Deviance and Deviants: A Sociological Approach

Table of Contents:
Preface xiv About the Companion Website xvi 1 Defining Social Deviance and Deviants 1 Student Learning Outcomes 1 What is Deviance? 2 The absolutist position 3 The statistical anomaly view 3 Box 1.1: In their own words: Being deviant: A left‐hander in a right‐handed world 4 The Sociological Perspective 7 The Social Construction of Deviance 7 Norms, social control, and a range of tolerance 8 Importance of culture, time, place, and situation 11 Importance of acts, actors, and audience 13 The Role of Media in Defining Deviance 15 Moral entrepreneurs, moral crusades, and moral panics 15 Confusing crime and deviance 16 Equating diversity with deviance 17 Negative and Positive Results of Deviance 17 Negative consequences of deviance 18 Positive aspects of deviance 19 Summary 20 Outcomes Assessment 20 Key Terms and Concepts 21 2 Deviance and Social Identity 22 Student Learning Outcomes 22 Becoming Deviant 23 Deviance as a Status 23 Deviance as a master status 24 Primary and secondary deviance 27 Box 2.1: In their own words: Primary deviance: Student cheating 28 Deviant career 29 Deviance as a Role 30 Role‐taking, role embracement, role merger, and role engulfment 30 Role distance: The deviant deviant 32 Deviance, Deviants, and Stigma 32 Managing a Spoiled Identity 33 Deviance, Identity, and The Media 34 Summary 36 Outcomes Assessment 37 Key Terms and Concepts 37 3 Popular Notions and Pseudoscientific Explanations for Deviance 38 Student Learning Outcomes 38 Demonology: “The Devil Made Me Do It” 39 Box 3.1: In their own words: Interview with a twenty‐year‐old wiccan 41 Morality, Immorality, and Deviance 42 Positivism, Pseudoscience, and the Medical Model of Deviance 44 Early biological and physiological theories of deviance 44 The medical model of deviance 48 The medicalization of deviance 49 Blame it on the Media 50 Print media and deviance 50 Television, movies, video games and deviance 52 Media violence, aggression, and deviant behavior 53 The internet and the power of social media 54 Fallacies of Popular Notions and Pseudoscientific Explanations 55 Summary 56 Outcomes Assessment 56 Key Terms and Concepts 57 4 Sociological Explanations for Deviance 58 Student Learning Outcomes 58 A Functionalist Perspective on Deviance 59 Strain theories 60 Deviant subcultures 63 Strengths and weaknesses of the functionalist perspective 65 The Conflict Perspective and Deviant Behavior 66 The Marxian heritage 66 The social reality of crime and delinquency 67 Social threat theory 68 Strengths and weaknesses of the conflict perspective 68 Interactionist Theories and the Constructionist View of Deviance 69 Labeling theories 71 Social learning theories 73 Control theories 75 Strengths and weaknesses of interactionist theories 76 A Feminist Perspective on Deviance 77 The Pervasive Influence of the Media 78 Box 4.1: In their own words: By Noah Nelson 79 Summary 80 Outcomes Assessment 81 Key Terms and Concepts 81 5 Deviant Occupations 82 Student Learning Outcomes 82 The Sociology of Work 83 Occupation as Master Status 84 Illegal Occupations 86 “Immoral” Occupations: Working in the Adult Entertainment Industry 87 Working in adult films 88 Stripping/nude dancing 90 Box 5.1: In their own words: Topless dancers: Managing stigma in a deviant occupation 92 Black‐Collar Occupations: Stigmatized Occupations and “Dirty” Work 93 Stigma of handling the dead 94 Box 5.2: In their own words: Morticians and funeral directors: Handling the stigma of handling the dead 95 Deviant Occupations and the Media 96 Summary 99 Outcomes Assessment 100 Key Terms and Concepts 100 6 Sexual Deviance and Deviant Lifestyles 101 Student Learning Outcomes 101 Sex, Gender, and Human Sexuality 102 Sexual Norms and Sexual Deviance 103 Adultery/Swinging/Mate Swapping/Co‐Marital Sex 104 Box 6.1: In their own words: Swinging and “the lifestyle” 106 Naturism/nudism 107 Sex norms and homosexuality 108 Homosexuality and the law 109 Homophobia 111 Transvestism, transgenderism, and transsexuality 112 Prostitution 114 Phone sex and cybersex 116 Sexual Deviance and the Media 117 Summary 120 Outcomes Assessment 121 Key Terms and Concepts 121 7 Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse 122 Student Learning Outcomes 122 A Brief History of Alcohol in the United States 123 Alcohol Use among Social Groups in the United States 125 Becoming an Alcoholic 128 Stages of alcoholism 129 Alcoholic as a master status 131 Box 7.1: In their own words: Driving under the influence 131 Alcohol and the media 132 A Brief History of Drugs in the United States 133 Race/ethnicity and drug legislation 134 Drug‐crime connection 136 Moral panics and moral entrepreneurs 137 Women, drugs, and moral panics 139 Legal and illegal drugs 139 Substance use on campus 140 Box 7.2: In their own words: Underage drinking 141 Recreational Drug Use 142 Becoming an Addict 143 Box 7.3: In their own words: Marijuana User 145 Drugs and the Media 147 Summary 148 Outcomes Assessment 148 Key Terms and Concepts 148 8 Physical and Mental Deviance 149 Student Learning Outcomes 149 Media and the “Ideal” Body 150 Abominations of the Body 151 Physical disabilities 152 Obesity and eating disorders 157 Box 8.1: In their own words: Bulimia 159 Mental Disorders 161 Mental illness and the medical model 162 Mysteries of the mind 163 Box 8.2: In their own words: Diagnosed with bipolar disorder 164 Mental illness in the military 165 Box 8.3: In their own words: Alzheimer’s and multiple mental illnesses 166 Mental Disorders and the Media 167 One flew over the cuckoo’s nest 167 Summary 168 Outcomes Assessment 168 Key Terms and Concepts 169 9 Suicide and Self‐Harm 170 Student Learning Outcomes 170 Defining Suicide 171 Durkheim’s Classic Study 172 Egoistic suicide 173 Altruistic suicide 174 Anomic suicide 175 Fatalistic suicide 177 Criticisms of Durkheim’s work 177 Modern Theories of Suicide 178 Suicide in the United States 178 Sex and race differences in suicide 179 Age and suicide 180 Box 9.1: In their own words: Effects of suicide on family members 182 Physician‐Assisted Suicide 183 Suicide‐by‐Cop 185 Box 9.2: In their own words: Attempted suicide‐by‐cop 186 Suicide Terrorism 187 Self‐Harm 188 Box 9.3: Resources 190 Suicide and the Media 191 Summary 191 Outcomes Assessment 192 Key Terms and Concepts 192 10 Beyond the Range of Tolerance: Extreme Deviance 193 Student Learning Outcomes 193 Body Modification and Mutilation 194 Extreme tattooing 195 Surgery, implants, and amputation 197 Suspension 198 Box 10.1: In their own words: “Hooked” on suspension 198 Edgework, Risk‐Taking Behavior, and Extreme Sports 200 Extreme sports 201 Box 10.2: In their own words: “I’m not happy unless I’m in fear for my life” 204 Extreme Lifestyles 206 Minimalism 206 Survivalism and doomsday preppers 208 Extreme Deviance and the Media 209 Summary 210 Outcomes Assessment 211 Key Terms and Concepts 211 11 Violence, Street Crime, and Delinquency 212 Student Learning Outcomes 212 Measuring Crime in the United States 213 Violence 214 Murder 214 Robbery 217 Assault 219 School violence 220 Child abuse 222 Property Crimes 224 Burglary 225 Larceny‐theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson 226 Box 11.1: In their own words: Auto theft 226 Terrorism 227 Violence Against Women 229 Rape and sexual assault 229 Sexual assault on campus 230 Rape myths 230 Intimate partner violence 232 Box 11.2: In their own words: Intimate partner violence 233 Crime and the Media: The CSI Effect 234 Box 11.3: Resources for survivors of violence 234 Summary 235 Outcomes Assessment 236 Key Terms and Concepts 236 12 Corporate Crime and Elite Deviance 237 Student Learning Outcomes 237 White‐Collar Crime 238 Defining white‐collar crime 239 Measuring white‐collar crimes 242 Box 12.1: In their own words: Compilation of interviews with Bernie Sanders 244 Corporate Crime 245 Political Corruption 247 Police Misconduct 251 Elite Deviance and the Media 252 Summary 252 Outcomes Assessment 252 Key Terms and Concepts 253 13 Cyberdeviance 254 Student Learning Outcomes 254 Hacking and Online Piracy 256 System trespassing 257 Cyberpiracy 258 Cyberwarfare 259 Cyberbullying 259 Box 13.1: In their own words: Confessions of a cyberbully 262 Cyberstalking 263 Cyberdeviance and the Media 264 Summary 264 Outcomes Assessment 265 Key Terms and Concepts 265 14 Deviance, Deviants, and Social Control 266 Student Learning Outcomes 266 Informal Social Control 268 Gossip, ridicule, and shame 269 Ostracism 270 Formal Social Control 271 Neighborhood watch and vigilantism 272 Law enforcement 274 Courts and corrections 275 Social Control and Stigma 277 Media and Public Opinion 278 Judge Judy 279 Summary 281 Outcomes Assessment 281 Key Terms and Concepts 281 References 282 Glossary 302 Index 313

About the Author :
William E. Thompson is Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Texas A&M University-Commerce. He is the co-author of Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology (with J. Hickey and M. Thompson, 8th edition, 2017) a leading introductory sociology textbook, and Juvenile Delinquency: A Sociological Approach (with J. Bynum, 10th edition, 2017) one of the foremost textbooks on delinquency studies. Professor Thompson has published more than forty articles in professional journals, including several that have been reprinted in textbooks and anthologies. Jennifer C. Gibbs is Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Pennsylvania State University-Harrisburg. With articles published in several journals, including Crime, Law and Social Change, Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, and Violence Against Women, Dr. Gibbs is a member of the American Society of Criminology and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.