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DEVIANCE
Deviance is a recognized violation of
cultural norms
Question:
How do Sociologists look at deviance?
CRIME AND CRIMINALITY

When we think
of deviance we
often think of
crime and
criminality
Cesare Lombroso
and the biological roots of
criminality
William Sheldon

body structure as
a predictor of
criminality
Major Theories in Sociology

Functionalism

Symbolic Interactionism

Conflict Theory
STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM
Emile Durkheim
deviance affirms cultural values and norms
 -condemning something as “deviant”
clarifies moral boundaries
 -constructing an act as deviant can unify
social groups
 -what is constructed as deviant may often
be reconstructed as a social or commercial
good

Robert Merton’s Strain Theory

Deviant behavior
arises from social
realities in which few
opportunities or
“means” to an end
exist to achieve
cultural goals

?what is “innovation,
ritualism, retreatism,
rebellion” for Merton?
Strain Theory

Conformityembracing the
society’s
definition of
success and
adhering to the
established and
approved means
of achieving
success
Strain Theory

Innovation-refers to used of
illicit means to reach
approved goals
Strain Theory

Ritualism- involves strict adherence to the
culturally prescribed rules, even though
individuals give up on the goals they
hoped to achieve
Strain Theory

Retreatism-giving up on both the goals
and the means to achieve them
Strain Theory

Rebellion-rejecting the socially approved ideas of
success and the means of attaining that success
but replacing them with alternative definitions of
success and alternative strategies for attaining
the new goals
Deviant Subcultures

?why should the
notion of a “deviant
subculture” be
understood as relative
(meaning it depends
on who is making the
assertion of
deviance)?
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST
PERSPECTIVE ON DEVIANCE
what we understand to
be deviant is nothing
more than a function of
perspective
 examples: “crimes” such
as murder, theft,
statutory rape

Deviance and Conflict Theory
Conflict Theory
This approach links deviance to social
inequality
 Who or what is labeled “deviant” depends
on which categories of people hold power
in a society

Deviance, Conflict Theory and
Capitalism

Deviant labels have often
been applied to people or
populations that are
perceived to have no or
little use in a system of
industrial or capitalist
production
Erving Goffman and Stigma

Stigma: culturally negative label that
greatly alters or shapes ones selfconcept/identity
MEDICALIZATION OF DEVIANCE

when behavior constructed as deviant
becomes medicalized, the notions of
objectivity and legitimacy associated with
science and scientific inquiry alter the
construction of the behavior;


?What is the difference between behavior
that is “biologized” versus “medicalized”?
Travis Hirschi: Control Theory
four types of
social control
 1.
attachment
 2.
opportunity
 3.
involvement
 4.
belief

attachment

Attachment to other people who respect
the values and rules of the society;
individuals do not want to be rejected by
those to whom they are close or they
admire
commitment

Commitment to conventional activities
(schools and jobs) that they do not want
to jeopardize
involvement

Involvement in activities that keep them
so busy with conventional roles and
expectations that they do not have time
for mischief
belief

Belief in the social rules
of their culture that
they accept because of
childhood socialization
and indoctrination into
conventional beliefs.
Differential association theory

Refers to the difference in people with
whom members of a society interact;
some people learn to conform and other
learn to deviate, depending on their
associations
Differential association theory

This theory focuses on the process of
learning deviance from family, peers,
fellow employees, political organizations,
gangs etc…
Differential association theory
According to this theory, the possibility of
becoming deviant depends on four
factors:
Duration
Intensity
Priority
Frequency

LABELING THEORY
Labeling theory focuses on how people define
reality or what is or is not “normal”
 No behavior or individual is intrinsically deviant
 Behavior “is” deviant because individuals label it
deviant
 Members of a society create deviance by
defining behaviors as deviant; they then react to
the deviance by rejection or by imposing
penalties

LABELING THEORY

1.
2.
Labeling theorists define 2 stages in the
process of becoming a deviant:
Primary deviance-a violation of a norm
that may be an isolated event
Secondary deviance-continuing to violate
a norm and taking on a deviant identity
ANOMIE

Anomie or
“normlessness”
describes the
breakdown of norms
caused by the lack of
shared, achievable
goals and lack of
socially approved
means to achieve
goals