Introduction to the Sociology of Deviance

WHAT IS DEVIANCE?

WHO IS DEVIANT?

THE PROBLEM: SOCIAL ORDER

Otherness, Order and Social Control:

(The following section is based on my reading and paraphrasing of the work of Stephen Phofl: Images of Deviance and Social Control: A Sociological History, McGraw-Hill, 1994.)

We perceive and understand the physical and social world based on a shared sense of order (predictability): the meanings we attach to people, things, and actions. "Otherness" (differentness) challenges our assumptions, our taken-for-granted sense of normalcy and naturalness

Some form of Control is necessary to help maintain Order:

Deviance is problematic, yet essential and intrinsic to any conception of Social Order. It is problematic because it disrupts; it is essential because it defines the confines of our shared reality; and it is intrinsic to a conception of order in that defining what is real and expected, defining what is acceptable, and defining who we are- always is done in opposition to what is unreal, unexpected, unacceptable, and who we are not ("We defines They"). If we can accept the reality of change, then designations of deviance are crucial in locating the shifting boundaries of our socially structured reality.

And, when we define someone or some group as deviant- we strengthen our own position and simplify our response to the "other": ignore, expunge, destroy, or rehabilitate them. We convince ourselves of our own normalcy by condemning and controlling those who disagree. Deviance is a phenomenon situated in power: Winners are the good and the normal; Losers are the sick, the crazy, the evil (and they often accept the "label").

Deviance, therefore, exists in opposition to those who attempt to control it-- to those who have:

Power.

Winners: Organize social life

Losers: Are controlled (executed, shamed, jailed, hospitalized, cared for). They are just not treated as NORMAL. They are STIGMATIZED.

Deviance is not a matter of the cost or consequences of a particular behavior, or the behavior itself. Deviance is a label (PROCESS) used to maintain the power, control, and position of a dominant group.

Deviance is a negotiated order. Deviance violates some groups assumptions about reality (social order). It violates expectations. The definition of deviance defines the threat and allows for containment and control of the threat. The definition of deviance preserves, protects, and defines group interests and in doing so maintains a sense of normalcy. Deviance is a product of Social Interaction.

Interaction: Act itself, Actors, Observers, Rules and Rule Enforcers

Howard Becker: "Moral Entrepreneurs: The Creation and Enforcement of Deviant Categories" (in Pontell, 2005)

Who makes the rules? Moral entrepreneurs:

Crusading Reformers

Rule Enforcers

Enforcers and Creators: Often at odds==> Leads to a new crusade. Deviance "re-loaded."

Gary Marx: "Ironies of Social Control" (in Pontell, 2005)

Robert Scott: "The Making of Blind Men" (in Pontell, 1993)

Net result: Heterogeneous population becomes homogeneous.

Stephan Pfohl: "The 'Discovery' of Child Abuse" (in Pontell, 2005)

Societal reaction to (and therefore individual reaction o) deviance is a complex social-cultural-historical process based on shifting definitions, organizational interests and professional expertise. The "reaction" and the "deviance" are mutually interrelated phenomenon. In the discovery of child abuse we see the culmination of these processes in the production of a new medical syndrome in 1962: Battered Child Syndrome. Significant elements which led up to this discovery include:

Societal reaction==> Norms==> Deviance==> Societal reaction==> Revised norms==> More deviance.............

  1. For a Uzbek version see, http://eduworksdb.com/introduction-to-the-sociology-of-deviance/, translated by Sherali Niyazova, February 2018.
  2. For a Russian version see,http://www.opensourceinitiative.net/edu/keelr, translated by Sandi Wolfe, March 2018.
  3. For a Estonian version see, https://www.piecesauto-pro.fr/blog/2018/04/12/sissejuhatus-sotsioloogia-korvalepoige/, translated by Weronika Pawlak, April 2018.
  4. For a Croatian version see, http://pro4education.com/introduction-to-the-sociology-of-deviance/, translated by Milica Novak, April 2018
  5. For a Kazakh version see, http://theworkscited.com/introduction-to-the-sociology-of-deviance/, translated by Alana Kerimova, July 2018.
  6. For a Turkish version see, http://thesciencexperts.com/introduction-to-the-sociology-of-deviance/, translated by Zoltan Solak, August 2018.
  7. For a Polish version see, http://fsu-university.com/introduction-to-the-sociology-of-deviance/, translated by Marek Murawski, September 2018.
  8. For a French version see, https://thronechaircompany.com/blogs/rococo-and-baroque/otherness-order-and-social-control, translated by Deepak Khanna, November 2018,
  9. For a Spanish version see, https://dashikiapparel.com/blogs/translations/introduction-to-the-sociology-of-deviance, translated by Richard Johnson, December 2018.
  10. For a Swedish version see, http://wasnc.org/2019/04/02/introduktion-till-avvikelsens-sociologi/, translated by David Mucchiano, April 2019.
  11. For a Finnish version see, http://mysciencefeel.com/2019/06/25/introduction-to-the-sociology-of-deviance/, translated by Elsa Jansson, June 2019.
  12. For a Dutch version see, https://nobullshitseeds.com/translate/inleiding-tot-de-sociology-of-deviance/, translated by Justin Watson, January 2020.
  13. For a Bulgarian version see, https://guideslib.com/publications/introduction-to-the-sociology-of-deviance/ translated by Zlatan Dimitrov, March 2020.
  14. For an Azerbaijanian version see, https://prodocs24.com/articles/introduction-to-the-sociology-of-deviance/ translated by Amir Abbasov, November 2020.

So, What is Deviance?

URL: http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/200/intrdev.html
Owner: Robert O. Keel  rok@umsl.edu
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Last Updated: Tuesday, November 10, 2020 9:57 AM