SOSA 1200X Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Edwin Sutherland, Dominant Culture, Working Poor

• School: Dalhousie University
• Department: Soc & Social Anthropology
• Course: SOSA 1200X
• Professor: Christopher Helland

Document Summary

Overt characteristics: the actions or qualities taken as explicitly violating the cultural norm. Covert characteristics: the unstated qualities that might make a group a target for sanctions (ie. age, ethnic background, gender) There is seldom total agreement within a culture about what is deviant. Contested deviance is known as conflict deviance : conflict deviance is a disagreement among groups over whether or not something is deviant (ie. marijuana laws) Because deviance is socially constructed, it is subject to different social interpretations over time and across cultures. Clothing and behaviour that appear deviant to some may be acceptable even admired in other cultures. Even within the same culture, not everyone share the same idea of proper behaviour. Belief: some acts are naturally deviant: fact: deviance is relative to time, place, status, culture, never exact; always socially constructed. Belief: those who deviate are socially recognized: fact: much deviance goes unrecognized.