Lecture 8

Question 1

Contemporary grief requires: (Lofland)

Answer 1

(1) a relational pattern which links individuals to a small number of highly
significant others;
(2) a definition of death as personal annihiliation and as unusual and tragic
except among the aged;
(3) selves which take very seriously their emotional states; and
(4)interactional settings which provide rich opportunities to contemplate loss

Question 2

What is Deviance?

Answer 2

Deviance is any minor or serious act that breaks an accepted social standard

Question 3

Deviance varies according to… (Three things)

Answer 3

1. severity of the public’s
   response to the act,
2. its perceived harmfulness,
3. the degree of public agreement with regard to the act’s seriousness

Question 4

What is Social Construction?

Answer 4

Berger and Luckmann,
Construct and reinforce society through our interactions

• gain knowledge this way
  -Also shape our understand of society and how it should be (Influence other’s opinion too)

Question 5

What theory is social construction based on?

Answer 5

symbolic interactionist theory

Question 6

How does social constructivism work?

Answer 6

• We learn about the world, then, through the process of socialization and
  interaction with socialization agents.
• Two-step process.

1. People categorize experiences and act on these categories.
2. They simultaneously forget how these categories ultimately have social origins
   and are not natural and permanent

Question 7

What is deviance according to social construction?

Answer 7

Deviance as the failure to obey group rules

• Deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but a consequence of
  the application by others of rules and sanctions to an ‘offender’
• Rule setting is a political action
• People who engage in the behaviour defined as deviant likely to have a
  different perspective from the one of the people who condemn it.

Question 8

What is the functionalist approach to deviance?
(What are the four functions of deviance)

Answer 8

1) Confirmation of social and cultural values

2) Reaffirmation of social boundaries

3) Increasing social Solidarity

4) Enabling social change

Question 9

Why some people deviate from the norms?

Strain Theory

Answer 9

Strain Theory:
● Mismatch between goal orientations and the institutionalized means for attaining them
● Individuals seek alternative avenues to confirm to valuable social goals
- Ex. Stealing cuz wealth is a measure of success

Question 10

For strain theory The anomie in American
society is created by…

Answer 10

promises of culture that structure cannot deliver.

Anomie: a state of normlessness, disorder, or confusion in a society when the standard norms and values are weak or unclear

Question 11

What are Social Learning Thoeries?

Answer 11

Comparison of crime rates among first- and second-generation immigrants
● Significantly higher rates among second-generation
immigrants
● Socialization – Learning deviant behaviors and justifications
through association with deviant peer groups

Poorer ppl move to US and have children
- Find more crime in second generation (children) cuz they have resources and exposure to crime (unlike parents)
- Learn crime behaviors and values

Question 12

Explain Social learning theory VIA “Becoming a Marihuana User”

Answer 12

1. Have to learn to smoke correctly (skill)
2. Connect it to feeling (result)
3. Learning to enjoy sensation (long term reward)

Question 13

For Control Theories it’s not why ppl commit crime, but why they don’t?

Answer 13

1) Attachment to social bonds, particularly family and school

2) Commitment, people are less likely to misbehave when
they know that they have something to lose

3) Engagement in variety of conventional activities with their peers

4) Belief in the rules

Question 14

Control Theories Critiques:

Answer 14

A lot of criminal activity is committed because of the factors they explain (ex. Mob = very attached / or stealing to conform)

Ppl with those values also commit crime (ex. white collared crime)

Also ppl aren’t always rational

Question 15

Who has the power to define what is
deviant ?

Answer 15

Those in power

Question 16

What is Labeling theory? (two step process)

Answer 16

Process of labelling

Primary Deviance – Small acts
of rule-braking that many of us
engage in (mild social reaction and
no effect on self-image)

Secondary deviance – When
one internalizes a deviant identity,
integrating it into their self image

Question 17

Explain Edwin Lemert’s opinion on The Process of Labeling:

Answer 17

Secondary deviance – When one internalizes a deviant identity,
integrating it into their self image

Self fulfilling prophesy (I am a thief, no point in being anything else)

Question 18

What are the two critiques of labeling theory?

Answer 18

1) Why does deviance happen in the first place?

2) How do we account for severe/violent crime?