DEVIANCE

(Chapter 4)

Mara Magcamit
BEED-2

What is Deviance?
  Deviance is the recognized violation of cultural norms (Macionis,
2003). Groups and societies have norms that guide almost all
human activities. One familiar type of deviance is crime, which is
the violation of the written norms or laws of a society.
 Deviance is a broad concept encompassing a wide range of acts of
nonconformity from outrageous hairstyle, picking one’s nose in
public to murder.
Positive and Negative Deviance
 Negative Deviance involves behavior that fails to meet accepted
norms (Shepard and Greene, 2001).
 Negative Deviance occurs when people either reject the norms,
misinterpret the norms, or are unaware of the norms.
 Over conformity to social expectations is referred to as positive
deviance.
 According to Shepard and Greene (2001), positive deviants
idealize groups norms and can be a disruptive and hard to manage
as negative deviants.
The Relativity of Deviance
 The determination of which behavior or characteristics is deviant
and which is normal is complex (Newman, 2001). It is not possible
to neatly divide the society into the “normals” and “deviant.”
Most people have violated one or more important norms at some
point in their lives.
 Howard Becker (1966 in Henslin, 2001) wrote that it is not the act
itself, but rather the reactions to the act that make something
deviant. Suicide is considered honorable in some cultures.
Audience Relativity
 Deviance is socially created by collective human judgements and
ideas. The judgement of what is good or bad, normal or deviant
depends on the observer who witnesses and evaluate the act. Like
beauty, deviance is in the eye of the beholder (Newman, 2000).
  Deviance is defined by groups based on their values and interest.
Since different groups have different norms, what is deviant in
some is not deviant to others. Thus, deviance is relative to
particular cultural standards.
Actor Relativity
 Evaluations of behavior by an audience can be altered depending
on who is doing the act. Different positions, characteristics, and
groups bring forth different expectations, and hence, different
conceptions as to what constitute deviant behavior. It is normal for
a 2-year-old boy to run naked at a public beach. However, if his
father does the same, he will be considered deviant.
Situational Relativity
 Immediate situational circumstances can also influence definitions
of deviance (Newman, 2000). “Why is it committed?” can also
alter audience’s reaction to and evaluations of the behavior.
Drinking liquor in a bar is more acceptable than drinking on a
weekend is more acceptable than drinking during the week;
drinking in the evening is more acceptable than drinking the
morning (Newman, 2000). Even violent acts can be accepted under
certain circumstances. Killing an enemy during wartime is
rewarded with praises.
The Elements of Deviance
 A behavioral expectation must exist, a norm that defines
appropriate, acceptable behavior, ideas or characteristics. These
expectations must be shared.
 The second element of deviance is violation. Deviance implies
some violation of normative expectations, whether these violations
are real or alleged.
 The reaction may be in the form of avoidance, criticism, warnings,
punishment, or treatment.

Social Control
  The set of means of ensuring that people generally behave in
expected and approved ways is called social control.
There are two types of social control:
 Internal
 External
 Internal social control lies within the individual that developed
during the socialization process. We practice social control when
we do things, when we know it is the right thing to do, or when we
do not do things we know would be wrong.
 External social control is based on social sanction, or the system
of rewards and punishments designed to encourage desired
behavior. Positive sanctions, such as awards, smiles of approval,
high grades, are used to promote conformity. On the other hand,
negative sanctions, such as criticism, imprisonment or failing
grades are intended to stop socially unacceptable behavior.
Sanctions may be formal or informal.
Explanations of Deviance
 There are several theories, which seek to explain why some people
engage in deviant behavior. Some of the early thinkers attribute
st
deviance on the work of evil spirits and demons. In the 1 century,
classical criminologist blamed deviance on unrestrained self –
interest of irrational individuals (Farley, 1990). Individuals were
believed to calculate the consequences of their behavior before
acting to determine whether the benefits to be gained would be
worth the risk. Thus, they believed that the state can deter crime
through punishment.
Biological explanations
 Crimes were seen not as result of irrational individuals’ self-
interest but rather because of certain pathological defects in these
individuals. Criminals are physically different from noncriminal
(Farley,1990).
  Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909) explained that certain people are
born criminals. He described criminals as having low foreheads,
prominent jaws and cheekbones, big ears, lots of body hair, and
unusually long arms. He claimed that criminals are throwbacks to
earlier animals like forms of Homo sapiens, that physical
degenerator (atavism) made criminal types identifiable.
 Charles Goring later contested Lombroso’s claims saying that the
physical features described by Lombroso can be found throughout
the entire population.
 William Seldom suggested that body types (somatotypes) predict
criminality. He studied young men’s body types and criminal
histories, and concluded that the muscular and athletic builds are
more likely to commit crimes.
 Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck confirmed Sheldon’s conclusion but
cautioned that powerful build does not necessarily cause crime
(Macionis, 2003).
 Psychological Explanation Psychologist focused on the
personality of the individuals in explaining deviance. They viewed
deviance as a result of unsuccessful socialization, leading to some
personality disorders. Sigmund Freud argued that most people
learn in the process of growing up how to inhibit or productively
channel their innate drives toward pleasure and aggression
(Calhoun et al., 1994).
Societal Explanations
 Sociologists explain deviance as a result of societal processes and
structure rather than individual anatomies or psychologies.
Functionalism and deviance. Functionalism looks at the negative and
positive consequences of deviance in the society. This perspective also
forms the basis of two important theories of deviance;
o Structural Strain Theory
o Control Theory

 Emile Durkheim (1901 in Ferrante, 1995), deviance is functional

for the society for at least two reasons.
 First, the ritual of punishment (exposing the wrong doing,
determining a punishment, and carrying it out) is an emotional
experience that binds members of the group together and
establishes a sense of community. To punish the deviants is a way
of asserting what it means to be a member of a group, and fosters a
“we” feeling among he group’s members.
 Second, deviance is functional because it is useful in making
necessary changes and in preparing people for change
(Ferrante,1995). Deviants may force a group to rethink and
redefine its moral boundaries. Durkheim declared (1964 in
Henslin, 2003) that today’s deviance could become tomorrow’s
morality. Deviance discourages trust, and a society with
widespread suspicion and distrust cannot function smoothly.
 Durkheim also introduced the concept of anomie, which is the
societal condition in which norms are weak, conflicting, or absent
(Shepard and Greene, 2001), which became the basis for another
important theory of deviance – structural strain theory.
 Strain theory, develop by Robert Merton, explains that deviance is
more likely to occur when there is a gap between societal goals and
the ability to achieve these goals through legitimate means. When
people accept goal and follow the legitimate means of achieving
them is called conformity. When people also experience these
strain, they resort to deviant adaptations, namely; innovation;
ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion.
 Innovation occurs when people remain committed to the goal but
reject legitimate methods. Innovators use alternative methods,
including criminal ones, to achieve legitimate ends (Farley,1990).
 Innovation leads to activities, such as theft, burglary and
embezzlement, drug dealing, illegal gambling and prostitution,
which offer means of economic advancement when conventional
means are unavailable.
 Ritualism happens when a person rejects the goal of economic
success yet continues to work hard as the appropriate aim was to
succeed.
 People who resort to retreatism are those who reject and withdraw
from both the goals and means of the society.
 Retreatists are referred to as “dropouts” of the society (Farley,
1990), and examples include alcoholics and drug addicts.
 This last deviant response is rebellion. In many societies exist
militia groups who live in near isolation as they pursue the goal of
changing society through deviant means; creating their own
currency, deliberately violating gun laws, and threatening violent
behavior against law enforcers (Shepard and Greene, 2005).

 Another functionalist theory of deviance is the control theory.

This theory of Travis Hirchi explains that conformity to social
norms depends on the presence of strong bonds between
individuals and society.
 Social bonds have four basic, distinct yet interrelated components;
o Attachment
o Commitment
o Involvement
o Belief

 Attachment refers to the ties of the individual to their families,

friends, and institutions such as schools and churches.
  Commitment means embracing conventional activities, and the
more committed the individuals to mainstream values and goals,
they are less likely to become deviant.
 Involvement refers to the expenditure of time and energy to
conventional behavior.
 Belief in commonly held values bonds the individuals to the rules
of the larger society and reinforces the legitimacy of the society.
Social Conflict and Deviance
 Conflicts theorist explain deviance as a result of power
differentials and social inequalities. Diverse groups, with varying
degrees of social, economic and political power, compete to have
their interest and values protected and preserved in law (Farley,
1990). The dominance of the elites over the less powerful groups is
perpetuated through the definitions of deviance and the
enforcement of those definitions.
Social conflict theorists explain this pattern in three ways
(Macionis,2003)

 First, in any society, the norms and the laws generally reflect the
interest of the wealthy and the powerful.
 Second, even if the behaviors of the powerful are called into
question, they have the resources to resist he deviant label.
 Last, norms and laws are often believed to be natural and good,
thus, hide their political character.

Symbolic Interactionism and Deviance

 Symbolic interactionism explains how people define deviance in
everyday situations.
 One explanation of deviance under this perspective is the
differential association theory. According to Edwin Sutherland,
deviance is transmitted through socialization the same way as
nondeviant behavior is learned. Deviance is learned through
primary groups, which the individual associates with.
Learning of deviance depends on three things (Shepard and Greene,
2001):
1. The ration of deviant to nondeviant individuals.
2. Whether the deviants behavior is practiced by significant others.
3. The age of exposure.
Another important theory is labeling theory. Labeling theory, on the
other hand, makes us understand why deviance is relative. This theory
focuses on the social definition of behaviors, that is, deviance occurs
when individuals or group define others as deviants.
According to Edwin Lemert (1972 in Shepard and Greene, 2001),
labeling is a two-step process.
 First, the individual engages in isolated acts of deviance (primary
deviance).
 When deviance becomes a lifestyle and a person identity, it is
considered as secondary deviance. Deviant identity develops
when others label in an individual as deviant and he or she fulfills
that label. Such situation represents self-fulfilling prophecy.
 Secondary deviance marks the start of what Erving Goffman
(1963 in Macionis, 2003) calls a deviant career. As people develop
a stronger commitment to deviant behavior, they typically acquire
a stigma, a powerfully negative label that greatly changes a
person’s self-concept and social identity.