Deviance Key Terms Handout
Alexander Liazos| Social-Conflict Theorist who challenged colleagues to notice thatthe people we commonly label as deviant are also relatively powerless; called for a new way of studying deviance
Anomie| a term used by Èmile Durkheim to describe a condition in which society provides little moral guidance to individuals
Authority Figure| a person who has or represents authority in either specific circumstance or in general
Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay| American social scientists credited with the Social Disorganization Theory
“Collective Consciousness”| a term used by Èmile Durkheim to describe a set of shared beliefs, ideas and moral attitudes that operate as a unifying force in society
Compliance| an individual’s public conformity while, perhaps, retaining his or her own original beliefs privately; type of conformity
Conformity| the behavior that results from a desire to match the behaviors of the majority; doing what everybody else is doing to “fit in”
Control Theory| theory that claims when people imagine the consequences of deviant behavior they are discouraged from partaking in that behavior; Travis Hirschi
Conventional| conforming or adhering to accepted standards
Counter-Culture| a subculture deliberately and consciously opposed to certain central beliefs or attitudes of the dominant culture
Crime| a formal wrong-doing; a violation of a society’s law
Crimes against Property| crimes that involve theft of property belonging to others; also known as property crimes
Crimes against the Person| crimes that direct violence or the threat of violence against others; also known as violent crimes
Criminal Deviance| violation of criminal laws
Criminal Justice System| the organizations- police, courts and prison officials- that respond to alleged crimes
Criminal Law| a system of law that identifies crime and is concerned with the punishment of those who commit crimes
Criminal Recidivism| later offenses by people previously convicted of crimes
Criminologist| social scientist who studies crime and criminals
Degradation Ceremony| an aspect of the socialization process in total institutions, in which people are subjected to humiliating rituals
Delinquency| minor crime; especially that committed by young people
Deterrence| the attempt to discourage deviance through the use of punishment
Deviance| the recognized violation of cultural norms; an infraction of cultural norms
Deviance Admiration| a type of deviance that associated with under-conformity to cultural norms but that is evaluated positively
Deviant Career| commitment to deviant behavior identified during primary and secondary deviance; occurs following secondary deviance; Erving Goffman
Edwin Lemert| American sociologist who expanded the Labeling Theory to include Secondary Deviance
Edwin Sutherland| (1883-1950) an American sociologist who studied deviance from the symbolic interactionist perspective and developed the Theory of Differential Association
Erving Goffman| (1922-1982) a Canadian sociologist who developed the term “dramaturgical approach” due to his belief that individuals “present” themselves in a certain way in public but act in another way when “hiding” from the “audience;” also credited with the term “Deviant Career” used within the Labeling Theory
Formal Sanctions| formal rewards and punishments used to regulate social behavior administered by a person of authority; the means of social control
Howard Becker| American sociologist who provided the foundations for the Labeling Theory
Identification| a conforming to someone who is liked and respected; usually this type of conformity is associated with a feeling of support, sympathy, understanding or belonging towards a person or thing who is liked and respected; type of conformity
Informal Sanctions| informal rewards and punishments used to regulate social behavior administered by a person without authority; the means of social control
Innovation| the behavior of a person who accepts cultural goals but reject conventional means; part of Merton’s Strain Theory
Internalization| the accepting or internalizing of a cultural norm as one’s own belief which leads to public and private conformity; type of conformity
Label| a short word or phrase descriptive of a person; within Labeling Theory usually based on negative deviant behavior
Labeling Theory| the idea that deviance and conformity result less from what people do than from how others respond to those actions; Howard Becker and Edwin Lemert
Language| the system of symbols that allows people to communicate with each other
Master Status| a status that affects other aspects of life and goes along with roles
Negative Deviance| deviance that is evaluated negatively
Obedience| form of social influence in which an individual yields to instructions or orders from a person of authority
Philip Zimbardo| American psychologist noted for his work in the Stanford Prison Experiment
Positive Deviance| intentional behavior that violates cultural norms in honorable ways
Primary Deviance| the first stage in the Labeling Theory and describes the initial act of deviance; Edwin Lemert
Projective Labeling| the prediction of future deviant behaviors of the stigmatized; part of the Labeling Theory
Rebellion| the behavior that comes from rejecting both cultural goals and conventional means but while creating alternative goals and means to replace the former; may result in a counterculture; part of Merton’s Strain Theory
Rehabilitation| the process to restore an individual to a condition of good social health to prevent future deviant behaviors
Residential Mobility| frequent change of residents; as used in the Social Disorganization Theory
Retreatism| the behavior of a person rejecting both cultural goals and conventional means that usually results in the individual to “drop out” from society; part of Merton’s Strain Theory
Retribution| societal vengeance against an offender of cultural norms or laws according to merits or deserts
Retrospective Labeling| the labeling of a person based on looking at the offender’s history in the light of the new stigma; part of the Labeling Theory
Ritualism| the behavior that comes from rejecting cultural goals but accepting conventional means; part of Merton’s Strain Theory
Robert Merton| (1910-2003) an American sociologist who worked within the Structural-Functionalist Theory and developed the concept of manifest and latent functions along with dysfunctions along with the Strain Theory used by criminologists
Sanctions| rewards and punishments used to regulate social behavior; the means of social control
Secondary Deviance| the second state of the Labeling Theoryin which one internalizes adeviantidentity by integrating it into their self-concept; Edwin Lemert
Social Change| the transformation of culture and social institutions over time
Social Control| the techniques and strategies for regulating human thoughts and behavior in any environment or society
Social Control Theory| a sociological theory that expands the Social Bonding Theory to explain why people conform or deviate: attachment, opportunity, involvement or beliefs within an individual’s society or subgroup that lead the individual to conform to or deviate from cultural norms; Travis Hirschi
Social Disorganization Theory| sociological theory that claims ecological conditions specific to certain neighborhoods establish crime rates beyond the characteristics of the individual residents; developed by Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay
Social Ecology| the branch of sociology concerned with the spacing and interdependence of people and institutions
Societal Protection| the removal of an offender from society either temporarily or permanently to prevent future offenses against society
Solomon Asch| (1907-1996) an American social psychologist noted for his experiments on conformity
Stanley Milgram| (1933-1984) an American social psychologist noted for his experiments on obedience
Status| a social position a person holds
Stigma| a stain or reproach, as on one’s reputation; can affect person’s self-concept and social identity
Strain theory| a theory that suggests when people are prevented from achieving culturally approved goals through institutional means, they experience strain or frustration that can lead to deviance; also known as Robert Merton’s Theory of Deviance
Subculture| a group that is part of the dominant culture but that differs from it in some important aspects
Theory of Differential Association| theory that claims that deviance is a learned behavior—people learn it from the different groups with which they associate; counters arguments that deviant behavior is biological or due to personality; Edwin Sutherland
Total Institutions| institutions that regulate all aspects of a person’s life under a single authority while keeping the individual separate from the rest of society; an example would include prisons
Travis Hirschi| (1935- ) an American criminologist who focused his study on juvenile delinquency and developed the Control Theory
Victimless Crimes| violations of law in which there are no obvious victims