...Control Sociological Foundations Oklahoma Wesleyan University Matthew Charles Colaw November 16, 2010 Abstract This paper is covering the different forms of deviance and social control. The word deviance is defined by actions or behaviors that violate a cultural norm. Deviance can be a formal crime or an in-formal act that is not perceived as normal in the culture. Each culture or group in this paper has different sets of norms and moral standards. This paper will discuss deviance within cultures and that many cultures can have different views on deviance. Social control is developed within a culture to punish the deviant acts. These topics will be discussed in the paper. Deviance in text book and from the internet source refers to any violation of a culture’s norms. This violation of cultural norms could be as insignificant as simply speeding a few miles an hour over the speed limit or a major crime such as murder. Deviance is further explained when Howard Becker stated, “It is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act, that make something deviant.” Each culture has a set of cultural norms and when an action or behavior causes a negative connotation in this culture it becomes deviant. (Jim Henslin, 2010) (Robert Keel, 2007) In the textbook it discusses different cultures and how certain acts are deviant. The article in the text book discussed how a group of women in Kenya called the Pokot, place high...
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...an act of omission or commission of an offense where perpetrators risk facing state prosecution and legal punishment. Therefore, the sociological study of deviance looks at various social laws, their influence on the individual and societal behavior, and potential punishments for lawbreakers. Indeed, Kubrin, Stucky, & Krohn, (2009) note that sociology appreciates the fact that social norms vary in description across societies. This implies that an action that is deviant to one community may be morally acceptable to another. Moreover, sociology recognizes that while societies play a more important role than individuals do in creating and imposing norms and rules. This means that views on deviant acts existing in individuals more likely relate to their society’s responses to the behavior (Kubrin, Stucky, & Krohn, 2009). Norms are rules and expectations by which members of society are conventionally guided. Deviance is a failure to conform to these norms. Social norms differ from culture to culture. For example, a deviant act can be committed in one society that breaks a social norm there, but may be normal for another society. Over the years, sociologists have come up with numerous theories and concepts that help explain the causes, effects, and solutions to deviance. For instance, originally studied at the Chicago School, the social disorganization theory owes its application to deviance as a social issue to Roger Miller and Larry Gainer. The theory identifies social...
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...only in the control mechanisms used to prevent the establishment of chaos or anomie. Some theorists, such as Émile Durkheim, refer to this form of control as regulation. Sociologists identify two basic forms of social controls: 1. Internal Control- Internalisation of norms and values by a process known as socialization. Socialization is defined as "“the process by which an individual, born with behavioral potentialities of enormously wide range, is led to develop actual behavior which is confined to the narrower range of what is acceptable for him by the group standards.” 2. External Control- External sanctions, which can be either positive (rewards) or negative (punishment). These sanctions come from either formal or informal control. While the concept of social control has been around since the formation of organized sociology, the meaning has been altered over time. Originally the concept simply referred to society’s ability to regulate itself. However, in the 1930’s, the term took on its more modern meaning of the individual’s conversion to conformity. Social control theory began to be studied as a separate field in the early 20th century. The means to enforce social control can be either formal or informal.[5] Sociologist Edward A. Ross argued that belief systems exert a greater control on human behavior than...
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...What are norms and how do norms affect behavior? A norm refers to a standard of appropriate behavior to have in a society or in a group, mainly ways on how to do something. Norms define the social behavior by defining what an individual or a group can and cannot do, they translate the dominating values and role model of the society or the group. There is different kind of norms : formal norms such as laws, regulation, codes to respect and informal noms witch form the customs, the habit … The non respect of those norms can either be tolerated either be punished depending on the kind of the non respected norm : jail, tickets for formal ones and moral sanction such as the exclusion of an individual from the group. That is why most members of...
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...Basics in Social Science, Lecture sheet-5, Culture & Society ❖ Culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted behavior. It includes the ideas, values, customs and artifacts (as well as the sailboats, comic books and birth control devices) of groups of people. In sociological terms, culture does not refer solely to the fine arts and refined intellectual taste. It consists of all objects and ideas within a society, including ice cream cones, rock music, and slang words. Culture is a matter of what people in a society know to be true (Goodenough, 1957). That’s why knowledge and belief are at the core of the definition of culture. According to Vander zanden, “Culture refers to the social heritage of a people-those learned patterns for thinking, feeling, and acting that are transmitted from one generation to the next, including the embodiment of these patterns in material items.” Culture provides the fabric that enables human beings to interpret their experiences and guide their actions. Material culture refers to the physical or technological aspects of our daily lives, including food items, houses, factories, clothing, literary and musical works, inventions and raw materials. Non material culture refers to ways of using material objects and to customs, beliefs, values, knowledge, philosophies, governments, and patterns of communication or rules concerning behavior. One important point is that no society is without culture. For reasons every society requires...
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...Zoë C.P Gaines English 101 3/26/2016 Following Social Norms Human society is made up of billions of people right? It’s no wonder to me that in order to keep all of the worlds’ people at a level where they can function peacefully, some structures with regard to behaviors and mannerisms are needed. These, structures are better known as social norms. Social norms are the expected and set behaviors that are found within each and every culture around the world. These norms include both social and legal expectations. They constitute the main fabric of a society and its inner workings by setting in place social unwritten rules, also known as common law; which determines how people behave and act towards and around one another. The foremost function of social norms is to institute social structure and permit cohesiveness between members of society. These norms that are set in place are ordinarily accepted as right, or anticipated behavior depending on various circumstances that depend on environment and culture within such society. Once established, members of society who follow and abide by these norms feel more at ease socially while living out their day to day lives. Although, sometimes an individual's personal identity may in some sense be restricted by some social norms, therefore following the common law of the community you live in is generally seen as being good of the society; and therefore following them becomes an advantage to the members of that society. ...
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...individuals and firms can lead to a state in which each will think of the other when something needs to be done. Along with economic capital, social capital is a valuable mechanism in economic growth. For example, if you know someone at a company where you are applying for a job and this connection helps you get the job at the company, you have used social capital. Social capital can also have negative effects. For example, if a social network is used for manipulative or destructive purposes that will affect the economy negatively, such as when a group colludes to fix market prices. In my collective conclusion and perception for the defining social capital are defined networks together with Shared norms, values and understandings that facilitate co-operation within or among groups”. In this definition, we can think of networks as Real-world links between groups or individuals. Think of networks of Friends, family networks, networks of former colleagues, and so on. Our Shared norms, values and understandings are less concrete than our Social networks. Sociologists sometimes speak of norms as society’s Unspoken and largely unquestioned rules. Norms and understandings May not become apparent until they’re broken. If adults attack a child, For example, they breach the norms that protect children from harm. Values may be more open to question; indeed societies often debate whether their values are changing. And yet values such as respect for People’s safety and security are an essential...
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...We give emphasis on the maintenance of order and continuity of society. When we say order, we are referring to the way of norms, role expectations and people who are organized smoothly and harmoniously into the system. Goals are clearly defined and the legitimate means are available to members to achieve the said goals. Stability may refer to the ways the society has maintained its equilibrium in spite of difficulties and problems confronting its members. The maintenance of order and stability is made possible through the use of effective means of social control, that is the way the members are made to behave according to the standards set by society. The ways of social control vary from society to society but the purpose, is basically the same, to maintain order and ensure society's continuity. Although conformity is stressed, still there are individuals who do not follow the norms nor fill the roles that they are expected to play. They are called deviants; those who violate the standards set by the society....
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...TAI SOLARIN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION P.O.BOX 2118, IJAGUN, IJEBU-ODE, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA DEPARTMENT: GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY LEVEL: 400 COLLEGE: COAEVOT COURSE CODE: GCP 421 COURSE TITLE: BEHAVIOURS IN ORGANIZATION QUESTION: GROUP DYNAMICS GROUP 6 NAMES: MATRIC NO: COMB: 1. FIFONYINKEN SERAH ANU 20120104022 GCP/YOR 2. ABDULQADIR SHUKRAH ADEFOLAKE 20120104049 GCP/ISS 3. MEDAHUNSI ELIZABETH I. 20120104023 GCP/YOR 4. AJIBUWA ROSEMARY ADERONKE 20120104033 GCP/CRS LECTURER-IN-CH ARGE DR. ONABAMIRO A. A WHAT IS A GROUP A group is defined as two or more individuals who are connected to one another by social relationships. Every organization is a group unto itself. A group refers to two or more people who share a common meaning and evaluation of themselves and come together to achieve common goals. In other words, a group is a collection of people who interact with one another; accept rights and obligations as members and who share a common identity. MEANING OF GROUP DYNAMICS The word dynamics means ‘force’. Group dynamics means the study of forces within a group. Since human beings have an innate desire for belonging to a group, group dynamism is bound to occur. In an organization or in a society, we can see groups, small or large, working for the well-being. The social process by which people interact with each other in small groups can be called group dynamism. A group has certain common objectives and goals and...
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...Group Influence Some groups are formal with designated titles and rules. Other groups are informal, organized casually and have unwritten or flexible rules. For purposes of this paper, I chose to observe a district meeting of the Med Pay Unit within my company. I have highlighted my observations and thoughts below: Part I The meeting was held in a conference room large enough to hold 30 people, however there were only 12 members on the team. The seating arrangement was U-shaped with chairs around the outside. The manager sat in the center. The composition of the group was comprised of seven women and five men whose ages ranged from 22-mid 50’s. The racial makeup included African Americans, Caucasians, Hispanics and a Bi-racial member. The meeting was scheduled to start at 2 p.m. and when I arrived five minutes early, I found that everyone had already arrived. The meeting started on time. The unit is a department of Nationwide Insurance and their focus is processing medical payments for members who have suffered injuries in accidents. The number one focus for the unit is providing excellent customer service while exemplifying the core values of the company. The Med Pay unit is long-term and in fact, will be expanding to add two more teams which will include a bi-lingual unit. The manager passed out an agenda at the beginning of the meeting and was successful in keeping to it. She was the primary facilitator of the group, but introduced a guest speaker from...
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...Deviance is any behaviour that violates social norms, there can be many different reasons why people display deviant behaviour. People who engage in deviant behaviour are referred to as deviants. Deviant behaviour is any behaviour that is contrary to the dominant norms of society. In practice however most deviance is ignored or mildly punished is sometimes regarded as amusing or even supported. Mugging a person is classed as deviant, smoking in a public place is now regarded as deviant (smoking ban in public places was introduced in Ireland March 2004). Most of us at one point or time in our lives have been labeled deviant or at least sightly deviant. As I mentioned Deviance is the recognised violation of cultural norms. Norms are rules and expectations which guide the behaviour of a society, therefore norms guide human activities, so the concept of deviance is broad. As we develop from childhood to teenager to adult we gain experience and exposure to many situations either alone or with others. We are taught what we should and should not do, what is good and what is bad what is right and what is wrong within our society, learning habits that conform to the customs, traditions of the group into which we are born. We start to develop a system of values, these values are why we refrain from behaviour that is frowned on or disapproved off. Most of us have at some time or other have misgivings or second thoughts about something we may have done in the past. Maybe, told a lie...
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...provide input behind why it is necessary to let children fail, so they can progress and succeed next time. Parents have to provide the framework, and let their children make their own moves so they can become more stable adults in the future. Otherwise they will not be as independent and as regarded towards standard social norms within society. According to co-author Christine Koh,"If kids don't have the space to experiment and periodically make mistakes, they'll never learn how to problem solve and cope on their own," therefore, they will have a harder time picking themselves up after falling. Concepts There are a few underlying concepts in Chapter 6, which apply to this article by Mathews. The first concept regards social control: which are techniques and strategies for preventing deviant human behaviors in any society. An example of social control would deal with the parent’s ability to coach their child on how to handle situations that they have already faced that did not go well for them previously. Informal Social Control: is how casual norms are enforced (such as smiles, laughter, raised eyebrow, ridicule, etc.) and cues in situations are applied. For example, from the article, Mathews includes dialogue between her and her preschooler whom she is trying to have learn the normal social cues of when to wear their jacket on a chilly day. The child refuses, but the article also states that “children do need to practice making decisions—and dealing with...
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...STEREOTYPES A stereotype is a rigid, widely held prototype about the general characteristics of a group of people. Many stereotypes are about racial and ethnic groups, age groups, and the sexes. Other stereotypes have to do with such acquired characteristics as education or occupation. Stereotypes of accountants and engineers hold that both groups have poor social skills, and a common stereotype of people with MBA degrees is that these people are arrogant and overly concerned with the bottom line. Stereotypes cause problems for at least two reasons. First, because they are so general, it it risky to apply them to particular people. Many individuals differ from stereotypes applied to them. A German man who spent many years in Japan and spoke Japanese fluently found that people in that country often did not understand him , only if he spoke to them in peson. No one has had trouble understanding him when he spoke over the telephone. Apparently, am assumption that foreigners cannot learn Japanese-that is, a stereotype about foreigners –prevented people from understanding this man if they saw he was a foreigner. A person who repeatedly makes mistakes using stereotype may not have been exposed to other groups enough to have developed accurate prototypes. Another source of problem is that because stereotypes are widely held, they are sometimes hard to notice. If you aren’t aware you have a particular stereotype, you cannot check whether it truly applies to a particular person or group...
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...speaking to name but a few. Sociologists use terms such as norms, values and roles to describe these. There are four types of socialisation, the first of which is known as primary socialisation – this refers to early childhood (from birth) and what we learn from those who influence us most at this time. These people are usually our immediate family and carers. The second is secondary socialisation which refers to late childhood and adulthood, this is not learned from family but from school, workplace and many others including the media. There is also formal/informal socialisation 2. Each culture contains a large number of guidelines that direct behaviour, explain the role of norms within society and explain how they differ from culture to culture. The norms within society differ depending on the type of society and culture. The norms can be different because of religion, gender, social upbringing etc. There are both informal and formal norms (set of rules in society which explains acceptably correct behaviour). In general most societies disapprove of those who do not conform to the social norms and in some cases this unacceptable behaviour is punished. In the UK it is considered normal for us to eat using a knife in fork whereas in Japan they use chopsticks and in Bali they use their hands mainly. Many gestures also have a varied meaning depending on which culture or country you are in for example: nodding your head up and down means Yes in the UK however in...
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...is known as normative influence. A consumer is influenced to conform to the norms and behaviour of a particular reference group if (1) the reference group in subject gives significant rewards for conforming to the practices of the group and provides significant punishment as well for non-compliance and (2) the members of the reference group see the person’s behaviour in conforming to the group norms. The pressure to conform to group norms increases further if there is both positive and negative motivation. Chance of getting a group identity is a positive motivation while threat of less rewards of punishment is a negative emotion. Even when reference groups do not control the outcome of a person’s behaviour, normative influence can happen because individuals are very concerned with what other people perceive of them. For example, for products such as mouthwash and mouth freshener, normative influence may occur still occur even if other people do not influence an individual’s...
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