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Speaking of "Norms", What Do Sociologists Mean By "Normative"?

In addition to my posts on "is the word 'normative' academic jargon" here and here,

a political theorist friend asks:

Why do sociologists use "normative" in a different way other than the common understanding? I found it so confusing when I encountered this secondary usage: a sociologist of deviance I knew used it to mean "conforming to expected behavior"; as in, "the opposite of deviant." And this wasn't her own idiosyncratic usage; it seems to be common in some areas of sociology and psychology.

I've encountered that formulation of "normative" once or twice. But I have no idea. Perhaps sociologist readers or the good folks at Scatterplot (cough Jeremy Freese cough) could enlighten us.

Full post as published by Law and Letters on January 30, 2008 (boomark / email).