ERIKSON What are the two counter-intuitive claims in sociology?
- Deviance is not necessarily bad. It can even be good for society.
- The institutions that are meant to control deviance may further add and generate deviance
Why do human societies maintain boundaries?
- to retain and promote community solidarity
- to maintain cohesion
- to retain cultural integrity
How do people learn about boundaries?
- it is passed down through a network of social interactions
- It is also learned through a deviant subject and send a message through social control
- If we did not have deviance we wouldn’t know where the boundaries are
How do people learn about boundaries?
It is passed down through a network of social interactions
- It is also learned through a deviant subject and sends a message through social control
- If we did not have deviance we wouldn’t know where the boundaries are
Rituals or behaviours that mark boundaries
- wars, religious acts and ceremonies
Marking and Publicizing Boundaries: social boundaries are publicized between deviant persons and social agents
- Criminal trials
- court-martial trials
-psychiatric determinants of sanity
- public executions in the past
- media
Good aspects of deviance
- it generates lots of jobs for the criminal sector
- it prevents society from stagnant
- allows society to change for the better
- a deviant society is more creative
What is Erikson’s 2nd counter-intuitive claim suggests?
- that every deviant act provides a possibility for society to reinstate the boundaries
- As a result, marking and reaffirming boundaries, society is organized to promote deviance
How are prisons making a better “school of crimes”?
- people who go to prison come out far worse than they did going back (most likely to go back)
- it is extremely hard for individuals who committed a felony to get a job
- they are expected to draw more and more into deviant behaviour
- Self-fulfilling prophecy due to the dramatic and confrontational nature between the deviant and society
