DevianceDEVIANT BEHAVIOR

Normative & Deviant

NORMATIVE BEHAVIOR

DEVIANT

CRIMINAL

Is one less deviant than the other?Context

Is one less deviant than the other?Expectations

Is one less deviant than the other?Degree

Some Key Sociological Views of Deviance

• Control theory• Differential-association theory/ cultural

transmission • Structured Strain/ Anomie theory• Labeling theory• Sub-cultural Deviant Culture Theories

Control theory

Reckless/ Hirschi

Conformity occurs because of...Attachment/commitment/involvement/beliefInner controls: conscience, values, integrity,

morality, etc. Outer controls: police, family, friends, and

religious authorities. Thus, deviance occurs from lack of ….

Differential-association theory / cultural transmission

Differential-association theory ( Sutherland) / cultural transmission (Shaw & Kay)

• Deviance is learned through references groups much as normative behavior is

learned• Individuals learn how to deviate

• Individuals learn how to rationalize it

Structured Strain/ Anomie theory

Robert Merton

Labeling theoryWilliam Chambliss

• Who has the power to label?• Behaviors are deviant only when society labels

them as deviant• negative labels--lower self image• different response from society--more likely to

be deviant or be labeled deviant• primary deviance, secondary deviance, deviant

career

Sub-cultural Theories and Deviant Culture Theories

People adopt or hold the values and concerns of the groups in which they are embedded.

• Southern Subculture of Violence (Marvin Wolfgang)• Lower Class Culture as a Generating Milieu of Gang

Delinquency (Walter Miller) • Theory of Delinquent Subcultures (Albert Cohen,

Cloward & Ohlin)• Urban Code of the Streets (Elijah Anderson)• Culture Conflict Theory (Thorsten Sellin)

How do new technologies affect deviance?

In Small Towns, Gossip Moves to the Web, and Turns Vicious

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/us/small-town-gossip-moves-to-the-web-anonymous-and-vicious.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all