which theory best explains deviance

What theory best explains deviant behavior?

Structural Functionalism argues deviant behavior plays a constructive part in society as it brings together different parts of the population within a society. That's because deviance helps to demarcate limitations for acceptable and unacceptable behavior, which in turn serves to affirm our cultural values and norms.

What are the 3 theories of deviance?

Strain theory, social disorganization theory, and cultural deviance theory represent three functionalist perspectives on deviance in society.

Which type of theory is concerned with why deviance occurs?

According to the social control theory, people are more likely to commit deviant acts if they have a variety of social bonds.

Which theories help explain deviance quizlet?

Terms in this set (5)Cultural transmission theory. Views deviance as a learned behavior through interaction with others.Structural strain theory. Proposed by sociologist Robert K. ... Conflict theory. Believing that competition and social inequality lead to deviance.Control theory. ... Labeling theory.

How does control theory explain deviance?

Control theory stresses how weak bonds between the individuals and society free people to deviate or go against the norms, or the people who have weak ties would engage in crimes so they could benefit, or gain something that is to their own interest. This is where strong bonds make deviance more costly.

How does conflict theory explain deviance?

In conflict theory, deviant behaviors are actions that do not comply with social institutions. The institution's ability to change norms, wealth, or status comes into conflict with the individual. The legal rights of poor folks might be ignored, while the middle class side with the elites rather than the poor.

Which theoretical perspective is most likely to be concerned with how deviance is constructed?

Functionalism. Sociologists who follow the functionalist approach are concerned with the way the different elements of a society contribute to the whole. They view deviance as a key component of a functioning society.

What is theory of functionalism?

functionalism, in social sciences, theory based on the premise that all aspects of a society—institutions, roles, norms, etc. —serve a purpose and that all are indispensable for the long-term survival of the society.

What is deviance in psychology?

The Concept of Deviant Behavior and its Causes A dictionary of psychology defines deviant behavior as a system of actions or individual actions that depart from socially acceptable legal and ethical standards (Colman, 2014).

What are the five theories of deviance?

According to Merton, there are five types of deviance based upon these criteria: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion. Structural functionalism argues that deviant behavior plays an active, constructive role in society by ultimately helping cohere different populations within a society.

What does a psychologist mean when she talks about deviance quizlet?

Deviance refers to norm violations ranging from minor infractions, such as bad manners, to major infractions, such as serious violence. Biological theories focus on individual abnormality and explain human behavior as the result of biological instincts.

What are the three main theories in sociology?

These debates merit attention to those within the field, however, sociologists would generally state that the profession is primarily focused on three theoretical orientations. These three theoretical orientations are: Structural Functionalism, Symbolic Interactionism, and Conflict Perspective.

What are the 4 types of deviant behavior?

Key PointsSocial strain typology, developed by Robert K. ... According to Merton, there are five types of deviance based upon these criteria: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion.More items...•

What is formal and informal deviance?

Formal deviance includes criminal violation of formally-enacted laws. Examples of formal deviance include robbery, theft, rape, murder, and assault. Informal deviance refers to violations of informal social norms, which are norms that have not been codified into law.

What are the examples of deviance?

Adult content consumption, drug use, excessive drinking, illegal hunting, eating disorders, or any self-harming or addictive practice are all examples of deviant behaviors. Many of them are represented, to different extents, on social media.

What are the three theories of deviance?

The three theories of deviance include Emile Durkheim's deviance theory, Merton's strain theory of deviance and the functionalist theory of deviance.

What is an example of social deviance?

Social deviance can be as serious as crimes like murder, rape and robbery (fomral deviance) to actions such as belching loudly in public, peeping t...

What are the main causes of social deviance?

The causes of social deviance can be linked to societal issues. These issues can influence social behavior. The following are causes of social devi...

What is meant by social deviance?

Social deviance can be defined as any behavior that a society finds offensive. Such behavior can cause condemnation, disapproval, hostility and pun...

What is the second function of deviance?

A second function of deviance is that it strengthens social bonds among the people reacting to the deviant. An example comes from the classic story The Ox-Bow Incident (Clark, 1940), in which three innocent men are accused of cattle rustling and are eventually lynched. The mob that does the lynching is very united in its frenzy against the men, and, at least at that moment, the bonds among the individuals in the mob are extremely strong.

Why does deviance increase conformity?

This happens because the discovery and punishment of deviance reminds people of the norms and reinforces the consequences of violating them. If your class were taking an exam and a student was caught cheating, the rest of the class would be instantly reminded of the rules about cheating and the punishment for it, and as a result they would be less likely to cheat.

What is deviance among the poor?

According to Robert Merton, deviance among the poor results from a gap between the cultural emphasis on economic success and the inability to achieve such success through the legitimate means of working. According to Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin, differential access to illegitimate means affects the type of deviance in which individuals experiencing strain engage.

How does deviance affect social change?

Deviance has several functions: (a) it clarifies norms and increases conformity, (b) it strengthens social bonds among the people reacting to the deviant, and (c) it can help lead to positive social change. Social ecology. Certain social and physical characteristics of urban neighborhoods contribute to high crime rates.

How does social ecology help reduce crime?

Much empirical evidence supports social ecology’s view about negative neighborhood conditions and crime rates and suggests that efforts to improve these conditions will lower crime rates. Some of the most persuasive evidence comes from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (directed by sociologist Robert J. Sampson), in which more than 6,000 children, ranging in age from birth to 18, and their parents and other caretakers were studied over a 7-year period. The social and physical characteristics of the dozens of neighborhoods in which the subjects lived were measured to permit assessment of these characteristics’ effects on the probability of delinquency. A number of studies using data from this project confirm the general assumptions of the social ecology approach. In particular, delinquency is higher in neighborhoods with lower levels of “collective efficacy,” that is, in neighborhoods with lower levels of community supervision of adolescent behavior.

Why is gender socialization important?

Gender socialization is a key reason for large gender differences in crime rates. Symbolic interactionism. Differential association theory.

What is the sociological approach to crime?

An important sociological approach, begun in the late 1800s and early 1900s by sociologists at the University of Chicago, stresses that certain social and physical characteristics of urban neighborhoods raise the odds that people growing up and living in these neighborhoods will commit deviance and crime. This line of thought is now called the social ecology approach (Mears, Wang, Hay, & Bales, 2008). Many criminogenic (crime-causing) neighborhood characteristics have been identified, including high rates of poverty, population density, dilapidated housing, residential mobility, and single-parent households. All of these problems are thought to contribute to social disorganization, or weakened social bonds and social institutions, that make it difficult to socialize children properly and to monitor suspicious behavior (Mears, Wang, Hay, & Bales, 2008; Sampson, 2006).

Social Deviance: Definition and Explanation

Social deviance refers to a behavior that is found offensive and unacceptable in a social group. Social deviance can be formal, where individuals break laws and guidelines of land or informal, where an individual is just deviant from unwritten norms.

Types of Deviance

As aforementioned, there are two types of deviance, formal and informal deviances.

Sociological Theories of Deviance

There are different theories of deviance that are present. These theories use social conditions, situations, and pressures to explain social deviance. Emile Durkheim and Robert Merton are major theorists known for their contribution to social deviance.

Activities for Social Deviance

In the lesson, you read that deviance is not a term that only applies to criminal behavior, but also a term that applies to behavior outside of the norm. Think of an instance in your own life where you might be considered to have engaged in deviant behavior. For example, a teenage boy may be in a ballet class full of girls.

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Deviant behavior may be the best way to describe the year 2020. In terms of criminal acts and mob mentality, 2020 didn’t seem to miss a beat.

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Deviant behavior is defined as behaviors that go against the primary norms of a given society. Over the years, experts have proposed lots of theories in an attempt to explain acts of deviance.

Social Control Theory

Travis Hirschi proposed the Social Control Theory¹. It’s basically a functionalist theory that claims deviant behavior occurs whenever a group or a person has suffered a weakening of social bonds.

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This theory presupposes that all people really care what others think about them — despite what they may say. Therefore, they conform to the social expectations that others have of them because of the social attachments they feel to them.

Structural Strain Theory

The Structural Strain Theory was created by American sociologist Robert K. Merton². This outlook is based on an extension of the functionalist perspective on deviance. It sees deviance as tensions caused by existing gaps between cultural goals and the perceived ability that people have to attain those goals.

Theory of Differential Association

Edwin H. Sutherland created the Theory of Differential Association as a learning theory that examines the process that leads people to commit deviant acts³. This theory states that deviant behavior is learned through the association with people who are already committing criminal activities.

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By interacting and communicating with deviant players, the motives, values, methods, and attitudes for criminal behavior are learned. And worse yet, deviant behavior becomes normalized.

What is the psychological approach to deviance?

First, the individual is the primary unit of analysis. This means that psychologists believe that individual human beings are solely responsible for their criminal or deviant acts . Second, an individual’s personality is the major motivational element that drives behavior within individuals. Third, criminals and deviants are seen as suffering from personality deficiencies, which means that crimes result from abnormal, dysfunctional, or inappropriate mental processes within the personality of the individual. Finally, these defective or abnormal mental processes could be caused by a variety of things, including a diseased mind, inappropriate learning, improper conditioning, and the absence of appropriate role models or the strong presence and influence of inappropriate role models.

How does psychoanalytic theory explain deviance?

Psychoanalytic theory, which was developed by Sigmund Freud, states that all humans have natural drives and urges that are repressed in the unconscious. Additionally, all humans have criminal tendencies. These tendencies are curbed, however, through the process of socialization.

What are the sociological explanations of deviant behavior?

While sociological explanations for deviant behavior focus on how social structures, forces, and relationships foster deviance, and biological explanations focus on physical and biological differences and how these might connect to deviance, psychological explanations take a different approach.

What is deviant behavior?

By. Ashley Crossman. Updated May 27, 2019. Deviant behavior is any behavior that is contrary to the dominant norms of society. There are many different theories on what causes a person to perform deviant behavior, including biological explanations, sociological explanations, as well as psychological explanations.

How does cognitive development theory explain deviance?

According to the cognitive development theory, criminal and deviant behavior results from the way in which individuals organize their thoughts around morality and the law. Lawrence Kohlberg, a developmental psychologist, theorized that there are three levels of moral reasoning.

What is learning theory?

Learning theory is based on the principles of behavioral psychology, which hypothesizes that a person’s behavior is learned and maintained by its consequences or rewards. Individuals thus learn deviant and criminal behavior by observing other people and witnessing the rewards or consequences that their behavior receives.

What is the third level of moral reasoning?

The third level of moral reasoning, the post-conventional level, is reached during early adulthood at which point individuals are able to go beyond social conventions.

How to explain deviance?

By the end of this section, you should be able to: 1 Describe the functionalist view of deviance in society through four sociologist’s theories 2 Explain how conflict theory understands deviance and crime in society 3 Describe the symbolic interactionist approach to deviance, including labeling and other theories

What was Durkheim's point regarding the impact of punishing deviance?

Durkheim’s point regarding the impact of punishing deviance speaks to his arguments about law. Durkheim saw laws as an expression of the “collective conscience,” which are the beliefs, morals, and attitudes of a society. “A crime is a crime because we condemn it,” he said (1893).

What does conflict theory look for?

Conflict theory looks to social and economic factors as the causes of crime and deviance. Unlike functionalists, conflict theorists don’t see these factors as positive functions of society. They see them as evidence of inequality in the system. They also challenge social disorganization theory and control theory and argue that both ignore racial and socioeconomic issues and oversimplify social trends (Akers 1991). Conflict theorists also look for answers to the correlation of gender and race with wealth and crime.

What is social disorganization theory?

Developed by researchers at the University of Chicago in the 1920s and 1930s, social disorganization theory asserts that crime is most likely to occur in communities with weak social ties and the absence of social control. An individual who grows up in a poor neighborhood with high rates of drug use, violence, teenage delinquency, and deprived parenting is more likely to become engaged in crime than an individual from a wealthy neighborhood with a good school system and families who are involved positively in the community.

What are the three major sociological paradigms?

These theories can be grouped according to the three major sociological paradigms: functionalism, symbolic interactionism, and conflict theory .

How many ways did Merton define the gap between having a socially accepted goal and having no socially accepted way?

Merton defined five ways people respond to this gap between having a socially accepted goal and having no socially accepted way to pursue it.

Why do the rules of society stack in favor of privileged few?

Because of this, the rules of society are stacked in favor of a privileged few who manipulate them to stay on top.

What is the definition of deviance?

In sociology, Deviance describes actions or behaviors that violate cultural norms. Deviance also goes against the social norms by which a particular society lives.

Who developed the strain theory?

Robert K. Merton developed this theory. The strain theory is a sociological response to Max Weber’s definition of Deviance. Merton said that there are four categories of deviant behavior that he called strain.

What Do Primary and Secondary Deviations mean?

Primary deviance usually refers to the first time one is committing a deviant act, and they may not be labelled for it.

What is informal deviation?

Informal Deviance refers to a behavior that is defined as deviant by the standards or norms of society. Examples include speeding, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and cheating on exams.

How do we acquire identity?

As we participate in society, we acquire a sense of identity. Our sense of identity is created by how we get our needs and desires met in society. The extent to which an individual gets their needs and desires fulfilled depends on their participation in society.

Why is conflict theory so good?

The conflict theory is excellent because it explains how the rich and powerful get what they want and the poor receive fewer resources.

Is the mass media a source of differential association?

The mass media (especially TV) are also a source of differential association. Many crimes are reported on TV, in newspapers, magazines, and on the radio. Therefore, watching the mass media may encourage an individual to engage in these acts.

Why do delinquents sever ties with peers?

They sever ties with delinquent peers to enhance their chances of economic achievement.

What is the correlation between body type and delinquency?

A correlation between body type and delinquency shows that one's body type causes criminal behavior. Some of the first attempts to explain crime emphasized biological factors. Based on the recent New Zealand study that investigated whether a child's propensity for aggression was linked to biological factors present at birth, ...

What is crime dependent on?

Crime depends on a genetic tendency toward violence.

What is the leading cause of increasing crime rates?

d. Middle-class youth are the leading cause of increasing crime rates. Young people are often taken as an indicator of the health and welfare of society. Crime typically carried out by people in the more affluent sectors of society is called.

Social Control Theory

Structural Strain Theory

• The Structural Strain Theory was created by American sociologist Robert K. Merton². This outlook is based on an extension of the functionalist perspective on deviance. It sees deviance as tensions caused by existing gaps between cultural goals and the perceived ability that people have to attain those goals. This theory suggests society is composed...

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Theory of Differential Association

Labeling Theory