After completing Chapter 7, you should be able to:
- Understand and explain the concept of deviance and how the order and conflict perspectives differ in their approaches to its study.
- Discuss and compare the biological, psychological, and sociological theories used in explaining deviance.
- Explain why some theories are accused of taking a "blame the victim" approach to understanding deviant behavior.
- Compare and contrast the major sociological theories and the consequences of applying each theory to real social problems.
- Discuss labeling theory as an explanation for deviance and its implications for finding "solutions" for deviance.
- Describe the major classifications of crime emphasized by conflict theorists and discuss how society deals differently with these types of crime as compared to ordinary street crime.
