculturation
  • Acculturation
  • Assimilation
• Assimilation


  The process by which a minority individual or group gives up its own identity by taking on the characteristics of the dominant culture