NORMS OF EVASION  Whenever the mores or laws forbid ‘something that many people strongly wish to do, norms of evasion are likely to appear. These’ a£e’the patterns through which people indulge their wishes without openly challenging ,the mores. For example, Roebuck and Spray [1967] -show how the cocktail lounge functions to facilitate discreet sexual affairs between high-status married men and unattached young women.…

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DEVIATION FROM REAL OR IDEAL CULTURE Since the real and ideal cultures often diverge as mentioned in Chapter 3, conformity to one may be deviation from the other. For example” the ideal culture includes the cultural norm 01 obedience to all laws, yet practically no one obeys all Jaws Where important values are in lived in the divergence between what people say…

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RELATIVE AND ABSOLUTE DEVIATION. Most people in modern societies are neither completely conformist nor completely deviant. A completely deviant person would have a hard time staying alive. Even the more spectacular deviants, such as pyromaniacs, revolutionists, or hermits, are generally fairly conventional in some of their activities. And nearly all “normal” people are occasionally deviant. Kinsey [1948, pp. 392, 5761 has shown how over half…

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APPROVED AND DISAPPROVED DEVIATION Both Florence Nightingale and [ackthe Ripper were deviants. Some deviants-the genius, the saint, the hero-may be honored and revered (usually after they are dead, and no longer a nuisance). Sociologists have given little study to the approved forms of deviation. For all practical purposes, the sociological study of deviation is the study of disapproved deviation. Much deviant behavior is forbidden…

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Characteristics of Deviation DEVIATION IS DEFINITION  No act is deviant of itself; it becomes deviant when it is defined as deviant. As Becker notes [1963, p. 9], “Deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an offender. The deviant is one to whom that label…

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SOCIAL  DEVIATION No system of social control works perfectly. Some persons fail to behave as expected in all known societies, although nonconformity varies greatly in form and frequency between societies [Edgerton, 1976] But there are some common features of deviation in all societies.

Situation Determinants of  Behavior When people see some behavior they do not like, .they often attribute it to evil human nature, wicked impulse, weak character, or some other individual cause. What separates the sociologist from others here is the sociologist’s habit of looking for social factors in the causation of behavior. True, ~hen one individual or a few people change in…

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COMMUNIST SOCIAL CONTROL  Formal social control in Western democracies rests heave  upon written laws, trials to determine guilt, and punishment “according to law.” Social control ‘in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) rests so little upon written laws that it is debatable whether they even have a legal system [Pepinsky, 1976, p. 82].~Although·the  PRC uses continuous indoctrination, total control of the communications…

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LANGUAGE AS A.CONTROL ‘Language is a way of describing=reality, and changes in language may change the way people see reality. This is what symbolic interventionists mean by “the social construction of.reality.” .A redefinition which ascribes new meanings to-familiar words may promote a redefinition of attitudes and relationships. For example, recent use of the term,’ “welfare rights” has had some success in changing the image…

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SECONDARY·GROUP CONTROLS  As we shift from primary- to secondary-group situations we also ‘shift from informal to more formal social con trios. Secondary groups are generally larger, more impersonal, and specialized in purpose. We do not use them to meet our need for intimate human response but 19 help us to get certain jobs done. If a secondary’ group does not meet our needs,…

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