SOCL 2001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Juvenile Delinquency, Social Control, Three-Strikes Law
Document Summary
O relativity of deviance: different groups have different norms, so what is deviant to some is not deviant to others, crime: violation of rules that have been written into law. Stigma: characteristics that discredit people (birthmarks, big nose, big ears, etc. ) How norms make social life possible: they make life possible by making behavior predictable, norms bring about social control: groups customary social arrangements. Our lives are based on theses arrangements: why deviance seems threatening: social control: formal and informal means of enforcing norms. Sanctions: negative sanctions: expressions of disapproval for deviance (frowns, gossiping, imprisonment, death, etc. , positive sanctions: used to reward people for conforming to norms. Genetic predispositions: inborn tendencies, juvenile delinquency and crime. Street crime: acts such as mugging, rape, and burglary. Men commit more violent crimes than women do: psychological explanations. Personality disorders: the view that a personality disturbance of some sort causes an individual to violate social norms.
