SOC212H1 Lecture : soc212 Lec 3
Document Summary
Problems with acquiring crime and deviance data: subject of inquiry is deliberately hidden. Private phenomenon: deviants have little insight into the broader nature and extent of their behavior. Doesn"t know the actual crime in general: access to deviants is costly, time consuming, and often only partial. Qualitative, ethnographies => real challenge due to limit of access to these groups: much deviance lies beyond the scope of research. Things you can never hope to study or understand (certain kinds of deviants) Ex: diff neutralization (occur before crime) and irrationalization: sociologists are not able to pass effortlessly into every alien situation. How to access groups that are alien to the researcher (ex: white researcher interviewing black) Ex: if you look like a cop, street youths (you want to study them) will not talk to you: barriers exist within social worlds, even if access is gained. Politics and barriers within groups: social worlds are not representative.
