Sociology

Sociology Study Guide

• Bandura’s thoughts: Stated that all deviance is learned by observation and imitation. • Berkowitz’s thoughts: Developed frustration-aggression hypothesis which states that aggressive behavior is a sign of previous frustrations; those previous frustrations lead to aggressive behavior, either overt or covert. o Based on psychoanalytic explanations of aggression and physiological emotion theories. o Many do not think this theory adequately explains the wide range of aggressive behavior that is known. Sociological Perspectives: Sociologists examine why deviance occurs, its pattern(s), and why certain behaviors are classified as deviant and others are not. • Cultural transmission theory: states that deviance is learned through interactions, in thesame manner that conformity is learned. o Shaw and McKay examined Chicago’s highest crime zones and found that adolescents learned deviant behavior from their environment, especially through their play groups and gangs. o Sociologists assert that some environments meant to correct deviance, like prisons, actually teach it. • Differential association: Edwin Sutherland. Cultural transmission occurs through social relationships oriented toward certain populations. For example, drug addicts relapse because they reenter networks in which that behavior is the norm. o Primary groups are the location of this learned behavior model, making it hard to escape and even harder to move out of. o Explains that what is deviant in the main culture may be acceptable in a subculture. • Structural strain theory: Robert Merton. Explains the widespread deviance in certain portions of society. o Portions of society that experience less opportunity for improvement resort to deviance. In other words, deviance is a result of a society’s imbalance, or the added strain placedon some within a society. o The phrase “poverty breeds crime” derives from this theory. o Emile Durkheim introduced the term anomie, a state of confusion or imbalance that exists when norms are weak, absent, or conflicting. Durkheim insisted that modern culture is especially prone to developing anomie because of the diversity of cultures. The diversity creates confusion about norms and values; moral guidelines are not clearly defined in such environments.  Anomie arise when socially approved goals outnumber the socially approved ways of obtaining those goals. There are five ways, according to Merton, for people to react to such a discrepancy. • Conformity: Culturally approved methods are utilized to obtain culturally approved goals. This is the most common response.

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