Key Definitions:
Values - General principles for how we should live our lives
Norms - Specific rules that govern people's behaviour in particular situations
Moral Codes - Describe a set of basic rules, values - held by individuals/society
Deviance
Definition - Any behaviour that differs from normal - unusual, breaks ‘norm’ of society
Types of Deviance and examples to support
Unusual and Bad Attacking someone - hostile reaction
Unusual and Good Running into a house fire to save someone
Unusual and Bizarre Owning 40 cats
Formal sanctions
Imposed by official bodies, punishment for breaking formal laws
Informal sanctions
Rules not written - unspoken
E.g. name calling, ignoring behaviour
Positive sanctions
Society may choose to reward behaviour they approve of - POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
E.g. Medals, praise, certificates
Acts of social control
Society doesn’t want deviance to become the social norm, sanctions are created to control
behaviour as we conform to expected social norms and values
Criminal Behaviours
Social definition - Not all harmful acts are crime and not all crimes are harmful acts, public have
different views on crime
Legal definition - Deviant belabour involves harmful acts, wrong to society. Break written law,
punished by police/law courts
Criminal acts - 2 different types in UK law