deviance structural functional theory examples

Individuals can satisfy this need by joining groups with like-minded individuals. It was thought that individuals possess an epistemic need to possess both certain and veridical knowledge. The first tendency was the need for social reality. This perspective emphasized two broad psychological tendencies that were thought to generate pressures to conform. The most influential of these traditions was the group dynamics approach, which was started in the 1940s by Kurt Lewin and his students and colleagues at the Research Center for Group Dynamics. Group DynamicsĪlthough symbolic interactionism succeeded in bringing the individual into the discussion on deviance, it largely ignored the harder question that was of interest to structural functionalists: Why do social groups categorize certain people as deviant? It was this question that early psychological theories sought to address. For instance, a society might create the negative term thief as a way of deterring crime, but people who are labeled in this way (e.g., by the criminal justice system) might come to identify with their label and then commit more crimes. Over time, he argued, people come to accept the labels society gives them. He argued that social institutions create accepted labels that give meanings to actions. Howard S.īecker followed such an approach. The tendency to incorporate the opinions of others into the self can lead to a self-fulfilling prophesy, such that individuals become the very people they are thought to be by others.īecause symbolic interactionists focus on the opinions of other people, many of these scholars have focused attention on the majority opinions found in societies. Accordingly, individuals cannot find a personal identity by looking inward but must instead adopt the viewpoints of other people. A key concept is the looking-glass self, coined by Charles Horton Cooley. Symbolic interactionists examine how individuals construct social meaning through their interactions with other people. Some scholars were interested in the component parts, and this contributed to the rise of symbolic interactionism within sociology.

In fact, structural functionalists tended to question whether one could understand the whole (society) by examining the parts (the individual). The major weakness of this approach was that it did not elaborate on the individual-level mechanisms that cause people to deviate. It instead was viewed as something social institutions create to preserve the society. Deviation from social norms was not viewed as a property inherent to certain actors. The strength of structural functionalism was that it drew attention to the role that society plays in defining right and wrong. As an example, an American citizen might reject his or her society’s embrace of capitalism in favor of community and might advocate for socialist policies as a way of promoting this new social agenda. Alternatively, an individual can seek radical changes to society, changes that alter its normative goals and means. Second, they can reject the normative means of achieving goals (e.g., stealing money rather than earning it from an employer). First, they can reject the normative goals of society (e.g., wanting to support a drug habit rather than a family). Robert Merton expanded on the concept of anomie by showing two dimensions upon which individuals might deviate from social norms. Anomie was conceived of as a psychological state created when social norms fail to affect how an individual acts. Institutions bind individuals together by promoting social norms that define right and wrong.Įmile Durkheim, an early structural functionalist, introduced the notion of anomie, a precursor to modern conceptions of deviance. Social institutions are organizations that fulfill vital roles in society and that promote the continued existence of society (e.g., the criminal justice system, the courts, the family). This viewpoint focused attention on social institutions in societies. One broad sociological approach to the study of deviance was structural functionalism. Sociological Theories of Deviance Structural Functionalism

The origins and functions of deviant behavior have long been of interest in the social sciences, with early sociological theories influencing the psychology theories that followed. Home » Misc » Deviance psychology definition Deviance psychology definitionĭeviance - IResearchNet Deviance Definitionĭeviance is a broad term meant to signify behavior that violates social norms.

Deviance structural functional theory examples