An Integrated Typology of Deviance Applied to Ten Middle-Class Norms Heckert & Heckert Part I Chapter 2 Part 1: Ch. 2

Part 1: Ch. 2

Part 1: Ch. 2

Part 1: Ch. 2

Part 1: Ch. 2

Part 1: Ch. 2

Part 1: Ch. 2

Review Questions What are “negative deviance” and “rate- busting” in the context of middle-class norms? Discuss some of the middle-class values in the U.S. and provide examples of each. Part 1: Ch. 2

Relativism: Labeling Theory Becker Part I Chapter 3

I. Labeling Theory of Deviance: A Definition Part 1: Ch. 3

A. Deviance is Created by Society Social groups create the rules whose violation constitutes deviance Those same groups apply their rules to persons labeled as outsiders Part 1: Ch. 3

B. Deviance is Relative Not Absolute Deviance is not an objective, inherent quality of the act a person commits, but the result of the application of rules and sanctions to an “offender” A deviant is someone who has been successfully labeled as deviant Part 1: Ch. 3

II. Consequences of a Labeling Perspective for the Study of Deviance Part 1: Ch. 3

A. Persons who have been labeled deviant do not represent a homogenous category A person’s deviant status is the result of the responses of others to that person’s actual or presumed act The process of labeling is not infallible: Some persons may be innocent and wrongfully convicted of something they have not done Other persons may have escaped apprehension even though committing acts that could result in being labeled deviant Part 1: Ch. 3

B. Study the Process of Labeling Deviants Focus less on social characteristics of deviants than on the process by which they come to be viewed as outsiders and their reactions to being labeled The degree to which people respond to a given act as deviant varies widely One who commits an act may be responded to more leniently on one occasion than would have been the case at another time Examples: police target a specific area or crime for extra attention such as gambling or prostitution or a certain neighborhood Part 1: Ch. 3

B. Study the Process of Labeling Deviants Whether an act is responded to as deviant depends on who commits the act and who feels they have been harmed by it Juveniles from the middle-class do not go as far in the legal process as do boys from the lower class Race matters: a black man who allegedly attacks a white is more likely to be sought and punished Part 1: Ch. 3

C. Being labeled as deviant has important consequences for the person’s future There is a major change in one’s public identity, one acquires a new status that is a master status (Hughes) It becomes the single most important defining characteristic of a person that overrides all others: One is viewed as a deviant first and first foremost Part 1: Ch. 3