SOCB50H3 Chapter : Week One Readings
Document Summary
Definition of deviance as a negative reaction to behaviours, ideas and attributes. Issues in the definition of deviance: tension between objectivism and subjectivism, connections between deviance and rarity, links between deviance and crime and voluntary and involuntary deviance. Common sense and popular culture tells us that what makes people shady characters and outlaws is that they have traversed the line between conformity and deviance. Something is deviant because an individual, group or society takes offence and reacts negatively. Deviance can encompass both ideas and attributes (deviant to worship satan) Negative responses do more than simply demarcate deviance, they serve as mechanisms of social control. Informal negative reactions: epithets, avoidance, ridicule, criticism and gossip: often internal, closeted homosexuals, shame and guilty conscience. Formal negative reactions: official warnings, legal punishments and various forms of treatment: often external, sociologists debated to what degree deviance is a matter of objective fact or subjective interpretation. Conformity: adhering to pre-existing societal expectations and rules.
