W9.2 May 3 (Fri) Kim da young

 summary

Deviance is any behavior that violates cultural norms. Norms are social expectations that guide human behavior. Deviance is often divided into two types of deviant activities: First, a crime is an act that violates officially enacted laws and is called formal deviance. Examples of formal deviance include robbery, theft, rape, murder, and assault. The second type of deviant behavior refers to violations of informal social norms, that is, norms that are not codified in law, and is called informal deviance. Examples of informal deviance include picking one's nose, burping loudly (in some cultures), or standing unnecessarily too close to others (in some cultures). As the last two examples in the previous paragraph show, deviance can vary considerably across cultures. This makes sense, given that cultural norms are relative. If norms are relative, then what is needed to deviate from them (i.e., deviation) is also relative. For example, in American society in general, it is common for people to limit their speech to certain times of the day. Christ the Desert Monastery has specific rules about when residents can and cannot speak, including a ban on speaking between 7:30 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. The norms and rules of Christ Desert Monastery are an example of how norms relate to culture. Sociological interest in deviance includes measuring formal deviance (statistics of criminal behavior, see below), examining how people (individually and collectively) define what is deviant and what is normative, and criminal behavior. It includes many theories that attempt to explain the role of . Social deviance and its origins. This chapter will cover theories of deviance as used by sociologists, as well as current crime statistics.

Interesting point

Regardless of one's views on America's War on Drugs, one thing is certain: the war has disproportionately targeted African Americans. Since the war on drugs began in 1980, there have been millions of drug-related arrests. African Americans are less likely to use drugs than white people. But between 1980 and 2003, the rate of arrests of African Americans for drug offenses increased three times that of whites. That is, 225% versus 70%. That's because drug use and trafficking in urban centers rather than the suburbs became the focus of the war. Additionally, punishments for drug use more frequently found among ethnic minorities have traditionally been harsher than for drugs used by whites. Although crack and powder cocaine have very similar effects, possession of crack cocaine carried harsher penalties in the 1990s and early 2000s and was more likely to be used by black people, who accounted for nearly 80% of crack convictions, than white people. The law was enacted in 1986 and established minimum sentences: five years for possession of five grams of crack; 10 years for 10 grams. The standards for powder cocaine were 100 times higher. Using 500 grams of powder cocaine could have resulted in a prison sentence of just five years. Discriminatory prosecution of African Americans for drug crimes is just one of the ways in which America's criminal justice system works against the equality of African Americans. The United States' criminal justice system has a significant impact on the life chances of racial minorities, especially people of African descent. Serving time in prison became a normative event for young, lower-class African American men. The average African American male high school dropout born in the United States in the 1960s had a nearly 60% chance of serving time in prison by the end of the 1990s. For college-educated African Americans, these odds fall sharply. A disproportionate share of African Americans serve time in prison. African Americans make up about 12% of the U.S. population but nearly 46% of prison inmates. States with larger African American populations tend to incarcerate more people, have more punitive policies toward juvenile offenders, and have poorer detention conditions. The long-term effects of criminal conviction and incarceration (convicted felons were barred from many jobs) disenfranchised many African Americans. Time spent in prison is time away from education and field training. . As a result, many African Americans lack skills, have criminal convictions, and have serious criminal records. Additionally, many African Americans are disenfranchised due to unequal treatment in the criminal justice system. About 2.5% of Americans are unable to vote due to felon disenfranchisement, while 7.7% of African Americans are unable to vote due to felon disenfranchisement (23.3% of African Americans in Florida).

Points to discuss

Why does deviation occur?