SOC212H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: White-Collar Crime, Criminal Procedure, Conflict Theories
Document Summary
Focus on prevalence of the behaviour to see if its normative or not. If everyone does it, it cannot be that bad? (take office supplies home) A lot of deviant behaviour is hidden, so it"s difficult for us to measure. Some people wouldn"t feel comfortable condemning others when they know that they also do bad stuff. There are certain things, despite how many people do it, are bad (hitting kids) Behaviour deemed bad for society would be considered deviant regardless of how often it occurs and how many people do it. Deviant behaviour can also: be functional, serve as boundaries to understanding acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, push society in new directions, push society"s boundaries, behaviours that were once deviant we now accept (e. g. medical marijuana, lgtbq) (durkheim) Sensitive informed researchers can apply absolute moral standard to behaviour in any society and situation to decide if something is just/evil/deviant, if it should be allowed.
