Course Summary

Week 2 Sociology has a distinctive way of understanding human experienceWeek 3 This distinctive understanding is based on recognising that patterns of social organisation and interaction exist, the social structure, that affect our behaviour Week 4 This social structure does not involve humans alone but also animals. Further it is based upon our biological structureWeek 5 The social structure organises and directs our biological structure re emotionsWeek 6 Modern social structure is fragmented and potentially fragile. We become part of it through socialisation into dominant norms. Social fragmentation may reinforce social divisions and confused personal identityWeek 7 This suggests we derive our personal identity from the social order. How is this done? Why do attempts to escape from socially defined identities tend to end in failure?Week 8 Is deviance a way of evading social control and socially constructed identities? Consideration of arguments that deviance itself is a) socially constructed; b) it benefits the social system; c) deviants do not simply break rules, they conform to different rules.

Social Order and Deviance

Emphasis so far has been on the how social reality is constructed and maintained as orderly, particularly through interaction

What of challenges to social order? Deviance: Any social behaviour which departs from

that regarded as ‘normal’ or socially acceptable within a society or social context. (Jary, D & Jary J

Collins Dictionary of Sociology) Intention: to show that deviance is part of the social

order

Social Construction of Deviance 1

What do deviant acts have in common? Only that they are called ‘deviant’.

Labelling Theory of Deviance:

a) deviant behaviour is any behaviour which is successfully defined or labelled as deviant.

b) labelling produces or amplifies (intensifies) deviance

On Being Sane in Insane Places

Rosenham On being sane in insane places Science vol.179: 1975 pp.250–8. Classic study

‘Pseudo-patients’ presenting symptoms of schizophrenia

Deception not recognised by doctors

On admission to hospital patients acted normally

Normal behaviour interpreted by doctors as evidence of mental disorder

The power of the label

Hierarchy of Credibility 1

• Michel Foucault (1926-1984)

1. Claim to knowledge is a claim to power

2. Claims to power depend upon particular types of knowledge

3. In modern society powerful knowledge is expert knowledge

Hierarchy of Credibility 2

• Berger (1929-)

1. The credibility of a statement depends on the social status of the speaker

2. The higher the status of the speaker, the more credible the statement

3. Hence, credibility is hierarchically distributed• pupil defers to teacher’s knowledge

• nurse defers to doctor’s knowledge

• lower court defers to higher court’s knowledge

Power & Reality

Power: The ability to achieve desired ends despite the resistance of others (Weber)

A major source of power: defining reality for others

The Thomas Theorem

• Thomas, William I. C. (1863-1947)

• If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences

• Thomas, William I.; Thomas, Dorothy: The Child in America (Alfred Knopf, 1929, 2nd ed., p. 572

• (amended) If powerful people define situations as real they are more likely to be real in their consequences

Social Construction of Deviance 2

DurkheimArgument that deviance is

functional (beneficial) for the social system

Deviance enables:– a). Collective reaffirmation of

shared values, therefore encourages moral consensus

Deviance enables:

– b) Definition of limits to acceptable behaviour, therefore enables social integration

Deviance enables:

– c) Reactions that affirm group solidarity

Deviance enables:

– d) Experimentation with new rules therefore enables adaptation to new circumstances