Chapters 1 and 2 The Sociological Perspective Deviance

Chapters 1 and 2 The Sociological Perspective, Deviance and Medicalization

Interactionism and Positivism l l l The big split in sociology is between the interactionists and the positivists The positivists make more money and get jobs at better universities; they like lots of stats collected from surveys The interactionists are usually the cool professors and they like to hang out and observe behavior and don’t usually use stats

The Universality and Relativity of Deviance l l l Sociologists assume deviance is found in every society at all times What is deviant in once place at one time is often viewed as non-deviant in another place at another time In modern society subgroups fight to have their views of what is deviant made into law or to have their behavior made normal

Moral Codes are Relative l l l Sociologists assume that moral codes are made by humans and change with social and political trends in history; moral codes are not absolute The case of the Salem Witch Trials illustrates how ideas about deviance change and are related to the status of the alleged deviant This is an idea close to what Emile Durkheim says about the division of labor

Integrating Durkheim l l l Durkheim shows that the way we live, how we survive, which he calls the division of labor, is given moral status Morality, deviance and social control change as the division of labor changes, they are relative and not absolute, albeit granted absolute status This process occurs in periods of rapid social change, as in the Industrial Revolution or as in contemporary America

The Labeling Interactionist Perspective l l l This book is written from the Labeling Interactionist Perspective This perspective assumes that all aspects of deviance are sociological in nature rather than moral or psychologically healthy This perspective begins by questioning the nature of social knowledge and truth

The Creation of Deviance is Political l Deviance designations are conferred on people as the end result of a political struggle Who gets to be the ultimate authority on what is and what is not deviant is also the result of a political struggle. There are no inherently deviant behaviors, behaviors are made “normal” or “deviant” in a sociological process

The Historical Social Constructionist Approach l The theory and methodology to study the creation of deviance involves research into the historical roots of ideas about deviance and how they change

Medicalization and Deviance l l l Because of its alleged moral neutrality, medical science has become central in determinations of deviance Defining behavior using the arcane language of medical science eliminates difficult to answer questions of morality and social change The rest of the book is an analysis of how this happened