SOCL 3501 : Test 1 Notes
Document Summary
Deviance is universal in society: deviance, however, is difficult to define because, some act are deviant in some cases but not others, ie. laughing, sometimes political views come into play. * deviance is a collection of conditions, persons, or acts the society disvalues, finds offensive, or condemns. Statistical definition using data or a majority to determine whether something is deviant or not (bad definition) Absolutist definition a sort of consensus where you evaluate deviance based on. Reactivist definition deviance in the eye of the beholder ; ie. if a group of people are smoking marijuana and none react negatively it could be considered acceptable (bad) Normative definition deviance is a violation of a norm: norm behaviors that are determined by society. Deviance must serve a purpose since it has been around forever. 4 potential benefits that the functionalists try and attribute to deviance: 1. ) When people react to deviance of others, it bonds them into social cohesion or solidarity: 2. )
