Introduction to Sociology / Deviance / SUBIN KIM

1. SUMMARY

 Deviance refers to violating norms of common sense. Deviance involves criminal behavior, as well as violating conventional norms of society. Due to these characteristics, the rules of deviation are relative to which cultures belong.

 

Theories of Deviance

Social-Strain Typology

Merton classified a deviation. Depending on the relationship between cultural objectives and institutionalized means, it can be classified into five categories :

[https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Sociology/Deviance , wikibook]

Structural-Functionalism

In this theory, deviation plays on important role in society. This means that the balnce of society is beneficial through deviant behavior.

 

Conflict Theory

In this theory, crime is regarded arsing from social injustice. And there is also a tendency to look at deviations in this way.

 

Labeling Theory

Labeling theory means when people labeling straggler or divider by a small mistake, they recognize themselves to divider. That means labeling leads to individual's repeative deviant behavior.

 

Criminal statistics

Criminal statistics are usefully used by the government to report crime. Criminal statistics do not provide a complete trend of crime, but are still widely used because they provide sufficient data for crime.

 

Criminal statistics are analyzed through differences between groups, and gender is understood as one of these groups. Generally, men are more likely to commit violent crimes than women.

 

Recent research

Video Games and Devisions

Today, research continues whether violent video games play an active role in influencing behavior. Most people that play violent video games know that violent behavior is allowed only in games, but violent video game can lead to violent behavior in offline.

 

Tattoo

Tattoos are traditionally regarded as deviant acts, and now they are deviant. The interesting thing is that recognizing tattoos as a deviant behavior rather than making tattoo likely to define deviant behavior.

2. what was interesting

 There were many interesting points in branding theory. Just simply defining a bad person affects their identity formation, and separated as a writer. Then, I wondered how a deviant phenomenon would be interpreted, even though no deviant behavior was found.

3. Discussion

 From the standpoint of branding theory, the high crime rate of African-American stems from treating them as potential criminals?