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Chapter 6

Terms in this set (24)

social control
Societies power to limit deviance by enforcing conformity to expected norms and values
Conformity
Abiding by the norms of our peers even though they have no direct authority over us
Obedience
Doing what a person in a position of authority over us says you should
informal social control
The use of interpersonal cues throughout every day interaction to enforce norms
formal social control
The imposition of sanctions, whether positive or negative, but officially recognize authorities in order to enforce norms
Laws
formal norms enforced by the state
Deviance
Behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society
stigma
Labeling individuals or members of a group as less than whole person due to some attribute that marks them as different in the eyes of others
crime
A violation of criminal law for which some governmental authority applies formal penalties.
index crimes
the eight types of crime reported annually by the FBI in the Uniform Crime Reports: murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson
victimization surveys
Questionnaires or interviews that ask representative samples of the population whether or not they have been victims of crime
white collar crime
Illegal acts committed by high status individuals who use their positions of power and influence for their own benefit
victimless crime
A term used by sociologists to describe the willing exchange among adults of widely desired, but illegal, goods and services.
organized crime
The work of a group that regulates relations among criminal enterprises involved in illegal activities, including prostitution, gambling, and the smuggling and sale of illegal drugs.
transnational crime
crime that occurs across multiple national borders
Strain theory of deviance
Robert Merton's theory of deviance as an adaptation of socially prescribed goals or of the means governing their attainment, or both
social control theory
A theory of deviance that posits that the social bonds we share with other members of society lead us to conform to society's norms.
cultural transmission
A school of criminology that argues that criminal behavior is learned through social interactions.
differential association
A theory of deviance that holds that violation of rules results from exposure to attitudes favorable to criminal acts.
Social Disorganization Theory
The theory that attributes increases in crime and deviance to the absence or breakdown of communal relationships and social institutions, such as the family, school, church, and local government
Broken windows hypothesis
The theory that physical signs of decline in a community or neighborhood indicate a corresponding breakdown of social order within which crime and deviance are likely to thrive
labeling theory
an approach to deviance that attempts to explain why certain people are viewed as deviants while others engaged in the same behavior are not
Societal-reaction approach
another name for labeling theory
differential justice
Variations in the way social control is exercised over different groups
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