What that deviance do
Define deviance
Meaning, attributed quality, term of relationship, dynamic
Becker’s definition: “deviance is not a quality of the act a person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions”
Define Social Control
Anything "we" do to enforce norms
Individuals and/or social groups who seek to define deviance for others
Moral Entrepreneurs
How does this course title relate directly to the Volstead Act?
The Volstead Act made drinking illegal, and then, after prohibition was repealed, people redefined drinking from doing something bad to being sick
Define interest politics
Promoting a specific deviance definition that supports a group interest
“The promotion... of definitions of deviance that specifically support [group] interests” (C&S p. 24)
The main difference between the absolutist and interactionist approaches?
Absolutist: deviant meaning is inherent
Interactionist: deviant meaning is attributed
what are the three major institutions of social control and how do they influence our lives?
Law, religion, medicine
Influence our lives by enforcing norms that govern how we live our lives
"I am disturbed by some form of evil, and have an absolutist ethic; fervent & righteous; and combating this by any means is acceptable. Some may call me a meddling busy-body."
Crusading reformers
After prohibition ended, how was drinking redefined as an issue, and which institution did the issue shift to?
Redefined as a medical issue instead of a moral issue, shifted from religion to medicine
What are the two types of interests? Give examples for each
Material - money, land, resources
Symbolic - power, belonging, trust
Norms regulate ____
Actions, beliefs, characteristics and conditions
Those who enforce norms and encourage conventionality
Formal agents - authorized by an institutional tie
Informal agents - unauthorized, but can influence behavior through social pressures
I believe that I will help others in some way. I will prevent exploitation and provide conditions for others (who are beneath me), giving them a better way of life.
Humanitarians
Explain why drinking is a contested deviance designation
It is an ongoing debate over whether drinking should be seen as a moral failing, legal offense, or medical problem
Excessive activity of a part of the body, related to ADD and then ADHD
The four groups involved in the interactionist definition of deviance
Person, act or thing
Audience
Rule Creators
Rule Enforcers
This perspective argues that deviance is not inherent in any act but is instead a socially attributed quality, meaning that what counts as deviant depends on social context and interpretation
Deviance as a social construction
This kind of moral entrepreneur highlights how struggles to define deviance often serve group interests, even if not intentionally
Pragmatic moral entrepreneurs
Explain Moral passage in the context of alchohol, and name at least 2 questions that arose from this status change
An overall shift from religious to medical view
What is the moral status of the deviant? Who is responsible for the deviant? What may be done to/for the deviant?
What are the two factors that influence social dynamics and medical categories
Clinical - directly related to diagnosis/treatment
Social - set the broader social context for the emergence of the new category
The types of norms + examples for each pairing
Situational, societal, informal, formal
Situational informal: clapping for a speech
Societal informal: saying please and thank you
Situational formal: cheating policies
Societal formal: paying taxes
What did Conrad and Schneider think was the ultimate social control?
Defining reality
“The greatest social control power comes from having the authority to define certain behaviors, persons, and things”
I am the process whereby individuals and/or groups seek to mask underlying value conflict and interests in struggles over definitions of reality
Mystification
Prohibition expressed public values, but didn’t change people’s behavior. What type of effect is this, and name at least 2 ______ of law
A symbolic effect
Public worth - which groups have authority or seen as respectable
Deference - yielding to the moral authority of certain groups
Gesture of power - passing a law can be powerful in of itself
Explain lumping and splitting in the terms of hyperkinesis
Lumping groups similar items into broad categories, splitting creates narrow categories for small differences
Lumping made the diagnosis broad and inclusive - grouping together restless/inattentive behaviors under one diagnosis
Splitting occurred after, when the diagnosis was divided into specific subtypes