UNDERSTANDING CONFORMITY AND DEVIANCE

SOCIETY
– is a community, nation, or broad grouping of people having common traditions, institutions, and collective
activities and interests.
SOCIAL ORDER
– obtained through regulation of human behavior according to certain standards.
◇ All societies provide for these standards specifying appropriate and inappropriate behavior.
SOCIAL NORMS
– the standards which regulate behavior.
◇ The concept of norms is a central one in sociology.
NORMS
– most frequently referred to as socially mandated norms or expectation.
– varies from one society to another
CONFORMITY
– compliance with standards, rules, or laws or behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or
standards.
DEVIANCE
– the fact or state of departing from usual or accepted standards, especially in social or sexual behavior.
– socially constructed and only determined by members of society (Newman, 2012).
– characterized for its contextualized nature and relativity.
– within a particular culture, deviance may be perceived and interpreted according to circumstances or
preconditioned notions.
MORES
– are strong norms that are regarded as morally significant and violations of them are considered a serious
matter (Robertson, 1987: 62).
– originated from a Roman term that means the “most respected and sacred custom”.
COMMITMENT OF CRIME
– the most popular form of deviance.
– defined as the violation of norms that have been formally enacted into criminal law.
– varied ranging from minor violation of traffic rules to serious offenses like murder and rape.
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY – considered a deviant crime being a violation of legal standards by children or
adolescents.
◇ the definition of a deviant behavior may change: over time.
◇ being deviant is in the eye of the beholder and largely depends on the perception, pre-conditioned notion, and
definition of the situation of other people.
◇ Karl Marx – considered cultural norms, especially the laws, are likely to protect and uphold the interest of the
powerful at the expense of the powerless.

MECHANISM OF SOCIAL CONTROL:

DEVIANCE – checked through social control to ensure that norms and conventions are safeguard and order
preserved.
◇ society controls individual ideals and behaviors through the following mechanisms:
Labelling Theory
– states how members of society label others.
Gossip
– by gossiping/talking behind someone’s back and spreading rumors about him or her.
– often practiced in small-scale communities where people know each other personally.
Laws – formal codes of conduct that are met with negative sanctions when violated.

HUMAN DIGNITY RIGHTS AND THE COMMON GOOD:

◇ One of the mechanisms is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948, which states the
inherent dignity of all the members of the human family is the “foundation of freedom, justice, and peach in the
world.

Two Types of International Covenants on Human Rights Adopted in 1966:

◇ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
◇ International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICECSR)
◇ RIGHTS ARE COMMON GOOD
Dignity is a universal quality of people, regardless of their age, race, or skin color, simply because they are
human beings.
Inherent – involved in the constitution or essential character and permanent or characteristic attribute of
something.
Intrinsic – belonging to the essential nature of a thing occurring as a natural part of something it expresses the
idea that dignity cannot be separated from the human condition.
◇ All human beings are “free and equal in dignity and rights”

Basic Equal Rights

– these rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person.
– inherent to every person.
– cannot be taken away by authorities or governments.
Commission on Human Rights (CHR)
– was created in 1987 through the executive order no. 163.
– an independent national human rights institution
– ensures that the human rights of individuals, especially the marginalized and vulnerable, are protected,
promoted, and fulfilled-based on equality and non-discrimination (CHR).
◇ human dignity is recognized by the Philippine government as manifested in Article 2, Section 1 of the 1987
Constitution
◇ Convention Against Torture (CAT)
➢ Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Person’s Act of 2012 or Republic Act (RA) No. 10364
➢ Human Rights Victim Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013 or Republic Act (RA) No. 10368
➢ RA 10364
– aims to eliminate the trafficking of people, especially women and children.
– gives protection and support to victims of trafficking and punishes those who commit the crime.
– aims to protect people from violence, exploitation, stop involuntary migration and servitude.
– aims importantly, to rehabilitate victims of illegal trafficking and exploitation.

Strain Theory
– most well-known explanations about deviant behavior.
– was advanced by sociologist Robert K. Merton that the operation of Society actually encourages crime and
other types of deviance, especially by people in certain situation.
– state the certain strains or stressors increase the likelihood of crime. These strains leads to negative emotions,
such as frustrations and anger.

Members of Society React to Strain in Five Different Ways:

1. Conformity
– individuals still accept cultural goals and try to achieve them through culturally approved method.
– individuals are following a societal goal through a legitimate means. Although conformist may not
necessarily achieve the societal goal he has enough faith in society to follow legitimate means.
- follow the rules of society
- simply obey, comply and conform to the rules of the society.
2. Innovation
- use of unadvised or illegal methods to achieve social goals.
- ex. Online cheating, plagiarism
3. Ritualism
- the regular observance or practice of rituals (staying in dead-end jobs).
- observe your everyday routine
- resist changes
4. Retreatism
- complete rejection of norms
- ex. Drug addicts, alcoholics
5. Rebellion
- happens because of frustration on the existing system and promotes change

How Society is Organized

John Donne – No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a part of the continent, a part of the main.
Group
– unit of people who interact with some regularity and identify themselves as a unit.
– business in a corporate meeting
Aggregate
– sense that latter does not feel any shared sense of belonging.
– ex. Passengers or a crowd in a street
TYPES OF GROUPS
o According to Influence
 Primary groups are small but intimate.
 Secondary groups formed to perform a specific purpose. Often formal and impersonal.
o According to membership
 In-groups provide members a sense of belonginess and loyalty
 Out-groups than an individual is not a member
o Reference groups
 Provide a person with a set of standards to check and to know if one well or where he or she
needs improvement.
o Networks
  Social connections an individual takes part in for whatever purpose and through whatever means.

KINSHIP, MARRIAGE, AND THE HOUSEHOLD

Family
- The most important social unit in which socialization takes place.
- Original primary group of most people where social experiences and interactions commonly occur.
Kinship
- Is a network of relatives within which an individual possesses certain mutual rights and obligations.
- Defined by consanguinity and affinity

CONSANGUINITY KINSHIP (kinship based on blood)

- Most basic and general form of relations.
- Relationship is achieved by birth or blood affinity.
Descent – refers to the origin or background of a person in terms of family or nationality.
- biological relationship.
Unilineal Descent
- When a child is born, he or she is automatically assigned to either his or her mother’s or father’s
group.
- Either patrilineal or matrilineal.

Patrilineal Descent
- are automatically made members of the father’s group
Matrilineal Descent
- children are automatically made members of the mother’s group only.
Double Unilineal Descent
- the child at birth is assigned to the mother’s group of father’s group for specific purposes.
Bilateral Descent
- categorize children that are made members of all ancestors’ groups of both parents and grandparents
among others.

AFFINAL KINSHIP (kinship based on marriage points)

- refers to the type of relations developed when a marriage occurs.
- Forged by marriage alliances.

Marriage Across Cultures

Endogamy
- Compulsory marriage – refers to a marriage within their own clan or ethnic group.
Exogamy
- Out-marriage – refers to a marriage outside their own clan or ethnic group.
Monogamy
- Happens when both married partners only have one spouse: each other.
Polygamy
- It occurs when one individual has multiple spouses. It can either be
Polygyny – the marriage of one man having multiple female partners at the same time or
Polyandry – the marriage of one woman having multiple male partners at the same time.
 Types of Arranged Marriage
Child Marriage
- The parents of a small child arrange a future marriage with another child’s parent.
- The children are betrothed to each other.
Exchanged Marriage
- This form of marriage involves a reciprocal exchange of spouses between two nations, groups, or
tribes.
Diplomatic Marriage
- arrange marriage has been established between two royal or political families in order to forge political
or diplomatic alliances.
Modern Arrange Marriage
- the parents choose several possible mates for the child, sometimes with the help of the child.

Post Marital Residency Rules

Patrilocal residences – couple stay with or near the husband’s kind or relatice
Matrilocal residences
Biological residences
Neolocal residences
Avunlocal residences
-

UNDERSTANDING CONFORMITY AND DEVIANCE

SOCIETY
– is a community, nation, or broad grouping of people having common traditions, institutions, and collect
activities and interests.
SOCIAL ORDER
– obtained through regulation of human behavior according to certain standards.
◇ All societies provide for these standards specifying appropriate and inappropriate behavior.
SOCIAL NORMS
– the standards which regulate behavior.
◇ The concept of norms is a central one in sociology.
NORMS
– most frequently referred to as socially mandated norms or expectation.
– varies from one society to another
CONFORMITY
– compliance with standards, rules, or laws or behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions
standards.
DEVIANCE
– the fact or state of departing from usual or accepted standards, especially in social or sexual behavior.
– socially constructed and only determined by members of society (Newman, 2012).
– characterized for its contextualized nature and relativity.
– within a particular culture, deviance may be perceived and interpreted according to circumstances or
preconditioned notions.
MORES
– are strong norms that are regarded as morally significant and violations of them are considered a seriou
matter (Robertson, 1987: 62).
– originated from a Roman term that means the “most respected and sacred custom”.
COMMITMENT OF CRIME
– the most popular form of deviance.
– defined as the violation of norms that have been formally enacted into criminal law.
– varied ranging from minor violation of traffic rules to serious offenses like murder and rape.
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY – considered a deviant crime being a violation of legal standards by child
adolescents.
◇ the definition of a deviant behavior may change: over time.
◇ being deviant is in the eye of the beholder and largely depends on the perception, pre-conditioned notio
definition of the situation of other people.
◇ Karl Marx – considered cultural norms, especially the laws, are likely to protect and uphold the interes
powerful at the expense of the powerless.

MECHANISM OF SOCIAL CONTROL:

DEVIANCE – checked through social control to ensure that norms and conventions are safeguard and or
preserved.
◇ society controls individual ideals and behaviors through the following mechanisms:
TYPES OF KINSHIP
o Kinship by blood
o Kinship by marriage
o Kinship by ritual