Deviance

What is Deviance?
Deviance, simply saying, is the violation of
group norms.
Deviance is behavior that violates the standards
of conduct or expectations of a group or society
Sociologically, we are all deviant from time to
time.
Deviance involves the violation of group norms
which may or may not be formalized into law
Not all deviance consists of breaking laws.

Deviance

Examples of deviants:
alcoholics
gamblers
Standards of deviance vary from one
group (subculture) to another
Deviance can only be understood within its
social context
Deviance is subjective - subject to social
definitions - it varies with time, culture and
place

Misconceptions of Deviance
Deviant behavior is always bad
behavior.
Deviant behavior is always
voluntary.
Deviant behavior is a criminal
behavior.

Functions of Deviance
(functionalist perspective)
Deviance makes conformity seem more
desirable.
Deviance helps to define social norms.
Deviance increases group solidarity.
Deviance can bring necessary social
change.
Deviance can create social control.

Dysfunctions of Deviance
Deviance can be a threat to the social
order
Deviance can cause confusion about
norms
Deviance may destroy interpersonal trust
Deviance diverts valuable resources from
other social needs
Deviance destroys the motivation of
other people.

Deviance (Functionalist
Perspective)
Deviance is a part of human existence and has
positive and negative consequences for
society
Deviance promotes social unity for it reaffirms
the groups norms.
Social control
Social change
Durkheims view:
Durkheim introduced the term anomie, defined
as a state of normlessness that occurs during
periods of profound social change & disorders.

Robert Merton
Merton examined how people adapted to the
acceptance or rejection of a societys goals.
Mertons Anomie Theory of Deviance or
structural strain theory examines how people
conform to or deviate from cultural
expectations.
Merton studied American society.
Peoples goal-success in terms of money
Means to achieve goal-Education, hard work,
Punctuality etc.

Merton: Social Structure & Anomie

Adaptation

Cultural
Goals

Institutional
Means

Conformity
Non deviant
Innovation
Deviant
Ritualism
Deviant
Retreatism
Deviant
Rebellion
Deviant

+ indicates acceptance
- indicates rejection
+ indicates replacement

Merton:
Conformity: Conformity to both the social goals
and approved means is the non-deviant act.
Innovation: The innovator accepts the goals of a
society but pursues them with means regarded as
improper.
Ritualism: The ritualist abandons the goal of
material success and becomes compulsively
committed to the means.
Retreatism: The withdrawal from both the goals
and means of the society.
Rebellion: The rebel attempts to create a new
social structure and also abandons the societys
approved goals and means and replaces with new
goals and new means.

Interactionist Perspective
Focuses on everyday behavior and why or how a person
comes to commit a deviant act.

Edwin Sutherland:
Edwin Sutherland introduced the cultural
transmission theory which holds that one learns
criminal behavior through interactions with others.
Sutherland argued that all behavior is the result of
socialization though interaction. Deviance is learned.
He also argued that through interaction with a primary
group and significant others people acquire definitions
of proper or improper behavior. He used the term
differential association to describe the process
through exposure to attitudes favorable to criminal
acts leads to violations of rules.

Edwin Sutherland: Differential

Association

Learning depends on:

Intensity
Frequency
Duration & also two types of social
interaction:
The interaction which inspires deviant
behavior.
The interaction, which promotes
acceptance of social norms.
The easiest way to think about this theory is to
rely on your understanding of the concept peer
pressure.
Ex: Peer Pressure Drug/Alcohol Use

Deviance (Interactionist
continued)
Labeling Theory
Labeling theory attempts to explain why
certain people are viewed as deviants while
others are not and emphasizes how a
person comes to be labeled as deviant and
to accept this label.

Howard Beckers Labeling Theory

Emphasizes that deviance and conformity
result, not so much from what people do, as
from how others respond to those actions.

Labeling Theory

Reality is a matter of how people label behavio

Labeling is dependent on when an action took
place, where an action took place, and who
was involved.
Related to dramaturgy dependent on the
timing, setting, and actors.
Crime is a matter of socially constructed reality
a highly variable process of perception,
definition, and response.
Thus the line separating crime from conformity
is thin and ever-changing.

Labeling theory
Labeling theory calls attention to two
kinds of deviance.
A. Primary Deviance
This refers to the act of breaking a rule.
B. Secondary Deviance
Secondary deviance is the process that
occurs when a person who has been
labeled a deviant accepts that new
identity and continues the deviant
behavior (Kendall, 1998:196).

Beckers Typology
NOT LABELED LABELED

RULE ABIDING Conforming

Citizen

Falsely
Accused

RULE
BREAKING

Pure Deviant

Secret Deviant

Conflict Theory
Conflict theory holds that people with
power protect their own interests and
define deviance to suit their own
needs.

Crime
Crime is defined as a violation of criminal law for
which some governmental authority applies formal
penalties.

Types of Crime
Professional Crime: Crime pursued as a persons
day-to-day occupation. Sutherland--"it's my job."
Learning, career, group, integration into everyday life.
Example: pick-pocketing.
Organized Crime: The work of a group that
regulates relations between various criminal
enterprises. Example: Mafia group, Gold smuggling
etc.

Crime
Types of Crime
White Collar and Technology-Based Crime: Illegal
acts committed in the course of business activities,
often by affluent people. Example- Consumer fraud,
Bribery, income tax evasion, computer hacking etc.
Crimes committed by high status individual and
corporations as a part of their everyday business
activity.
Less visible, VERY costly, hard to control, rarely
significant penalties imposed. Violators often aren't
defined a criminal. Even with conviction--little harm
done to person's career.

Crime
Types of Crime
Victimless cri me: A type of crime that
occurs when adults exchange widely
desired, but illegal goods and
services.
A victimless crime is one where an act that
violates an established law is committed,
without leaving a victim behind; that is,
there is no resulting damage to a person or
property.

Crime
Types of Crime
White Collar and Technology-Based Crime:
Illegal acts committed in the course of business
activities, often by affluent people. ExampleConsumer fraud, Bribery, income tax evasion,
computer hacking etc.
Crimes committed by high status individual
and corporations as a part of their everyday
business activity.
Less visible, VERY costly, hard to control, rarely
significant penalties imposed. Violators often
aren't defined a criminal. Even with
conviction--little harm done to person's career.

Crime
Types of crime
The word "transnational" describes crimes that are
not only international (that is, crimes that cross
borders between countries), but crimes that by their
nature involve border crossings as an essential part of
the criminal activity. Transnational crimes also include
crimes that take place in one country, but their
consequences significantly affect another country.
Examples of transnational crimes include: human
trafficking, people smuggling, smuggling/trafficking of
goods (such as arms trafficking and drug trafficking).
Transnational, organized crime (TOC) refers
specifically to transnational crime carried out by
organized crime organizations.

Social Control
Order is maintained through
social control
Control occurs at all levels
Most respect and accept
Expect same of others (predictability)
Failure leads to sanctions (formal and
informal)

Social Control
Two ways:
Internal (Internalization)
External (formal & informal)

Informal and Formal Social

Control
Informal Social Control
Informal social control is used casually to
enforce norms
Usually carried out by primary groups( Family,
Peer group)
Informal social control includes:

smiles
laughter
ridicule
raising an eyebrow

Formal Social Control

Law and Society
Some norms are so important to a society
that they are formalized into laws
controlling peoples behaviors.
Laws are governmental social control and
are created in response to perceived social
needs for formal social control

Internal Social Control:

Sociologists often describe this as the
internalization of norms, instead of
using the word conscience.