Sociology Chapter 7

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Altruistic Suicide

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occurs when there is excessive regulation of individuals by social forces. Suicide bombers for example.

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Anomic Suicide

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occurs when the disintegrating forces in the society make indidvuals feel lost or alone.

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Anomie

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the condition that exists when social regulations in a society break down

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Deviance

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Behavior That is recognized as violating expected rules and norms. The sociological definition of deviance stresses social context, not individual behavior. The sociological definition of deviance recognizes that not all behaviors are judged similarly by all groups. The sociological definition of deviance recognizes that established rules and norms are socially created, not just morally decreed or individually imposed.

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Formal Deviance

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is behavior that breaks laws or official rules. Crime is an example.

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Informal Deviance

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is behavior that violates customary norms. Body piercing is an example of this.

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Deviant Career

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refers to the sequence of movements people make through a particular subculture of deviance.

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Deviant Community

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Groups which are organized around particular forms of social deviance. They maintain their own values, norms, and rewards for deviant behavior.

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Deviant Identity

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is the definitions a person has of himself or herself as a deviant. The formation of a deviant identity, like other identities, involves a process of social transformation in which a new self-image and new public definition of a person emerges. A drug addict may not think of herself as a junkie until she realizes she no longer has any nonusing friends.

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Differential Association Theory

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interprets deviance including criminal behavior and white-collar crime, as behavior one learns through interaction with others. This would support the argument that some break the law because they are strongly socialized to break the law rather than obey it.

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Egoistic Suicide

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occurs when people feel completely detached from society.

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Elite Deviance

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Refers to the wrong-doing of wealthy, powerful individuals and organizations.

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Labeling Theory

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Interprets the responses of others as the most significant factor in understanding how deviant behavior is both created and sustained.

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Medicalization of Deviance

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referring to explanations of deviant behavior that interpret deviance as the result of individual pathology or sickness.

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Moral Entrepreneurs

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are people who organize a social movement to reform how a behavior is morally perceived and handled.

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Primary Deviance

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is the actual violation of a norm or law, as when someone breaks a law or violates a norm.

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Secondary Deviance

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the behavior that results from being labeled deviant, regardless of whether the person has previous engaged in deviance. A student labeled a troublemaker for example might accept this identity and move from being merely mischievous to engaging in escalating delinquent acts.

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Social Control

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he process by which groups are brought into conformity with dominant social expectations. Controlling social deviance is one way that dominant groups control the behavior of others. The least powerful in society are frequently assigned deviant labels and are thus most subject to social control.

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Social Control Agents

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are people such as police and mental health workers who regulate and administer the response to deviance.

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Social Control Theory

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posits that deviance occurs when a person's or group's attachment to social bonds is weakened. Most of the time people internalize social norms because of their attachments to others. Most people probably feel some impulse toward deviance at some times, but the attachment to social norms prevents them from participating in deviant behavior. When conditions arise that break those attachments, deviance occurs.

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Stigma

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is an attribute that is socially devalued and discredited. Some stigmas result in labeling other people as deviant.

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Structural Strain Theory

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traces the origins of deviance to the tensions caused by the gap between cultural goals and the means people have to achieve these goals. One example is that in the U.S. there is a goal to achieve economic success, however not all groups have equal access to the means (education and jobs) in order to achieve that goal. Robert Merton.

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Tertiary Deviance

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occurs when the deviant fully accepts the deviant role but rejects the stigma associated with it, as when gays proudly display their identity.