Which one of the three major theories of sociology can explain deviance the best than the others? The major theories are conflict theory, symbolic interactionism, and functionalism. All three of them could link deviance, but I think symbolic interactionism would be best to explain deviance because symbolic is the pattern of statement. Symbolic meaning is that there are no behaviors among intrinsically. It has more meaning to the word crime than conflict theory or functionalism theory, which brings more question to the society. Thanks to symbolic interactionism, the reality has seen social developed the interaction with others. Both individual and society can’t be separated from each other for two reasons. One reason is There is a theory called symbolic interactionist theory of deviance. This clearly states that the way in which the individuals are free is to make their own decisions that are guided by the meaning of what they build from their social interactions. This interactions can appear in numerous settings and contexts, which can lead to many of behavioral reactions where the rules and the norms are commonly broken. The strength of symbolic interactionism theory is a non-structured. This means that it is based on perspective of deviancy that is the characterized by the meaning that arises from day to day interactions. The second strength is symbolic allows individuals to have the freedom of choices and actions in a democratic society. The third strength of symbolic is symbolic interactionism provides the individual with the moral responsibility rather than being apparently motivated by fixed-norms. The fourth strength is it recognizes that the perceptions of the reality are variable and changing. The example of strength of symbolic interactionism theory of deviance is a rock is sitting alone on the sand and there are no influence on how it views the world around it. There are several of limitation of symbolic interactionism theory. The first limitation is symbolic interactionism ignores the socioeconomic categories and class structure. The second limitation is symbolic interactionism excludes outside influences of the social structures. The third limitation is that it overestimates the power of individuals so it can create their own realities. An example of the limitation of symbolic interactionism theory is that multiple rocks represent the influences like class structure and socio-economics. Conflict theory and functionalism does not explain white collar crime
Goode, E 2006, 'IS THE DEVIANCE CONCEPT STILL RELEVANT TO SOCIOLOGY?', Sociological Spectrum, 26, 6, pp. 547-558, SocINDEX with Full Text, EBSCOhost, viewed 3 June 2014.
George Herbert Mead’s perspective of symbolic interaction theory “relies on the symbolic meaning that people develop and rely upon in the process of social interaction. It analyzes society by addressing the subjective meanings that people impose on objects, events, and behaviors.” I have applied Mead’s theory to an opportunity I was given a couple weeks ago, to tour the San Luis Obispo County Jail. Prior to the tour, a jail was merely a strange concept to me; something I had seen in movies and television shows. It was something that I had never given much thought to, because I had just accepted it for how it was. The tour provided me with a lot of insight into how a jail is run, along with how much work and organization it takes to keep it
The Interactionists firstly believe that there are no behaviours that are intrinsically deviant. Secondly, Deviant actions are simply those which are defined as deviant within a certain culture or setting. Therefore Interactionists focus on social processes by which certain behaviours become known as deviant and the consequences for those who are labelled deviant. (Aggleton, 1987, chpt 4)
Both symbolic interactionist and functionalist have their respective ways of explaining the cause of deviance. On one hand, symbolic interactionist tried to explain this phenomenon through the basic principle that an individual 's actions are dependent on their situation that varies depending upon one 's culture and surroundings which include the differential association theory, control theory, and labeling theory. On the other hand, in the functionalist perspective, they see that society as one system and is composed of interrelated parts. They argued that deviance is an element of society and fulfils specific functions in society. As shown in the strain theory, the existence of deviance allows for the establishment of cultural goal and institutionalize means that results in the operation of
Deviant theories from a positivist perspective are based on biological or social determinism. Determinism is the view that something “is determined or caused by forces beyond the individual’s control” (Thio, 2010, p. 7). Positivist sociologists apply the deterministic view to each individual deviant to determine the reason for his or her deviant behavior. Multiple theories from the positivist perspective try to explain the reason for deviant behavior. Phrenology and anomie-strain are two such theories that have been used to explain deviant behavior from this perspective.
I. Summary Symbolic interactionism is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology. This perspective has a long intellectual history, beginning with the German sociologist and economist, Max Weber and the American philosophers, George H. Mead and Charles Horton Cooley, all of which emphasized the subjective meaning of human behavior, the social process, and pragmatism. According to this theory, people inhabit a world that is in large part socially constructed. In particular, the meaning of objects, events, and behaviors comes from the interpretation people give them, and interpretations vary from one group to another. Cooley, in his theory of a "looking glass self," argued that the way we think about ourselves is particularly apt to be a reflection of other people's appraisals (or more accurately, our imagining of other people's appraisals) and that our self-concepts are built up in the intimate groups that he called "primary groups."
Four of the different theories of deviance, anomie, conflict, interactionist, and labeling, each have their own differences, but some similarities between the four. Conflict theory states that devein can be a sign of oppression, that conflict arises because groups with power dictate that the actions of a minority group are deviant. The presence of deviance in conflict theory suggests that society is in the need of change, and that some social norms have only been constructed to keep a minority down. Similar to conflict theory, anomie suggest that there is a group struggling to meet the expectations of a stronger class, and that serious changes to a society as a hole would need to be made to stop the deviant behavior. However, in
An integrated theory is a combination of 2 or 3 theories that offers many explanations on why crime is occurring, compared to a traditional criminal theory that just focus on one type of aspect (Lilly et al.2010). The purpose of integrated theories is to help explain many aspects into what causes criminal behavior and why one becomes delinquent. From this an argument arises can integrated theories be used to explain all criminal behavior. Integrated theories are successful in explaining certain aspects of crime on what causes one to become deviant; however one theory alone cannot explain why an individual engages in crime. This paper will examine three integrated theories and look in-depth how these theories can explain different aspects on why criminal behavior occurs and the weakness of each theory. The three integrated theories that will be discussed in this paper are Cloward and Ohlin Differential Opportunity theory, Robert Agnew General Strain theory, and lastly Travis Hirschi’s Social Bond theory.
Deviance is a title that insinuates the violation of social norms in society. This can be described as adjacent to criminal and improper behaviour imposed by the people who break the social norms of a society. Thus, becoming subjective to a label of 'deviant'. Deviants often have punishment bestowed upon them by authoritive figures such as the enforcers of law. There are many universal types of deviance throughout societys over the world such as alcoholism, addiction, mental illness and homosexuality. All of these may be a result of biological and social constructionist theories of deviance, this essay will define the opposing differences and the relation of the two in this essay. Both hold contributing factors to the construction of deviance in society, but are both highly conflicting theories.
Sociologists view society in different ways. Sociologists use three major theories: symbolic interactionism, functional analysis, and conflict theory. The symbolic interactionist perspective, also known as symbolic interactionism, directs sociologists to consider the symbols and details of everyday life, what these symbols mean, and how people interact with each other (Cliff). Some examples of symbolic interactionism are the meaning of marriage, the meaning of divorce, the meaning of parenthood, and the meaning of love. Symbols may include wedding bands, vows of life‐long commitment, a white bridal dress, a wedding cake, a Church ceremony, and flowers and music. American society attaches general meanings to these symbols, but individuals also maintain their own perceptions of what these and other symbols mean (Cliff). Symbols have a shared social meaning that is understood by all members of society. Symbolical interactionism is analyzed at a micro-sociological level. It examines small-scale patterns of social interaction. It focuses mainly on face-to-face interaction and how people use symbols to create a social life.
Those entire theories together individual form a depiction of the deviant and a wide-ranging clarification of certain of the potencies and effects late communal deviance
The strain theory by Merton helps to deepen our understanding by connecting deviance and crime in society to the antagonistic correlation between cultural goals and institutionalized means. Merton argues that deviant in society depends on two criteria or elements which are categorized by whether or not people accept institutionalized means and cultural goals of society. Most of the people in the society will be going to accept the goals as well as a means to achieve the goals, therefore, they are not deemed as breaking social norms. But some of the people that are rejected the means or goals or both (means and goals), will be considered as deviance or criminal.
As with most group projects, I started out with a basic understanding of the issue; essentially pollution and environmental changes humans make impact the environment in very bad ways. I grew up with a family who believes in intelligent design, young earth theory, and they all vehemently deny that anything humans do cause damage to the planet- everything reported in the news or by scientists are part of a larger “Liberal Democrat conspiracy.” Thus, my views had become largely hazy and even though I pride myself on being a Liberal, educated, intelligent young person, sometimes I was unsure what was actually true or what had been dramatized or exaggerated by scientists or the media to actually get people to pay attention. In addition, I also
In order to understand these theories that I will address, one must look at the issue of deviance. In order to grasp the concepts of these theories, it is necessary to look at deviance on deeper level. Deviance, after all, is the basis of what these theories are based upon. Normal behavior is defined as conforming to a standard, usual, typical, or expected (Soanes, 2001). Deviant behavior is a divergence from normal standards, usually social or sexual. Therefore, by definition, deviance is not normal.
Deviance is the sociological concept of behavior which violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society. Functionalists explain deviance as a common part of human existence, interactionist look at everyday behavior to explain deviance, and conflict theorists argue that people with power define deviance.