UNIT 3: Insider/OutsiderChapter 6: Groups and Formal Organizations

Chapter 7: Deviance and Social Control

Standard: Students will explain and interpret the influence of social groups on individual/group

behavior and assess how social inequalities may affect changes in society.

Types of Groups and Networks• A group is at least two people who have one or

more goals in common and share common ways of thinking and behaving.

• A social category is made up of people who share a social characteristic.

• A social aggregate is made up of people temporarily in the same place at the same time.

• A primary group are people who are emotionally close, know one another well, and seek one another’s company.

• Primary relationships are characterized by interactions that are intimate, personal, caring and fulfilling.

• Secondary groups are people who share only part of their lives while focusing on a goal or a task.

• Secondary relationships are characterized by impersonal interactions involving limited parts of personalities.

• A reference group is a group use for self-evaluation and the formation of attitudes, values, beliefs and norms.

• In-groups are exclusive groups demanding intense loyalty.

• Out-groups are groups targeted by an in-group for opposition, antagonism, or competition.

• A social network is a web of social relationships that join a person to other people in a group. A social network is not a group!

• Answer question 20 on page 198. Be prepared to discuss your answer.

• Read “School Violence and Social Networks” and answer the question on page 180. Be prepared to discuss your answer. We will watch a movie based on the Columbine tragedy at the end of this unit.

• Read “Bullies and Their Victims” and answer the questions on page 201. Be prepared to discuss your answers.

• Read “Group Pressure and Obedience” and answer the questions on page 189. Be prepared to discuss your answers.

• Watch “My Kid Would Never Bully” (Dateline) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032600/vp/41928090#41928090

Types of Social Interactions

Formal Organizations• A formal organization is a group

deliberately formed to achieve one or more long term goals.

• A bureaucracy is a formal organization that is based on rationality and efficiency. Characteristics of a bureaucracy include: – A division of labor based on the principal

of specialization. – A hierarchy of authority. – A system of rules and procedures. – Written records of work and activities. – Promotion on the basis of merit and

qualifications. • Informal organizations are groups within

a formal organization in which personal relationships are guided by norms, rituals and sentiments that are not part of the formal organization.

• The Iron Law of Oligarchy is the theory that power increasingly becomes concentrated in the hands of a few members of any organization.– Organizations need a hierarchy of

authority to delegate decision making.

– The advantages held by those at the top allow them to consolidate and increase their powers.

– Other members of the organization tend to defer to leaders—to give in to those who take charge.

Deviance and Social Control

• Deviance is behavior that departs from societal or group norms.

• Negative deviance involves behavior that underconforms to accepted norms.

• Positive deviance involves behavior that overconforms to social expectations.

• A deviant is a person who breaks significant societal or group norms.

• Social control is ways to encourage conformity to social norms.

• Internal social control lies within the individual and is developed during the socialization process.

• External social control depends on formal or informal sanctions.

• Social sanctions are rewards and punishments that encourage conformity to social norms.

• Read “Murder Among the Cheyenne” and answer the question on page 208. Be prepared to discuss your answers with the class.

Schools of Thought on Deviance• Functionalists believe that deviance can be both

positive and negative. • The negative effects include eroding trust,

inspiring deviant behavior in others and diverting resources from other aspects of society.

• The positive effects include clarifying norms and providing a safety valve when problems arise.

• An anomie is a social condition where norms are weak, conflicting or absent.

• Strain theory is a belief that deviance is more likely to occur when a gap exists between cultural goals and the ability to achieve these goals by legitimate means.

• Ways that individuals cope with strain include innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion.

• Control theory is a belief that compliance with social norms require strong bonds between individuals and society.

• Social bonds include attachment, commitment, involvement and belief.

• The symbolic interactionist perspective yields two theories of deviance.

• The differential association theory contends that the individual learns deviance in proportion to the number of deviant acts they were exposed to.

• The labeling theory contends that society creates deviance by indentifying particular members as deviant.

• Primary deviance involves the occasional breaking of norms that is not a part of a person’s lifestyle or self-concept.

• Secondary deviance occurs when an individual’s life and identity are organized around breaking society’s norms.

• A stigma is an undesirable trait or label that is used to characterize an individual.

Crime and Punishment• Supporters of the conflict theory

believe that minorities receive unequal treatment in the criminal justice system.

• Victim discounting is the process of reducing the seriousness of crimes that injure people of lower social status.

• White collar crimes are job-related crimes committed by high-status people.

• Read “Look Out for Identity Thieves” and answer the question on page 228.

• Watch “The Madoff Affair” (PBS Frontline) for an example of white collar crime.

• http://video.pbs.org/video/1122731028

• Measurement of Crime– The FBI publishes Uniformed Crime Reports (UCR)

that track the number of murders, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson and hate crimes.

– The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) uses scientific methods to document underreported crimes.

• Juvenile Crime– Juvenile crime is a crime committed by a minor;

Juvenile delinquency includes deviances that are not crimes in the adult world.

– Juvenile crime has been decreasing, possibly because of less crack use, harsher sentences and efforts to reduce the number of guns in communities.

• Approaches to Crime Control– Does punishment discourage crime? – Do Americans believe capital punishment deters

criminals? – Why do attitudes toward the death penalty vary? – What is retribution? – Why does society keep criminals in prisons? – Do prisons rehabilitate criminals? – What are some alternatives to prison? – Will any of these alternatives work?